SANKOFA'S PLANTATION DATABASE

Richland Plantation

Location: Jefferson Co., MS
Constructed:

History: Everard Green Baker moved to his new home, Richland, believed to be in Jefferson County, Mississippi, in 1849. On September 6, 1849, he married Laura Lavinia Alexander of Moss Hill in Adams County. In their early months of marriage they went on frequent visits to Moss Hill and to his brother Thomas's house. During this year he visited an "Indian camp." On one occassion, he escorted a party of ladies there, and they met Chief Billy Hunt, apparently the leader at the camp. After the first year of his marriage, Baker wrote in his diary that he intended to live with his brother Thomas for a year and allow him the use of his slaves, as neither had enough slaves to make large farming operations profitable.

In 1852, Everard Green Baker and his wife Laura moved to rural Panola Co., Mississippi. In July 1854, Baker purchased a residence in town and moved his family there. He had exchanged plantations with Thad Sorsby, which allowed him to move his slaves from the swamp closer to town. In 1856, Baker had purchased and finally settled at "the Bryant Place". The family moved there, and, after this time, his farming operations were on a larger scale.

Associated Surnames: Baker

Associated Plantations: Bryant Place (Panola Co., MS)

Associated Free White Names

• (1849 - ) Everard Green Baker: owner
• Laura Lavinia Alexander Baker: wife of E.G. Baker
• Thomas Baker: E.G. Baker's brother and neighbor in Jefferson Co.

Associated Black Slave Names

• none found yet

Agriculture

• Cotton

Description of Associated Architecture

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Research Leads

• Records of Ante-Bellum Southern Plantations, Series J: Everard Green Baker Diaries, 1833-1876, Jefferson, Panola, and Hinds Counties, Mississippi. http://www.lexis-nexis.com/cispubs/guides/southern_hist/plantations/plantj6.htm The collection includes a diary kept by Baker between 1849 and 1876. In it, he recorded information about farming activities, including the cultivation of cotton and corn; the activities of his family and growth of his children; events in the lives of his slaves, including sickness, religious events, and marriages; and his own religious and personal beliefs, particularly those relating to health and diet.

Other People Researching This Plantation

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RESOURCES

• Guide Introduction: Records of Ante-Bellum Southern Plantations Series J, Part 6 (Mississippi and Arkansas) http://www.lexis-nexis.com/cispubs/guides/southern_hist/plantations/plantj6.htm