James c fenhagen biography of william hill

For his father, the lieutenant-governor of South Carolina, see James Ladson.

James Henry Ladson (1795–1868) was an American planter and businessman from Charleston, South Carolina. He was the owner of James H. Ladson & Co., a major Charleston firm that was active in the rice and cotton business, and owned over 200 slaves. He was also the DanishConsul in South Carolina, a director of the State Bank and held numerous other business, church and civic offices. James H. Ladson was a strong proponent of slavery and especially the use of religion to maintain discipline among the slaves. He and other members of the Charleston planter and merchant elite played a key role in launching the American Civil War. Among Ladson's descendants is Ursula von der Leyen, who briefly lived under the alias Rose Ladson.

Life

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He belonged to one of South Carolina's most prominent planter and merchant families, that had played a major role in the colonization of Carolina and the slave trade in the Thirteen Colonies. He was the son of former Lieutenant Governor of South Carolina James Ladson and Judith Smith, and descended from many former British colonial governors. His maternal grandfather was the merchant banker, politician and slave trader Benjamin Smith. He wa

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