Elizabeth W. Allston Pringle

Elizabeth Waties Pringle (née Allston; May 29, 1845 – December 5, 1921) was an American plantation owner and writer who published under the pseudonym Patience Pennington. She owned and managed Chicora Wood and White House, both rice plantations in Georgetown County, South Carolina.

Early life and education

Elizabeth Waties Allston was born on May 29, 1845, at Canaan Seashore, her family's summer home near Pawleys Island. Her father, Robert Francis Withers Allston, was a wealthy plantation owner and politician who served as the Governor of South Carolina from 1856 to 1858. Robert F. W. Allston owned seven plantations, 630 enslaved people, and over 1,400 acres of land, where rice and lumber were the primary crops. Pringle's mother was Adele Petigru Allston, sister of politician James L. Petigru.

Elizabeth grew up at Chicora Wood plantation near Georgetown, South Carolina. She was educated by a governess before attending Madame Acelie Togno's boarding school in Charleston, South Carolina at the age of nine or ten.

Career

Her father, Robert Allston, died in 1864, and much of his property was claimed by creditors. Elizabeth began teaching at a boarding school until her family could return to Chicora Wood. Around 1880, after inheriting a large sum of money, she purchased the White House plantation from her late husband's family. She gained ownership of Chicora Wood plantation at the age of 51, after her mother's death in 1896.

Facing decreased profits, she began writing professionally to supplement her income. From 1904 to 1907, she published a weekly column about her life in The New York Sun. The column, and her subsequent books, were published under the pseudonym Patience Pennington.