William Gilmore Simms (1806), was one of nineteenth-century America's 

foremost poets, novelists, and men of letters. His home was to the east 

of Bamberg, SC, near the community called Midway. The plantation was

called "Woodlands" back then, but, is merely Simms Plantation now.

The plantation house there today bears some resemblance to that of the 

19th century and is surrounded by gigantic old oaks that surely predate 

the house.

If one crosses the property beyond the house an abandoned cemetery will 

be found. From the looks of the graves, it is very likely it holds the 

remains of both black and white deceased residents of the plantation.

I find the name most curious as there is a Wm Gilmore Simms Mixson (1846) 

buried at Wacahoota Baptist Cemetery in Florida. Was this Mixson just named 

after a popular writer or is there a closer family relationship? (There are 

Mixson/Mixon's in that area of South Carolina.) Likely, we'll never know.



The society link below has a picture of William Gilmore Simms and a drawing

of the plantation house of the 19th century.