Chapter II: Part 2

There were six rooms on the ground floor, connected by huge sliding mahogany doors, making it possible to open the entire floor into one immense room, 80 feet long. Leading to six rooms and cross halls above was a fan spread stairway. The top floor was a peculiarly constructed octagonal hall surrounded by eight large closets or storage rooms with cedar linings.

The mantels in Homewood attracted much attention because of their delicate beauty and apparent value. In the drawing room the mantel was of white marble, while in the dining room stood one of pink marble with deep rose tracings.

Homewood had no historic interest but it was an outstanding example of the advanced architectural ideas of the builders of Southern ante-bellum homes. It was built for a gift from David Hunt to his daughter, Catherine, and her husband, William L. Balfour.

The most recent owners, Mr. and Mrs. Kingsly Swan, spared no expense in maintaining this magnificent home and its spacious grounds in model perfection.

Homewood was the scene of the famous double wedding so effectively described in Stark Young’s _So Red the Rose_.

_Inglewood_

A Southern planter’s typical home, “Inglewood” stands today as the perfection of a beautiful dream recalled from crumbling ruins of years long gone. More than a century ago this quaint old story-and-a-half house was built by Gustavus Calhoun, who practiced medicine in Natchez Territory in 1829—back in the days when calls were made on horseback and the doctor carried along his miniature drug store in his “saddle bags”. Dr. Calhoun was a friend and contemporary of Dr. Stephen Duncan of “Auburn”.

In 1858 “Inglewood” became the home of Edward M. Blackburn through his marriage into the Calhoun family. It has been for many years known as “the old Blackburn place.” Here the last member of the Natchez Blackburn family lived until the old house was about to tumble down. Then the place was purchased by Dr. Wallace Smith, a young physician who came with his bride to reclaim and rebuild Inglewood along the exact lines of its original architectural design.

The old gardens of Inglewood were once as famous for beauty as those of “Arlington” and “Melrose” but the gardens too passed with the old families. Doctor and Mrs. Smith are replanting, and are replacing walks and borders of old-fashioned boxwood, everything to conform as nearly as possible to original design.

Inglewood, like all Natchez homes, is off the highway, secluded by forests, and only by careful observation can one glimpse the gleaming white outlines of this beautiful old plantation home.

The approach to the house is marked at the public highway by a wrought iron replica of the old-fashioned doctor’s horse and buggy. Inglewood is today, as it was originally, the property of a practicing physician’s family.

_Jefferson College_

Founded in 1802, Jefferson Military College is the oldest college for boys in the State of Mississippi, and one of the oldest in the United States.

It was here that the South’s beloved Jefferson Davis, who became President of the Confederacy, attended school when he was ten years old.

After the battle of New Orleans Gen. Andrew Jackson rested his victorious army on the campus of this college, which is located six miles from the city of Natchez.

Mississippi was a territory when the college came into existence. On the spot where the constitution of the State of Mississippi was adopted is a marker commemorating the birth of Mississippi as a State. The marker was erected May 14, 1935, the 119th anniversary of the State.

Near the front gate of the college there are two giant gnarled liveoaks, known as the Aaron Burr oaks because they stood in front of the old courthouse where Aaron Burr was tried for treason against the United States. The old courthouse was demolished ages ago but the oaks stand sentinel with wide spreading boughs marking the spot famous in history and in story.

_King’s Tavern_

In the days when Indians roamed the territory of Natchez, block houses were built by the white settlers who came that way. These were sturdy, well-fortified houses built to protect occupants against Indian outbreaks. Such is King’s Tavern—an inconspicuous, faded, old wooden structure on a high brick foundation.

Although unostentatious, King’s Tavern is important. According to the records it is the oldest building in this part of the South. Parts of St. Augustine, Florida, are somewhat older. Its very atmosphere breathes of days and people long dead; of Indians, of Spanish and English and French noblemen; of weary travelers over foot paths or by river boats, wandering into the old Tavern, resting, and then departing, disappearing from the face of the earth.

The house is more than 170 years old. Records show that “the first United States mail brought over the Natchez Trace was delivered to King’s Tavern by an Indian runner and was distributed from this point.”

The timbers are held together by wooden pegs and beams. The heavier timbers are of the type used in the construction of large ships of that period. Ceilings in the rooms are low. Doors and windows are heavy with narrow frames. The sills and sleepers of the building show the rope holes, again indicating that timbers came from old sailing vessels.

The earliest official record of transfer of this property shows 1789 as the year it was granted to Richard King, a member of the King family of Long Island, New York, and by him it was given the name “King’s Tavern”. Formerly it had been known as the Bledsoe House.

For a period of about 115 years the property has been owned and occupied by the descendants of Mrs. Elizabeth Postlethwaite.

An interesting relic of bygone years is a portrait in oils of the late Samuel Postlethwaite III, who was Mayor of Natchez in 1825 when the great Lafayette visited the little village. This portrait is signed by the artist, Benjamin West.

Mrs. A. C. Register and Mrs. Jean Register Modsett, descendants of the Postlethwaite family, are the present owners and occupants of King’s Tavern.

