Burgesstown Plantation
Burgesstown Plantation was a large nineteenth-century forced-labor cotton plantation in northern Leon County, Florida.
Last updated August 26, 2026
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Overview
Burgesstown Plantation was a large agricultural estate in northern Leon County, Florida, established by Frederich R. Cotten between 1850 and 1855. It operated as a forced-labor plantation whose principal cash crop was cotton. The estate covered approximately 8,100 acres and occupied a broad area extending from the Ochlockonee River eastward across what is now Meridian Road toward Lake Iamonia, with additional land reaching into areas that are now developed as Luna Pines, Killearn Lakes Plantation, Golden Eagle Plantation, and Golden Eagle Country Club. A smaller southern section bordered Lake Jackson and included land associated today with Phipps-Overstreet Park, Miller Landing Road, and East Rollins Point Road. Cotten had moved with his wife, Elizabeth, from North Carolina to Leon County in 1841. He became active in local and state politics and participated in the first statewide election for Florida state representatives in 1845, when he was one of six representatives elected from Leon County. In 1851, he purchased thirty-five people who had been trafficked and enslaved, adding to the forced labor on which the plantation economy depended. The plantation's workforce and agricultural production were part of the antebellum cotton system in the Florida Panhandle, where large estates combined cotton cultivation with food production, livestock raising, and extensive landholding. The 1860 Leon County agricultural census recorded Burgesstown as having both improved and unimproved land. Its production included cotton, corn, sweet potatoes, hay, peas, beans, and Irish potatoes. The estate also maintained substantial livestock holdings, including swine, work oxen, dairy cattle, mules, asses, and horses. Its location near Lake Iamonia and Lake Jackson was agriculturally useful: during the dry season, portions of the lakes' exposed prairie areas could be used for grazing. Cotten also controlled a farm formerly belonging to his deceased brother, whose cotton production was recorded separately from the main plantation. Burgesstown's history is therefore principally a history of land consolidation, slaveholding, agricultural production, and the social and political power of a nineteenth-century planter. It is not a contemporary consumer or commercial brand. After Cotten's death on July 7, 1878, the property remained with his heirs, identified in the historical account as the Whiteheads. The heirs later sold the portion along the southern shore of Lake Iamonia to Lloyd Griscom, who named that tract Luna Plantation. Much of the broader area associated with Burgesstown has since been incorporated into modern roads, parks, residential developments, and a country club. The plantation's legacy remains tied to the geographic history of northern Leon County and to the lives and coerced labor of the enslaved people who sustained its agricultural operations.
History
Burgesstown Plantation was established in northern Leon County, Florida, by Frederich R. Cotten sometime between 1850 and 1855. Cotten had arrived in Leon County from North Carolina with his wife, Elizabeth, in 1841. He became a prominent local landowner and participated in Florida's early state political life, representing Leon County among the six individuals elected from the county in the first statewide election for state representatives in 1845. The plantation developed within the antebellum agricultural economy of the Florida Panhandle. Its principal cash crop was cotton, produced through the forced labor of enslaved people. In 1851, Cotten purchased thirty-five people who had been trafficked for enslavement. The recorded names included Old Penny, young Penny, Wilkes, Enoch, Molly, Sarry, Sylvia, Albery, Nancy, Rosetta, Betsy, John, Franklin, Jacob Sr., Jacob Jr., Jerry, Frederick, Penelope, Lucy, Jenny, Lydia, Guni, Seaborn, Susan, Washington, Aga, George, Martha, Sarah, Louisa Winna, Mourning, Scipio, Davy, Parthana, and Margaret. Historical records describe the enslaved workforce as central to the plantation's operation and economic output. By the period documented in the 1860 Leon County agricultural census, Burgesstown encompassed approximately 8,100 acres. About 3,800 acres were classified as improved land and approximately 4,300 acres as unimproved. The plantation produced cotton as well as corn, sweet potatoes, hay, peas, beans, and Irish potatoes. It also maintained extensive livestock, including more than one thousand swine, work oxen, dairy cows, mules and asses, and horses. The estate's location near Lake Iamonia and Lake Jackson offered additional grazing opportunities during the dry season, when portions of the lakes became exposed prairie. Cotten also controlled a separate farm that had belonged to his deceased brother; that farm generated an additional cotton harvest recorded separately from Burgesstown's main production. The plantation occupied a large area of what is now northern Leon County. Its western boundary reached the Ochlockonee River. To the east, the property crossed the area of present-day Meridian Road and reached the southern edge of Lake Iamonia. Its historic boundaries also extended into areas now associated with Luna Pines, the northern part of Killearn Lakes Plantation, Golden Eagle Plantation, and Golden Eagle Country Club. A southern section bordering Lake Jackson included land now associated with the western edge of Phipps-Overstreet Park, Miller Landing Road, and East Rollins Point Road. Cotten died on July 7, 1878. The plantation property remained with his heirs, identified in the available historical account as the Whiteheads. The heirs subsequently sold the part of the estate along the southern shore of Lake Iamonia to Lloyd Griscom. Griscom gave that tract the name Luna Plantation. Over time, the former plantation landscape was divided and absorbed into roads, public parkland, residential developments, and other modern land uses. Burgesstown Plantation is consequently best understood as a historical plantation site rather than a modern brand or operating enterprise. Its historical importance derives from the scale of its landholding, its role in cotton agriculture, the political and economic position of its owner, and—above all—the forced labor of the enslaved people whose work made the plantation's production possible.
- 1878
Death of Frederich R. Cotten
[1]Cotten died on July 7, 1878, after which the property remained with his heirs.
- 1860
Agricultural census documents the estate
[1]The Leon County agricultural census recorded Burgesstown's acreage, enslaved workforce, crops, and livestock, including a substantial cotton harvest.
- 1851
Cotten purchases enslaved people
[1]Cotten purchased thirty-five people who had been trafficked for enslavement, adding to the forced labor system operating at his estate.
- 1850
Plantation established during the early 1850s
[1]Burgesstown Plantation was established by Frederich R. Cotten between 1850 and 1855.
- 1845
Cotten elected from Leon County
[1]Cotten participated in Florida's first statewide election for state representatives and was one of six people elected from Leon County.
- 1841
Cotten family moves to Leon County
[1]Frederich R. Cotten and his wife, Elizabeth, moved from North Carolina to Leon County, Florida.
Lake Iamonia tract renamed Luna Plantation
[1]The Cotten heirs sold the portion of the estate along the southern shore of Lake Iamonia to Lloyd Griscom, who named it Luna Plantation.
Products and positioning
A large antebellum Florida plantation organized around enslaved labor, cotton production, subsistence crops, and livestock husbandry.
Cash crop
Cotton
Cotton was Burgesstown Plantation's principal commercial crop and the central product of its antebellum agricultural operation. Its cultivation depended on the forced labor of enslaved people and connected the estate to the wider cotton economy of the nineteenth-century Florida Panhandle.
Agricultural production
Mixed food crops
The plantation also grew corn, sweet potatoes, peas, beans, Irish potatoes, and hay. These crops supplemented cotton production and supported the estate's agricultural and livestock system.
Animal husbandry
Livestock
Burgesstown maintained a broad livestock operation that included swine, work oxen, dairy cattle, mules, asses, and horses. Seasonal access to exposed prairie around nearby lakes provided additional grazing land during dry periods.
Sources1 sources
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