Tag Archives: LCsCottage

Cross Country Vacation Sept./Oct. 2025-Post 19

Posted on December 15, 2025 | 2 comments

Natchez, Mississippi

This northwestern girl loves Natchez!

I would go back in a heartbeat if I had the opportunity!

Unfortunately, the Hubster and I drove by Mammy’s Cupboard, a roadside icon just south of Natchez, when it was closed. I sure would like to try one of their desserts!

*Clicking on a photo will give you a closer look!

The name, Natchez, derives from the sun-worshipping and mound-building Natchez Indians, who ceased to exist as a tribe in 1731 when they were conquered by the French.

If you like antebellum architecture, then come and take a walk with me.

Dunleith Historic Inn, Natchez, Mississippi

The Hubster and I didn’t eat at Dunleith Castle, either, but I love the elegant touch of the chandelier on their restaurant sign!

Dunleith Historic Inn, Mississippi’s only surviving example of a plantation house with a fully encircling colonnade of Greek Revival columns was built by Charles Dahlgreen, who raised two infantry units for service in the Confederacy. Dahlgreen’s brother, John, became an admiral in the Union navy, a case of brother pitted against brother. During the Civil War, the Confederate sympathizer, Alfred Vidal Davis and his family resided at Dunleith.

I enjoyed learning the story of John Roy Lynch, who lived here, working as a field laborer before the Civil War, and you might, too.

John Roy Lynch was born a slave at Tacony Plantation in Louisiana and self-educated. He would go on to become the first African-American Speaker of the House of Representatives in the Mississippi State Legislature and one of the first African-American U.S. Congressmen.

Awesome achievements, especially considered in the light of his circumstances!

Twin Oaks, also known as White Cottage, is a Greek Revival style home built in 1852 that is situated on three acres of southern gardens. Twin Oaks was the home to notable residents, such as Mother Cornelia Connelly (her story is also amazing), the founder of the Society of the Holy Child Jesus, and Lewis Evans, a sheriff in the Mississippi Territory. Federal troops stayed in the house during the Civil War.

Charles DuBuisson built the main portion of Twin Oaks in the 1850s, although sections of the house are believed to be much earlier. DuBuisson was a professor of classics at Jefferson College, and later, practiced law in Natchez. His son, also named Charles, was a corporal in the First Mississippi Light Artillery and later, served in Wirt Adam’s regiment of the Mississippi Cavalry.

Belvidere Cottage was built circa 1837, shortly after Samuel and Robert Patterson acquired the land. In 1847, it was acquired by John Coulson, a merchant. In 1868, John W. Henderson purchased Belvidere.

The house was relocated northwards in 1927 to make way for the Margaret Martin Junior High School.

If The Elms hasn’t sold since the Hubster and I walked this corner of Natchez, then you still have a chance to buy this fantastic and beautiful mansion!

John Henderson (1755-1842), who began construction of The Elms in 1804, was a prominent Natchez merchant, auctioneer, and lawyer. The Elms changed hands many times over the years, and each owner added his own touch, resulting in a house that defies any useful stylistic label.

The Pillars was originally owned by Mr. & Mrs. Missouri Lawrence and built in an Italianate style. This is a pet friendly bed and breakfast for those of you who travel with furry family!

The Pillars-Crain Manor, Natchez, Mississippi

The Peter Crist House, in the Natchez On-Top-of-the-Hill Historic District, was placed on the National Register on 17 September 1979.

Monmouth Historic Inn , Natchez, Mississippi

Monmouth Historic Inn was built by John Hankinson, a postmaster, lawyer and steamboat entrepreneur, during the depression that followed the War of 1812, and named after his home, Monmouth County, New Jersey. John A. Quitman, a Natchez attorney, purchased the home in 1826.

Members of the 12th and 14th Wisconsin and 28th Illinois Infantry camped on the lawn of Monmouth, the former home of General John Quitman, once governor of the State of Mississippi and a Mexican war hero, who had died in 1858. Quitman’s daughters, who had married Confederate officers, continued to reside there during the Federal occupation.

Bontura House, also known as Smith-Bontura-Evans-House, was built by Robert D. Smith, a free African American who, prohibited by law to operate a grocery in Natchez, went into the livery business and soon became the city’s most successful carriage and dray operator.

