Susina Plantation
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Susina Plantation
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| Nearest city | Beachton, Georgia |
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| Coordinates | 30°43′16″N 84°10′06″W / 30.7211°N 84.16846°WCoordinates: 30°43′16″N 84°10′06″W / 30.7211°N 84.16846°W |
| Area | 100 acres (40 ha) |
| Built | 1841 |
| Architect | John Wind |
| Architectural style | Greek Revival, Ionic |
| NRHP Reference # | 70000205 |
| Added to NRHP | August 12, 1970 |
Susina Plantation is an antebellum Greek Revival house and several dependencies on 140 acres (57 ha) near Beachton, Georgia, approximately 15 miles (24 km) southwest of the city of Thomasville, Georgia. It was originally called Cedar Grove. The house is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and is currently a private residence.
Edward Blackshear moved to the area circa 1822 from what was then Pulaski County, Georgia. Edward was the brother of General David Blackshear, the namesake of Lake Blackshear and the town of Blackshear, Georgia. Edward died September 3, 1829 and his land passed to his wife and five children. The largest block was bequeathed jointly to his sons James Joseph and Thomas Edward. These two continued to acquire land and ultimately amassed approximately 4,815 acres (1,949 ha).
Circa 1841, James Joseph commissioned the architect John Wind to design a plantation house. This photograph, although probably taken after the American Civil War, depicts the structure as originally built. John Wind was born in Bristol, England, in 1819. He was also the architect for the Greenwood, Fair Oaks, Oak Lawn, Pebble Hill and Eudora Plantations, and the Thomas County Courthouse. William Warren Rogers writes "Some of Wind's work still exists and reveals him as one of the South's most taleted but, unfortunately, least known architects."
James Joseph Blackshear was killed in a cotton press accident on November 3, 1843 before the house was completed. His wife, Harriet Blackshear, completed the house and continued to acquire land. His will was not probated until 1857 and her new acquisitions were recorded in his name. Harriet became a prominent planter in her own right. In 1860, thirteen Thomas County slave workers produced over 100 bales of cotton. Harriet Blackshear had the record with 235 bales produced by slave workers. She was also one of the county's larger rice producers and she raised 5000 bushels of sweet potatoes. Food crops were also required to feed not only her family, but the slaves who worked the land. The 1840 census recorded 43 male and 59 female slaves. When James Joseph's will was probated in 1857, it listed 161 slaves by name."Antebellum". Harriet Blackshear died in 1863. After the American Civil War, Cedar Grove fell onto hard times, but it remained in Blackshear hands until 1887.
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