Natchez, Mississippi: A history of Native Americans, Slavery, Cotton and Plantations

Have mask and hand sanitizer. Ready to social distance and stay away from crowds. Old car packed and ready for the road. It’s time to travel.

Life has been rather quiet and sedate for me since I returned from my travels more than four months ago through Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia and Malayasia. It took the spread of the coronavirus reaching a world-wide pandemic level for not only the Malaysian government, where I was at the time, to close down the country and its borders; but for most countries around the world, including my own here in the U.S., to do the same. Extraordinary times to be a human on this planet and to be witness to a world wide pandemic that has caused so much sickness, economic hardship and death.

I won’t get into the politics of things or how my country has now become the world leader of coronavirus infections and deaths, but the sadness and tragedy is soul crushing and painful to know that so many of my country’s people have suffered and will continue to do so on a level I never anticipated happening here.

Travel? Seems so out of place in this time of Covid-19. Yet, with caution, I am doing just that, traveling. However, as a traveler, I am limited to the places I can go in this world and even in my own country. American travelers like myself are not allowed at present to travel into our neighboring country of Canada, to any of the 26 European Union countries or for that matter. Even the Bahama Island, just 55 miles from Southwest Florida is off limits to us Americans. And if this were not enough, some northern states are requiring residents from southern states, where the coronavirus outbreak is spreading, to quarantine upon entering their state.

But, I’m on a road trip. Me and my 15-year-old red Subaru Forrester. Although my plan is to spend several weeks in Florida with my brother David and sister-in-law Justine, my goal is to both get in a good exercise regime and nutrition with my childhood friend Jeanette Gray-White, a fitness and wellness coach, and explore some small towns throughout my stay in Florida and as I continue my road trip onwards. I have no other concrete plans in mind. I’ve decided that I will make them up as I move along the way.

For now, I’d like to introduce you to Natchez, Mississippi, which began as early as the 700s by the Natchez tribe of Native Americans, for whom the city is named. The Natchez are considered to be the last American Indian group to inhabit this area until the 1700s when the tribe was dispersed in a war with the French.

The French were first to occupy the land of the Natchez Indians and brought the first enslaved Africans as chattel slaves to Natchez to cultivate tobacco in the early 1700s. An enslaved person who is owned forever and whose children and children’s children are also automatically enslaved is the definition of chattel slavery. European governments and monarchs supported and made it legal for chattel slaves to be treated as complete property, to be bought and sold.

Then in the late 1700’s, the Spanish-ruled the Natchez region and as an alternative to tobacco and indigo, cotton had begun to be grown becoming the main cash crop of enslaving plantation owners. The Natchez region was transported into a vast cotton-picking industry thus creating an insatiable demand for thousands more enslaved Africans with Natchez at the center of the American slave trade with its own slave markets for the selling of enslaved people.

Luxurious antebellum homes abound. Natchez is said to have more than 500 antebellum structures inside the city limits. Unlike many parts of the South, Natchez escaped much of the destruction that took place during the Civil War.

In 1860, Natchez was one of the wealthiest cities in the United States. Within the surrounding Adams County, population 14,000, nearly 70 percent were enslaved. A few individuals held the vast majority of those slaves. Some 40 or so individuals each owned 90 or more slaves. When the Civil War began, 15 companies of Confederate militia formed in Natchez. Wealthy planters equipped many of them with uniforms and weapons. In May 1862, after capturing New Orleans and Baton Rouge, Union gunboats steamed up the Mississippi River and briefly occupied the city. Union troops returned to Natchez on July 13, 1863, and held it throughout the war.

Natchez, where the Native Americans were defeated by the French along with being the center of chattel slavery markets, is also known for its sumptuous historic mansions and plantations, built throughout the 1800s when the region boomed with cotton.

It’s the history of Natchez and the actual charm of this present-day city that I found alluring enough to explore. So, glad I did. Come join me in Natchez, Mississippi.

