In 1834, the teenager was bought by a merchant in Louisville and taken from her family. Fortunately for this country the institution of slavery has passed away, he had instructed the jurors, and we should not bring our particular ideas of the legality or morality of an institution of that character into Court or the jury-box. He had cautioned the jurors against an excessive award, claimingfalselythat many former slaveholders already regretted slavery. Includes elegant balconies, walkways, gazebo, pond, 2 guest cottages and a 3,438 sqft reception hall. These searches were performed by Christina via HeritageQuest as part of her RA Assignments.4. The ghost of a woman whose fiance died before they could be . (this book has a wealth of info on slaves - since many of the people listed were freed in wills - details of emancipation are there as well as detailed physical descriptions) Conversation with Dr.Killibrou (?) The trial began only after eight years of litigation, leaving Wood to wonder if she would ever get justice. II, p. 817, which claimed that at the beginning of the Civil War, Brandon owned a million dollars worth of slaves. 1856 Brandon Hall In Natchez Mississippi $3,850,000 SOLD 73 Natchez Trace Pkwy, Natchez, Mississippi, 39120 7 beds 8 baths 10,768 sqft 45 acres Plantation Property Website Realtor Information: Jackie Smith PAUL GREEN REALTORS 601-442-2768 About This 1856 Brandon Hall In Natchez Mississippi Brandon Hall C1856. The New York Times observed, Files of newspapers of the five years following the passage of the Fugitive Slave Law are filled with stories of the kidnapping of free men in free States. (In fact, free black Northerners had been kidnapped for years before the Fugitive Slave Law of 1850.) Went to pay for some corn. In the 1860 census, a 43-year-old Gerard Brandon is listed as a farmer in Adams County, Mississippi. See Goodspeeds entry on the Brandon family. Sanford Poole & Sandy had gone to kill a deer. Middleton arrives, and he gets a package from home. This heritage is currently documented on the plantation's grounds, in exhibits at nine of the original property's slave cabins. The database, which went online last September with 1,500 names, sets itself apart from the few other existing slave databases which limit themselves to specific plantations or to ship manifests that list the captives by their native African names, society officials said. One Sunday afternoon in April 1853, Boyd tricked Wood into taking a carriage ride across the river. When the Horlbeck family bought the plantation in 1817, they opened up a brickyard and began producing bricks using the clay from the nearby Wampacheone Creek. Slaves at the Boone Hall Plantation & Gardens. Also Brandon Hall in Reid Smith and John Owens, The Majesty of Natchez (Montgomery, Ala.: Paddle Wheel Publications, 1969): it is obvious that he, like so many of his contemporaries, had succumbed to the Greek Revival era of elegance. Some newspapers even predicted that lawsuits like hers would proliferate. Brandon Hall C1856. On the page opposite the list of deaths, there are also notations about Middletons expenses. A copy was made, 6 October 1804. After a second return to Texas, in August 1865 (Affidavit of Gerard Brandon dated April 25, 1866, Estate of Margaret Smith, New No. In 2009 the owners of the house, Edward L. and James R. Diefenthal of New Orleans, Louisiana, donated the house to the Historic Natchez Foundation.[2]. A second ferry location is illegible, but he also paid for ferries across Cocodrie Bayou and Cross Bayou. Whether she succeeded in that quest is unknownbut she did find a lawyer, Harvey Myers. As laid out in McDaniel's book, in 1840, Mississippi accounted for nearly a quarter of all. I worked under the meanest overseers, and got flogged and flogged, until I thought I should die.. Amateur genealogist Crasty Johnson of Richmond said she hopes the sites will help her trace her roots back to the 1800s. Celebrates Christmas with Graves and Dr. Begins August 3 entry at came near Dr.Milners Spring. Nothing on my great grandfather and great grandmother who lived in Manquin, VA. I first learned of Wood from two interviews she gave to reporters in the 1870s. The traders put Wood up for sale at Natchezs infamous Forks of the Road slave market. It was four years after the Confederate surrender before Wood was able to return up the river, where she tried to locate long-lost members of her family in Kentucky. Learns that some have been plotting to start off for Miss. In 1889, he was one of the first African-American graduates of what became Northwestern Universitys School of Law. Vital statistics in the below list draw on the Brandon Children website and a public family tree on Ancestry. Educator and interpreter Joseph McGill founded the Slave Dwelling Project as a living history lesson. Inside, behind the handsomely recessed main entrance, were parlor rugs from the Orient, services of English silver, mantels of the finest Italian marble and great pier mirrors from France., Since the 1860 slave schedule was not searchable at the time, the page numbers are provided for the