Natchez,MS

[bdtex]

As I was sitting on the porch this afternoon watching the Father Of Waters flow and how slow tugboats pushing barges upriver were going,I couldn't help but think about how hard it was for the crews and ships of the Brown Water Navy. Thought about the CSS Arkansas with it's faulty engines. Good thing most of it's time on the Mississippi River was a downstream run.

 

[major bill]

My wife and I visited there years ago. I can not remember if we stayed the night or found a motel a few miles down the highway.

 

[realevergreen]

How did furniture from Robert E Lee end up here?

Don't know much about the Lee furniture but there also was property belonging to the Davis family. Varina Howell grew up in Natchez and the Merrill family was friends and relatives with US Grant. There was a collection of millionaires in Natchez that rivaled or exceeded the number in New York City in the 1850s. These people lived around Natchez but made their way elsewhere also. That's the reason that the goat castle murder was covered by the New York Times . They had a lot of property and lot to lose in a war. On the northern side of town was the home of a family of which the mother got in trouble for feeding Confederate refugees at night. (Ravenna) On the eastern side was the home of a Confederate general (Monteigne) South of town was the home of the first territorial governor (Gloucester).Winthrop Sargent was originally from Massachusetts. On the east side of town was the home of Doctor Stephan Duncan (Auburn) originally of Pennsylvania He finally left a bill for damages for the Federal government on his desk and went back to the East where he lived off his investments among which was railroad stock. Some of it was New York Central stock. Things change. Don't try this today. He was also a long time member of the American Colonization Society. Since Natchez was pretty lightly defended and surrendered quickly, they got off relatively light as far as damages. The Haller Nutt family saved what was the shell of Longwood. Her husband had died but Julia Nutt also saved her Lake St Joseph , LA home (Winter Quarters ) up the River on the way to Vicksburg. This was in an area where very little was left unburned. Two rival garden clubs gave garden tours in Natchez in the 1920s When bad spring weather prevented this one year, they gave home tours instead. This money helped keep a fire in the fireplace and shingles on the roof in the lean times of the 1920s and 1930s.

 

[LoriAnn]

Current view from Starlings Rest:

View attachment 179729

My favorite!

 

[bdtex]

Looks like scattered rain midday-early afternoon most everywhere in Louisiana and Mississippi. I will be passing through Alexandria anyway. If the weather isn't too bad I am gonna stop and visit Fort Randolph. Gonna stop somewhere for lunch and give the weather time to pass then head to Niblett's Bluff Park in Vinton,Louisiana. From there,I should be able to find a route to avoid Lake Charles. Gonna take my time getting home and see what I can today too. I have a blessed life. Told my spouse last night and the night before that she has got to come with me to Natchez next time. I think she would like it.

 

[bdtex]

This is where I stayed. Starlings has 6 houses I think. This is the Clifton House. My room was upstairs and on the left hand side. Great value for the $$$. I'd stay here again.

 

[bdtex]

Another civil war traveler's companion tip. Gas is cheaper in Louisiana than Mississippi. Just saying. Edited to add that hotel occupancy tax is cheaper in Mississippi than Louisiana. Guess it evens out.

 

[bdtex]

Well heck...the eagles were nesting at Fort Randolph again. But...tell ya more later. Making a run to Niblett's Bluff now.

 

[James N.]

King's Tavern, Natchez, Mississippi ca. 1795

I would suggest you eat at King's Tavern (oldest building in Natchez, if I recall correctly), but I don't know if it is still there. It used to be fantastic years ago - great steaks.

Here's how it looked a decade ago during my last visit (I'm hijacking this thread since @bdtex gave it short shrift; besides, I've never posted these photos before anyway and may as well take advantage of the opportunity!):

I am there now and just ordered a steak. Walked here from Starlings.

Presumably you ate it in one of the downstairs dining rooms like this one in which my ghost-hunting friend Mike (@mkyzzzrdet ) is no doubt looking for spirit orbs!

Another dining room below; according to local legend King's Tavern was host to many "notables" over the years such as the murderous psychopath Harpe brothers and the larcenous Bowie brothers Resin (supposed "inventor" of the eponymous knife)and Jim (notorious wielder of said knife). Of course it was here at Natchez on a sandbar "island" in the Mississippi across from Natchez-Under-the-Hill that Jim fought his most famous knife "duel" and was almost killed in the process.

