James Hamilton Couper of Glynn County, Ga., was a white manager and part owner of Hopeton, Altama, and Elizafield plantations that were based on a workforce of more than fifty enslaved people. Additionally, Couper was a scientific agriculturalist and some of the volumes contain extracts from agricultural journals and observations related to the crops grown at the plantations; chiefly cotton, rice, sugar cane, corn, and peas.
James Hamilton Couper was born 4 March 1794, the son of John and Rebecca Maxwell Couper. His father emigrated from Scotland to Georgia and established Hopeton Plantation along the Altamaha River in Glynn County in 1804. He graduated from Yale University in 1814, and then studied methods of water control and land reclamation in Holland. He returned to Hopeton in 1827 and took over the management of that plantation, as well as of Altama and Elizafield plantations, which he either added to or carved from Hopeton. James Hamiton Couper is primarily remembered for his application of the scientific method to agriculture. He studied the culture of a number of crops that he wished to introduce to the area or improve. These ranged from such Southern staples as cotton and rice to more exotic possibilities like olives. He was apparently among the first producers of cottonseed oil. Couper died 3 June 1866.