Smith purchased the freedom of his wife and children when living in New Orleans and then moved the family to Natchez.

Vinca, Bontura House, Natchez, Mississippi

The Banker's House, Natchez, Mississippi

The Banker’s House is a grand architectural rarity, combining a commercial bank and a neighborhood residence in the same structure.

In 1835-1838, The building was constructed by Levin Marshall, the bank’s president, in the Greek Revival style. The home and the bank were designed to share the same footprint to better secure the financial institution.

Taking in the lovely view of the mighty Mississippi River as the Hubster and I walk along the bluff.

And where did we eat lunch?

Here, at the Biscuits & Blues Restaurant. The staff was very helpful and nice.

We were here on a Sunday for lunch, but we hear that it is a great place for dinner, live music, and fun times spent with friends. Biscuits and Blues has been voted America’s #1 blues nightclub by the Memphis Blues Foundation, the W.C. Handy Organization, and The San Francisco Blues Society.

Biscuits & Blues Restaurant, Natchez, Mississippi

The Hubster and I had never tasted crawfish before (I know…hard to believe), let alone any real southern food before this trip.

So we tried crawfish etouffee. It was a bit spicy for me, but I ate it all…it was tasty.

Crawfish Etouffee, Biscuits & Blues Restaurant, Natchez, Mississippi

We also tried the crawfish and mushroom beignet. This was so delicious! I am missing it already!

Crawfish & Mushroom Beignet, Biscuits & Blues Restaurant, Natchez, Mississippi

See the world around you!

Cross Country Vacation Sept./Oct. 2025-Post 18

Posted on December 12, 2025 | 5 comments

Grand Village of the Natchez Indians, Mississippi

After staying in a hotel in Baton Rouge, as opposed to car camping, we headed towards Natchez, Mississippi.

We passed under the Tensas River Bridge, Louisiana, a vertical lift drawbridge built in 1971. It is no longer in operation for river traffic but, obviously, still used by vehicles.

I thought it was cool!

*Clicking on a photo will give you a closer look!

We didn’t stop to look around the bridge area, but we did make an unplanned stop when we saw a sign for the Grand Village of the Natchez Indians.

The Grand Village is a 128-acre site featuring three prehistoric Native American mounds, a reconstructed Natchez Indian house, a museum with artifacts and a film to see, a gift shop, and a nature trail. There is an annual Natchez Powwow, featuring traditional Native American singing and dancing, foods, crafts and more. Admission is free.

Grand Village of the Natchez Indians, Mississippi

The Natchez Indians were successful farmers, growing corn, beans, and squash. They also hunted, fished, gathered wild plant foods, made baskets and pottery.

The Natchez Indians and their ancestors inhabited what is now southwest Mississippi ca. AD 700-1730. According to historical and archaeological evidence, the Grand Village was their main ceremonial center between 1682 and 1730. French explorers, priests, and journalists described the ceremonial mounds built by the Natchez on the banks of St. Catherine Creek. Later archaeological investigations produced additional evidence that the site was the place that the French called “the Grand Village of the Natchez.”

French settlers began to explore the region and establish settlements that gradually encroached on Natchez territory. Though relations were peaceful at first, the French colonists strained the resources the Natchez relied on for survival. Several episodes of violence in 1716 and 1723 created tension, although the Natchez made land concessions to the French. In 1729, a pro-English element within the nation led the Natchez to attack the French colonial plantations and military garrison at Fort Rosalie.

In 1731, after several wars with the French, the Natchez were defeated. Most of the captured survivors were shipped to Saint-Domingue and sold into slavery; others took refuge with other tribes, such as the Muskogean Chickasaw and Creek, and the Iroquoian-speaking Cherokee.

Mound A, or the Abandoned Mound, has been only partially excavated. Research indicates that as many as four structures were on top of it in the 1700s. After three major archaeological excavations at the Grand Village by the Mississippi Department of Archives and History, no further digging investigations are planned for the site. The unexcavated areas of the site will be preserved intact, representing a sort of “time capsule” from the Natchez Indians’ past.

Two of the mounds, the Great Sun’s Mound, and the Temple Mound, have been excavated and rebuilt to their original sizes and shapes.

