Labor and Natural History at Woodmanston Plantation (and Beyond)

This essay examines the relationship of labor and natural history in the nineteenth century through the legacy of Woodmanston Plantation in Liberty County, Georgia. Under ownership of the LeConte family, Woodmanston comprised over 3,300 acres worked by more than 200 enslaved people. The plantation was seated amidst the great biodiversity of the Altamaha River watershed. In addition to rice, cotton, and timber production, the plantation was the site of a notable botanical garden. Eminent scientists John and Joseph LeConte grew up in Woodmanston's natural abundance, and Joseph credited that context for their beginning in science. The large force of enslaved laborers provided the revenue the LeConte brothers used to pursue training in the natural and physical sciences, as well as to use travel and field work to build expertise and professional reputations. Slavery-based capital persisted in the LeContes' careers beyond the destruction of chattel slavery by the Civil War. Moreover, enslaved people contributed directly to the pursuit of natural history in and around Woodmanston Plantation by collecting specimens of flora and fauna and by tending the prized botanical garden. This essay argues that the enslaved laborers of Woodmanston made possible the LeContes' contributions to American science. Focusing on enslavement and absentee plantation ownership, the essay traces Woodmanston's labor legacy from lowcountry Georgia to elite institutions of the Northeast, the shores of the Great Lakes, the mountains of northern Georgia, and ultimately to the halls of the University of California, Berkeley.