Marker honoring Prince Ibrahima to be dedicated Oct. 24

 Marker honoring Prince Ibrahima to be dedicated Oct. 24

A historical marker honoring Prince Abdul Rahman Ibrahima (1762-1829) will be dedicated at 11 a.m. Friday, October 24, near Historic Jefferson College on the corner of Highway 61 North and Jefferson College Street. The ceremony is being organized by the Natchez Historical Society, the sponsor of the marker that was acquired through the Mississippi Department of Archives and History.

Michael Morris, director of The Two Museums in Jackson, will be the guest speaker at the ceremony.

Ibrahima was a Muslim prince from West Africa who spent 40 years enslaved on Thomas Foster’s plantation near Washington before gaining his freedom. The marker will be the first in the Natchez-Adams County area that pays tribute to Ibrahima.

This event is free to the public. For more information, call 601-492-3004 or send email to [Roscoe@visitnatchez.org](mailto:Roscoe@visitnatchez.org).

Dr. Christian Pinnen to discuss Race and Slavery in Colonial Natchez on April 22

Dr. Christian Pinnen, professor in the Department of History at Mississippi College, is coming  to Natchez to talk about the colonial Natchez District in an attempt to resurrect the stories of the enslaved and the role Atlantic Africans played in shaping the region.  Dr. Pinnen will present his lecture, "Race and Slavery in Colonial Natchez” at the Tuesday, April 22 meeting of the Natchez Historical Society at 108 S. Commerce St. The program is free to the public.  It will begin with a social at 5:30 p.m. and the presentation at 6 p.m.

As European settlers began to explore the lower Mississippi Valley and displace Native American people to build settlements, the Europeans knew that they needed to generate profits to make it a worth while enterprise. Most, specifically in Natchez, believed that the key to success was rooted in the ability of settlers to purchase enslaved Africans and utilize their forced labor in their endeavor to build wealth. While the labor practice of racial slavery was well established in European colonial efforts, local settlers had to make sense of the African people among them in social and legal settings. Using Natchez as a lens, this talk explores how legal concepts around slavery create racial categories in Natchez.

Dr. Pinnen’s research focuses on the American borderlands and the legal landscapes that gave rise to definitions of blackness and whiteness in the face of maturing slave societies. He specifically investigates the colonial Natchez District in an attempt to resurrect the stories of the enslaved and the role Atlantic Africans played in shaping the region.  

He has published two books: Complexion of Empire in Natchez and Colonial Mississippi.  While Colonial Mississippi provides an exhaustive overview of Mississippi’s colonial past, Complexions of Empire in Natchez specifically investigates how the various definitions of race in Europe and the Americas influenced the way that slavery and the law developed in Natchez and, by extension, the colonial southern borderlands.

Dr. Pinnen has won national and international research fellowships from the German Historical Institute, the LSU and University of Texas Libraries, and has presented his research in Europe and the US. He was selected as the Mississippi Humanities Teacher of the Year in 2019, and Complexion of Empire in Natchez won the 2021 Book of the Year Award from the Mississippi Historical Society. In 2024, he was named the Humanities Scholar of the Year by the Mississippi Humanities Council and Distinguished Professor of the Year at Mississippi College.

The April 22 program is funded in part by a grant from the Mississippi Humanities Council, through funding by the National Endowment for the Humanities.  For more information, visit natchezhistoricalsociety.org or call 601-431-7737. Emails may be sent to info@natchezhistoricalsociety.org  

Remembering the Enslaved: Delia -- A guest post by Tom Scarborough

This is an oil portrait that has been in my family since the 1840s. It is of an enslaved woman named Delia. 

She was the house servant to my great, great, great grandfather, William Bisland, at Mount Repose, the family's plantation near Natchez, MS. 

It was painted by James Reid Lambdin, a relative of the Bislands by marriage. Lambdin also painted the official portraits of presidents Zachary Taylor, and William Henry Harrison. 

This painting hung in the library of my grandparents' house in Washington D.C. for several decades. I remember being entranced by it when I would visit them. It is currently on exhibit at the Mississippi Museum of Art, in Jackson, MS. 

I went to Jackson last week to see Delia for the first time in at least twenty years. It was strange seeing in a public space, this painting that was a part of my ancestors' history, and a poignant reminder of their implication in the system of American racial slavery. 

William Henry Harrison

Zachary Taylor

Having done my graduate work in the study of the plantation slave economy, I am fascinated by the historical nuances of this painting. 

My Natchez family was deeply involved in the slave economy, owning over 400 human beings spread over five plantations, from Natchez, to Terrebonne Parish, LA. 