The Great Sun’s home, described by the French as the tallest and largest house at Grand Village, was on top of this mound. Each time a Great Sun died, the house was destroyed and a new house built for the new Great Sun.

A religious structure once stood atop the Temple Mound and housed bones of previous Suns. A sacred perpetual fire was kept in the Temple’s inner sanctum, symbolic of the sun, from which the royal family had descended.

The Natchez performed ritual human sacrifice upon the death of a Sun. When a male Sun died, his wives were expected to accompany him by performing ritual suicide. Great honor was associated with such sacrifice, and sometimes many Natchez chose to follow a Sun into death. For example, at the death of the Tattooed Serpent in 1725, two of his wives, one of his sisters (nicknamed La Glorieuse by the French), his first warrior, his doctor, his head servant and the servant’s wife, his nurse, and a craftsman of war clubs, all chose to die with him.

Mothers sometimes sacrificed infants in such ceremonies, an act which conferred honor and special status to the mother. Relatives of adults who chose ritual suicide were likewise honored and rose in status. The practice of ritual suicide and infanticide upon the death of a chief existed among other Native Americans living along the lower Mississippi River, such as the Taensa.

The open area, or plaza, between the mounds was used for religious, social, and funeral activities.

See the world around you!

Cross Country Vacation Sept./Oct. 2025-Post 17

Posted on December 9, 2025 | 2 comments

Beauvoir The Jefferson Davis Home and Presidential Library, Mississippi

The Hubster and I followed the gulf coast straight through Alabama to Biloxi, Mississippi. Perhaps another trip will allow us time to explore Alabama.

We thought a scenic drive along the gulf coast would be fun, but the stretch that we drove had many hotels and amusement parks and other businesses, making it difficult to actually see the beaches, much less the water. I guess we should’ve planned that better (not that we plan much of anything when we vacation…we are more of an ‘in the moment’ type of couple).

We did, however, plan on visiting Beauvoir and The Jefferson Davis Presidential Library, thus the purpose for driving from Florida to Mississippi.

We had it on our minds to visit here because on our last cross country trip we randomly discovered a monument to Jefferson Davis at his birthplace in Kentucky.

Beauvoir The Jefferson Davis Home and Presidential Library

Now this is a beautiful unobstructed view of the gulf!

Beauvoir was the seaside retirement estate of Jefferson Davis, the one and only president of the Confederate States of America. Beauvoir was also the site of the Mississippi Confederate Soldiers Home from 1903 to 1957. The restored antebellum home sits on a 51 acre complex that includes outbuildings, the Confederate Museum, a historic cemetery, the Tomb of the Unknown Confederate Soldier, a nature trail, and a gift shop. The Jefferson Davis Presidential Library contains a biographical exhibit on Jefferson Davis in addition to the research library’s collection on nineteenth-century Southern history.

Hurricanes, including Camille in 1969 and Katrina in 2005, have repeatedly devastated Beauvoir. There has not only been extensive damage to the house, but to paintings, artifacts, the annihilation of the Library Cottage, the Hayes Cottage, the Brick Hospital Confederate Soldiers Museum, the director’s house, and the replica veterans’ barracks, the first floor of the Jefferson Davis Presidential Library and Museum and the beautiful gardens. Restoration is ongoing.

The harp at Beauvoir is in the Grecian style, which was one of the most popular styles of the era. Over 3,000 of this style were sold in London between 1811-1820. Sarah Anne Ellis Dorsey, who owned Beauvoir and bequeathed it to Davis, probably acquired the instrument sometime between then, before she gave it to the Davis Family. The decorations on the front column of the harp are plastered and then gilded in gold leaf.

The beautiful grandfather clock, hand crafted in 1778, by John Turnbull in George Town, Maryland, (present day Washington D.C.) was a gift to Revolutionary War veteran Samuel Emory Davis, Jefferson Davis’s father. Samuel Davis was born c.1755-58 in Georgia where he enlisted with the American forces.

The clock survived Union raids during the Civil War. The weights inside the clock are cast iron coated concrete weights. Most cast iron weights from clocks and other family trinkets of that period were melted down and used as ammunition. The clock has remained in the Davis family since Samuel received it, and endured Union troop raids that destroyed much of Samuel’s correspondences after the war. Although sources cannot confirm, it may have been passed to Jefferson Davis as a wedding gift to him and his first wife, Sarah Knox Taylor. The clock remained with Jefferson Davis through his life, ending up here in 1879 and now sits in the main entry hall of the last home of Jefferson Davis. It is the oldest piece of furniture at Beauvoir.