_Legend:_

At night, when all’s dark and quiet at King’s Tavern, ghosts of Indian
warriors, in full dress of their native tribe, wander through the old
Tap Room, loll and lean against the old bar, peer out through small
crevices, and then disappear through the heavy doors which lead onto
the street.

Bullet holes in the door are from an Indian attack during the early
days of Natchez.]

_Lansdown_

Lansdown has been the home of the Marshall family for more than eighty-five years. Like many other magnificent plantation homes around Natchez, Lansdown was a wedding gift to Mr. and Mrs. George Marshall, whose descendants of the same name own and occupy today this comfortable Georgian type house.

Lansdown is an unpretentious but quite substantial structure with a broad front portico enclosed by artistic grill bannisters fashioned in Greek pattern. Broad, spreading steps lead down to a brick walk, and on each side stand the old carriage blocks of yesteryear.

Portraits by famous artists of earlier generations of Marshalls, including a portrait of Levin R. Marshall by Sully, look down on gorgeous rosewood and mahogany furnishings of their own selection placed in Lansdown.

The china and silver in this home are the pride of the present generation of Marshalls. Much of the original china is in use today. Many pieces of the original Robert E. Lee furnishings of “Stratford Hall” are now in Lansdown. Within the past few months the younger generation at Lansdown discovered several pieces of silver bearing the unmistakable mark of Robert E. Lee.

Lansdown came to the Marshalls through Mrs. Charlotte Hunt Marshall. Natchez had a great benefactor in David Hunt, the father of Charlotte Hunt Marshall. It was he who made possible the Chamberlain-Hunt Military Academy at Port Gibson, Mississippi, one of the first schools for boys in the Southland. It is still an excellent school for young men.

Today Lansdown is owned and occupied by George Marshall III and Mrs. Agnes Marshall Ward, lineal descendants of the original owner, who named the place “Lansdown” by virtue of his friendship for the celebrated Marquis of Lansdown, England.

_Linden_

The origin of Linden seems lost to history although it is known to have existed as early as 1790. It came to ancestors of the present owners a hundred years ago, and has been owned and occupied by the A. M. Feltus family for several generations.

Nature seems to exert herself to give to Linden a perfect setting. Surrounding the magnificently constructed house, with its 98 feet of gallery, are dozens of oak trees, draped in long gray moss which sweeps the very eaves of the dwelling. Standing in the artistic entrance of Linden one sees the outside world through growing draperies of swaying gray lace.

The architecture of Linden is as unusual as it is simple. The center portion is two stories, flanked on each side by single-storied rooms. A gallery runs the entire width of the building. To the rear of the single-storied rooms is a long two-storied wing. Each wing is a complete apartment.

The furnishings are rare and exquisite, producing a feeling of restfulness and satisfaction. “Linden” has three paintings by Audubon, and an interesting portrait of the song-bird, Jenny Lind.

The driveway through the grounds of Linden leads past the front entrance entirely around the house and passes its beautifully kept gardens. A circle driveway which leads out through the bricked entrance affords a final glimpse of the stately white house in the distance, not unlike “Mount Vernon”. The view across the hill brings “Monmouth”, a neighboring mansion, to the eye as another delightful prospect.

_Greenleaves_

“Greenleaves”, built prior to 1812, is a town house—a great rambling cottage type of architecture in the very heart of Natchez. It is as sturdy as the old gnarled oaks which seem to hold it in their protecting boughs. It represents comfort, luxury, and beauty without ostentation or pretense.

The halls and rooms are palatial in size and appointments. The house as originally constructed shows that it was built to endure. It was remodeled in the early 40’s by the grandfather of the present owners.

A wealth of the original furnishings in solid mahogany and rosewood and many rare museum pieces have remained in Greenleaves throughout generations, and are today as beautiful as the day they came from foreign shores.

The present owners, Mr. and Mrs. Melchoir Beltzhoover, the third generation of the Koontz family to occupy Greenleaves, grace this ante-bellum home with pardonable pride of possession.

The family of the original owners of Greenleaves was wiped out during a yellow fever epidemic, the entire family filling one grave. Eventually Greenleaves was bought by George Washington Koontz of Pennsylvania, who became a leading influence, financially and socially, in Natchez. Children of the present occupants of Greenleaves are the fourth generation of the Koontz family to enjoy this luxurious home.

Mr. Beltzhoover’s ownership of this property is shared with his sister, Mrs. Guy Robinson, who is a resident of New York state.

_Legend:_

Under the giant liveoaks at the rear of Greenleaves the Natchez tribe
of Indians held their annual pow-wows and decided all momentous
questions.

_Longwood_

Longwood stands in a moss-tangled forest. It is a monument to a dream that was interrupted by the tragedy of the War Between the States in 1861-’65. It was to have been a gorgeous structure of Moorish design, planned by Sloan of Philadelphia, who in those days had no equal as artist-architect.

Longwood was being built for Dr. Haller Nutt. Landscape gardeners came from abroad, and even today rare imported shrubs and trees form a part of the dense growth around the unfinished gardens.

