Clifford Place Plantation

Clifford Place Plantation was a nineteenth-century cotton plantation in Florida associated with George Taliaferro Ward, a major planter and political figure from Leon County. It is documented in connection with Ward's broader agricultural holdings, which also included Waverly and Southwood, the latter having entered the family through his marriage to Sarah Jane Chaires of the Chaires planter family. The available historical material does not establish Clifford Place Plantation as a consumer brand, operating company, or currently active commercial enterprise. Instead, the name identifies a plantation property within the antebellum agricultural economy of central Florida. Ward's holdings, taken together, reportedly encompassed approximately 160 enslaved people and generated substantial quantities of corn and cotton. The plantation's economic activity therefore depended on enslaved labor, a central fact in understanding its history and legacy. Ward moved from Kentucky to the Tallahassee area in 1825 and became involved in territorial administration, politics, and plantation agriculture. He married Sarah Jane Chaires in 1844; properties inherited through her family were later incorporated into the plantation known as Southwood. Clifford Place was one of the plantations Ward owned alongside Waverly and Southwood, although the available source does not provide a separate production account, architectural description, precise location, founding date, or ownership chronology for Clifford Place itself. The plantation belongs to the history of slavery, cotton production, landholding, and political power in antebellum Florida. Ward later became involved in the secession crisis and the Confederate war effort. He represented Florida in the Montgomery Convention in 1861, eventually signed Florida's Ordinance of Secession, and was elected to the Confederate Provisional Congress. He subsequently became colonel of the 2nd Florida Infantry and died at the Battle of Williamsburg in May 1862. Because the supplied reference material focuses primarily on Ward rather than on Clifford Place as an independently documented site, information about the plantation's later history, buildings, preservation status, present ownership, and public access remains unavailable here. The entry should therefore be treated as a historical-entity record rather than as a conventional brand profile.

Clifford Place Plantation is documented as one of the Florida plantations owned by George Taliaferro Ward, a planter and politician whose activities linked plantation agriculture with the political development of antebellum Florida. Ward was born in Fayette County, Kentucky, and moved with his family to the Tallahassee area in 1825. He later served in territorial public office and became a substantial landowner and cotton planter in Leon County. Ward's agricultural properties included Clifford Place, Waverly, and Southwood. Southwood was connected to Ward through his marriage to Sarah Jane Chaires in 1844. Chaires belonged to a wealthy planter family in eastern Leon County, and property inherited by her was subsequently incorporated into the Southwood plantation. The available source does not specify whether Clifford Place came to Ward through inheritance, purchase, marriage, or another arrangement, nor does it provide a precise date for the property's establishment. The plantations associated with Ward operated within the slaveholding economy of nineteenth-century Florida. Collectively, Ward's properties were reported to hold 160 enslaved people and to produce about 7,500 bushels of corn and 500 bales of cotton annually. These figures apply to the combined holdings rather than specifically to Clifford Place. They nevertheless indicate the scale of the agricultural enterprise with which the plantation was associated and underscore that its production depended on coerced labor. Ward's public career unfolded alongside his plantation activities. He served on the Florida Territorial Council in 1838 and 1839 and participated in the constitutional convention held before Florida statehood. He later sought the governorship as a Whig but lost the 1852 election to James E. Broome. During the secession crisis, Ward represented Florida at the Montgomery Convention in 1861. He initially favored delaying secession so that Florida could observe the actions of other Southern states or consult its voters, but he ultimately signed Florida's Ordinance of Secession. In April 1861 Ward was elected to the Confederate Provisional Congress. Later that year he was chosen colonel of the 2nd Florida Infantry. The regiment was sent to Virginia in 1862, where Ward participated in the Yorktown campaign. He was mortally wounded at the Battle of Williamsburg on May 5, 1862. His death marked the end of the career of a plantation owner who had become a prominent political and military representative of Confederate Florida. The available references do not describe Clifford Place's buildings, acreage, location within Leon County, post-Civil War ownership, survival, or current preservation condition. They also do not establish the property as a modern business, hospitality venue, or consumer-facing brand. Its historical significance rests primarily on its association with Ward and on its place within Florida's antebellum cotton and slaveholding system.

• 1862

  Ward died during the Civil War

  [1]George Taliaferro Warden.wikipedia.org

  Ward was killed at the Battle of Williamsburg on May 5, 1862, ending the documented period in which Clifford Place was associated with his ownership.

• 1861

  Ward entered Confederate political and military service

  [1]George Taliaferro Warden.wikipedia.org

  Ward participated in Florida's secession proceedings, was elected to the Confederate Provisional Congress, and later became colonel of the 2nd Florida Infantry.

• 1850

  Ward's plantation holdings operated at substantial scale

  [1]George Taliaferro Warden.wikipedia.org

  Ward's combined holdings, identified as Waverly, Southwood, and Clifford Place, were reported to include 160 enslaved people and annual production of approximately 7,500 bushels of corn and 500 bales of cotton.

• 1844

  Ward married Sarah Jane Chaires

  [1]George Taliaferro Warden.wikipedia.org

  Ward married Sarah Jane Chaires of the Chaires planter family. Properties inherited through her family were later incorporated into Southwood, one of the plantations associated with Ward alongside Clifford Place.

• 1825

  George Taliaferro Ward moved to the Tallahassee area

  [1]George Taliaferro Warden.wikipedia.org

  Ward moved with his family from Kentucky to the Tallahassee area of Florida Territory, later becoming associated with plantation agriculture and public life in the region.

Historical plantation property associated with antebellum cotton production in Florida; not established as an active commercial brand.

1. 1George Taliaferro Warden.wikipedia.org