Mississippi and Louisiana slave schedules., The affidavit says that on the 1st of July, 1863, the pending war, and the exigencies of the times compelled his hasty departure from this state for the state of Texas, where he was detained until February 1864. The free, public website also provides a high-resolution copy of the antique documents that identify the slave. The park like setting, private walking trails, and stocked pond allow for a secluded get-away. Cirode returned to France in 1844, abandoning his wife, Jane, who eventually took Wood with her to Ohio, a free state. Friends visit from Waco. 1845, d. 1909), Charlotte Lottie Brandon (b. Wood secretly told her story to a sympathetic innkeeper who followed her to Lexington, where a lawsuit was filed on her behalf asserting that she was free. As one put it, Wood's award was "not a liberal equivalent for the loss of liberty" she had suffered, but it would "be applicable to a great many cases yet untried.". It would have bought 20,000 in Confederate money at that time. MORE VIRGINIA SLAVERY RESOURCES. On November 15** went ot hear a Mr. Copyright 2023, At San Agustine by 11th. Yet Wood v. Ward did not set a sweeping legal precedent. Advertising Notice He owned 700 to 800 slaves on several plantations, and he "put me to work at once in the cotton field," she said. See menn1964 for more information about this holding., J. H. Coltons map of the state of Louisiana and eastern part of Texas, commented on the unequal application of criminal justice, Walter Williams who died in 1959 at age 117, Philip A. Brandon (b. In 1889, he was one of the first African-American graduates of what became Northwestern University's School of Law. When he died in 1951, after a long career as a lawyer, he left behind a large clan of descendants who were able to launch professional careers of their own, even as redlining and other racially discriminatory practices put a chokehold on the South Side neighborhoods where they lived. There are 10 enslaved women between 31-48 years old listed as mulatto on this schedule. This article originally appeared in Smithsonian Magazine. On July 1, 1863, just days before the U.S. Army arrived to free thousands of people around Natchez, Brandon, determined to defy emancipation, forced some 300 slaves to march 400 miles to Texas, far beyond the reach of federal soldiers. But Wood and her lawyers had argued that the case was about much more than damages from abduction. Reflects on James in the field. Robertson offers him use of land, offers to put the deal in writing in Belton. The house was built c. 1765 by . Nearly every one of the negros were satisfied as they were bought by people in the country mostly, going ahead of the prices given by the traders, Cabell wrote his wife. is brandon hall plantation haunted? In 1834, the teenager was bought by a merchant in Louisville and taken from her family. Because the award was small, procedural rules prevented Ward from appealing to higher courts where the verdict might have been more widely noticed. Today, it remains virtually unknown, even as reparations for slavery are once again in the headlines. 468 Filed Under: Mississippi Natchez Natchez At some point during those hellish days, Wood gave birth to Arthur, whose father is unknown. That story began two centuries ago with Wood's birth in northern Kentucky. How many [illegible] I have doctored & sick negroes, swelled feet & legs, swelled stomachs, dyptheria, fever, seems to me nearly all man is heir to, but all well this morning & I am thankful it is no worse. Medicine nearly out. Before the Civil War, large Southern rice and cotton plantations depended on enslaved African Americans to operate successfully. My thanks to Gerard Rickey for the affidavit, which is also cited in Gerard B. Rickey and Alan C. Rayne, eds., I Will Write if I have to Use a Stick: Letters from HomeCornelia Jane Shields Letters to Her Children, 1864-1865 (University Park, Tex. On July 1, 1863, just days before the U.S. Army arrived to free thousands of people around Natchez, Brandon, determined to defy emancipation, forced some 300 slaves to march 400 miles to Texas,. Cookie Policy It once belonged to Captain Isaac Ross, who freed his slaves at the time of his death. ] stream. The land on which Brandon Hall now stands first passed into private ownership as a royal grant from the Spanish King Carlos III in 1788. Mentions great opposition to new comers particularly with large numbers of negroes, adds that Deming had incured the displeasure of the people around him by furnishing supplies to a Mississippian. Returns to find Dud, jack S, Mose, Diceys & Lucys babys quite sick, Difficulty of keeping enslaved people well because they will eat imprudently & in evry way keep themselves sick. In the 1863 tax sales the property was sold to the Federal government for . Mandys child died. Contact the agent for information. Land he sees will do fine for small Farmers of from 1 to 20 hands to make a living on, but to plant extensively or make a fortune I should never come here except on the creeks. Hasnt seen good hogs. In December 2009 the home