“H” is for Heyward, James (1764-1796) and Nathaniel Heyward (1766-1851). Rice planters. Soon after the Revolutionary War, the Heyward brothers went to Europe for eighteen months of cultural enrichment. Returning to the Carolina lowcountry, they began experimenting with new methods of rice cultivation. James spent much of his life in England and Philadelphia as a factor for Heyward products while Nathaniel concentrated on improving rice production on their holdings. The Heywards perfected the tidal cultivation of rice in the coastal swamps and savannas. The techniques that both Heywards used on their rice plantations increased production considerably. Tidal irrigation techniques changed the social and geographic character of the lowcountry in South Carolina and Georgia. Increased production boosted profits, but the new techniques developed by James and Nathaniel Heyward were expensive to implement and extremely labor intensive.
“H” is for Heyward, James (1764-1796) and Nathaniel Heyward (1766-1851)
