From Whence We Came

Charles & Rebecca Ford and the Big Seven

Charles and Rebecca Ford were last-generation slaves. We know this because ADAM, their first child, was born in 1867 — two years after the end of the Civil War. They had seven children — ADAM, BINA, DIANNA, FORTUNE, LUCY, ROBERT, TOM — born between 1867 and 1878. We refer to them as “The Big Seven” and capitalize their names to emphasize their importance to our heritage.

After Emancipation, Charles and Rebecca settled on 20 acres of land in the Bowman Lane community of Colleton County (Walterboro), South Carolina. Their land bordered the old Beech Hill Plantation — now Auckland Farms — on Ritter Road. We suspect that it was Beech Hill Plantation where Charles and Rebecca were enslaved.

The 20 Acres

By 1825 a Burrell Sanders had become the first Sanders to own Beech Hill Plantation. In 1860 he owned 125 slaves and was considered a successful planter. We once assumed Beech Hill to have been a rice plantation because of dirt banks in the woods bordering the Ford family property — about 20 feet wide and five feet tall, consistent with written descriptions of earthen plantation rice banks. (Today the banks have deteriorated; they may also have simply marked historic property lines.)

When TOM’s children were growing up, the banks were still present. People walked the banks as shortcuts to the store, post office, and train stop at Ritter — known then as “The Big Road.”

We are not sure how Charles and Rebecca acquired the 20 acres, but eventually the land fell to TOM, perhaps honoring the tradition of land falling to the youngest son. As the children became adults, they married and either acquired land of their own or went to live on the property of their spouses’ families. ADAM bought land farther up Bowman Lane. BINA went to live with her husband in Hendersonville. ROBERT settled at Toomer Hill — now Ford Lane — off Ritter Road. Over the years the original 20 acres was subdivided into plots owned by TOM’s heirs, with several of his grandchildren occupying and building homes on the land today.

The Reunion Tradition

The descendants of Charles and Rebecca’s seven children take turns hosting the Ford Family Reunion every other year. TOM hosted the 12th Biennial Reunion in Charleston, SC in July 2017. ROBERT hosted the 13th in Phenix City, AL in July 2019. The 14th Biennial Ford Family Reunion will be held in Daytona Beach, FL in July 2027, hosted by the Fraizer family of the BINA branch.

A Word from the Family

“If tradition holds true, everyone you see this weekend should be wearing one of the Big Seven colors. If you want to know who belongs to whom, match the colors to the ancestors and you’ll know if the person you are talking with belongs to ADAM, BINA, DIANA, FORTUNE, LUCY, ROBERT, or TOM.”