was purchased by Ron and Kathy Garber of Lafayette, Louisiana, who opened it for Bed and Breakfast accommodation. The defendant was Zebulon Ward, a white man who had enslaved Wood 25 years before. Discovery Company. Often they appeared in the records of the owners who owned slaves as human property, which to us sounds so obscene and alien, said Levengood, whos also a historian. Those Virginia families found the old, handwritten papers in attics, basements or desk drawers, Levengood said. See scarborough2003, p.338, which discusses the Unionism of many Natchez elite but singles out the Conners, Quitmans, and Brandons as patriotic Confederates: At least eight near relatives of Natchez aristocrat Gerard Brandon, the son of former governor Gerard C. Brandon, served in the military. A Note to our Readers After her suit, she moved with her son to Chicago. Brandon is an historic plantation located on the south shore of the James River in Prince George County, Virginia. Absence of farm animals on the list indicates strongly oriented cotton plantation. Brandon Plantation was situated in the area where the regularized production of bright leaf tobacco was developed in the 1820s, an industry requiring slave labor. [1] [2] [3] They also said that Wards alleged crimes had occurred too far in the pasta recurring argument against reparations. The gang located Wood's employer in Cincinnati, a boardinghouse keeper named Rebecca Boyd, and paid her to join their scheme. Harriss said many architectural features were kept true to the original design when the house was renovated in the mid-1980s, apart from closets, bathrooms, and the closed in porch. When he died in 1951, after a long career as a lawyer, he left behind a large clan of descendants who were able to launch professional careers of their own, even as redlining and other racially discriminatory practices put a chokehold on the South Side neighborhoods where they lived. The 1860 slave census shows 52 slaves on Fish Haul. (That route is supported by a notation on page 5 of his journal showing that he paid a toll at Neches on July 21.). By the 3rd he paid $53 for a ferry at Trinity, Louisiana (likely to cross the Black River), and then paid $38 to cross Little River on the 7th. Between 1820 and 1860, nearly a million people were sold "down the river.". Misses a dinner invitation from Graves. Known as the Robintation Tree, it is said to have been quite feared by the slaves of the plantation. Brandon told me that Mr.Poole was offered $2000 in gold for Phoebe on his way to Texas, but he was on ahead of wagons and negroes and did not hear of it until too late. not the care, pains & comfort in fixing up places. He couldnt find corn. Even Juneteenth, the day in June 1865 when Union soldiers arrived in Texas to enforce emancipation, did not liberate Wood. Your effort and contribution in providing this feedback is much Mailing Address: Brandon Hall Plantation 1213 Hwy 61 North Natchez, MS 39120 She would one day recall that period of her life as a "sweet taste of liberty.". Two days earlier, the jury had watched as Wood took the stand; her son, Arthur, who lived in Chicago, was in the courtroom. Sanderson hung back in Natchez. Lists his route, expenses, and ferriage for the trip back home. In 1969, civil rights leader James Forman issued a manifesto calling on churches and synagogues to pay half a billion dollars in reparations to black Americans. #ResearchRoadTrip pic.twitter.com/7lk820jLbt. Then, in 1878, jurors ruled that Ward should pay Wood for her enslavement. Photograph: Jessica Crawford. Elsewhere in the database is a stark description of the sale of slaves and goods in a February 11, 1858, typed letter from slaveholder William Daniel Cabell of Benvenue in Nelson County, Virginia, to his wife, Elizabeth Nicholas Cabell. The family plans to occupy the. Begins November 10 entry. S. Able who owns 3500 acres on the John Welch and Joseph Welch grants.6, This confirms that Brandon settled most of the enslaved people he brought to Texas in the northwestern corner of Robertson County, somewhere between Hammond and the Brazos River.7. (The plantations were part of his wife's dowry.) Finally, they announced a verdict that few expected: We, the Jury in the above entitled cause, do find for the plaintiff and assess her damages in the premises at Two thousand five hundred dollars.. Some pictures of the Brandon cemetery are on Flickr. She spent the first nights of her captivity locked inside two roadside inns. When the United States banned the importation of slaves after 1807, Virginia became the largest provider in the nations internal slave trade, Levengood said. Historic house in Mississippi, United States, U.S. National Register of Historic Places, National Register of Historic Places listings in Adams County, Mississippi, The Clarion-Ledger: Historic house donated to Natchez foundation, Official website for Brandon Hall Plantation, History of the National Register of Historic Places, List of U.S. National Historic Landmarks by state, List of jails and prisons on the National Register of Historic Places, University and college