Quick Facts
SagittariusBiography
Joshua John Ward, of Georgetown County, South Carolina, was the largest American slaveholder, dubbed "the king of the rice planters".
In 1850 he held 1,092 slaves; Ward was the largest slaveholder in the United States during his lifetime. In 1860 his heirs (his estate) held 1,130 or 1,131 slaves.
One of his plantations, the Brookgreen Plantation, is now part of a park called Brookgreen Gardens.
Career
In addition to his rice plantations, Ward served as the 44th Lieutenant Governor of South Carolina from 1850 to 1852, as a Democrat, under Governor John Hugh Means.
Family history
Ward was born November 24, 1800, at Brookgreen Plantation, South Carolina, the son of Joshua Ward, a planter and banker, and Elizabeth Cook. He was married March 14, 1825, in South Carolina to Joanna Douglas Hasell, and died February 27, 1853, at Brookgreen Plantation.