I don't know if the family commissioned this painting; if so, it would have been very unusual as slaveowners did not typically commission portraits of their human property. Oil portraits of enslaved persons are exceedingly rare. If they did, however, it would speak to the bonds that sometimes did form between bondspersons and those who kept them in thrall. 

More likely, Lambdin painted Delia on his own initiative, and then gave the painting to his in-laws. 

I love her expression--strong, proud, unbroken. She is dressed in what were most likely her finest garments--for her this must have been an event of special meaning. My aunt and I have both tried to track down any evidence that might indicate what became of Delia, but documentary evidence is scant. What little I have gleaned indicates that she may have moved from Mount Repose across the river to New Providence Plantation, in Concordia Parish, another Bisland plantation. But no records have yet been found to shed light on her life during, or after the Civil War.

It was wonderful to once again see this woman who has been a part of our family for nearly 175 years, though not by her choice. I am delighted that she can now be viewed and appreciated by the public. I encourage all of my friends in Natchez and nearby to make the trip to the museum, perhaps in conjunction with a visit to the new Civil Rights Museum in Jackson.

Tom Scarborough lives in St. Francisville, Louisiana, where he and his wife, Denise, own and operate the Nouvelle Candle Club, and parent a precious, precocious, politically savvy  cat named Andy.

An Evening at the Slave Quarters

Enjoyed Saturday evening at Concord Quarters. Dinner was superb and we got to hear about The Slave Dwelling Project by its director Joe McGill.

Concord Quarters is the only remaining building at Concord Plantation, which burned in 1901. It was the home of the first Spanish governor of the Mississippi Territory, Don Manuel Gayosa de Lemos.

The Quarters was where the enslaved people lived on the plantation. It's now owned by Gregory and Deborah Cosey, who treated us to a delicious meal of mustard greens, ham hocks, black-eyed peas, sweet potatoes, cornbread and apple cobbler.

They also run a B&B there. www.concordquarters.com.

To learn more, go to slavedwellingproject.org.

Dagger Cane that belonged to Spanish Governor Don Manuel Gayosa de Lemos

Cherry Grove

Cherry Grove: A Ghost Tale

All around the old place,

the dead visit. The

day he opened up the trunk

of that sweetgum tree,

and before we saw the

horseshoe hanging inside,

something brushed against

my face. I heard a nickering

far away, and the smell of oiled

leather and candlewax.

A few days later Lloyd

found an anvil half

inside an oak tree, back

by the old barn. It was ten

feet up that tree, and

the color of storm clouds

when the air smells like metal

and electricity breaks

it right in two. They say

a shipwright lived

there once. I know.

I've heard him hammering.

That was before the rumor 

of the slave revolt across 

the road. Nineteen men killed, 

tortured, all for the sake 

of a child's tale. A child

named Obey. No excuses.

The crape myrtle we cleared from

the back forty bled claret-

colored sap, and stuck inside

one old, stubborn knot

was a skeleton key.

The silver lying all around,

tarnished forks and bone-

china plates. Papa said

she burnt that house a’purpose,

took the tram to the train

and left town. Nobody

Ever saw her again.

But to be frank, I don't

believe it.

I saw her walking in the fog

one morning, early. Picking bones,

rearranging bricks,

breaking twigs over and over.

She saw me too.

We've been talking

back and forth, she and I,

between the branches.

~ Elodie Pritchartt

More on South-West by a Yankee - Treatment of Slaves 1835

A description of Natchez, written in 1835 by Joseph Holt Ingraham.
Offered without comment:

"Many of the planters are northerners.  When they have conquered their prejudices, they become thorough, driving planters, generally giving themselves up to the pursuit more devotedly than the regular-bred planter.  Their treatment of the slaves is also far more rigid.

Northerners are entirely unaccustomed to their habits, which are perfectly understood and appreciated by southerners, who have been familiar with Africans from childhood; whom they have had for their nurses, play-fellows, and "bearers," and between whom and themselves a reciprocal and very natural attachment exists, which on the gentleman's part, involuntarily extends to the whole dingy race, exhibited in a kindly feeling and condescending familiarity, for which he receives gratitude in return.

On the part of the slave, this attachment is manifested by an affection and faithfulness which only cease with life.  Of this state of feeling, which a southern life and education can only give, the northerner knows nothing.  Inexperience leads him to hold the reins of government over his novel subjects with an unsparing severity, which the native ruler of the domestic colonies finds wholly unnecessary.

