Cotton was a very important cash crop for families like the Brattons, who not only raised grain crops like wheat, oats and corn, but also raised cotton, which gave them the economic capital to continually expand their plantation, purchase more land, grow more cotton, and buy more slaves. William Bratton started with 200 acres in 1766, and when Dr. John S. Bratton died unexpectedly in 1843, he owned about 8,000 acres and had about 139 slaves. He was one of the largest cotton planters in the upcountry.
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