"H" is for Heyward, James [1764-1796] and Heyward, Nathaniel; [1766-1851]. Rice planters. After the Revolution, the brothers began experimenting with the tidal irrigation method of rice cultivation. The process changed the social and geographic character of the lowcountry in South Carolina and Georgia. Increased production boosted profits, but the new techniques were expensive and labor intensive. James spent much of his life in England and Philadelphia as a factor for Heyward rice. Through marriage and inheritance, Nathaniel expanded his holdings to 35,000 acres and 2,000 slaves. By the time of his death he possessed a net worth of more than $2 million, making him by some estimates the wealthiest man in antebellum South Carolina. James Heyward and Nathaniel Heyward's successful utilization of the tidal irrigation production of rice often yielded as much as 1,500 pounds of rice per acre.
"H" is for Heyward, James, and Heyward, Nathaniel
