SANKOFA'S SLAVERY DATA COLLECTION

Mount Locust Plantation

Location: Natchez, MS
Constructed: 1784

History: Mount Locust was constructed in the 1780s and served as an inn on the old Natchez Trace, a road from Natchez, Mississippi to Tennessee. The Trace was an important transportation route in the 18th and early 19th centuries. Mount Locust is located about 15 miles outside the town of Natchez. After the introduction of the cotton gin in the Natchez area, Mount Locust was transformed into a successful cotton plantation.

Associated Surnames: Chamberlain, Dunbar, Ferguson

Associated Free White Names

• (1784 - 1801) William Ferguson: Built main house
• (1801 - ) Mr. Chamberlain and (widow) Ferguson: William Ferguson's widow inherited the plantation
• Joseph Dunbar
• Olivia Dunbar

Associated Black Slave Names

• ----

Agriculture

• Cotton

Description of Associated Architecture

• Sleepy Hollow: William Ferguson built a structure behind his house to accomodate weary travellers. This building was known as "Sleepy Hollow."
• Other buildings on the property consisted of a separate kitchen building and slave quarters. Only the main house is still standing today.

Landmarks

• Natchez Trace: This historic route generally follows the old Indian trace, or trail, between Nashville, TN and Natchez, MS. Of the estimated 443 miles, 423 are completed as a parkway.
• Slave Cemetary: located in the woods behind the main house. Only a single grave is marked with a roughly hewn slab of limestone. Number of graves is unknown. Out of respect for the ancestors, Ser Seshab Heter performs an African-style libation in the African-American cemetery at Mount Locust. This is a dignified ceremony and offering given in gratitude and atonement to ancestors.

Research Leads

Natchez-Area Manuscript collections in The Louisiana and Lower Mississippi Valley Collections at Louisiana State University: Magruder, Eliza L. Diary, 1846-1857. 2 vols., 1 typescript. Location: G:17. Available on microfilm: University Publications of America Southern Women and Their Families in the 19th Century: Papers and Diaries Series E, Reel 34. Young woman of Locust Plantation near Natchez, the home of her aunt and uncle, Olivia and Joseph Dunbar (d.1846). Diary comments on local social events and amusements; visiting friends; births and deaths; and treatment, care of, and unrest of slaves. http://www.lib.lsu.edu/special/guides/natchez.html

RESOURCES

• African-American Archeaology at USM (online) http://ocean.otr.usm.edu/~aloung/mtlocust.html
• Natchez-Area Manuscript collections in The Louisiana and Lower Mississippi Valley Collections at Louisiana State University http://www.lib.lsu.edu/special/guides/natchez.html