This page contains records of the enslaved and descendants. Please note we continue to update the information as new stories are revealed. If you have family information you want to share that is connected to Wavering Please, you may contact us at info@waveringplace.com

This research by Katharine Allen of Historic Columbia and the Adams family was funded by a grant from the Richland County Conservation Commission in 2019 and will be updated as new information is discovered.

This page contains records of family members of the enslaved associated with Wavering Place, obituaries written by Lillah Adams Hayne of members related to the enslaved, and miscellaneous related photos. Headstones shown are located at New Light Beulah Baptist Church(NLBBC) cemetery in Lower Richland unless noted otherwise.

This database draws upon property records, personal papers, and family tradition preserved by the former owners and occupants of this site. Historic Columbia has made every effort to name people enslaved by: 

  • Dr. William Weston Adams and his heirs 

  • David Thomas Hopkins and his wife, Frances Martha Tucker Hopkins

  •  John David Hopkins and his wife, Octavia Chappell,

  • James Tucker Hopkins and his wife, Charlotte Caroline Adams,

  • James Pickett Adams and his wife, Margaret Crawford Johnston 

     We acknowledge that this effort will never be complete. Some of the people enslaved by these individuals died before emancipation, and their names were never recorded. Others who lived to see freedom would have had no record of their enslavement beyond their own recollections, few of which survive to present day. 

***2021-NEW RESOURCE “GROUP” ON FACEBOOK - “Historic Photos of African Americans from Lower Richland County, SC”

image 1-1833 Auction record at Green Tree(Wavering Place) of Matilda and Amanda

photo-SCDAH

image 2-1828 sale of “Wench Peggy” and child

photo-SCDAH

image 3-1864 Appraisal of the enslaved at Wavering Place

image-SCDAH



image 4 Robert Hopkins 1824-1900 see line 13 in the appraisal above, location NLBBC

Sye Hopkins (son of Robert Hopkins) see line 18 in the appraisal above


image 11-Peter Adams and (Laura Weston Adams) b 1834, is believed to be the son of Joel Adams II

born the son of a slave on a neighboring plantation in 1834. His children were Tally, Celia and Adell.

Image-African Americans of Lower Richland County by Marie Barber Adams and Deborah Scott Brooks

Peter Howell Adams obituary

image 5-Samuel Johnston’s probate 1853 listing Margaret Adams(m. James Picket Adams) portion which includes “Selena” mother to “Charlie”, grandmother to Katie Jackson(m. to Charlie Jackson) and great grandmother to Charlie Adams. 3 generations who lived and cooked at Wavering Place.

Image 6 a tribute Katy(Katie)Jackson b. 1969, d. 1931 as described by Lillah Adams Hayne

image 12-Fred Brown commutation

Image 7- Katie Jackson’s headstone at New Light Beulah Baptist cemetary

image 10-Katie’s son, Charlie Adams 1894 - 1962 He lived and worked at Wavering Place and is buried at original New Light Beulah Baptist church cemetery nearby