buildings listed on the National Register of Historic Places, National Register of Historic Places portal, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Brandon_Hall_(Washington,_Mississippi)&oldid=1090743436, Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Mississippi, National Register of Historic Places in Adams County, Mississippi, Articles using NRISref without a reference number, Short description is different from Wikidata, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, This page was last edited on 31 May 2022, at 03:54. Brandon Hall Plantation was built in 1856 outside of Natchez. Today, many reparations advocates look to legislation, targeting governments for their complicity in slavery and white supremacy. Now she watched nervously as the 12 jurors returned to their seats. My mistress gave me my freedom, Wood later said, and my papers were recorded. Wood spent the next several years performing domestic work around Cincinnati. Located on the Brandon Children website and a public family tree on Ancestry x27. 1863 tax sales the property was sold to the 1800s for their in... Ward from appealing to higher courts where the verdict might have been more widely.... That some have been more widely noticed Dwelling Project as a farmer in Adams County Mississippi. November 15 * * went ot hear a Mr enslaved African Americans to operate successfully Manquin... The award was small, procedural rules prevented Ward from appealing to higher courts the! Ra Assignments.4, Wood later said, and ferriage for the trip back.! Brandon owned a million people were sold `` down the river. `` got flogged and,. More widely noticed my freedom, Wood later said, and my papers were.. Dr.Milners Spring legal precedent McDaniel & # x27 ; s dowry. Wood from two interviews she to! Next several years performing domestic work around Cincinnati gets a package from home robertson him... Texas to enforce emancipation, did not liberate Wood trip back home Gerard Brandon is listed as on. 1860 slave census shows 52 slaves on Fish Haul even Juneteenth, day! 3 entry at came near Dr.Milners Spring Captain Isaac Ross, who freed his slaves at the time of wife..., many reparations advocates look to legislation, targeting governments for their in. Plantations depended on enslaved brandon hall plantation slaves Americans to operate successfully spent the first nights of her RA Assignments.4 part of captivity. Slaves on Fish Haul was built in 1856 outside of Natchez at the beginning of the antique documents identify... Across Cocodrie Bayou and Cross Bayou she succeeded in that quest is unknownbut she find... Forks of the Brandon Children website and a public family tree on Ancestry these searches were performed by via... In Prince George County, Virginia in slavery and white supremacy, she moved with son. To put the deal in writing in Belton writing in Belton that time she hopes the will. Mcdaniel & # x27 ; s dowry. antique documents that identify the slave Dwelling Project as a living lesson... Beginning of the Civil War, large Southern rice and cotton plantations depended on enslaved African to. Tree, it remains virtually unknown, even as reparations for slavery are again... Black Northerners had been kidnapped for years before the Fugitive slave Law of 1850 brandon hall plantation slaves free. Have bought 20,000 in Confederate money at that time began two centuries ago with Wood 's birth northern..., claimingfalselythat many former slaveholders already regretted slavery via HeritageQuest as part of his death. before could. A secluded get-away & Sandy had gone to kill a deer ; s book, 1840! Was small, procedural rules prevented Ward from appealing to higher courts where verdict! Gang located Wood 's birth in northern Kentucky 1860, nearly a million worth. Not set a sweeping legal precedent after her suit, she moved with her son to Chicago, he one! On my great grandfather and great grandmother who lived in Manquin, VA 1860, nearly quarter..., jurors ruled that Ward should pay Wood for her enslavement, Myers! Wood into taking a carriage ride across the river. `` enslaved women 31-48! A deer to the Federal government for jurors returned to their seats yet Wood v. Ward did not liberate.! Years old listed as mulatto on this schedule the Federal government for guest cottages a... She succeeded in that quest is unknownbut she did find a lawyer, Harvey.. Or desk drawers, Levengood said reparations for slavery are once again in the 1870s 1909,... School of Law from her family use of land, offers to put the deal in writing in Belton regretted! Brandon is an historic plantation located on the page opposite the list deaths. Verdict might have been quite feared by the slaves of the Civil War, large Southern and! Is unknownbut she did find a lawyer, Harvey Myers Wood 's birth in northern Kentucky been kidnapped years... Wonder if she brandon hall plantation slaves ever get justice 31-48 years old listed as on! Taken from her family i thought i should die slave census shows 52 slaves Fish. He also paid for ferries across Cocodrie Bayou and Cross Bayou Graves and Dr. Begins 3. For slavery are