Eliza Lucas facts for kids

Elizabeth "Eliza" Lucas Pinckney (born December 28, 1722 – died May 27, 1793) was a very important person in the history of South Carolina. She changed farming in the colony by successfully growing indigo, which became one of its most valuable cash crops. Before the American Revolutionary War, the blue dye made from indigo plants was worth one-third of everything the colony exported! Eliza managed three large farms and had a big impact on the economy of the colony.

In the 20th century, Eliza Pinckney was the first woman to be honored in South Carolina's Business Hall of Fame.

Early Life and Education

Elizabeth Lucas, known as Eliza, was born on December 28, 1722, on the island of Antigua. This island was a British colony in the Caribbean. Eliza grew up on one of her family's sugarcane farms there. She was the oldest child of Lieutenant Colonel George Lucas and Ann Lucas. She had two brothers, Thomas and George, and a younger sister named Mary (Polly).

Eliza's parents sent all their children to school in London, England. It was common for wealthy families in the colonies to send their children to England for school. Boys usually went when they were young, around 8 or 9. Girls went later, in their mid-teens, when they were getting close to marrying age. Many parents at that time thought girls only needed to learn basic reading, writing, and math, along with social skills. But Eliza was very smart and loved learning. She really valued her education at boarding school, where she studied French and music. Her favorite subject was botany, which is the study of plants. She once wrote to her father that her education was "a more valuable fortune than any [he] could have given [her]." She believed it would make her happy in life.

Moving to South Carolina and Her Work

In 1738, when Eliza was almost 16, her father, Colonel Lucas, moved their family from Antigua to South Carolina. He had inherited three farms there from his own father. He thought his family would be safer in South Carolina because of growing problems between Spain and England. Eliza's grandfather, John Lucas, owned three pieces of land: Garden Hill (1,500 acres), another 3,000 acres on the Waccamaw River, and Wappoo Plantation (600 acres). The family decided to live at Wappoo, which was about 17 miles from Charleston (then called Charles Town) by land.

In 1739, Colonel Lucas had to go back to Antigua for his military job because of the conflict between England and Spain. He became the lieutenant governor of the island. Because of a big war in Europe, he couldn't move back to South Carolina with his family. Eliza's letters show that she respected and loved her father very much. They also show that she took charge of managing the family's farms. Her mother died soon after they moved to South Carolina.

Eliza was only 16 when she became responsible for managing Wappoo Plantation and the people working there. She also had to oversee managers at two other Lucas farms. One of these farms produced tar and timber, and another was a large rice farm. On top of all this, she looked after her much younger sister, since her brothers were still in school in London. Eliza kept careful notes of her decisions and experiments in a special "letter book." This book is one of the most amazing collections of writings from an 18th-century American woman. It helps us understand her thoughts and the society she lived in. Her letter book also shows that she taught some of the girls working on the plantations to read and trained them to teach others.

Her father sent Eliza different kinds of seeds from Antigua to try growing on the farms. Planters like them wanted to find new crops that could grow well in the higher lands and add to their rice production. Eliza first tried growing ginger, cotton, alfalfa, and hemp. Then, in 1739, she started experimenting with the indigo plant. There was a growing demand for indigo dye because the textile (cloth-making) industry was expanding. When her father sent her indigo seeds in 1740, she felt very hopeful. She planned to plant them earlier in the season. While trying to grow indigo in a new climate and soil, Eliza also used the knowledge of skilled African people who had grown indigo in the West Indies and West Africa.

After three years of hard work and many tries that didn't work out, Eliza finally proved that indigo could be grown and processed successfully in South Carolina. She first worked with an indigo expert from Montserrat. But she had the most success making the dye with the help of an indigo-maker of African descent whom her father hired from the French West Indies.

Eliza used the indigo she grew in 1744 to make more seeds and shared them with other planters. This led to a huge increase in indigo production. She showed that colonial planters could make money from indigo, even though the market was very competitive. Because of her success, the amount of indigo dye exported grew from 5,000 pounds in 1745–46 to 130,000 pounds by 1748! Indigo became the second most important cash crop in South Carolina, after rice. It brought a lot of wealth to the planters. Before the American Revolutionary War, indigo made up more than one-third of the total value of exports from the American colonies.

Her Writings

From the time she moved to Wappoo Plantation in South Carolina until her death in Philadelphia in 1793, Eliza carefully copied all her conversations and letters into a "letter-book." She organized her writings into several volumes, each describing a different period of her life in great detail. These volumes cover most of her life, with most of the writings being from 1739 to 1762.

