Daily AncestorPlanter
A planter was the owner or operator of a plantation in the South, usually growing cotton, tobacco, rice or sugar.
In Southern records planter usually marks a larger landholder than a farmer. Before 1865 most plantations were worked by enslaved people, and a planter often appears on the slave schedules of 1850 and 1860.
The word was a matter of status as much as acreage, and some men listed as planter owned modest farms. Compare the land and slave schedules rather than relying on the title alone.
As seen in a recordOccupation column of the 1850 to 1880 census in Southern states
Jas. Ruffin, 55, Planter, Va.
How to cite this page
Daily Ancestor. "Planter." Dictionary of Old Record Words. https://dailyancestor.com/dictionary/occupations/planter. Last checked 2026-10-01.