Crossing the Natchez–Vidalia Bridge, two twin cantilever bridges carrying U.S. Route 84, and 425 across the Mississippi River between Vidalia, Louisiana and Natchez, Mississippi. The westbound bridge opened October 1940 and the eastbound portion of the twin cantilever bridge opened June 1988. Crossing state borders, even during the spread of Covid-19, from Texas to Louisiana and into Mississippi was uneventful, as normal. (July 30, 2020)

Sunset at Bluff Park in Natchez, Mississippi overlooking the Mississippi River with a view of the Natchez–Vidalia Bridge in the distance. This is how I spent my first night in Natchez. (July 30, 2020)

A view of the Mississippi River at Bluff Park in Natchez, Mississippi. (July 30, 2020)

Bluff Park in Natchez with views of the Mississippi River and the Natchez–Vidalia Bridge in the distance. (July 30, 2020)

The walking ‘Bridge of Sighs’ along the bluffs overlooking the Mississippi River also has a view of the Natchez–Vidalia Bridge in the distance. Named after the famous ‘Bridge of Sighs’ in Venice, Italy, the original bridge collapsed in the 1880s, with a new, modern bridge completed in 2015. (July 31, 2020)

The Natchez Grand Hotel & Suites, where I stayed, in Natchez, Mississippi, is situated with a picture perfect view of Bluff Park and the Mississippi River. (July 30, 2020)

The Gazebo at Bluff Park in Natchez, Mississippi. (July 30, 2020)

My first palatial mansion tour of the day was the Choctaw Hall mansion on Wall Street in Natchez, Mississippi. Built around 1836, it features a blend of Greek Revival to Federal styles with double porches and white columns that bookend the front and the back of the house making it picture of elegance on the street corner. The four story mansion contains a Bed & Breakfast 4-bedroom suites on the found floor while the remaining three floors are for the owner, resident and tour guide, David Garner. I was the only one to show up for one of the two daily tours at 11 am and 1 p.m. And, the tour guide was both owner and resident of this lavish mansion. (July 31, 2020)

The front door entrance, up the stairs, to the Choctaw Hall mansion on Wall Street in Natchez, Mississippi.(July 31, 2020)

The back entrance of the Choctaw Hall mansion on Wall Street in Natchez, Mississippi. Built around 1836, it features a blend of Greek Revival to Federal styles with double porches and white columns that bookend the front and the back of the house making it picture of elegance on the street corner. (July 31, 2020)

The stunning front door hallway to the Choctaw Hall mansion in Natchez with its cypress wood floors and gorgeous ceiling medallion and chandelier. (July 31. 2020)

The splendid formal dining room of the Choctaw Hall mansion on Wall Street in Natchez, Miss., is already set for fine dining with a blend of the Cupit/Garner family china and represents four complete collections of porcelain from seven generations. According to David Garner, the mansion’s owner, resident and tour guide, it was not unusual for families to have 17 course dinners that lasted for hours. (July 31, 2020)

The splendid main dining room of the Choctaw Hall mansion on Wall Street in Natchez, Miss. The table is set for an elegant dinner party and represents four complete collections of porcelain from seven generations of the Cupit/Garner family collections along with furnishings of and the William IV and Early American Empire. (July 31, 2020)

And just across from the main dining room is this lavishly decorated parlor at the Choctaw Hall mansion in Natchez. (July 31, 2020)

David Garner standing in the parlor of his Choctaw Hall home/mansion in Natchez giving me a personal tour of the mansion he refurbished with his business partner containing many of his family’s highly prized heirlooms. His candor, sense of humor and graciousness were much appreciated as he explained the history of the home and its contents. Garner comes off modest when speaking of the work he’s done to restore the once abandoned home, which was built in 1836 and features a blend of Greek revival and Federal styles. The William IV and Early American Empire furnishings are also from Garner’s family collections of generations’ worth of custom-made curtains, table settings, artwork and more. (July 31, 2020)

Another look at the parlor from the adjoining music room at the Choctaw Hall mansion in Natchez, Miss. (July 31, 2020)

The decorative and beautifully ornate porcelain collection signed by French porcelain-maker Jacob Petit are lavish Cupit/Garner family heirlooms that can be seen throughout the parlor and music rooms of the Choctaw Hall mansion in Natchez, Mississippi. (July 31, 2020)

