INDIAN FEILD PLANTATION Mazyck Family By Mr. F. M. Kirk

2  Black & White

William Mazyck build his house at Indian Field plantation about 1816 in such a location that he could always see the live oaks that spread over the lawn.  Few plantation houses anywhere command the view one gets from the porch at Indian Field.  The trees are enormous.  One tree, about a hundred yards from the house, is noted for its symmetry and its size.  Low-spreading branches from the giant oak extend for a diameter of one hundred and twenty-five feet.

There is a stream of crystal, cold water flowing at the foot of the yard.  It might have been for that reason that Indians made the place their camping ground, but one is tempted to think the red men chose the spot for the beauty of the location.

Early plats designate the plantation now known as Indian Field as "Southampton."  The tract touches and lies immediately south of the old St. Julien grant, Northampton, later the home of General William Moultrie.  While not an established fact, it is probable that Indian Field was a part of the original St. Julien grant.

Largest Shippers in Colony

William Mazyck was a great-grand-son of Isaac Mazyck, the Huguenot emigrant, whose family was of Walloon stock.  William followed in the steps of his forefathers, who were the largest shippers and merchants in Carolina.

Soon after his arrival in Carolina, emigrant Isaac Mazyck associated himself with his father-in-law, Jacques Le Serrurier, Sr., his brother-in-law, James Le Serrurier, Jr., with Pierre and Lewis Perdriau, and with Pierre de St. Julien, in the shipping and mercantile trade.  This has been called the first Huguenot syndicate in America.

William Mazyck lived in Charleston as a merchant.  It was probably after his marriage to his first cousin, Elizabeth, daughter of Philip Porcher, of the Oldfield Plantation, St. Stephen's Parish, that he became interested in agriculture.  He began planting on shares his father-in-law's St. John's Plantation, Cedar Spring later inherited by George Porcher, already mentioned in one of these articles.

Apparently the venture was success for with his share of the Cedar Spring crop for one year, William Mazyck bough Indian Field and prepared to build a country residence in St. John's.  Members of his family had preceded him many years, for Mazyck Plantation at near-by Woodboo had been long established.

In Pinopolis Lake Basin

There was a celebration when construction of the house began. Invitations were sent to friends and relatives to gather for a "houseraising."  Dinner was served beneath the great live oaks.  The account of the house raising some one hundred and twenty years ago makes one regret the necessity for having been absent.

While most St. John's houses contain four rooms on the first and on the second story, Indian Field contains only two on each.  Probably for this reason, William Mazyck placed dormer windows in the hipped roof of his house, which gave him the advantage of six rooms and three halls.  The building is sufficiently high from the ground for a comfortable basement.  Thus, in reality, the building is four stories high.

The plantation is six miles north of Pinopolis.  Like the surrounding plantations, it lies within the Pinopolis basin of the Santee-Cooper development.  Accordingly the house must come down; and the centuries-old live oaks, beneath which Indians camped and Huguenots roamed, must be destroyed.

Part of Preserve Now

Indian Field was bought about 1845 by Dr. Henry Ravenel, of Pooshee, and was wiled to his daughter, Henrietta, during her life time.  When Woodboo burned in 1865, Dr. Ravenel's son, Thomas Porcher Ravenel who was then living there, moved to Indian Field, making it his home until his sister, the widow of Percival Porcher, moved there from Moorfield with her two sons, the late Percival Ravenel Porcher and the late Isaac de C. Porcher.

The plantation is now the property of A. M. Barnes and Clarence Dillon, of New York City, and is a part of the large hunting preserve owned by them.  No one has lived in the house for many years.  It was formerly the scene of the semi-annual dinners of the St. John's Hunting club.

A story of devotion of slave to master is recalled in connection with the name of Percival Porcher, whose widow bought out the interests of other heirs and made Indian Field her home.  Percival Porcher was a member of the Charleston Light Dragoons and died of wounds received near Richmond in 1864.

As all the men of St. John's had enlisted, there was no one to send for him when news of his wounding was received in Pinopolis.  In despair, Mrs. Porcher sent Robert, her husband's trusted body servant, who had remained faithful to the family.

The Negro arrived in Richmond immediately after his master's death in a field hospital four miles from the city.  Robert walked to the hospital and asked for the body.  There was no way to transport the body to a railroad, so the faithful slave determined to walk back to Richmond and secure aid.

Securing a promise from the officers to keep the body of his master unburied for three days, Robert returned to Richmond and tried in every way he could to hire a team.  His efforts were unsuccessful.  There was not a horse to be had.

Finally, in desperation, Robert began walking the principal streets of the city, calling out loudly: "My young master, Mr. Percival Porcher, of South Carolina, lies dead in a hospital, and I want help to carry him back to his young wife."

An officer passing, hearing the name Porcher, and recognizing it as a relative, took him to General Lee's headquarters.  There an order was procured for artillery horses to be sent for the body and a guard of honor to escort the body.  Due to the faithfulness of his slave, Percival Porcher lies buried in the family plot at Black Oak.

Gardens Disappear

There are those in Pinopolis today who remember Robert, who remained faithful to his master's family, when members of his race were deserting by the hundreds.

Many efforts were made to develop a large limestone sink at Indianfield into a sunken garden.  Each attempt met with failure.  Each time the garden would mysteriously disappear.

A few years ago hunters saw a covey of partridges fly into the sink.  They advanced quickly and attempted to flush them.  The birds were never seen again.  They disappeared into some sort of burro.

At Indian Field are excellent specimens of the Thomas Walter pine, rather rare in this section.

Waterman Report

INDIAN FEILD PLANTATION Mazyck Family Whole Covey of Partridges Have Been Seen to Disappear in Mysterious Limestone Sink on Plantation - Owned in North