Land Sales
Land Sales were extremely important during this period because of the transition of the land from the wealthy plantation owners and the United States government to the formerly enslaved people who stayed on the island. These sales became the foundation of the holdings of many of our current native island families. Since the US Army maintained a position on the island until 1868, land sales on Hilton Head, except for a very few, were delayed until the army left. A survey of land on the island was completed in 1867 prior to the release of the land for sale. Definitions of types of land sales.
Timeline for Confiscation, Land Sales, and Redemption
Before 1861 Hilton Head Island is an island of plantations.
Aug. 6, 1861 First Confiscation Act authorizes Union seizure of rebel property in insurrectionary States.
Nov. 7, 1861 Invasion of Hilton Head by the Federal amphibious forces secures the island for the Union.
Jun. 7, 1862 Congress extends the act of 1861 act “for the collection of direct taxes within the United States in those states and parts of states where insurrection exists,” allowing the Tax Commissioners to collect the tax in insurrectionary districts.
Jul. 17, 1862 Passage by Congress of the second Confiscation Act, freeing slaves and allowing the confiscation of property owned by persons in rebellion unless the direct tax was paid.
Responsibility for collection of direct tax and confiscation was given assigned to the Secretary of the Treasury and administered by the Direct Tax Commission. Monies were paid to the Internal Revenue Service.
Oct.20, 1862 US Direct Tax Commissioners Rev. Dr. William Henry Brisbane, Judge Abram D. Smith and Judge William E. Wording, arrive.
Nov. 3, 1862 Commissioners ready to auction confiscated property.
Jan. 1863 Disputes over terms of sales, especially to blacks and the use of preemption, settled by Washington decision to hold back nearly 60,000 acres from sales, including all of Hilton Head.
Mar. 9, 1863 Sales of remaining 16,000 acres begin.
Mar. 12, 1863, and July 2, 1864 The federal government passes additional measures (“Captured and Abandoned Property Acts”) that define property subject to seizure as that owned by absent individuals who supported the Confederacy.
Sep. 16, 1863 Lincoln orders survey of certain properties to be sold, proposes sales to members of the Army, Navy, and Marine Corps for a quarter down, and instructs that lots be set aside for sale to “heads of families of the African race.” Hilton Head is not included in this directive nor are other parcels needed by the military. Land is also to be set aside for educational purposes.
Dec. 1, 1863 Sales open on Hilton Head. Purchasers are listed in Hilton Head Island Tax Sales, 1863-1875. Sales continue sporadically.
Dec. 30, 1863 Additional instructions permit full preemption.
1863 forward Land sales are recorded in the Land Records Office in Beaufort, SC. An index to Hilton Head Island deeds is available here. Original images are available on the Beaufort County, SC website
Jan. 1, 1864 - Jan. 1, 1872 One-year leases, called indentures, were made between individuals and the Direct Tax Commissioners or the Internal Revenue Collection Agents
Feb. 6, 1864 Secretary of Treasury Salmon P. Chase suspends the new preemption rules.
Jan. 16, 1865 Special Field Order No. 15 issued by Gen William Tecumseh Sherman limits sales of all sea-island land to blacks only and reserves a strip of land 30 miles wide along the mainland from Charlestown to St. John’s River in Florida to blacks.
Mar. 3, 1865 The Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen and Abandoned Lands is established in the War Department. The Bureau assumes custody of confiscated lands or property in the former Confederate States, Border States, District of Columbia, and Indian Territory.
May 29, 1865 Proclamation of Amnesty and Reconstruction by President Andrew Johnson authorizes the redemption of property by the original owners, subject to exclusion of prior authorized sales of confiscated property. The Act also excluded certain classes of individuals.
1865 - 1875 Over 2100 sales to “Heads of Families of African American Descent” are made during this period in Beaufort District, none on Hilton Head Island.
1867 In preparation for their departure, the U. S. Army surveyed Hilton Head Island and sectioned it off for sale.
1868 Sales of land on Hilton Head Island began in earnest.
May 22, 1872 President Ulysses S. Grant signs the Amnesty Act of 1872 into law, restoring full civil rights to all but about 500 Confederate sympathizers. The Act also allows redemption of property by pre-war owners for payment of back taxes and interest. Much of sea island land is still in the hands of the Federal Government. Nine plantations were redeemed on Hilton Head Island.
Jun 1872 The Freedmen’s Bureau is closed by Congress. Sales of land still held by the U.S. government continue through the 1890’s.
1892 Legislation provided compensation to descendants of antebellum owners for losses incurred in the sea islands as a result of the Direct Tax Act.
On June 7, 1862, the U. S. congress passed legislation placing all occupied land under a direct tax. If the tax was not paid, that land and property on it was to be confiscated by the Federal government. Only two owners paid the tax; therefore, most of the land continued to be held by the Union and was eventually sold at auction by the Direct Tax Commission.
A formula was devised to determine the amount of tax due; most of the property was, however, sold for an amount larger than the appropriate tax amount without regard for the approved formula.
A number of claims were filed by the owners or heirs of those plantations which were not redeemed for the difference between the sale prices and the correct tax amounts. Those claims are listed here.