When the house reached its present point of construction, with more than a hundred thousand dollars already invested, there came the cry of war and the call to arms. Workmen laid down their tools and took their guns and never returned to the task of completing Longwood.

The deep concrete foundation, the outside framework, and some of the trimmings of the house were well under way. Today there are huge sections of carved moulding, old paint buckets and brushes, tool boxes, and carpenter’s implements scattered about the upper floors—just as they were left almost 75 years ago.

The house, begun in the late 50’s, is of brick, burned by slaves on the place, with columns and grill work of hand-carved, time-enduring cypress. The ground floor contained a nursery and an adjoining apartment for a white housekeeper and governess, a card room, a billiard room, wine cellar, and heating plant. This floor is the only part of the building that reached anything like completion. The upper floors were boarded up. All orders for materials, marble stairway, mosaic floors, and elaborate furnishings were canceled. Many of these orders had been placed in Italy and France. Some costly pieces were en route on the high seas. A few items were returned and others are now in national museums.

Dr. Nutt died in 1864, survived by his wife and a large family of children. One of the descendants of these children now occupies the finished lower floor or basement of Longwood. There is on this floor a huge rotunda and eight large rooms, surrounded by a moat. Many relics of past generations adorn these quarters, including antiques from different branches of the family.

There are several pieces of richly carved rosewood furniture, an exquisite old grand piano, and oil portraits of Dr. Nutt and his beautiful blonde wife by famous old-world artists.

James and Merritt Ward of Natchez and Mrs. Julia Ward Blanchard of New York City are the present owners of Longwood.

Planned as a palatial home for a family of eleven children and eight hundred slaves, today Longwood (often referred to as “Nutt’s Folly”) is occupied by Merritt Ward and one servant.

_Magnolia Vale_

A few hundred feet below the city of Natchez, along the river edge, is an extension of land on which the first Natchez was situated. This old town was known as “Natchez Under the Hill”. The commercial center of the old Natchez has passed into decay. The buildings that sheltered the river men, the gambling “joints” that housed the riff-raff of those steamboat days, have long since tumbled into the river. Driving down a long and steep shelf of land, at the north end of what was old Natchez, one comes to the gate of a castle-like home in the heart of a garden which is always beautiful with blossoms. It is “Magnolia Vale”.

This house was built about 110 years ago by Andrew Brown and is owned today by Andrew B. Learned, a direct descendant.

Andrew Brown was a native of Scotland, and a great lover of flowers. After building a home of the early American type, with wide galleries, handsome Doric columns, spacious halls and large rooms, he found self-expression in creating a garden which has been famous for generations, from St. Louis to New Orleans, as “Brown’s Gardens”.

A formal driveway, bordered with Louis Philippe roses, leads to the mansion. Giant magnolias and evergreen laurimundi splash the landscape with white and green. Formal flower beds, with boxwood borders, cover the entire acreage of the foreground to Magnolia Vale.

The Mississippi River has continuously eaten into the grounds of Magnolia Vale until much of this promontory has vanished into the waters. Although the great house shows marked evidence of “settling” from year to year, and is occupied now by a caretaker only, the gardens are given constant attention. The same trim boxwood hedges, the same formal walks and beloved flower beds, the same shrubs, the same tall trees, and the maze of gardenia and japonica greet the visitor and shed perfume across the broad and mighty river, which ravenously eats at the very roots of these gorgeous plants.

_Mount Repose_

Here is a huge, comfortable, old-fashioned, country gentleman’s home—in appearance and in literal fact “Mount Repose”. The name aptly describes the first impression of every visitor.

The house is situated on an elevation, surrounded by broad green acres.

Built in the early 1800’s, Mount Repose has been the scene of much that is interesting in the story of Natchez. It is part of the original estate of William Bisland, a Scotsman. From this family comes the author Elizabeth Bisland who through close association with Lafcadio Hearn, when both of them worked for the old New Orleans _Picayune_, was able to write the interesting life of that genius. This book and many others by Elizabeth Bisland, including _Candle of Understanding_ and _The Case of John Smith_, can be found in public libraries today.

The present owners of Mount Repose, Mr. and Mrs. A. R. Baldwin of New York, are direct descendants of the Bisland family. Its present occupants, the J. D. Shields family are also descendants of the Bislands. Mrs. Shields is a descendant of the renowned English beauty, Margaret Watts, who married the Spanish Governor, Manuel Gayoso de Lemos, who is prominently identified with Natchez’ earliest history.

The original furnishings of Mount Repose have gone out to Bisland heirs, and yet valuable antiques and family portraits remain in the old house.

An interesting story is told of a wager expressive of the loyalty of William Bisland to Henry Clay.

Mr. Bisland believed that Henry Clay should be, and would be, the next president of the United States. He laid a wager in accordance with his belief. He had just planted a formal line of sentinel trees along a driveway to the main entrance of Mount Repose. He openly declared that this driveway would be closed until Clay was elected. He then proceeded with great preparations for its formal opening, but history tells why today there grow two long lines of well-spaced trees from the big front gate to the house—that gate unopened through the years! The entrance to Mount Repose is through the side gate. Henry Clay was never elected president.

