The plantations were inherited by Pierce (Mease) Butler. In the winter of 1838-1839, he and his wife Fanny Kemble, a noted British actress, stayed for the winter at Butler and St. Simons islands. According to Kemble's journal of the visit, Roswell King was reported to have fathered one or more mixed-race children by enslaved women. She wrote that Bran, a mixed-race slave said to be King's son, was conceived and born while King's wife was still alive. He became a driver (supervisor) of other slaves on the plantation.