" Back To Natchez"..The Burn, A Buried Statue and A White Rose.

I toured 8 homes on my Natchez visit.
I stayed at The Burn and a tour was included.
It was the first one I toured after check in.



It was built in 1834 by John P. Walworth and
served as a hospital for Union Troops during
" The War".




A night shot of The Burn.................

The Mistress of The Burn, Bridget Green

gives a tour..........

If you notice in this shot, there is a solid marble

statue of two children setting in front of the mantle.

Some years ago this was found buried on the back

grounds by workers digging. It is believed the Walworth

family may have buried it during the war when they were

given 24 hours to vacate and forgot where it was buried!

This is the bedroom suite I stayed in.

" Clara's Room".

This is another B & B bedroom...............

Here is the main floor formal Dining Room.........

Another view in the Dining Room................

Still another Dining Room shot.........

This is the Dining Room used to serve the

fantastic breakfast to B & B Guests...........

The floating spiral staircase...........................

On the back garden patio looking up at

the main floor of the house........

Gardens were everywhere! A side garden........

A back garden............

Another beautiful garden......................

There are one hundred and fifty different varieties

of Camellia's at The Burn and the National Camellia

Society has them labeled and documented.......

This picture in no way does the size of this

Live Oak Tree justice! It was massive !

Even the entrance and exit drives were just beautiful!

A beautiful way to exit.................

An Azaela in all its glory!

The Azalea and Camellia make a perfect picture !

In 1853 the Walworth's 8 year old daughter Lucy

passed away after contracting the "fever". Lucy loved

flowers and had planted and tended her very own garden.

In this garden was a White Rose bush she cherished! After

her death, much TLC was given to this bush. When the war

ended and the family returned to The Burn it seemed the

Rose was gone, trampled by Union horse hooves. The next

Spring up came a small shoot of the rose! For the next 100

years the family descendants cared for the rose and kept it

blooming. When The Burn was sold out of the family, the

Rose was moved and planted at Lucy's grave in Natchez City

Cemetery where it still blooms today! John Walworth's great,

great granddaughter author Louise Wilbourn Collier who is

is now 84 years old and lives in Memphis has made arrangements

for the continual care of Lucy's White Rose................

You have seen 2 of the 8 so far...............

Come back as we continue to visit Natchez..........

Natchez on the Mississippi........ Part 2 -" WhereThe Old South Still Lives"

It is a town filled with Antebellum and Victorian Mansions
that are full of antique furniture, rare books, China, Silver, Crystal
and history that the descendants of Southern Aristocratic families
are eager to share. A world of Verandas and Porches, lawns full
of heirloom flowers including hundreds of varieties of Azaleas
and Camellias. Where they laughingly explain the difference
between a veranda and a porch is:


" If you serve Mint Julep's, it's a veranda , if you're serving
Iced Tea, it's a porch, if you serve neither, it's a shame"!


A place, where Southern Royalty still reigns ..................
A place, where a Name still opens doors.........
A place, where the Old South Still Lives !


This is Hope Farm where the 77 Year Old Spring Pilgrimage began.
In the Spring of 1931, Natchez was to host the Mississippi Federation
of Garden Clubs to view the glorious gardens of Natchez homes. A late
freeze ruined the flowers days before. Katherine Grafton Miller, the
President of the Natchez Garden Club talked the members into opening
their homes to entertain the Federation members. Most of these homes
were the elite mansions of Natchez. It was such a success that it was
thought that maybe strangers would be willing to pay money to see the
homes. So in the Spring of 1932, the first Natchez Spring Pilgrimage Tour
of Homes took place. There are two garden clubs involved, Natchez Garden
Club and Pilgrimage Garden Club. Each of these clubs own two houses.Each
elect a Court of Royalty each year.



Miss Hannah Loy, 2009 Natchez Garden Club Queen

Mr. Jordon Farmer, 2009 Natchez Garden Club King

Miss Grafton Pritchartt, 2009 Pilgrimage Garden Club Queen

Mr. Martin Scott Hanson, 2009 Pilgrimage Garden Club King

There is a Pageant that the public can attend! It is a

wonderful experience to attend it!
Before I do posts on the homes I did tour, I want to show

pictures and old postcards from some I did not tour.

This is Stanton Hall.................It was bought and restored

by the Pilgrimage Garden Club many years ago. It is open

for tour year round..............It also has a restaurant on the

grounds.

This is Dunleith, it is a B & B and has a restaurant also.