The slave always prefers a southern master, because he knows that he will be understood by him.  His kindly feelings toward and sympathies with slaves as such, are as honourable to his heart as gratifying to the subjects of them. He treats with suitable allowance those peculiarities of their race, which the unpracticed northerner will construe into idleness, obstinacy, laziness, revenge, or hatred.

There is another cause for their difference of treatment to their slaves.  The southerner, habituated to their presence, never fears them, and laughs at the idea.  It is the reverse with the northerner:  he fears them, and hopes to intimidate them by severity."





Related posts:

Southwest by a Yankee

Saving Prospect Hill

The Archaeological Conservancy is making a final push to get funds to repair the roof at Prospect Hill. If they can raise $35,000, the house can be saved.  This house has such historic significance.  The ghosts of Prospect Hill impeach us to try.

To read how you can help, click here.  https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/saving-prospect-hill

For more about the story of Prospect Hill, click here.

An Old Book; A New Chapter, Part II

I don't really have time for a long blog post, but this entry was so delicious, I just had to share:

Wed. June 3

I got out of General [Leonidas] Polk the story of his celebrated adventure with the ____Indiana (Northern) regiment, which resulted in the almost total destruction of that corps.  I had often during my travels heard officers and soldiers talking of this extraordinary feat of the "Bishop's."  

Gen. Leonidas Polk

The modest yet graphic manner in which General Polk related this wonderful instance of coolness and bravery was extremely interesting, and I now repeat it, as nearly as I can in his own words.

"Well, sir, it was at the battle of Perryville, late in the evening -- in fact, it was almost dark when Lidell's brigade came into action.  Shortly after its arrival, I observed a body of men, whom I believed to be Confederates, standing at the newly arrived troops.  I said, 'Dear me, this is very sad, and must be stopped;' so I turned 'round, but could find none of my young men who were absent on different messages; so I determined to ride myself and settle the matter.

"Having cantered up to the colonel of the regiment which was firing, I asked him in angry tones what he meant by shooting his own friends, and I desired him to cease doing so at once.  He answered with surprise, 'I don't think there can be any mistake about it; I am sure they are the enemy.' 

"'Enemy! I said,' 'why I have only just left them myself.  Cease firing, sir; what is your name, sir?'

"'My name is Colonel ____, of the ____Indiana; and pray, sir, who are you?'

"Then for the first time I saw, to my astonishment, that he was a Yankee, and that I was in rear of a regiment of Yankees.  Well, I saw that there was no hope but to brazen it out; my dark blouse and the increasing obscurity befriended me, so I approached quite close to him and shook my fist in his face, saying, 'I'll show you who I am, sir; cease firing, sir, at once.'  

"I then turned my horse and cantered slowly down the line, shouting in an authoritative manner to the Yankees to cease firing; at the same time I experienced a disagreeable sensation, like screwing up my back, and calculating how many bullets would be between my shoulders every moment.  I was afraid to increase my pace until I got to a small copse, when I put the spurs in and galloped back to my men.  

"I immediately went up to the nearest colonel, and said to him, 'Colonel, I have reonnoitred [sic.] those fellows pretty closely -- and I find there is no mistake who they are; you may get up and go at them.'  

"And I assure you, sir, that the slaughter of that Indiana regiment was the greatest I have ever seen in the war."


From the book Three Months in the Southern States, April-June, 1863 by Lieut.-Col. Arthur Freemantle, published by William Blackwood & Sons, Edinburgh and London, 1863

See also Part I - Old Book; New Chapter

An Old Book; A New Chapter

Arthur Freemantle

I'm moving shortly and, as such, have been going through things deciding what to keep and what to leave.  I have a particular love for old books, and there's no shortage of them at the house.  As I enter this new chapter in my life, it's bittersweet finding old family objects.

So yesterday, I was pulling a bunch of old books out of a secretary when I came across a little volume called Three Months in The Southern States by Lieutenant Colonel Arthur James Lyon Freemantle (later known as General Sir Arthur James Lyon Freemantle, an English subject and member of Her Majesty's Coldstream Guards.)

The book had belonged to my great-great grandfather's son, Robert Rose, as evidenced by the signature on the front free endpaper.  Like his father, Robert committed suicide.  The suicide was such a family secret that I didn't learn about it until the mid-1980s.  I hear he hanged himself.  No idea why.  I have one painting of him as a child.

Anyway, finding these things that my ancestors read sometimes gives me insight into the ancestors, themselves, so I found my favorite spot in the library, laid down on the sofa and began to read.