A close up of the intricate carvings ornate porcelain collection signed by French porcelain-maker Jacob Petit are lavish Cupit/Garner family heirlooms that can be seen throughout the parlor and music rooms of the Choctaw Hall mansion in Natchez, Mississippi. (July 31, 2020)

The music room across from the parlor of the Choctaw Hall mansion in Natchez, Mississippi. The home is furnished with William IV and Early American Empire furnishings. (July 31, 2020)

Another look of the music room of the Choctaw Hall mansion in Natchez, Mississippi. The home is furnished with William IV and Early American Empire furnishings. (July 31, 2020)

Garner’s grandmother, Grace Cupit’s portrait graces the music room wall at the Choctaw Hall mansion in Natchez. Garner said he got his taste for fine antiques and collector’s eye from his grandmother and detail, detail, detail is an important aspect of the decor inside the mansion. (July 31, 2020)

Detail. Detail. Detail. A Romeo and Juliet porcelain clock on the mantle of the music room at the Choctaw Hall mansion in Natchez. (July 31, 2020)

One of only four of these Marie Antoinette busts exist and this one can be found inside the music room at the Choctaw Hall mansion in Natchez. (July 31, 2020)

A showcase feature of the Choctaw Hall mansion in Natchez is the elliptical or spiral staircase which features an unbroken handrail that leads to the fourth floor or what is known as the palm room. (July 31, 2020)

And another view of the spiral staircase inside the Choctaw Hall mansion in Natchez from from the fourth floor palm room looking down to the second floor. (July 31, 2020)

This is the his and her rooms, across from one another on the second floor of the Choctaw Hall mansion in Natchez, Mississippi. The home is furnished with William IV and Early American Empire furnishings from the Cupit/Garner family collections. (July 31, 2020)

The other side of the his and her rooms, across from one another on the second floor of the Choctaw Hall mansion in Natchez, Mississippi. The home is furnished with William IV and Early American Empire furnishings. (July 31, 2020)

A close-up of the beautiful upholstered chairs in the second floor his and her room on the second floor of the Choctaw Hall mansion in Natchez. The home is furnished with William IV and Early American Empire furnishings. (July 31, 2020)

Even the bathroom, on the second floor, of the Choctaw Hall mansion in Natchez is palatial with its grand Blackamoor statues guarding the windows.
What is a blackamoor? The dictionary definition states: “So-called blackamoors, or black Moors, were originally black people from North Africa who worked as servants and slaves in wealthy European households. The negative connotation of the term comes from its historical association with servitude and from the perception that black Moors were strangely exotic. In 1596, Queen Elizabeth I targeted them for deportation.” (July 31, 2020)

A close-up of the Blackamoor statue in the corner of the second floor bathroom at the Choctaw Hall mansion in Natchez. This European art style is said to be from the Early Modern period depicting highly stylized figures, usually African males but sometimes other non-European peoples, in subservient or exoticized form. Blackamoor is often found in sculpture, jewelry, furniture, and decorative art. “Blackamoors have a long history in decorative art, stretching all the way back to 17th century Italy and the famous sculptor Andrea Brustolon (1662–1732).” (July 31, 2020)

The third floor palm room at the Choctaw Hall mansion in Natchez, Mississippi. (July 31, 2020)

David Garner, the charming owner, resident and delightful tour guide of the Choctaw Hall mansion on Wall Street in Natchez, Mississippi.
The house on Wall Street is filled with his Cupit/Garner family’s furnishing of William IV and Early American Empire pieces. (July 31, 2020)

The former and now historic toll plaza colonnade used to cross over the Mississippi River on the Natchez-Visalia Bridge in Natchez. (July 31, 2020)

The former and now historic toll plaza colonnade used to cross over the Mississippi River on the Natchez-Visalia Bridge in Natchez. The Mississippi River bridge operated initially as a toll bridge. (July 31, 2020)

The Natchez Visitor Reception Area on Canal Street in Natchez, Mississippi, has a number of historical and educational storyboards about the history of Natchez and Mississippi. (July 31, 2020)

