Listing Details

The Tea Farm comprised about 600 acres of land which was originally part of Newington Plantation granted to Landgrave Daniel Axtel about 1680, which remained in the Axtel-Blake families until it was sold to Henry Middleton in 1887. Henry Middleton willed it to his granddaughter, Harriet Minnot, and she sold 542 acres to Dr. Charles U Shepard in 1889. Dr. Shepard immediately started building constructions of his home, a tea factory and began planting tea. In 1892, he marketed 98 pounds of tea and by 1909 had 100 acres planted in tea and marketed 12,000 lbs. In 1890 he established a school for his tea pickers, who for half a day's work, received a free simple education and thirty to fifty cents per day for their labor.