The book was published in 1864, and was a diary describing Freemantle's experiences in the South during the Civil War.  The preface reads:

At the outbreak of the American war, in common with many of my countrymen, I felt very indifferent as to which side might win; but if I had any bias, my sympathies were rather in favor of the North, on account of the dislike which an Englishman naturally feels at the idea of slavery.  But soon a sentiment of great admiration for the gallantry and determination of the Southerners, together with the unhappy contrast afforded by the foolish bullying conduct of the Northerners, caused a complete revulsion in my feelings, and I was unable to repress a strong wish to go to America and see something of this wonderful struggle.

Having successfully accomplished my design, I returned to England, and found amongst all my friends an extreme desire to know the truth of what was going on in the South; for, in consequence of the blockade, the truth can with difficulty be arrived at, as intelligence coming mainly through Northern sources is not believed; and, in fact, nowhere is the ignorance of what is passing in the South more profound than it is in the Northern States.

In consequence of a desire often expressed, I now publish the Diary which I endeavored, as well as I could, to keep up day by day during my travels throughout the Confederate States.

I have not attempted to conceal any of the peculiarities or defects of the Southern people.  Many persons will doubtless highly disapprove of some of their customs and habits in the wilder portion of the country; but I think no generous man, whatever may be his political opinions, can do otherwise than admire the courage, energy, and patriotism of the whole population, and the skill of its leaders, in this struggle against great odds.  And I am also of opinion that many will agree with me in thinking that a people in which all ranks and both sexes display a unanimity and a heroism which can never have been surpassed in the history of the world, is destined, sooner or later, to become a great and independent nation.


Well, needless to say he got that last part wrong.  But it's a fascinating read and was a bestseller in its time.

Freemantle left England on March 6, 1863, and after landing in St. Thomas on the 17th and Havana on the 22nd,  arrived at the mouth of the Rio Grande on April 1st where over 70 vessels were anchored awaiting their cotton cargoes. Accompanied by a Mexican who promised to take him by buggy to Brownsville.  On the way to Brownsville, he got his first taste of the wild, lawless West after being introduced to half a dozen Confederate officers sitting 'round a campfire:

The captain was rather a boaster, and kept on remarking, "We've given 'em h___ll on the Mississippi, h___ll on the Sabine and h___ll in various other places."

He explained to me that he couldn't cross the river to see McCarthy, as he with some of his men had made a raid over there three weeks ago, and carried away some "renegades," one of whom, named Montgomery, they had "left" on the road to Brownsville; by the smiles of the other officers, I could easily guess that something very disagreeable must have happened to Montgomery.

Nine miles further down, they met General Bee, the commander at Brownsville, who stated that he regretted the action the others had taken on Montgomery.

Half an hour after parting company with General Bee, we came to the spot where Montgomery had been "left;" and sure enough, about two hundred yards to the left of the road, we found him.

He had been slightly buried, but his head and arms were above the ground, his arms tied together, the rope still round his neck, but part of it still dangling from quite a small mesquite tree.  Dogs or wolves had probably scraped the earth from the body, and there was no flesh on the bones.  I obtained this my first experience of Lynch law within three hours of landing in America.

Freemantle arrived in Matamoros, a Mexican city with a population of about nine thousand.  His description of the people and culture is fascinating.

The Mexicans look very much like their Indian forefathers, their faces being extremely dark, and their hair black and straight.  The wear hats with the most enormous brims, and delight in covering their jackets and leather breeches with embroidery.

Some of the women are rather good-looking, but they plaster their heads with grease, and paint their faces too much.

...At 10 p.m. Mr. Oetling conducted us to the grand fandango given in honor of the reported victory over the French.  

A Mexican fandango resembles a French ducasse, with the additional excitement of gambling.  It commences at 9:30, and continues until daylight.  The scene is lit up by numerous paper lanterns of various colors.

A number of benches are placed so as to form a large quare, in the centre of which the dancing goes on, the men and women gravely smoking all the time.  Outside the benches is the promenade bounded by the gambling tables and drinking booths.  On this occasion there must have been thirty or forty gambling tables, some of the smaller ones presided over by old women, and others by small boys.

Although the number of people at these fandangoes is very great, the whole affair is conducted with an order and regularity not to be equalled in an assembly of a much higher class in Europe.  If there ever is a row, it is invariably caused by Texans from Brownsville.  These turbulent spirits are at once seized and cooled in the caboose.

Freemantle traveled through Texas, speaking to officers, Mexicans and slaves.