Inside the Natchez Visitor Reception Area on Canal Street in Natchez, Mississippi with a number of historical and educational storyboards about the city of Natchez and the state of Mississippi. (July 31, 2020)

The Slave trade in Natchez

“In early 1833 Issac Franklin of the Kingpin Alexandria Virginia based slave trading’firm Franklin and Armfield, received a shipload of negroes for sale at Natchez. Several of them contracted cholera and died. Franklin partially buried their bodies in a local ravine that was soon discovered by city officials. The gruesome discovery provoked a great fear of the dreaded disease infecting the citizens of Natchez and nearby counties. The hysteria resulted in the city’s passage of an ordinance banning all long interstate ‘slave traders’ from selling enslaved persons within the city limits effective April 27, 1833. In response, the slave traders concentrated their dealings on the outskirts of town at a place known as the Forks of the Road.”

“The Forks of the Road intersection appears in maps of the Natchez area as early as 1808. The earliest known map illustrating slave markets at that location is a plat of St. Catherine Street drawn in 1853. In the 1853 map, two “Negro Marts” are shown at the Forks of the Road intersection: one inside the angle of the fork and another across Old Courthouse Road (Liberty Road) to the southwest.“

Since Natchez was the South’s second largest slave market from the 1830s until 1863 when slave trading flourished, prominent Natchez families, like the Stantons, built their businesses, ran their homes and built the city on the backs of enslaved Africans. Although not much is said about slavery during these mansion tours, slaves were an integral part of this household, many of whom lived on the property in an attached area to the back of the home.

The mansion was spared during the Civil War during 1861-1865, when it housed Union troops. In 1894 it became Stanton College for Young Ladies.

The Pilgrimage Garden Club purchased the home in 1938 and restored it to its former glory creating a historic house museum. It was deemed a National Historic Landmark in 1974.

This vacant area, known as the Forks of the Road in Natchez, Mississippi, became the second largest United States “Slave Market” in the Southwest. Along Liberty Road this was the center of the slave trade in Natchez, where enslaved humans were once bought and sold from the 1830s until 1863, was considered the busiest slave trading market towns in the nation. (July 31, 2020)

This vacant area, known as the Forks of the Road in Natchez, Mississippi, became the second largest United States “Slave Market” in the Southwest. (July 31, 2020)

Historical information boards at ‘Forks of the Road’ on Liberty Road in Natchez, Mississippi, gives the background of this specific area was the site of several markets where enslaved humans were bought and sold from the late 1830s until 1863. It was the center of the trade in Natchez, one of the busiest slave trading towns in the nation. (July 31, 2020)

Considered to be the South’s second largest slave market from the 1830s until 1863, Forks of the Road, was where enslaved people were once considered as property to be sold in Natchez, Mississippi. Natchez slaves were freed in July 1863 when Union troops occupied the city. The Forks of the Road market then became a refuge for the emancipated people. (July 31, 2020)

The grand Stanton Hall in Natchez, Mississippi, is an Antebellum Classical Revival mansion on High Street. The mansion was built during 1851–1857 for Frederick Stanton, a cotton broker, as a replica of his ancestral home in Ireland; and designed by architect Thomas Rose. Stanton named it ‘Belfast’, but he only lived in it a short time, about nine months, before he died in 1859 of yellow fever.
(July 31, 2020)

Stanton Hall, a palatial Greek Revival style antebellum home in Natchez, Mississippi, was completed in 1857. The white mansion sits on a tree-shaded property encompassing an entire city block in the heart of Natchez. Stanton, a wealthy planter and cotton merchant, was an Irish immigrant and he’d originally named the two-story house, Belfast. (July 31, 2020)

Stanton Hall, a palatial Greek Revival style antebellum home in Natchez, Mississippi, was completed in 1857. The white mansion sits on tree-shaded property encompassing an entire city block in the heart of Natchez. Stanton, a wealthy planter and cotton merchant, was an Irish immigrant and he’d originally named the house Belfast. (July 31, 2020)

