Sunday, September 02, 2012
Got up and walked in the Vicksburg National
Battlefield. It was still closed to
traffic at the time we walked which was really cool. We walked as far as the Illinois Monument and
back to the visitor center. I would
highly recommend that to anyone who visits here. Very peaceful. Packed up and drove to Port Gibson and then
on to Natchez. Not much happening in
Port Gibson. General Grant said it was
too pretty to burn but really was in need of some repairs today. Natchez is the oldest settlement on the
Mississippiand has beautiful antebellum homes.
Antebellum means that they were built by 1861, (before the war) post bellum
from 1862 to 1877, when the Victorian era began. We ate at the Pig Out Inn Barbeque, cute
little place. We then walked the Green and
Blue Natchez trails through the historical city which told the history of the
homes, churches and business of Natchez. We took lots of photos of houses. It
continues to be so unbelievably hot and humid.
As usual for us hardly any people are here. I think part of it is the hurricane, and
partly they are smarter than us and know when to stay inside. There are 2 places run by the National Park
Service, one is William Johnson’s house who was a slave that was freed when he
was 11 years old.
 |
| William Johnson's house They believe his owner was his father which is probably why he and his mother were freed. His owner had to go to Louisiana to get papers and permission to free him and whenever an owner freed a slave they had to sign something indicating that they would support the freed slave if they could not support themselves so they did not become a burden to the community. William Johnson became a successful businessman in Natchez, a barber who ended up owning 6 barbershops in town. He left 16 years of journals about life as a freed slave. The historians do not know if they are completely accurate as it might have been dangerous to write opinions down that were not popular. He lived a life kind of between 2 worlds, as it was still a highly segregated society even though he had been freed. He had a family with 11 children and did very well for himself. Unfortunately he was murdered when he was only 42 over a border dispute with a neighbor. |
We also went to Melrose which was a fascinating antebellum
home now owned by the National Park Service.
It has been owned by 3 different families, originally built by the
McMurrans. He was a northerner (a
lawyer)who came to Natchez and married Mary Louisa Turner, one of the richest
young woman in the area, her father being a Supreme Court Judge and plantation
owner. The lived a very opulent
lifestyle, having oilcloth floors, gold gilded wallpaper. It was important to
show you were rich. 85% of the furniture currently displayed in the home was
owned by families who lived in the home that has been redone as it was which
makes it a very special house. We
learned about “back-door policies”. He
had a window-door into his study, so the commoner could come to his house needing
his services, but not be allowed into the main part of the house, only through
the back door of the study. They had 16
different bell sounds so the slaves would know from which location they needed
to go. Picture below.
Note the bottom of the window on the picture on the left. It is where he could allow a commoner in and the bell pull on the picture on the right where he would call for the slave and they would know which room he was in.
Even though they were very rich,
they became penniless after the Civil War.
He died in a boating accident when he was trying to go to sell his
cotton he had stored (even though he told all his neighbors to burn theirs),
when his cotton caught fire on the boat.
When a gentleman came to court he would sit on this special couch separating him from the young lady. The room was filled with all the ladies of the house to supervise!
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