Tom’s Tidbit #8 – “The Transition Begins”

New Years Day 1977 was forecast to be cold, but clear on Botany Bay. A telephone call to my house in the wee hours would shatter affairs on the plantation and set a course for the transformation of the property forever. Gracie Whitman, Peggy’s daughter, was calling to say that Jason Meyer had suffered a massive heart attack and was in the Beaufort County Hospital. He instructed Gracie to insure that the dove shoot and barbeque that was scheduled to honor young Austin Smythe (son of Jason’s Charleston attorney & currently, Director of Republican Staff, U.S. House Budget Committee) and his fiancé must go forward and that everyone would be told that although he was ill, they should enjoy the day in his absence.

Just after dawn, the phone rang again, this time Gracie informed me that Jason had died. His last wishes were that the gathering would go forward and that no one would be informed of his passing until the social hour following the shoot. With heavy hearts, Gracie, Calvert Huffines (then manager at White Hall), the household staff (“Queens”) from White Hall and I carried out Jason’s last wishes to ensure that the young couple were the center of the celebration honoring their forthcoming marriage. The execution of the plan, while sad, was flawlessly carried out in the grand style that Jason and Peggy would have appreciated.

In the months that followed, White Hall would be sold, farming operations at both plantations would be wrapped up and the rustic owners retreat house, that had been built as a getaway spot by Dr. James C. Greenway, would be transformed into a permanent winter home for Jason’s widow, Margaret “Peggy” Meyer.

Tom’s Tidbit #7 – “The Inadvertent Gift”

One of the most common questions that visitors ask is, “How did the state acquire Botany Bay?”.

Jason version went like this:

Observing that the upper reached of Ocella Creek could be isolated from the tides by building a third dike between Botany Bay and Sea Cloud, he decided to construct this barrier and create a large duck pond. Knowing that the state claims ownership of all marshland, (absent a clear grant from the King of England) and that weekly over flights were done to protect this assertion, Jason determined that these flights over Botany took place on Tuesdays. He assembled a “task force” of heavy equipment and began digging a barrow pit in the woods to stock pile soil for the dike. When enough soil was available (on a Wednesday morn), construction commenced and the dike that impounds Lake Jason was created. When follow-on state flights observed the “transgression” a series of letters between the Attorney General, Daniel R. McLeod, Jason and his lawyers ensued.

Seeking to mediate the situation, Jason invited the attorney general to Botany for lunch, a tour and discussions.  Greeting the attorney general and his entourage, Jason welcomed them with the offer of a drink before lunch. Attorney General McLeod (son of a Methodist minister) responded “alcohol has never crossed my lips”. Jason would later recall, “I knew that I was in deep s..t, right then”. In the end, Jason struck a Faustian bargain with McLeod that in return for retaining the dike, he would leave the entirety of Botany Bay to the state as a wildlife preserve, but retain life estate for Peggy.

A codicil was added to his will that would cement the deal. Never trusting that South Carolina politicians would/could withstand the pressure that would prevent Botany becoming an extension of the Edisto Beach State Park, Jason planned to quietly drop the codicil and leave the plantation to The Nature Conservancy. Just before Christmas in 1976, Jason called to say that Patrick Newnan, the president of The Nature Conservancy would visit Botany on 27 December and ask that I give him a full tour of the land including a boat trip to the Fig Islands. This visit was very successful, but the plan did not materialize when Jason died four days later.