"Windsor Ruins..."

(my photo)

South of Vicksburg, MS, are two cities that are rich in antebellum (before the war) architecture,  Port Gibson and Natchez.  One can find  magnificent homes here... from back once upon a time when cotton was king. The topic of this post is "Windsor"... or more specifically, "Windsor Ruins"... the remains of a magnificent home that was built between these two cities.

"Windsor" was built by Smith Coffee Daniell II, a wealthy landowner. Construction began in 1859 and was completed in 1861.  Windsor was the largest antebellum home in Mississippi and sat on a 2,600-acre plantation in Claiborne County. The house cost about $175,000 ($3.5 Million in today's dollars) to build.  It was grand... it was opulent.  Mark Twain is said to have visited here many times... 

And as so many stories like this go, Smith Daniell only lived in the house for several weeks before he died at the age of 34.  So it goes, huh?

The image above is a drawing completed by  Henry Otis Dwight, a Union officer with the 20th Ohio Infantry, as to what the house looked like. This is the only depiction of the house created by someone who actually saw the home.  During the Civil War, the house was occupied by Confederate military, and then later, by General U.S. Grant and members of his military detachment.  The house was also used by Union forces as a hospital... and is cited as being one of the reasons that Grant didn't burn the house to the ground.

This is another artist's rendition of 'Windsor'...  there is a slight variation from the above drawing, in that this one shows steps on the two sides that the viewer can see... the prior drawing shows steps only at the front of the house.  It may be that the above drawing was a suggestion for what the house could look like, as opposed to what was actually built.  

Front Steps At Windsor

These front steps have since been removed from the ruin, and donated to Alcorn State University, in Lorman, MS...

Current Installation

of  steps at

Alcorn State University

The wealth of the family was devastated during the war... it is estimated that Grant's forces burned over 31,000 bales of cotton that belonged to the family.  Since the American South supplied England with over 75% of the cotton they needed, the destruction of the cotton grown and processed by the South put a great crimp in the Confederate economy as well as that of England.

Stories have it that a Union soldier was killed on the steps shown above... other stories say that wounded Union soldiers died while being cared for at this site... and are buried on the grounds.

These stories are possibly why the apparition of a Union soldier is often sighted around the ruins.  I wish I had read more about the history of the site... I would have been interested in looking to see if I could have found the 'soldier'... there are also stories of music wafting from the ruins... I do have to admit to having heard music while at the site, but I didn't think it to be from years past... from happier times...

(my photo) 

I also learned after the fact that the family cemetery is close by... covered by brush and such... I  would have looked for it and found it...

Anyway... on the night of February 17, 1890, the house caught fire and burned to the ground.  There are several explanations out there about the cause of the fire... but all include a discarded cigar that found its way either into a trash heap... or next to a curtain that caught fire... and even a pile of sawdust...

All that remains are these 23 columns...

(my photo)

Get out and learn the history of your area... there is so much to learn... so much to see...

Jim