There were workers under the house painstakingly sanding off the whitewash off of the brick by hand and repairing the mortar between the bricks. Then applying new whitewashing.

Jefferson Davis graduated from West Point in 1824 before beginning his military career. He was a colonel in the Mexican-American War. He was appointed to the United States Senate in 1847. In 1853, President Franklin Pierce appointed him Secretary of War. Davis oversaw the construction of the new House and Senate wings of the US Capitol. After Pierce’s administration ended in 1857, Davis returned to the Senate. He resigned in 1861 when Mississippi seceded from the United States. Davis called it “the saddest day of my life”.

On May 22, 1865, Davis was imprisoned in Fort Monroe, Virginia. After two years of imprisonment, he was released at Richmond on May 13, 1867.

In 1877, Jefferson Davis was looking for a quiet retreat to write his books and papers. He fell in love with Beauvoir and, in 1879, bought it from Sarah Anne Ellis Dorsey for $5,500, to be paid in three payments. Davis made the first payment and six months later, she died. He was her sole heir and inherited the house along with other property.

Davis lived in the Library Pavilion, to the east of the big house, for 2 years before purchasing the property, and wrote his book, ‘The Rise and Fall of the Confederate Government’, “an historical sketch of the events which preceded and attended the struggle of the Southern states to maintain their existence and their rights as sovereign communities.” – Jefferson Davis.

The Hayes Cottage, to the west of the big house, is a replica of the original Margaret Davis Hayes Cottage that was used as a guest cottage. Margaret Davis Hayes is the eldest daughter of Jefferson and Varina Davis. Margaret and her family were regular visitors to Beauvoir while Jefferson and Varina resided here.

Both the Library Pavilion and the Hayes Cottages are replicas of the original structures, which were destroyed by Katrina.

Beauvoir’s Confederate Memorial Cemetery is a plot of land on the back half of the property. The cemetery is the final resting place for 784 graves made up of Confederate veterans, wives, widows, civilians, and the Tomb of the Unknown Confederate Soldier. It is also the final resting place for Samuel Emory Davis, father of President Jefferson Davis.

Documents and letters in the Beauvoir archives reveal that the Beauvoir Memorial Cemetery had hand-painted wooden boards as grave markers before more permanent stones were obtained. One of the inmates, Van Buren Mass, was a sign painter, from Biloxi, paid to inscribe these wooden markers. Later, private funds were used to obtain permanent headstones.

Dec. 1, 1979, Rick Forte of Hattiesburg made the discovery of his life.

Relic hunting with a metal detector in the vicinity of Vicksburg, he found parts of a Confederate soldier’s cartridge box and canteen. Then, nearby, he found what remained of the soldier’s body 117 years after he was killed in the Vicksburg campaign of the War Between the States.

The discovery led to the establishment of the Tomb of the Unknown Confederate Soldier in the Confederate Veterans Cemetery at Beauvoir.

The Jefferson Davis Presidential Library has numerous exhibits, as well as an informative video to be viewed in the auditorium. There is a gift shop and a very large library, including an extensive military history section with information dating back to the American Revolution.

“He was a man of great labor, of great learning, of great integrity, of great purity.” – Senator Reagan of Texas, Postmaster General of the Confederate Government

“Eloquent among the most eloquent in debate, wise among the wisest in council, and brave among the bravest in battle.” -Caleb Cushing

“Reared on the soil of Mississippi, the ambition of my boyhood was to do something which would redound to the honor and welfare of the state. The weight of many years admonishes me that my day of actual services has passed. Yet the desire remains undiminished to see the people of Mississippi prosperous and happy, and her fame not unlike the past, but gradually growing wider and brighter as the years roll away.” -Jefferson Davis

This is a pecan cracker. It was manufactured so that the owner could put it on a base and make it a stationary appliance in the home.

An Ordinance

To dissolve the Union between the State of Mississippi, and other States, united with her, under the compact, entitled the Constitution of the United States.