Nathaniel Heyward (1766-1851)

He was born in Charleston, South Carolina, and grew up at Old House in Beaufort County before touring Europe fro 18-months after the Revolution. In 1788, he married Henrietta, daughter of Speaker Peter Manigault, and using her $50,000 dowry he invested in land and other assets which led to him becoming one of the leading practitioners of tidal culture rice, and therefore the wealthiest rice planter in South Carolina. He owned and leased 35,000 acres and in Charleston, Colleton, and Beaufort Counties. He was the largest slave owner in the history of the South, with some 2,000-slaves. His worth was estimated at just over $2 million, making him if not the wealthiest, then the among the wealthiest planters in antebellum South Carolina.