From a trail leaving the swamp area of the plantation there is a plaque marking the African American Cemetery.  There’s more to it than that. Here members Bennett family has been buried going back the US Civil War, this was first the cemetery for the enslaved people on this plantation. Walking through the clearing you will see small old stones as markers for some of the enslaved people buried here.

Below one of the more recent burials, William Bennett.

‘William Bennett was the son of Isaac and Hettie Bennett, and the grandson of Adam Bennett, the enslaved overseer at Magnolia Plantation on the Ashley River.’ Wikipedia.

The Bennett’s lived here for at least four generations after the Emancipation. Adam Bennett ran the plantation at the end of the war since all the original owners had evacuated as the Federal Army came to Charleston. While the main house was burned and looted the cabins and barns were not. Adam Bennett hid away anything of value from the Union troops.

The Drayton’s ultimately returned, Adam Bennett had maintained what was left of the fields and property. The Bennett and Drayton family members remained for the next 150+ years.

Note; the information here was found on line and through word of mouth. I shot the photographs Sept. 11, 2025.