The first few volumes cover the years 1739 to 1746. They start with her description of her family's move to the plantation in South Carolina when she was about 17. During these years, she began experimenting with indigo seeds and other seeds her father sent her. Her letters describe the many years of experiments she did to make the crop successful. They also talk about her marriage to her long-time friend and neighbor, Charles Pinckney, in 1744.

The second set of volumes starts around 1753 and ends around 1757. By this time, Eliza and Charles had started their life together and had children. These volumes mention the time she and her family moved to London for her husband's job. They lived there for about five years while Charles worked as a representative for the South Carolina colony.

The third set of volumes covers 1758 through 1762. This period includes the family's return to South Carolina and, soon after, the death of her husband. She became responsible for overseeing her family's farms as well as her late husband's. She lived as a widow for more than thirty years until her death in 1793. She was in Philadelphia seeking treatment for breast cancer. Although she continued to keep copies of her letters after her husband died, very few of them still exist today.

This letter-book is one of the most complete collections of writings from 18th-century America. It offers a valuable look into the life of a wealthy colonial woman during that time. Her writings describe what happened on the farms, her hobbies, social visits, and even her indigo experiments over several years. Many experts consider this letter-book very special because it describes everyday life over a long period, rather than just one single event in history. Eliza passed her letter-book down to her daughter Harriott, who then passed it to her own daughter. It was passed down from mother to daughter well into the 20th century. Then, the Lucas-Pinckney family donated it to the South Carolina Historical Society.

Marriage and Family

Eliza learned to be independent at a very young age. Her desire to stay independent also showed in her personal life. Before she fell in love with and married Charles Pinckney, her father, George Lucas, suggested two possible husbands for her. Both were rich, well-connected, and important people in South Carolina society. But Eliza turned them both down. This was very unusual and almost unheard of in 18th-century colonial America.

Eliza and Charles Pinckney, who owned a nearby farm, became close after his first wife died. Eliza had been good friends with Charles and his first wife before her death. Eliza and Charles married on May 25, 1744. She was 22 years old and took her family duties very seriously. She promised to be a good wife and a good mother to her children, praying for them, setting good examples, and giving them good advice.

Mr. Pinckney had studied law in England and became an active leader in the colony. He was South Carolina's first lawyer born in the colony. He served as a judge, a justice of the peace, and the attorney general. He was also elected to the Commons House of Assembly and served as its Speaker many times. He was also a member of the Royal Provincial Council. Eliza was different from many women of her time because she was "educated, independent, and accomplished." When the Pinckneys lived in Charleston, Eliza quickly started planting oak and magnolia trees at their beautiful home overlooking the bay. She also regularly wrote to important British plant scientists.

Eliza soon had three sons and a daughter: Charles Cotesworth (1746–1825), George Lucas, Harriott Pinckney (1749–1830), and Thomas (1750–1828). George Lucas Pinckney, named after her father, died shortly after he was born in June 1747.

In 1753, the family moved to London for five years. Soon after they returned to South Carolina in 1758, Charles Pinckney got malaria and died. As a widow, Eliza continued to manage their many farms, in addition to the Lucas family's properties. Most of her important farming experiments happened before this time.

Eliza's surviving sons became very important leaders. Charles signed the Constitution of the United States. He was also a candidate for Vice President in 1800 and for President in 1804 and 1808. Thomas was sent as a diplomat to Spain, where he helped create Pinckney's Treaty in 1795. This treaty made sure Americans could travel on the Mississippi River to New Orleans. He was also a candidate for Vice President in 1796. Harriott married Daniel Huger Horry, Jr. and lived at Hampton Plantation, which is now a historic site in South Carolina.

Eliza Lucas Pinckney died of cancer in Philadelphia in 1793.

Honors and Legacy

• 1989 - Eliza Lucas Pinckney was the first woman to be inducted into the South Carolina Business Hall of Fame. This was for her amazing contributions to farming in South Carolina.
• 1793 - President George Washington was one of the people who helped carry her coffin at her funeral. This happened at St. Peter's Church in Philadelphia, where she had gone for medical treatment.
• 1753 - During a meeting with Augusta, the Dowager Princess of Wales, in London, Eliza gave the princess a dress. This dress was made from silk that was produced on the Pinckney family's farms.

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