The elegant wide interior hallway of the Stanton Hall mansion in Natchez with its delicately arched millwork and furnished period antiques along with original Stanton Family pieces. The interior of the Stanton Hall mansion played the home of the late U.S. actor Patrick Swayze’s character, a Confederate officer in the 1984 ABC mini-series “North and South.” (July 31, 2020)

The broad hallway with elaborately carved archways inside the Stanton Hall mansion in Natchez. (July 31, 2020)

One of the parlors of the double parlors at the Stanton Hall mansion in Natchez.(July 31, 2020)

A close-up of the carpet in the double parlors at the Stanton Hall mansion in Natchez. Although this carpet is not original to the mansion, I found it to be a rather bold way to decorate and cover the interior floors. (July 31, 2020)

Carrara marble mantels, bronze chandeliers, and exquisite over-size mirrors required a specially chartered ship for their delivery to complete the Stanton Hall mansion in Natchez. Built for Frederick Stanton of Belfast, Ireland, and his young wife, Hulda Helm Stanton, a lady of the Natchez neighborhood. (July 31, 2020)

The grand second floor hallway where six bedrooms are located inside the Stanton Hall mansion in Natchez with a colorful Far East themed wallpaper by French manufacturers Zuber. (July 31, 2020)

A close-up of a panel of the colorful Zuber wallpaper mural on the second floor of the Stanton Hall mansion in Natchez. Zuber & Cie, founded as Jean Zuber et Cie is a French manufacturing company founded in 1797 in Rixheim, France. The Frederick Post reported that Jean Zuber’s wallpapers were so respected that King Louis Philippe honored him with the Legion of Honor in 1834. The award was made for Zuber’s exhibit at the French Industrial Exposition of 1834. (July 31, 2020)

One of the six bedrooms on the second floor of the Stanton Hall mansion in Natchez appeared in the ABC mini-series North and South.
The mansion interior played the home of the late U.S. actor Patrick Swayze’s character, a Confederate officer, Orry Main, in the 1984 ABC mini-series “North and South.” This was Swayze’s character’s room in the mini series and a photo of Swayze, in character as Main, is on the fireplace mantle.
(July 31, 2020)

A close-up of the late U.S. actor Patrick Swayze, in character as Confederate officer, Orry Main, in the 1984 ABC mini-series “North and South.” This was Swayze’s character’s bedroom in the mini series and this photo of Swayze, in character as Main, is on the fireplace mantle of the second floor bedroom in the Stanton Hall mansion in Natchez. (July 31, 2020)

A bedroom on the second floor of the Stanton Hall mansion in Natchez. (July 31, 2020)

The main dining room inside the Stanton Hall mansion in Natchez, Mississippi. (July 31, 2020)

A close-up of the Native American themed chandelier carvings hanging in the main dining room of the Stanton Hall mansion in Natchez. (July 31, 2020)

In 1836, Natchez was designated as the See of the Roman Catholic Church in Mississippi. Construction of St. Mary’s Cathedral began in 1842 by Bishop J.M. Chance. This is the only church built as a cathedral in Mississippi. (July 31, 2020)

Inside St. Mary’s Cathedral in Natchez, Mississippi. (July 31, 2020)

The altar inside St. Mary’s Cathedral in Natchez, Mississippi. (July 31, 2020)

Inside the St. Mary’s Cathedral in Natchez with its beautiful stained glass. (July 31, 2020)

A close-up of the beautiful stained glass Inside the St. Mary’s Cathedral in Natchez. (July 31, 2020)

On the corner of Pearl and Washington Streets in Natchez is this antebellum mansion, the Magnolia Hall. Designed in 1858 by architect J. Edwards Smith and built by Thomas Henderson (1798-1863), a wealthy planter, merchant, and cotton broker. Henderson was a 60-year-old widower, with six enslaved African Americans, when he built his new mansion on the site of his old family home, Pleasant Hill. He moved the old house by having it rolled on logs to a site about a block away to free the lot for this grander, more modern home. This house has served as a home, an inn and a private school before being donated to the Natchez Garden Club. (July 31, 2020)

The back entrance to the Magnolia Hall mansion on the corner of Pearl and Washington Streets in Natchez. As a Greek Revival mansion it is a contributing property to the Natchez On Top of the Hill Historic District, listed on the National Register of Historic Places. (July 31, 2020)

