The family of a woman who fought a developer to maintain ancestral land in Hilton Head, South Carolina, has reached a settlement in a legal process aimed toward recognizing her ownership, a family lawyer said this week.
Josephine Wright, who died in January at age 94, led the fight to preserve rights to land that had been in her husband’s family for the reason that Civil War. Her search has gained support from celebrities including Snoop Dogg and Kyrie Irving.
Bailey Point Investment, which owns the event adjoining to her property, sued Ms. Wright in February 2023, alleging infringement. The company said its satellite dish, shed and screened porch had encroached on its property, which “significantly delayed and hindered” the event.
The two sides agreed to the terms of the settlement before Ms. Wright’s death in January, however the documents weren’t signed so that they had to attend until it was determined who would have the authority to sign on behalf of her estate, Roberts Vaux, a lawyer for the family, said in an email.
Mr Vaux declined to supply details of the settlement but said the land claimed by Ms Wright was “confirmed to be hers”.
A lawyer representing Bailey Point Investment didn’t immediately reply to requests for comment.
Family spokeswoman Altimese Nichole he told South Carolina Public Radio that the settlement requires Bailey Point Investment to stop contacting the family about purchasing the land and to repair the roof on the property, erect a privacy fence and supply landscaping.
Mrs. Wright previously told The New York Times that her husband inherited the 1.8-acre estate from his parents, which was transferred to her name after his death in 1998.
She added that the property was a meeting place for Mrs. Wright’s seven children, 40 grandchildren, 50 great-grandchildren and 16 great-great-grandchildren.
However, Ms. Wright’s situation was not that unique amongst residents of Hilton Head, South Carolina, an island 100 miles from Charleston, South Carolina
The land in the realm was owned by many black families who settled there long before developers arrived in the Fifties and turned it into a tourist destination, Mel Campbell, 75, a community elder, previously told The Times. Many black families were descendants of West and Central Africans who had been enslaved and worked on rice, indigo, and cotton plantations.
Ms Wright said many families had been offered large checks for their land from developers. She said she said no years ago when she was offered $39,000 for the land.
In August, Ms Wright told The Times that the worth of the land was not purely monetary. “This is a family matter,” she said on the time, “and we want it to stay that way forever.”
