By 1830, William Kenner and his brother-in-law Philip Minor consolidated 1,800 acres of land to form a sugar plantation.

He acquired land and property that included not only what was to be named the Ashland Plantation and mansion that he built for his wife, Anne Guillemine Nanine Bringier, but also interests in the Bowden (1858), The Houmas, the 1400-acre Hollywood, the Hermitage (his wife was the granddaughter of Emmanuel Marius Pons Bringier),[4] the Fashion (home of his brother-in-law and partner General Richard Taylor), and Roseland plantations.

Supported by the forced labor of enslaved people, Kenner was a horseman (with a race track built at Ashland), a lawyer, a gambler, an inventor, and a politician.

[3] On March 2, 1889, the Ashland-Bowden Plantation property was auctioned, being adjudicated to Hypolite P. Ousset for $85,100.00 (COB 34, Folio 425, Ascension Parish).

The purchase price excluded the furniture and contents of the great house, the store, and the sugar, molasses, and rice crops of 1888.

Abe left the plantation and in 1866 won the third running of the Travers Stakes, riding Merrill for Robert A. Alexander.

In attendance that day were Ulysses S. Grant, William Astor, Alexander Stewart, and Commodore Vanderbilt.

Abe beat top Caucasian jockey Gilbert Patrick Watson in a match race before 25,000 fans in New York City.

[17] Shell Oil Company purchased the estate, including 102 acres, from the Hayward family in 1992, remodeled the exterior to the original colors, and replaced the roof for preservation in 1997.