One half of a double parlor on the main floor of the Magnolia Hall mansion in Natchez. Rooms on the main floor are filled with mid-19th century antiques, while rooms on the upper floors contain a costume collection. (July 31, 2020)

The other half of a double parlor on the main floor of the Magnolia Hall mansion in Natchez. Rooms on the main floor are filled with mid-19th century antiques, while rooms on the upper floors contain a costume collection. (July 31, 2020)

The magnolia blossom decorative molding on the chandelier ceiling of the Magnolia Hall mansion in Natchez. The name of the house was inspired by the plaster magnolia blossoms incorporated into the design of the parlor ceiling centerpieces on the main floor. (July 31, 2020)

A close-up of the magnolia blossom decorative molding on the chandelier ceiling of the Magnolia Hall mansion in Natchez. (July 31, 2020)

The downstairs bedroom of the Magnolia Hall mansion in Natchez, Thomas Henderson (1798-1863), a wealthy planter, merchant, and cotton broker. Henderson was a 60-year-old widower, with six enslaved African Americans, when he built his new mansion on the site of his old family home, Pleasant Hill. (July 31, 2020)

Another first floor parlor inside the Magnolia Hall mansion in Natchez. (July 31, 2020)

The enormous staircase and main floor hallway of the Magnolia Hall mansion in Natchez. (July 31, 2020)

A second floor bedroom inside the Magnolia Hall mansion in Natchez. (July 31, 2020)

Historic replica dresses from former Natchez Garden Club presidents on display on the second floor of the Magnolia Hall mansion in Natchez. Since 1932 the garden club has done a fall and spring pilgrimage, where owners of historic homes in the area open their homes for guided tours. Accompanying this is a pageant, where members of the garden club dress in historic antebellum attire and put on a show, at the end of which a new King and Queen is crowned. (July 31, 2020)

A close-up of historic replica dresses from former Natchez Garden Club presidents on display on the second floor of the Magnolia Hall mansion in Natchez. (July 31, 2020)

More historic children and teen garments on display on the second floor of the Magnolia Hall mansion by the Natchez Garden Club. (July 31, 2020)

The second floor of the Magnolia Hall mansion in Natchez, Mississippi. The photographs along the wall are the couples crowned as King and Queen from the Natchez Garden Club’s annual pageant since 1932. (July 31, 2020)

The Natchez Museum of African Art and Heritage, which traces the history of African Americans in Natchez and the South was unfortunately closed. Besides addressing the impact of slavery, the museum is said to have exhibits describing the contributions of the city’s African-American populace. (July 31, 2020)

The William Johnson House, Museum & Viator Center on State Street in Natchez, was where Johnson, a free man of color and his family lived during the antebellum era. An enslaved man, who was freed, Johnson started out as a barber and eventually owned several barber shops, rental property, a farm, and timberland; he also kept a lengthy personal diary from 1835-1851 that offers insights into antebellum southern life and relations between free people of color and whites. (July 31, 2020)

A historic marker on the Mississippi River Bluff and Woodlawn Avenue in Natchez, commemorates Richard Wright, who was born just 20-miles or so out of Natchez in Roxie, Mississippi. An author of novels, short stories, poems, and non-fiction, Wright’s literature concerns racial themes, especially related to the plight of African Americans during the late 19th to mid-20th centuries, who suffered discrimination and violence in the South and the North. Wright’s fame as an American writer was assured with the appearances of his landmark novel Native Son (1940) and his poignant autobiography Black Boy (1945).
The home behind the Wright historic marker is the Smith-Bontura-Evans-House, a historic house and business built by Robert D. Smith a free African American, who of all places came to Natchez to seek his fortune and he did just that. Smith built the combined building for his livery business and a Greek Revival residence between 1851 and 1858, when he passed away. His home later took its name for Jose Bontura, a Portuguese merchant who would operate an inn at Smith’s former home and business. (July 31, 2020)