_Melmont_

’Way back in 1839, when Henry Basil Shaw married Mary Elizabeth Lattimore, profound consideration was given to naming the homes and estates of Natchez. It is almost certain that the mistress of Melmont pondered long and consulted her family before deciding the name. She chose to use the three initials of Mary Elizabeth Lattimore to form the first part of the name, “Mel”, and added “mont” because the mansion stood mounted on a rolling acreage. Thus “Melmont” was coined.

Melmont is unlike other Natchez homes. The architecture is its own peculiar type. A sturdy, well-built house, it has for almost a century cared for Natchez’ foremost citizens and their illustrious guests. Claiborne, the historian, Judge Samuel Brooks, and other prominent men spent much time at Melmont.

The acreage around Melmont has been sold and modern homes have been built on the land. Melmont is now a palatial town house, no longer a country home.

Melmont was within the Federal lines during the War Between the States. When Natchez was shelled from the river in 1862 shells fell in the yard and gardens and destroyed giant oak trees and landscaping.

The interior decoration and furnishing are to a great extent from the original family although many handsome pieces have been added by subsequent owners. Mrs. John Ayres and her sister, Miss Corinne Henderson, have occupied this home for many years. Mrs. Ayers especially prizes a mahogany bureau which has chests on either side for storing wigs.

A valuable Hepplewhite desk in the drawing room attracts much interest. It belonged to the renowned John Henderson, and it was here he is believed to have written an appeal to Congress in 1798 “for schools for the education of children and provision for regular ministry of the Gospel.”

Melmont is well preserved, exterior and interior, and holds great charm for all who come within its portals.

_Melrose_

Melrose, called “the perfect ante-bellum home”, is located about a mile from Natchez city limits. This model mansion, built in the early 40’s, owned and occupied by Mr. and Mrs. George M. D. Kelly, is, by courtesy of the owners, opened for inspection during the annual Pilgrimage celebration of the Natchez Garden Club. In an entire day one can only glimpse Melrose and its treasures. Another full day could be well spent in the surrounding woodlands and boxwood bordered gardens.

Built in 1845 by Judge Edward Turner for his daughter, Mrs. McMurran, it was purchased immediately after the War Between the States by George Malin Davis, grandfather of the present owner, George Malin Davis Kelly. Mr. Kelly has with great pride of possession kept the Melrose home and estate in its original perfection.

The approach to Melrose is through acres of lawn as smooth as stretched velvet. The house is an imposing brick building of the square Georgian architectural design, with upper and lower porticos, and supporting Ionic columns.

The front door is of attractive Colonial style with diamond shaped sidelights. A broad sweep of steps lead to the wide portico.

A spacious hall runs through the lower floor. It is appropriately furnished in rare old pieces; among these is an unusual table which is set with semi-precious stones, and an ancient grandfather’s clock. The lighting for this grand hallway is provided by numerous rows of candles, held in dainty but substantial frames. The floor covering (which is the original) attracts immediate attention by reason of its beauty, unique design, and quality. It can be best described as a striking inlay of unknown origin.

To the right of the hall is the front drawing room. The rosewood furniture is Empire style, and is in as perfect condition today as on the day of its purchase.

To the left is a dining room 20 feet square. Black marble mantels add dignity to the room. A handsome mahogany punka swings over the dining table. This bespeaks undeniable antiquity. Until quite recently the owners of Melrose cared for several old slaves who pulled the punka to create breezes for the comfort of the family during meals.

Melrose still uses its outside brick kitchen, reached by a broad brick walk from the main house. Above the kitchen are quarters for the house servants.

The upper floors of Melrose contain bedrooms, halls, and a sewing room. Massive beds so high that occupants must climb in by a set of specially made mahogany steps; heavy bureaus, armoirs, dressing tables, tilt top tables, and day bed—all are heirlooms of the original owners and of the present owners.

Mr. Davis (the grandfather of the present owner) came South from Pennsylvania many years before the war of ’61, and was educated at Sewanee College, Sewanee, Tennessee. His only daughter married Dr. Stephen Kelly of New York, and that daughter became the mother of George M. D. Kelly, the present owner of Melrose mansion.

George M. D. Kelly and his wife, who was Miss Ethel Moore, are members of old New York families but have long since adopted the Southland as their home.

_Monmouth_

Near “Linden”, on a velvety lawn guarded by great oaks, stands a Grecian-type mansion. This is Monmouth, now owned and maintained by Mrs. Hubert Barnum. Mrs. Barnum, owner of “Arlington”, the adjoining estate, is probably the only Natchezian who owns and operates two great ante-bellum homes.

Historically Monmouth is known as the home of John A. Quitman and his wife, Eliza. General Quitman, a hero of national renown, raised the first American flag in Mexico. He purchased this mansion and fifteen surrounding acres about the year 1826.

