The Heyward family's history dates back to around 1670 when Daniel Heyward, an immigrant, settled in the Charles Towne colony. Two of his great-grandsons, Daniel Heyward and Thomas Heyward, established rice plantations in the Old House area (now Ridgeland, Jasper County), among others in the South Carolina low country. Thomas Heyward, Jr, signer of the Declaration of Independence, contributed heavily to American history during the Revolutionary War, serving in several key battles in the South.