An old postcard of Dunleith.............

This is Longwood, which was being built when the Civil War

broke out and was never finished. Most of the carpenters were

from northern states.They threw down their tools and went to

join the Union Army. It is also owned by the PGClub and open

year round for what is a fascinating tour!

Magnolia Hall was the last mansion built in Natchez

before the war. It was built in 1858 by Thomas Henderson,

son of John Henderson who built Melmont, the deteriorating

home I showed you pictures of a few days ago. This home was

bought and restored by the Natchez Garden Club and is open

for tour year round. It is also rumored to be very haunted!

This is Melrose. It is owned by the state,

open year round for tour and has historical

research archives in it.

Monmouth.........A luxurious B & B!

And D'Evereaux..................

This is Linden...........also a B & B................

Gloucester....Jennie Merrill once lived here!

Rosalie......owned by The Daughters of The American Revolution

and open year round for tour...........

An Old Postcard of The Elms....also a B & B.....

I hope you are enjoying touring Natchez via The Porch blog!

" Natchez On The Mississippi --Part One "

Next week I will be traveling 150 miles to one of my very favorite tourist destinations Natchez , Mississippi to spend a couple of days during the Spring Pilgrimage Tour. Twice a year, Spring and Fall, thousands travel to Natchez to view the Antebellum Mansions that open to the public for tours. This tour will have 25 homes on it, some which are private residences. Natchez has more Antebellum structures than any city its size in the United States, 13 National Landmarks and 1,000 buildings on the National Historic Register. I like to go in the Spring as the Azaleas are magnificent!

Natchez was founded in 1716. It is built on a bluff overlooking the Mississippi River .
Located on the river between Memphis and New Orleans, across the river from Vidalia, LA.
It was occupied by the Natchez Indians until the French built a Fort and settled it in 1716.


Looking from the Natchez Bluff toward Vidaila at sunset.
The Natchez Belle River Boat awaits passengers for its
Sunset Dinner Cruise down The Mississippi River.






Downtown Natchez in 1900. Natchez was a thriving river port.



Natchez seen from the air.

I will be staying at "The Burn" B&B. It is also on the tour. It was built in 1832 by John P. Walworth. Next door to The Burn is the home of Alice Walworth Graham (1905-1994).

Alice was the author of quite a few romance novels set both in the old south and England.

I have 5 of her southern set novels. The Burn was the home of Alice's grandparents. She was also the great- grand niece of John James Audubon. The Walworth family has been immortalized in the fiction novel pictured below written by a Walworth descendant, Louise Collier.

( 1982)

I chose to go back for the Pilgrimage this year because " Glenburnie" the house where the infamous "Goat Castle Murder" took place is on the tour. It is a private residence and can only be toured when it is on the tour. I have never seen it on the schedule before and so this was a must see for me since I am hoping to someday pen a book based on the four friends who made world news after Jennie Merrill's murder here.

Across the road from "Glenburnie" is "Elms Court", the home of Jennie Merrrill's parents,

where Jennie was raised and where the famous " Ball of a Thousand Candles " took place when she was young. It is also a private home on the tour with "Glenburnie".

Along with these two previous homes will be "Auburn". I have toured "Auburn" before as it is located in Duncan Park and open to the public year round. Each tour has a name and includes three houses. This is the "Purple Tour ".

After the " Purple Tour" I will be having a wonderful meal

at this famous Natchez Landmark, "Mammy's".

My next tour is the "Peach Tour" and includes another home tied to the Goat Castle Murder.

" Oakland", the family home of Duncan Minor. It was from this home that Duncan rode horseback every day for twenty years to" Glenburnie " to spend the night with Jennie, leaving

at dawn. As far as I know, this is the first time "Oakland" has been on the tour as it also a private residence .

Also on the " Peach Tour" is Elgin, I have also toured this house before but look forward to viewing it once again. " Elgin" was built in 1780 on property from a Spanish land grant to Sir William Dunbar. In 1840 rooms were added by Dr. John Jenkins who had married Sir William's

granddaughter Annis Dunbar and it was Annis who named it " Elgin" after Sir William Dunbar's home in Scotland.

The last home on the "Peach Tour" is "Montaigene" (1855)
The home was built by William T. Martin who became a

Confederate Civil War Major General serving along side

Jeb Stuart in Tennessee. For his service, Montaigine

suffered as Union soldiers rode horses all through the rooms.

TO BE CONTINUED...................