Edith Wyatt Moore in her story of Monmouth says: “John A. Quitman and Eliza Turner drew a marriage contract prior to their wedding. He relinquished all right of inheritance to her property in case of her death without children. He gave her the right to handle slaves and property or dispose of same without his consent.” General Quitman was a native of New York.

A man of great popularity and military distinction, General Quitman’s home became the scene of many gatherings of the notables of America. Monmouth was classed among the most perfectly appointed homes of its day.

General Quitman died in 1859 from what was suspected as the effect of slow poison administered at a banquet given in honor of President Buchanan.

For a period following General Quitman’s death his beloved Monmouth was vacant. It became dilapidated from disuse, and after passing through many hands was purchased by Mrs. Annie Gwynne, who is now Mrs. Barnum. Every part has been repaired or renewed and the old mansion stands today in majestic perfection.

Great square pillars support the upper portico, which is encircled by attractive lattice grill work. The walls are of brick. The doors, with fan transoms and side-lights, and the window frames are made of hand-carved wood. Spacious halls, huge rooms with high ceilings, and a pervading air of solid, substantial structure make Monmouth a monument eternal to a man whose memory shall never die—a man of whom it was said, “He is Mississippi’s best-loved citizen.”

The original furnishings of Monmouth are long since gone. These were supplanted by rare antiques from the superb collection of Mrs. Barnum’s family, the Greens, who founded Greensboro, North Carolina.

_Monteigne_

“Monteigne” is a recently acquired possession of one of Natchez’ most valued families, Mrs. Mary Worrell Kendall and Mr. and Mrs. William Kendall. It was built in 1855 as the home of Gen. William T. Martin of the Confederacy, whose features are carved on Stone Mountain as a representative of the State of Mississippi. Hand-hewn timbers discovered when excavating the foundation for “Monteigne” lead to the belief that this was the site of a home destroyed during the Indian Massacre of 1729.

The place bears the French Huguenot name for Martin, “Monteigne”. It is unlike any of the old homes around Natchez. Predominantly Georgian in appearance, Monteigne stands out distinctively. A solid, two-story structure, built of sturdiest timbers, this home has withstood the ravages of time and the desecration of opposing forces during the War Between the States.

It is said that horses were “stalled” in the parlors by Yankee soldiers, rosewood furniture used for kindling fires, and valuable silver and brass melted and lost.

Upon his return from the war, General Martin saw the destruction of the beauty of his house and its grounds. With the undismayed courage of a great man who knows how to overcome defeat, he began the restoration of his home and its eleven acres of yard and gardens.

When Leslie Carpenter bought Monteigne in 1928 Natchez was assured another perfect estate. Terraced lawns and rose gardens were brought to life; driveways, trellises, shrubbery, and flagged walks were restored to this classic home.

The interior of Monteigne is stately—formal and yet inviting—with the black and white mosaic floor in its great entrance hall.

Monteigne recently passed from the Carpenters to the present owners, Mrs. Mary Worrell Kendall, her son, William, and his wife and their two little daughters.

_Myrtle Terrace_

Substantial and compact, this Colonial cottage is one of the reclaimed small ante-bellum homes of Natchez. Built in the 1830’s, it is more than a century old.

In 1844 Myrtle Terrace was purchased by the late L. N. Carpenter, who, in turn, sold it to the renowned Captain Thomas Leathers of steamboat fame. The agreement to buy stipulated in minute detail that the property must be put in “ship shape”, carefully specifying “hinges on the windows, fastenings on the cellar door, latches on the gates, blinds on all windows except the dormers, building a stable and a carriage house”.

Captain Leathers was identified with the famous _Natchez-Robert E. Lee_ steamboat race from New Orleans to St. Louis, on the Mississippi river, in 1870. The prize was $20,000. The race has become an epic. So thrilling is it in the history of river traffic it was dramatized in a recent celebration on the Pacific Coast.

Captain Leathers of the _Natchez_ lost the race to Captain Cannon of the _Robert E. Lee_ not because he had a slower boat but because of his over-confidence. He traveled nonchalantly and made all his regular stops. In the pinch he would not jeopardize the safely of his passengers by pressing his boilers beyond the safety point.

Captain Leathers lived in Myrtle Terrace for many years, and the place is still known as the “home of the Captain of the steamboat _Natchez_”. It is now owned and occupied by Mr. and Mrs. Dan Tucker, who have reclaimed the old lines of the house and have added modern interior improvements.

_Propinquity_

In the long ago, when each Southern plantation was identified by a specially chosen name, the naming of homes around Natchez was a great event. When land was opened and a home built, a recorded name was given, and neither time nor change of owner or occupant changed the name of that plantation. Interesting indeed are the stories of the names selected.

“Propinquity” was named in 1810 by its owner, Brigadier General Leonard Covington, and was so named because its lands adjoined Fort Dearborn where he was in command of a troop of Light Dragoons. Today Propinquity is appropriate as “near to nature”.

The plantation belonged originally to one William Belk. The records shows that in 1797 a committee met at this place for the purpose of appointing a Public Safety organization, the first American political assembly held in the Lower Mississippi Valley.