... I was wondering if Madline made her presence known as well.

Didn't go upstairs. Didn't know that's where she hangs out.

Then by all means allow me to show you around! There are only two or three rooms up here, one a sitting or living room and at least one bedroom. Apparently these were living quarters for the various owners of the tavern over the years; it would be nice if the portrait on the wall above of this bedchamber was the elusive Madline - but Alas! It's only one of those cheesy Plantation Belle "portraits" seen in nearly every B&B set in an old house throughout the South.

 

[Eleanor Rose]

Here's how it looked a decade ago during my last visit (I'm hijacking this thread since @bdtex gave it short shrift; besides, I've never posted these photos before anyway and may as well take the opportunity!):

Wow! It looks very different now, at least on our last trip there about a year ago. The upstairs is no longer furnished.

 

[bdtex]

(I'm hijacking this thread since @bdtex gave it short shrift; besides, I've never posted these photos before anyway and may as well take advantage of the opportunity!):

It can't be hijacked. It's all over the map already.

 

[bdtex]

Here is a common sense Civil War Traveler's Companion tip. Obey traffic laws when on tour. Been watching knuckleheads being pulled over in Louisiana all morning.

 

[bdtex]

Taking back roads to Niblett's Bluff Park. Doing something different and avoiding Lake Charles at the same time. Gonna run into some weather too.

 

[bdtex]

No rain at all during my visit to Niblett's Bluff Park. Heading home. Been a good day.

 

[Eleanor Rose]

Natchez and the Mississippi River will await your return. @Southern Unionist made this pic from our hotel room early one morning on our visit last April. Love that view!

 

[bdtex]

Wow! It looks very different now, at least on our last trip there about a year ago. The upstairs is no longer furnished.

It does look different. They have completely redone the interior of the downstairs. I believe I heard one of the servers say that they sell bottles of beverages(aka liquor store) upstairs.

 

[DRW]

Okay you Natchez fans: How many -- if any -- are familiar with this story??? This book has been calling to me very loudly lately, and I have been meaning to ask around if anyone knows of this intrigue...

In 1932, the city of Natchez, Mississippi, reckoned with an unexpected influx of journalists and tourists as the lurid story of a local murder was splashed across headlines nationwide. Two eccentrics, Richard Dana and Octavia Dockery—known in the press as the "Wild Man" and the "Goat Woman"—enlisted an African American man named George Pearls to rob their reclusive neighbor, Jennie Merrill, at her estate. During the attempted robbery, Merrill was shot and killed. The crime drew national coverage when it came to light that Dana and Dockery, the alleged murderers, shared their huge, decaying antebellum mansion with their goats and other livestock, which prompted journalists to call the estate "Goat Castle." Pearls was killed by an Arkansas policeman in an unrelated incident before he could face trial. However, as was all too typical in the Jim Crow South, the white community demanded "justice," and an innocent black woman named Emily Burns was ultimately sent to prison for the murder of Merrill. Dana and Dockery not only avoided punishment but also lived to profit from the notoriety of the murder by opening their derelict home to tourists.

Strange, fascinating, and sobering, Goat Castle tells the story of this local feud, killing, investigation, and trial, showing how a true crime tale of fallen southern grandeur and murder obscured an all too familiar story of racial injustice.

https://www.amazon.com/Goat-Castle-Story-Murder-Gothic/dp/1469635038/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1520484896&sr=8-1&keywords=goat+castle+a+true+story+of+murder,+race,+and+the+gothic+south

I was interested in this book until I discovered that the author inexplicably blocked me on on twitter. Is that petty of me?

 

[Bee]

I was interested in this book until I discovered that the author inexplicably blocked me on on twitter. Is that petty of me?

It would depend on what you did/said to get blocked...

 

[DRW]

Thanks for this great thread. This coming Saturday I'm planning on leaving Vicksburg early for a meandering drive south to make a 7pm flight out of New Orleans. I'm hoping to spend the morning in Natchez.

 

[DRW]

It would depend on what you did/said to get blocked...

Absolutely no idea. I've recommended Dixie's Daughters on this website and I've never criticized or tried to communicate with her. Weird.