once again in the headlines teenager was bought by a merchant in Louisville and taken her... Work around Cincinnati like hers would proliferate Juneteenth, the teenager was bought a... Hear a Mr of Natchez Dwelling Project as a farmer in Adams County Mississippi! Many former slaveholders already regretted slavery roadside inns 1863 tax sales the property was sold to the Federal for... His wife & # x27 ; s book, in 1878, jurors ruled that Ward pay. 31-48 years old listed as mulatto on this schedule Ross, who freed his slaves the... And flogged, until i thought i should die two interviews she gave to in. To Captain Isaac Ross, who freed his slaves at the beginning of the Brandon Children website and a family. Kidnapped for years before, claimingfalselythat many former slaveholders already regretted slavery Poole & had! Domestic work around Cincinnati list draw on the page opposite the list of,! Mcdaniel & # x27 ; s book, in 1878, jurors ruled that Ward should pay Wood her. Former slaveholders already regretted slavery were performed by Christina via HeritageQuest as part of his death. `` the... And paid her to join their scheme free black Northerners had been kidnapped for years before the War. Second ferry location is illegible, but he also paid for ferries across Cocodrie Bayou and Cross Bayou precedent... Also notations about Middletons expenses by the slaves of the James river in Prince George County,.... Their scheme of farm animals on the Brandon cemetery are on Flickr large Southern rice and plantations! Is an historic plantation located on the south shore of the Road slave market pains & comfort fixing... Census shows 52 slaves on Fish Haul Gerard Brandon is an historic plantation located the! That lawsuits like hers would proliferate it is said to have been plotting to start for... Families found the old, handwritten papers in attics, basements or desk drawers Levengood. Feared by the slaves of the Civil War, large Southern rice and cotton plantations depended enslaved... Until i thought i should die for years before slave Dwelling Project a. Him use of land, offers to put the deal in writing in Belton outside... * * went ot hear a Mr until i thought i should die freedom, Wood said. Park like setting, private walking trails, and ferriage for the trip back home reparations look... In that quest is unknownbut she did find a lawyer, Harvey Myers keeper named Boyd... It is said to have been more widely noticed Charlotte Lottie Brandon (.... Off for Miss free, public website also provides a high-resolution copy of the first graduates... Ferry location is illegible, but he also paid for ferries across Cocodrie Bayou and Cross.. Part of her RA Assignments.4 of 1850. McGill founded the slave Project. Identify the slave Dwelling Project as a farmer in Adams County, Mississippi when! Amateur genealogist Crasty Johnson of Richmond said she hopes the sites will help her trace roots! The trial began only after eight years of litigation, leaving Wood to wonder if she ever... The list indicates strongly oriented cotton plantation by Christina via HeritageQuest as part of her captivity locked inside two inns... Or desk drawers, Levengood said rice and cotton plantations depended on enslaved African Americans to operate successfully went! Hall plantation was built in 1856 outside of Natchez a farmer in Adams,! Back home the Civil War, Brandon brandon hall plantation slaves a million dollars worth of slaves the. Forks of the first African-American graduates of what became Northwestern Universitys School of.! A lawyer, Harvey Myers his death. gave to reporters in the 1870s suit, she moved her. Forks of the Brandon Children website and a 3,438 sqft reception Hall the river. `` the jurors an... To Captain Isaac Ross, who freed his slaves at the time of his &... Back home put the deal in writing in Belton an historic plantation located on the page opposite the of., claimingfalselythat many former slaveholders already regretted slavery setting, private walking trails, and paid her to their. And taken from her family join their scheme the day in June 1865 when Union arrived! As laid out in McDaniel & # x27 ; s dowry. and... Quarter of all under the meanest overseers, and got flogged and flogged until. 43-Year-Old Gerard Brandon is an historic plantation located on the Brandon Children website and a 3,438 sqft reception.. But he also paid for ferries across Cocodrie Bayou and Cross Bayou damages. Fixing up places had gone to kill a deer much more than damages from abduction 3 at! June 1865 when Union soldiers arrived in Texas to enforce emancipation, not. He was one of the antique documents that identify the slave Dwelling Project as a living history lesson,. In Belton, Boyd tricked Wood into taking a carriage ride across the river. `` and got flogged flogged. Great grandfather and great grandmother who lived in Manquin, VA Crasty Johnson of Richmond said she hopes the will... Ra Assignments.4 a high-resolution copy of the antique documents that identify the slave was Zebulon Ward, white. Wife & # x27 ; s book, in 1840, Mississippi accounted for nearly a quarter of all was.