I had a long talk with a big mulatto slave woman, who was driving one of Ward's wagons.  She told me she had been raised in Tennessee, and that three years ago she had been taken from her mistress for a bad debt, to their mutual sorrow.  "Both," she said, "cried bitterly at parting."  She doesn't like San Antonio at all, "too much hanging and murdering for me," she said.  She had seen a man hanged in the middle of the day, just in front of her door.

"...In the afternoon I saw many negroes and negresses parading about in their Sunday clothes -- silks and crinolines -- much finer than their mistresses.

"...The general took me out for a drive in his ambulance, and I saw innumerable negroes and negresses parading about the streets in the most outrageously grand costumes -- silks, satins, crinolines, hats with feathers, lace mantles, etc., forming an absurd contrast to the simple dresses of their mistresses.  Many were driving about in their masters' carriages, or riding on horses which are often lent to them on Sunday afternoons; all seemed intensely happy and satisfied with themselves.

He met Sam Houston on a train for Galveston:

In the cars I was introduced to General Samuel Houston, the founder of Texan independence.  He told me he was born in Virginia seventy years ago, that he was a United States senator at thirty, and governor of Tennessee at thirty-six.  He emigrated into Texas in 1832; headed the revolt of Texas, and defeated the Mexicans at San Jacinto in 1836.  

He then became President of the Republic of Texas, which he annexed to the United States in 1845.  As Governor of the State in 1860, he had opposed the secession movement, and was deposed.  Though evidently a remarkable and clever man, he is extremely egotistical and vain, and much disappointed at having to subside from his former grandeur.  The town of Houston is named after him.  In apperance he is a tall, handsome old man, much given to chewing tobacco, and blowing his nose with his fingers.

The politics of slavery was much in discussion on the trip.  I'll share what I deem some of the most interesting:

To my surprise all the party were willing to agree that, a few years ago, most educated men in the South regarded slavery as a misfortune and not justifiable, though necessary under the circumstances.  But the meddling, coercive conduct of the detested and despised abolitionists had caused the bonds to be drawn much tighter.

My fellow travellers of all classes are much given to talk to me about their "peculiar institution," and they are most anxious that I should see as much of it as possible, in order that I may be convinced that it is not so bad as has been represented, and that they are not all "Legrees," although they do not attempt to deny that there are many instances of cruelty.  

But they say that a man who is known to ill treat his negroes is hated by all the rest of the community.  They declare that Yankees make the worst masters when they settle in the South; and all seem to be perfectly aware that slavery, which they did not invent, but which they inherited from us (English), is and always will be the great bar to the sympathy of the civilized world.  

There were forty or fifty Yankee deserts here [Monroe, LA] from the army besieging Vicksburg.  These Yankee deserters, on being asked their reasons of deserting, generally reply, "Our government has broken faith with us.  We enlisted to fight for the Union, and not to liberate the G__d d___d niggers."

Our party left Trinity at 6 a.m. in one big yawl and three skiffs.  In my skiff were eight persons, besides a negro oarsman named "Tucker."  We had to take it in turns to row with this worthy, and I soon discovered to my cost the inconvenience of sitting in close proximity with a perspiring darkie.  This negro was a very powerful man, very vain and susceptible of flattery.  I won his heart by asking him if he wasn't worth 6,000 dollars.  We kept him up to the mark throughout the journey by plying him with compliments upon his strength and skill.  One officer declared to him that he should try to marry his mistress (a widow) on purpose to own him.


On May 15, Freemantle arrived in Natchez:

I believe this early Natchez scene was painted by John James Audubon

Natchez is a pretty little town, and ought to contain about 6,000 inhabitants.  It is built on the top of a high bluff overlooking the Mississippi river, which is about three-quarters of a mile broad at this point.

When I reached Natchez, I hired a carriage, and, with a letter of introduction which I had brought from San Antonio, I drove to the house of Mr. Haller Nutt, distant from the town about two miles.

Haller Nutt

The scenery about Natchez is extremely pretty, and the ground is hilly, with plenty of fine trees.  Mr. Nutt's place reminded me very much of an English gentleman's country seat, except that the house itself is rather like a pagoda, but it is beautifully furnished.

Longwood aka Nutt's Folly because it was never finished.

Mr. Nutt was extremely civil, and was most anxious that I should remain at Natchez for a few days; but now that I was thoroughly wound up for travelling, I determined to push on to Vicksburg, as all the late news seemed to show that some great operations must take place there before long.

I'll save the rest for another blog post, which should be interesting as he witnessed the siege at Vicksburg and the Battle at Gettysburg.  Don't forget to check back for more.