For several generations Propinquity has been owned by the descendants of Jane Long, the famous “Mother of Texas”, who spent many happy days in this quaint old home. It is still a reliquary for interesting possessions of the Texas heroine.

Situated on a side road off the original “Natchez Trace”, this old house is built on simple early American lines. A wide center hall with a deep mahogany stairway runs the length of the two huge rooms on either side. Green shuttered, small pane windows, a solid three-panel front door with straight glass sidelights, and a small upper and lower portico complete the simple picture of this old home.

The furnishings are of the original purchase. There is a tiny melodeon in the parlor. Its quaint type indicates very early “vintage”—a rare museum piece.

Hand Made Wax Fruit Under a Glass Globe]

Bedrooms where rested the nobility of the land in earlier days are still prim and precise with poster beds in their original draperies, mahogany armoirs, bureaus with numerous side compartments and many mirrors to please the fancy of milady of the early fifties.

In the dining room there is an exquisite set of china, and despite the fact that it has been in daily use for more than one hundred years, only two small pieces are missing from the set of 200 pieces. This gives an idea of the order and system, and the appreciation for the valuable and beautiful at Propinquity.

The house is occupied by Miss Rebecca Miller and Mrs. M. E. Fauntleroy, who are descendants of the renowned Jane Long.

_Ravenna_

At the end of Union street, on ten acres of ground which edges a great ravine or bayou, stands Ravenna, the present home of Mrs. Richard I. Metcalf.

Ravenna was built more than one hundred years ago by the Harris family. It has stood the test of time and of the tornado of 1840. It stands today in the superior dignity of perfection. The property was acquired by the family of its present owner about eighty years ago.

Ravenna shows every evidence of an inherited love of flowers. This comes from Andrew Brown of “Brown’s Gardens”, and Mrs. Metcalf, a direct descendant, has expressed that inherited taste and talent in the beautification of Ravenna.

The house is the large Colonial type. An outstanding feature of the interior is an exquisite stairway and a great assembly of unusual, massive antiques.

The charm of Ravenna is its setting. Facing a great ravine, the old home is surrounded by flowers. A huge wisteria vine covers the front of the house with purple blossoms. The side of the place toward the town is enclosed by a high iron fence of massive design. The main entrance is through heavy iron gates that lead along the winding tulip bordered driveway to the front portico. Bordering this driveway are radiant azalea bushes and japonicas, while at certain seasons of the year the deep pink of flowering peach trees and almond trees give vivid color splotches which intensify the beauty of these grounds.

A point of interesting antiquity at Ravenna is the name “Caroline Harris” scratched with a diamond into a window pane. This proves conclusively that the windows were there in 1840 when the Harrises owned Ravenna.

During the War Between the States the peace of Ravenna was greatly disturbed by Federal soldiers who ordered the Metcalfs to leave this home. Mrs. Metcalf was suspected of communicating with the Confederate soldiers through the bayou.

Alter the war Ravenna was reclaimed and again occupied by the Metcalf family.

“Little Ravenna”, the cottage home of the late Mrs. Zulika Metcalf Lawrence, stands on the Ravenna grounds, as does also a palatial residence occupied by Mrs. Roan Fleming Byrnes, who is a leading spirit in promoting the great Natchez Trace highway project.

This group of family homes, under the sheltering eaves of the parent home, Ravenna, eloquently bespeaks that close and lovable family life of the South as it has existed for generations.

_Oakland_

Among the numerous ante-bellum homes of Natchez which are today owned and occupied by lineal descendants of the original owners “Oakland” stands preeminent. Built in 1838 for Catherine Chotard Eustis, the granddaughter of Major Stephen Minor, this home remains in the possession of the Minor family. The present owner is Mrs. Jeanne Minor McDowell. Major Minor was the last Governor of the Natchez District under Spanish rule.

Oakland is located in secluded grounds, and, as its name implies, stands in a land of oaks.

The house is a substantial brick building with a wide front portico and broad brick steps. The spacious center hallway opens with heavy mahogany entrance doors into an old-fashioned parlor on the right and a large dining room on the left. The walls are covered with the original paper.

Many pieces of the original furnishings remain. Several rare pieces were brought to Oakland from “Concord”, which was the Governor’s official mansion and was destroyed by fire.

The Minors were lovers of race horses, and valuable paintings of beautiful horses owned by the family adorn the walls. Two especially fine horse pictures are by Troye. Many silver trophies of racing victories form an interesting part of Oakland possessions.

In this house is a bed of unique type, known as “a family bed”. It is a huge four-poster with silken tester. As broad as it is long, there is plenty of room for six persons to sleep comfortably!

Ante-bellum gardens wherein grow verbena, gardenia, and sweet olive, with clipped boxwood borders, complete the handsome setting of Oakland.

_Richmond_

Life at Richmond today seems a continuous house party. The present owners (seven daughters, one son, and one granddaughter of the late Shelby Marshall) are the fifth and sixth generations of the illustrious Levin R. Marshall family to own and occupy this old and hospitable mansion. It contains 41 rooms.

