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Orton Plantation Gardens :: Winnabow, North Carolina
In 1663, King Charles II of England granted the eight Lords Proprietors the Carolinas region of America. Brothers Maurice, Roger, and Nathaniel Moore permanently settled the Cape Fear River region around 1725, by establishing Brunswick Town. The Orton land around Brunswick Town was first owned by Maurice Moore, but he quickly gave it to his brother Roger, who developed it into one of the most famous of the Lower Cape Fear rice plantations.
Roger first built at Orton in 1725, but the Indians burned down that house. Roger next built at Kendall, his plantation to the north of Orton. In 1735 Roger built again at Orton, a 1.5 story house that is the center of the current house, and established his family there. He cleared trees in the marsh wetlands and built earthen bankings around the wetlands to create the rice fields. To flood the rice fields, he dammed Orton Creek and created a “reserve” of fresh water five miles in length and averaging a quarter mile in width.
“King” Roger Moore, as he became known for his masterful personality and generosity, was a member of the Council, a body of eight of the most influential citizens entrusted with considerable responsibility for the proper administration of the public affairs of Brunswick Town. Roger died in 1751 leaving 250 slaves, many thousand acres of land, and other valuables. He is buried in the Colonial Cemetery at the north end of Orton Plantation Gardens. His son William died soon after and his other son George sold Orton to Richard Quince in the 1750’s.
Richard Quince was one of the leading merchants and traders of the region. He was a commissioner of Brunswick Town, chairman of the inferior court of pleas and quarter sessions of Brunswick County, and an active participant in the American Revolution. He died in 1778 and was buried in the courtyard of St. Philips Anglican Church at Brunswick Town. In 1796, his son sold Orton to Benjamin Smith.
