Eliza Lucas Pinckney: The Inspiration for my heroine Eliza Rivers Chalmers Delancey. Women who helped Shape South Carolina’s Landscape
(1722–1793)
Before the American Revolution, before the United States was born, a young woman in South Carolina was already shaping the course of history—not with weapons or politics, but with seeds, strategy, and sheer determination.
Eliza Lucas Pinckney was just sixteen years old when her world changed. Her father, Lieutenant Colonel George Lucas, was called back to Antigua on military duty, and he left something extraordinary in Eliza’s hands: the management of not one, but three plantations in the Lowcountry of South Carolina. In an era when women were rarely trusted with financial matters—let alone entire estates—Eliza stepped into a role that would test her intelligence, her resolve, and her pioneering spirit.
But it wasn’t easy. Eliza faced constant resistance, not just from the practical demands of running plantations, but from the cultural expectations of her time. Women were expected to marry well and manage households—not crops or labor forces. Her mother worried that Eliza’s fascination with agriculture, especially her bold experiments with indigo, might frighten off potential suitors. After all, what man would want a wife more interested in soil composition than sewing circles?
Still, Eliza persisted.
She studied botany and agricultural texts, corresponded with experts, and oversaw every detail of indigo cultivation herself. She endured failed harvests and skeptical peers, but she was determined to prove that indigo could thrive in South Carolina’s soil. And she did. Her success transformed indigo from an uncertain gamble into one of the colony’s most profitable exports—laying a foundation that would benefit generations to come.
Eliza was no ordinary teenager. She wrote eloquent letters to her father, managed complex plantation operations, and defied the rigid gender roles of colonial society. In doing so, she became one of the first women in America to lead a large-scale agricultural enterprise. And she did it her way.
Centuries later, her legacy still inspires. Eliza was the inspiration for my heroine Eliza—one of Eliza Lucas Pinckney’s descendants. Eliza Rivers was born at the turn of the 20th century. She walked the same South Carolina soil, saw the same old oaks and waterways, and felt a similar pull to protect the land. Through her eyes, I explored the deep love for place, for heritage, and for the future. I wanted my reader to understand the why of putting land into conservation
Eliza Lucas Pinckney was more than a historical figure. She was a force of nature—young, brilliant, and brave. She overcame the prejudice of her time to follow her curiosity and passion, inspiring generations of independent-minded women to do the same. Eliza Rivers Chalmers Delancey mirrors her ancestor. Both stories are a reminder that leadership knows no gender, and that one determined young woman can shape the course of history.