The architecture of Richmond shows three distinct styles. The original center building, 153 years old, is of Spanish design; the front, 105 years old, is of Greek design; and 77 years ago the square English portion of the house was built.

The Spanish part, constructed of sturdy hand-hewn timbers, brick, and cement, is in an excellent state of preservation. It has stood without reconstruction throughout the years. There is a cement patio on the ground level, and cypress steps with artistic iron grill rails reach the main floor from the outside. Here one can sound the door knocker, and soon hear heavy wooden bars being lifted. This was the security against Indians and other intruders of early days, and such protection remains intact at Richmond.

In 1832 Richmond became the property of Levin R. Marshall, great-great-grandfather of the present owners, and it was he who added the lovely Greek portion. This addition contains six large rooms on the main floor and four in the basement.

Twenty-eight years later, in order to accommodate a rapidly growing family and numbers of guests, the red brick English addition was built in the rear.

The main entrance has a front portion with classic Corinthian columns supporting the roof. A broad hall, the length of two twenty-foot rooms, runs through the center to a formal dining room. This formal room opens with four tall folding doors into a smaller family dining room. There are double drawing rooms on the left side of the great hall.

The massive old furniture remains today in Richmond, as does the family silver, which is the most ornate and beautiful silver service in the entire South.

The front drawing room harbors a greatly prized relic of the past—the quaint concert grand piano which was used to accompany the famous song-bird Jenny Lind when, under the management of that superb showman, P. T. Barnum, she toured the South. A beautiful portrait of Jenny Lind hangs near the old piano.

Richmond contains a rich treasure store of old laces, quaint costumes, and queer candelabra. Quite recently there was discovered an assortment of pans and plumber’s equipment. When assembled this “find” proved to be a bathtub of probably the 1850 model. The fastidious bather stood in a tin basin, pulled a curtain for privacy, while a slave by means of a small hand pump pumped water from a two-gallon tank overhead; this water ran over the bather, down into the basin, and was, in turn, pumped up and the bather reshowered.

Fortunes have been made and lost by Richmond owners. The generosity of Levin R. Marshall extended to the State of Texas and the town of Marshall, in Texas, is named in honor of this family.

_Rosalie_

In the Natchez country “Rosalie” is a magic name. It conjures up memories of startling days that were, and stimulates the imagination to see Indians and soldiers and people from foreign lands.

The home, “Rosalie”, bears the name and is situated near the site of Fort Rosalie, which was built by the French in the early 1700’s.

No home in Natchez is of greater historical importance than Rosalie. The building was started about 1820 by Peter B. Little, and required seven years for completion. All materials are of the choicest selection. Home-burned bricks and hand-hewn timbers were used in its construction.

Rosalie is situated 200 feet above the Mississippi River. It is now the home of Miss Rebecca Rumble and Mrs. James Marsh. It contains many original pieces of furniture, carpets, and exquisite chandeliers. A valuable piece is the mahogany table at which Jefferson Davis, president of the Confederacy, and U. S. Grant dined.

Mr. Little married his thirteen-year-old ward, and sent her to Baltimore to be educated. It was while she was in school that he built this mansion in which to receive her when she returned.

It is believed that the ground immediately back of Rosalie is the site of the great Indian massacre of the French in 1729.

Railroad tracks and driveways have cut through the acres that were originally Rosalie private grounds, but the yard and gardens of the old home are well kept and are filled with old-fashioned flowers and shrubbery of days long gone.

Rosalie was General Grant’s headquarters during the Federal occupation of Natchez in the War Between the States.

The present occupants display with much pride the huge four-poster mahogany bed in which General Grant slept during his stay at this old house.

Rosalie has been purchased by the Daughters of the American Revolution, and will be maintained as a public shrine. Many of the encroaching industrial buildings will soon give way to the original acreage that formed the gardens of Rosalie.

_Parsonage_

Under the very eaves of old “Rosalie” with its historic background of Fort Rosalie, stands a sturdy square structure known as “The Parsonage”.

It is a brick building with an English basement, the entrance leading by broad steps to the elevated first floor.

While of no particular historic interest, The Parsonage has its story.

It was built by Peter Little, the owner and builder of Rosalie, and bears the same evidence of sturdy construction exemplified in the larger home.

Like most men, Mr. Little wanted the privacy of his own home, while Mrs. Little, due to religious enthusiasm, felt called upon to entertain every preacher and his family who passed that way. By reason of this devotion to religious duty, “Rosalie” was kept filled with ministerial guests.

Following a long siege of such guests Mr. Little declared to his wife, “I am going to build a home for your church friends and their families”. True to this decision he built a lovely home, and in November 1850 deeded it to the Methodist Church and called it “The Parsonage”.

After the death of his young wife Mr. Little lived on at Rosalie, a brokenhearted, lonely old man, until, tradition tells, while ill and alone, in the dark hours of night, the master of Rosalie and builder of The Parsonage which he designed to insure his seclusion, was murdered by one of his own slaves.

Later The Parsonage was sold. Today, with its exquisite antique furnishings, it is the property of the Orrick Metcalfs, who are descendants of one of Natchez’ oldest and most respected families.

