author
Elizabeth W. Allston (Elizabeth Waties Allston) Pringle
1845–1921
A South Carolina rice planter and memoirist, she turned the hard realities of plantation life into vivid books that still draw readers interested in the post–Civil War South. Writing as "Patience Pennington," she is best known for firsthand accounts shaped by loss, endurance, and sharp observation.
2 Audiobooks
Chronicles of Chicora Wood
by Elizabeth W. Allston (Elizabeth Waties Allston) Pringle
A Woman Rice Planter
by Elizabeth W. Allston (Elizabeth Waties Allston) Pringle
About the author
Born on May 29, 1845, on Pawleys Island, South Carolina, Elizabeth Waties Allston Pringle grew up in a prominent Lowcountry planting family. She was the daughter of Robert F. W. Allston, who served as governor of South Carolina, and later married John Julius Pringle. After years of upheaval following the Civil War, she eventually took charge of the rice plantations Chicora Wood and White House in Georgetown County.
Pringle became known for writing that blended memoir, local history, and daily life on the rice plantations she managed. Publishing under the pseudonym Patience Pennington, she reached a wide audience with A Woman Rice Planter, and she also wrote Chronicles of Chicora Wood. Her work is valued for its detailed picture of Lowcountry plantation life and the challenges of trying to sustain that world after emancipation and war.
She died on December 5, 1921, at Chicora Wood. Today she is remembered as both a plantation owner and a writer whose books preserve a personal, complicated view of South Carolina history.