Richard Wright (1908-1960) acclaimed African American novelist and social critic was born just outside of Natchez, Mississippi, on the Rucker plantation in Roxi, now part of Natchez State Park. His grandparents were born into slavery, but his parents were born free after the Civil War.
An author of novels, short stories, poems, and non-fiction, Wright’s literature concerns racial themes, especially related to the plight of African Americans during the late 19th to mid-20th centuries, who suffered discrimination and violence in the South and the North. Wright’s fame as an American writer was assured with the appearances of his landmark novel Native Son (1940) and his poignant autobiography Black Boy (1945). (July 31, 2020)

The Smith-Bontura-Evans-House, a historic house and business built by Robert D. Smith a free African American, who of all places came to Natchez to seek his fortune and he did just that. The house, which sits across Broadway Street from the Mississippi River Bluff, just across the historic marker sign honoring noted African American author Richard Wright who was born just outside of Natchez. Smith built the combined building for his livery business and a Greek Revival residence between 1851 and 1858, when he passed away. His home later took its name for Jose Bontura, a Portuguese merchant who would operate an inn at Smith’s former home and business. (July 31, 2020)

The Natchez City Cemetery main entrance in Natchez, Mississippi. The city’s earlier cemetery was located in Memorial Park adjacent to St. Mary’s Basilica in downtown Natchez. In 1822 remains of most burials there were reinterred at the current Natchez City Cemetery, along with remains from private plantation and churchyard burial grounds. (July 31, 2020)

The Natchez City Cemetery in Natchez, Mississippi, was established in 1822 on a 10-acre tract and grew into a park notable for its variety of 19th century iron and marble work. People from all walks of life are buried within the cemetery. (July 31, 2020)

The Natchez National Cemetery is a United States National Cemetery located in the city of Natchez overlooking the Mississippi River in Adams County, Mississippi. Administered by the United States Department of Veterans Affairs, it encompasses 25.7 acres, and as of the end of 2005, had 7,154 interments. (July 31, 2020)

The beautiful Crepe Myrtle tree-lined medium along the Melrose-Montebello Parkway in Natchez on the way to the Melrose Hall plantation. (Aug. 1, 2020)

The front lawn of the Melrose Hall plantation in Natchez. (Aug. 1, 2020)

The rear of Melrose Hall plantation in Natchez with the former dairy building (left) and the kitchen building (right). (Aug. 1, 2020)

The pair of white wooden slave cabins at the Melrose plantation in Natchez sits apart from the rest of the estate. The enslaved people who lived there were not tied to the call of the slave bells on the back of the plantation. Their tasks probably included working with some of the livestock or working on the estate grounds. The cabin to the right originally consisted of three rooms or “cells” with no interior doors. This cabin would have housed three separate families. The other, two-room cabin, would have held two families.
Slave cabins in town or on estates such as Melrose had wooden floors, glass paned windows with exterior shutters, and some store-bought furnishings. These cabins were often nicer in comparison to those on remote plantations. A wooden privy building, or outhouse, sits behind these two slave cabins.
Although the weather did not permit me to stay long, Melrose offers an audio tour of the slave quarters where you can hear how they lived their daily lives. (Aug. 1, 2020)

The Stable (front) and the Carriage House (to the back) on the 80-acre estate of the Melrose Hall plantation in Natchez. (Aug. 1, 2020)

The Grand Village of the Natchez Indians museum and visitors center at 400 Jefferson Davis Blvd., in Natchez, Mississippi, can be found at the end of the street after passing through a number of very upper middle class neighborhoods. The 128-acre site features two large, open plazas and three mounds. Only a few high-ranking Natchez would have lived on the mound. Most of the population was scattered across a wide area on farmsteads and gathered at the mound centers for important ceremonies. (Aug. 1, 2020)

The small museum at the Grand Village of the Natchez Indians in Natchez, Mississippi, features artifacts such as decorated clay pots and bowls, circa 1200 to 1730 AD. (Aug. 1, 2020)

A close-up of the decorated clay pottery at the small museum of the Grand Village of the Natchez Indians in Natchez, Mississippi. The Natchez Indians decorated some pottery pieces by engraving designs on the air dried pot before it was fired. A common Natchez motif was the circle and swirling line patterns seen on this pottery, circa 1200 to 1730 AD. (Aug. 1, 2020)