_Stanton Hall_

In the heart of the city of Natchez stands an imposing mansion, “Stanton Hall”. It is surrounded by a half-acre of rolling lawn which is enclosed by an iron fence. This strong iron fence is in a delicate design and is itself worth a small fortune.

Stanton Hall is the most handsome old home, and probably the most expensive, in the entire Natchez area. It is not of great historical value but it well represents the architectural grandeur of the Old South.

It was built during the 1851-56 period. As the building materials were imported, the house required several years for its construction.

On the first floor there are four tremendous rooms and a broad hall. Hand carvings for doors and windows, Carrara marble mantels, silver and bronze hinges, bronze chandeliers, and exquisite over-size mirrors required a specially chartered ship for their delivery to complete this handsome home. It was built for Frederick Stanton of Belfast, Ireland, and his young wife, Hulda Helm Stanton, a lady of the Natchez neighborhood.

The spacious grounds resemble a well-kept park. Aged oaks spread their moss-draped boughs in a latticed shield, as it were, across the front where white Corinthian columns support the massive portico which is outlined by iron grill railings of intricate lacy pattern.

To the right of the entrance is a large drawing room, and back of this, through an elaborate archway, is a very unusual music room. This room is decorated with murals of musical instruments on which appear the names of the great old music masters.

Woodwork and doors on the first floor are of solid mahogany, with silver hinges and silver door knobs.

After Stanton Hall passed from the original owners in the year 1894, it was used as a select school, known as “Stanton College for Young Ladies”.

In August 1920 Robert T. Clarke bought Stanton Hall and has occupied it since that date. He recently sold the property to the Pilgrimage Garden Club.

_Weymouth Hall_

Unusual and peculiar is the construction of Weymouth Hall. It was purchased by Col. John Weymouth in 1821 and was rebuilt in 1852 by the Bullock family. It is a three-story brick building overlooking the Mississippi River, and has for its back view acres of Natchez cemetery.

The upper stories are reached by a winding stairway. The third floor is a ballroom. During the War Between the States this room was used as headquarters for Union soldiers because it gave a perfect view of the river and surrounding country.

Stark Young in _So Red the Rose_ refers to Weymouth Hall and the death of Mrs. John Weymouth in the room below the Union headquarters. He gives a vivid description of the agony of the family as they watched a loved one slip away forever amid the hostile booming of drums above her bedroom.

The furnishings, woodwork, and mantels in Weymouth Hall are fascinating in perfection and antiquity. In the living room on the second floor is a black marble mantel inlaid with colored roses of mother of pearl. Fabulous offers have been declined for this mantel. There is probably not another like it in the entire South.

This old home is now owned and occupied by the Zurhellen and Morton families, who are lineal descendants of Mrs. John Weymouth.

_Ruins of Windsor_

Twenty-two stone Corinthian columns stand today as remnants of a grand example of ante-bellum Greek Revival architecture.

Windsor was built in 1861 by S. C. Daniel, a wealthy Mississippi planter who also had large land holdings in Louisiana. It had five stories, topped by an observatory. It is said that Mark Twain, when a Mississippi steamboat pilot, charted his course at this point by the lofty tower of Windsor.

The house and its furnishings were destroyed by fire in 1890.

_Windy Hill Manor_

Nine miles from Natchez, on the Liberty road, in a picturesque, moss-draped grove, stands “Windy Hill Manor”, home of the Misses Stanton.

The records show that Windy Hill originally belonged to Joseph Ford. It was under the ownership of Benjamin Osmun, a close friend of Aaron Burr, that the place received its great historical interest.

After Aaron Burr had been accused of treason against his own country and released on $5,000 bail, he was invited to be the guest of his old friend Benjamin Osmun at Windy Hill.

One hundred and twenty years ago Benjamin Osmun sold this plantation to General Brandon, great-grandfather of the Stanton sisters who now occupy it. The Stantons gave the property the name of “Windy Hill Manor”.

Architecturally this house, like many of the cottage type ante-bellum homes, is a surprise, when upon entering it is found to be of commodious proportions.

It is a story-and-a-half, plantation type home, with wide porch and large columns across the front.

There is a beautiful spiral stairway in the wide front hall. To the left is a large drawing room containing numerous relics of days long gone; portraits of past generations; antique furniture, and a most interesting collection of Indian relics. Also, an unusual fireplace and mantel are in this room.

Time has marched on but Windy Hill Manor remains a living, vibrant picture of the days of the ease and graciousness of the Old South. The Misses Stanton complete the perfection of this period picture.

Here our visit to the old estates comes to an end. Lack of space has prevented inclusion of all of the ante-bellum homes, but we hope that we have nevertheless captured the charm of Natchez.

Transcriber’s Notes

--Copyright notice provided as in the original—this e-text is public
domain in the country of publication.

--Silently corrected palpable typos; left non-standard spellings and
dialect unchanged.

--Moved some captions closer to the corresponding pictures, removing
extraneous spatial references like “(next page)”.

--In the text versions, delimited italicized text by _underscores_.