Natchez

Wool carpet and canvas floor cloth

This was our day to tour antebellum mansions in Natchez, Mississippi. Our first stop was Melrose, the mansion built in 1848 by John McMurran. This is a National Historic Park and the tour given by the rangers was superb. We learned not only about the house, but about the families who lived here. McMurran suffered financially during the Civil War and sold the house to the Davis family in 1865. The entire house, grounds, and furnishings were sold intact for $38,000. The Davis family seldom visited the house and it remained unoccupied for over four decades, maintained by the servants during that time. The son finally returned to the home in 1901 and rather than updating the home, they restored the house to it 1865 look with the original furnishings. Thus the house today, still has everything from that period. What stood out to me was floor cloth, canvas painted in a pattern and then shellacked that was a precursor to today’s linoleum. The wool carpets and this floor covering had the same patterns!  Above the dining room table was a punkah, a giant wooden fan operated by a servant during dinner.

Rosalie

Our next mansion was Rosalie, owned by the Daughters of the American Revolution. As we arrived they were concluding their annual meeting at the mansion. The home was built next to the original site of the French Fort Rosalie on the Mississippi by Peter Little in 1823. This mansion was used as Union headquarters in 1863, but the furnishings were stored away to preserve them. So once again, most of the original furnishings are in the house. The parlor furnishings are quite interesting including a game table with attached chairs.

Stanton Hall

Our final stop was Stanton Hall, a huge home occupying an entire city block, built by Frederick Stanton just before his death in 1859. The family lived here until 1894. Unfortunately, most of the furnishings are not the original, but are from the period. The original mirrors in this house are from France and the fireplaces are made of Carrera marble. They have worked hard to make replicas of the original carpets and curtains, which along with the 17’ ceilings make quite an impression.