Early life Henry William Ravenel was born on May 19, 1814, on the
Pooshee Plantation in
Berkeley County, South Carolina. The plantation had been in his family since before 1716. It now lies beneath the waters of
Lake Moultrie, which was created in 1939. The nearest existing place is
Bonneau. He attended the nearby
Pineville Academy and graduated in 1832 from South Carolina College, now the
University of South Carolina, where he was a member of the
Clariosophic Society.
Career He inherited the Pooshee Plantation from his father, and was a slave owner. He was also a regular diarist, and recorded his beliefs that former slaves should be regulated. He wrote in September 1865 "There must ... be stringent laws to control the negroes, & require them to fulfill their contracts of labor on the farm."
Death He died on July 17, 1887, in
Aiken, South Carolina. ==Works==