Natchez

 We were up early to get to Natchez.  This is our last day to sightsee and we wanted to be back at the site in time to load the car and prepare for the next two days of driving.  Once at Natchez, we went to Melrose which was owned and built by a lawyer who owned five cotton plantations away from his home.  He and his wife spared no expense in building and furnishing his home.  The unusual thing about this home is that the property, home and furnishings are pretty much as they were in the 1820's.  Each succeeding owner purchased the property and home with same furnishings.  The furnishings are 85% original. 

The carriage house with three carriages.

The slave quarters.  Each building was divided into three separate "apartments" for the "house servants."

Huge live Oak that as the picture shows was not original to the home in the 1820's.

The top picture was taken in 1901 and the bottom 2011.  Not much has changed except for the tree.

Pictures from the interior of the home.  The Venetian blinds are original to the home.

The flooring on the left of picture is the original canvas glued to the floor.  The right side is a reproduced cover used to protect the original canvas floor covering.  The covering on the left is 200 years old.

This doll belonged to the daughter and has been in the family for nearly 200 years until donated back to the Park Service.

There were 10 of the bells.  The bell pulls were inside the house in the rooms.  The tones of the bells were all different. The bells summoned the house slaves living in the slave quarters to the house.  The slaves could tell by the tone of the bell  to which room to go.

Part of the formal gardens.

Front of carriage house.

 

When the house was built, there was no indoor plumbing.  A 16-hole outhouse was used.  These four remain.  Even though it is a outhouse, it was as modern as possible by having smaller holes for children.

This is a Mahogany "punkah."  It was operated by a slave and used the paddle to shoo flies away from the food.  The rope used to pull the fan can be seen by the window.

Master bedroom.  The smaller "bed" was used for naps during the day.

Daughter's bedroom.

Nursery with toys for play. 

After touring Melrose, we went into Natchez to see the William Johnson House.  Johnson was a black slave who was freed by his owner.  He became a successful businessman, barber, slaveholder, and diarist.  Although he was a black man, he owned slaves.   His diary covered 16 years of his life as a freed blackman in Natchez 1835-1851.  He had a very unusual story.  His diary was discovered in the attic of his house/barber shop 75 years later.  His home is being restored by the National Park Service so there wasn't much to see.

The last place we visited was a place called Windsor Ruins.  Windsor was built in 1859-61 by Smith Daniell who only lived in the mansion for a few weeks before he died.  The house managed to remain intact until February 17, 1890.  During a house party, a guest left a lighted cigar on the upper balcony and Windsor burned to the round.  Everything was destroyed except 23 of the columns and some ironwork.  These columns have stood for nearly 130 years just as pictured below.

This is the final picture of the day.  It was another good day.  It began to rain after we left Windsor Ruins so we were glad to head back to camp.  We filled the car with gas at $2.07 a gallon.  We won't be using the car again until we get home but couldn't let such a cheap gas price pass.  We loaded the car and will relax the rest of the evening.  Carol called Justin at Four Winds to make appointment to winterize the camper.  We will do that Monday.  That means when we get home, I will have to "hit the ground" running to get the RV emptied and cleans before Monday afternoon.  j

Tomorrow we will drive US Highway 61 North to Memphis and stay at a KOA in Marion, Arkansas.  Then on Saturday, we plan to make it home to sleep in our own bed.   It has been a fast almost seven weeks.