An artistic rendering, inside the museum and visitors center of the Grand Village shows the main ceremonial center for the Natchez Indians who lived in what is now southwest Mississippi as long ago as 700 AD. The culture reached its zenith in the mid 1500s. The Natchez were the largest and strongest native population on the lower Mississippi when Louisiana was settled by the French.
Initial contact with French explorers was made in 1680s, and a colony was established among the Natchez in 1716. Frenchmen lived among the Natchez for decades and wrote about their way of life before relations between the groups deteriorated. In 1729, the Natchez attacked the French garrison at Fort Rosalie. The French retaliated with such force that the Natchez were forced to abandon their homestead. (Aug. 1, 2020)

A painting of the ceremonial mound at the Grand Village of the Natchez Indians in Natchez, Mississippi.
“Archaeological and historical evidence indicates that the Grand Village of the Natchez Indians was not really a ‘village.’ It was the main ceremonial mound center for the Natchez Indians during the early period of French exploration and colonization of the Natchez area (1682-1730). The term ‘Grand Village’ is a translation of the name given to the site during the French colonial period. The only people who lived at the ceremonial center were the Great Sun, who was the Natchez chief, and a few tribal officials. Most of the Natchez people lived away from the mound centers on family farms. The members of the tribe gathered periodically at the Grand Village for religious and social ceremonies.” (Aug. 1, 2020)

The Ceremonial Center at the Grand Village of the Natchez Indians in Natchez, Mississippi. Archaeological and historical evidence indicates that the Grand Village of the Natchez Indians was not really a ‘village’. It was the main ceremonial mound center for the Natchez Indians during the early period of French exploration and colonization of the Natchez area (1682-1730) The term ‘Grand Village’ is a translation of the name given to the site during the French colonial period. (Aug. 1, 2020)

The Great Sun’s Mound at the Grand Village of the Natchez Indians in Natchez, Mississippi. The hereditary chief of the Natchez tribe was called the “Great Sun.” His house stood on this mound during the period of French colonization in Natchez. The Sun and Temple Mounds have been excavated and reconstructed. (Aug. 1, 2020)

The second mound is the Temple Mound at the Grand Village of the Natchez Indians in Natchez, Mississippi. The temple building, which was the religious core of most southeastern mound-building chiefdoms, was usually set upon a mound. A sacred fire was maintained inside the temple along with sacred objects and the bones of past chiefs. This mount was first described around 1700 by Pierre Le Moyne, Sieur d’Iberville, who founded the French colony of Louisiana and the first European settlement in what is now Mississippi at Biloxi in 1699. Like the Great Sun’s Mound, this mound was built in four stages. The Sun and Temple Mounds have been excavated and reconstructed. (Aug. 1, 2020)

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SIOBHAN on August 12, 2020 at 2:24 pm

Beautiful photos and narrative Diana! It felt like I was touring with you, I noticed you stayed COVID-Safe too!
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  Diana Petterson on August 16, 2020 at 8:32 pm
  
  Hi Siobhan! Thanks so much! Yes, I wear a mask, social distance, wash my hands incessantly, use hand sanitizer and wipes. Thankfully I’ve never been a crowd person so staying away from crowds definitely works for me. I’m doing what I can to stay safe while also traveling. Pray you’re doing well and continuing to stay healthy and safe.
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Shawna on January 28, 2021 at 8:52 pm

Great post! Very informative and wonderful photos. In your tour of Choctaw Hall, did you find out how it got its name? We’ve always been curious about this since it is recorded as the Neibert-Fisk House in the National Register of Historic Places. Thanks!
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  Diana Petterson on January 30, 2021 at 1:09 pm
  
  Thank you so much Shawna! I wish I had an answer to your query about the name change but I don’t. The house has survived a variety of lifetimes and inhabitants. My guide through the home, and one of the owners, David Garner was more than charming and rather informative. He purchased the home and brought it back to life. It’s difficult to believe that prior to David and his partner purchasing the home that it had been abandoned and was at one point set to be torn down. Perhaps David has an answer to your question.