Pinckney, Elizabeth Lucas

Pinckney, Elizabeth Lucas

(c. 1722–93) colonial planter; probably born in Antigua. Her British father was the lieutenant-governor of Antigua, and, after being educated in England, she arrived with her family in South Carolina in 1738. In her father's absence, she managed three family plantations and successfully planted indigo seeds—the first such in North America (1741–44). She married a lawyer, Charles Pinckney (1744), and upon his death in 1758, she again managed plantations on her own. She imported cocoons and raised silk worms. She had a strong influence upon the careers of her sons, Thomas and Charles Cotesworth Pinckney.