Plowden Weston
50th Lieutenant Governor of South Carolina
In office
December 17, 1862 – January 25, 1864
GovernorJohn Gardiner Richards Jr.
Preceded byWilliam Harllee
Succeeded byRobert McCaw
Personal details
Born(1821-08-21)August 21, 1821
London, England
DiedJanuary 25, 1864(1864-01-25) (aged 42)
Conway, South Carolina
Political partyDemocratic
EducationUniversity of Cambridge

Plowden CJ Weston was an American plantation owner and politician who served as the 50th Lieutenant Governor of South Carolina.[1]

Biography

Plowden Weston was born in London, England in 1821 and migrated to the United States at a young age. Weston's father purchased the Laurel Hill Plantation in Beaufort, South Carolina, where Weston spent most of his childhood years.[2] At age twelve, he returned to England to attend Harrow School, a private school for boys. Weston later attended the University of Cambridge. In 1847, Weston married an English woman and returned to the United States.[3]

Weston received the Hagley plantation as a wedding gift and became one of the wealthiest men in South Carolina and one of the largest slaveholders.[3][4]

Weston was elected Lieutenant Governor of South Carolina in 1862. He died in office at age 42 in 1864. He died of tuberculosis.[5] At the time of his death, he owned 185 slaves and his estate was valued at approximately $500,000 (10 million dollars adjusted for inflation in 2023).[6][7]

Weston has been nicknamed the "gray man" by some locals of Pawley's Island, a ghost who appears before every major hurricane.[8][9]

References

  1. ↑ "LIEUTENANT GOVERNORS OF SOUTH CAROLINA 1730–2021" (PDF). scstatehouse.gov. South Carolina General Assembly. Retrieved May 14, 2023.
  2. ↑ "Plowden Weston's Plantation Journal". lcdl.library.cofc.edu. College of Charleston. Retrieved May 20, 2023.
  3. 1 2 "Plowden Charles Jennett Weston, Lt. Gov. South Carolina". www.geni.com.
  4. ↑ "List of Negroes at Hagley, Weehawka & True Blue plantations, 1860". hathitrust.org. Hathi Trust Digital Library. Retrieved May 17, 2023.
  5. ↑ "Audubon prints back in Georgetown". postandcourier.com. Retrieved May 20, 2023.
  6. ↑ "Plowden CJ Weston Estate File ..." scgenweb.org. Retrieved May 20, 2023.
  7. ↑ "$500,000 in 1864 is worth $9,661,242.04 today". www.officialdata.org. Retrieved May 20, 2023.
  8. ↑ "Ghosts and Legends: The Gray Man and Hurricanes". www.scetv.org. SCETV.
  9. ↑ "Haunted History: The Gray Man of Pawleys Island". youtube.com. WCBD NEWS 2. Retrieved May 20, 2023.
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