Southwood Plantation was a large cotton plantation of 5000 acre (2,023.4 ha) located in southern Leon County

Leon County, Florida

Leon County is a county located in the state of Florida, named after the Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de León. At the 2010 Census, the population was 275,487. The county seat of Leon County is Tallahassee which also serves as the state capital. The county seat is home to two of Florida's major...

, Florida

Florida

Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...

, United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 and owned by George Taliafero Ward.

Location

Southwood Plantation bordered the Francis Eppes Plantation

Francis Eppes Plantation

The Francis Eppes Plantation was a small cotton plantation of 1920 acres situated in east-central Leon County, Florida, United States and established by Francis W. Eppes in 1829.-Location:...

 on the north and the R. G. Shepard Plantation on the south.

Multiple Plantation Statistics

The Leon County Florida 1860 Agricultural Census shows that Southwood Plantation had the following:

Besides Southwood, Ward also maintained his plantations of Clifford Place

Clifford Place Plantation

Clifford Place Plantation or Clifford Place was a cotton plantation of unknown area located in southern Leon County, Florida, United States and owned by George Taliafero Ward....

 and Waverly

Waverly Plantation

Waverly Plantation was a large cotton plantation of unknown area located in southern Leon County, Florida, United States and owned by George Taliafero Ward.-Multiple Plantation Statistics:...

. Including Southwood, his holdings totaled 4200 acre (1,699.7 ha) of which 2500 acre (1,011.7 ha) were improved. Combined, Ward had 160 slaves, produced 7500 bushels of corn and 500 bales of cotton.

Owner

George Taliafero Ward was born in Kentucky

Kentucky

The Commonwealth of Kentucky is a state located in the East Central United States of America. As classified by the United States Census Bureau, Kentucky is a Southern state, more specifically in the East South Central region. Kentucky is one of four U.S. states constituted as a commonwealth...

 in 1810 and moved to Tallahassee in 1825. In that same year Ward became Register of the Land Office, succeeding Samuel R. Overton. From 1838-1839 Ward served on the Legislative Council from Leon County and attended the Constitutional Convention.
George T. Ward inherited the land now known as Southwood from his father, George W. Ward.

In 1844 Ward married Sarah Jane Chaires of the wealthy Chaires family of eastern Leon County and had at least three daughters, Georgima, Anna, and Mattie as well as brothers. Sarah Jane would inherit other properties that were later incorporated into Southwood.

The original mansion built in 1865 at Southwood was destroyed by fire. In 1939, George Henderson, grandson of Colonel John and Mattie Henderson, moved the family home from downtown Tallahassee to the old foundation of the original Southwood house.