Overview

Location

Adams County, MS. Rokeby Plantation was in Jefferson County - right across Fairchilds Creek from this plantation. So Rokeby and Hermitage were on opposite sides of Fairchilds Creek from each other and were in different counties.

Hermitage Plantation was at land coordinates T8N-R2W, section 22 (only south of Fairchilds Creek) and section 23. Using these coordinates, this land can be found on maps on-line at:

1. The MS Dept of Trans website, "County Highway maps" at: www.gomdot.com
2. The General Land Office Records at the Bureau of Land Management's website at: http://www.glorecords.blm.gov/SurveySearch/Survey_Detail.asp?dmid=74295&Index=3&QryID=77219%2E95&DetailTab=3

Date Constructed/ Founded

not determined

Associated Surnames

Benoist, Shields

Historical notes

Rokeby was the home of Gabriel Benoist who owned about 4,000 acres of land in the area. The plantation shrank in about 1812 when Rokeby Plantation was set up on some of the land for Gabriel's daughter Victorie.

From a 1798 inventory of Gabriel Benoist's property, he owned

1. 1,000 acres on Fairchilds Creek - (probably Hermitage Plantation)
2. 600 acres on Fairchilds Creek
3. 1,000 acres on Cole’s Creek
4. 1,050 acres on Fairchilds Creek - bought from Steven Bone
5. 600 acres on Fairchilds Creek - bought from Francis Fleurian

Associated Slave Workplaces

Rokeby Plantation

Associated Free Persons

• Gabriel Benoist and his wife Elizabeth Dunbar (owners) (Elizabeth Dunbar was Robert Dunbar's daughter. Robert owned Lansdowne and Oakley Grove).
• William Baynard Shields and his wife Victorie Benoist (owners) (Victorie was Gabriel and Elizabeth's daughter)
• Thomas R. Shields (owner) (son of William and Victorie)

Associated Enslaved Persons

The following is from a 1798 inventory of Gabriel Benoist's property

1. (Probably this is a family valued at $1200)
1. Charles, age 30
2. wife, age 25
1. 3 children:
1. B______ (female)
2. Billy, age 6
3. Agnus, age 3
2. Figero, about 30, $350
3. La-Rosa, about 40, $100
4. Patrick, about 20, $500
5. Jack, about 20, $400
6. T______ - (female), about 30, $350
7. Tanton (female), about 9, $200

Research Leads and Plantation Records

• none reported yet

Miscellaneous Information

• none

References

• 1798 inventory of Gabriel Benoist's property

Users Researching This Workplace

• none recorded yet

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