Dockery Plantation
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Dockery Plantation was a
cotton plantation Plantations are farms specializing in cash crops, usually mainly planting a single crop, with perhaps ancillary areas for vegetables for eating and so on. Plantations, centered on a plantation house, grow crops including cotton, cannabis, tobacco ...
and sawmill in Dockery, Mississippi, on the Sunflower River between Ruleville and
Cleveland, Mississippi Cleveland is a city and one of two county seats of Bolivar County, Mississippi, United States, the other seat being Rosedale, Mississippi, Rosedale. The Cleveland population was 11,199 as of the 2020 United States census. Cleveland has a large c ...
. It is widely regarded as the place where
Delta blues Delta blues is one of the earliest-known styles of blues. It originated in the Mississippi Delta and is regarded as a regional variant of country blues. Guitar and harmonica are its dominant instruments; slide guitar is a hallmark of the s ...
music was born. Palmer, Robert (1981). ''Deep Blues''. .
Blues Blues is a music genre and musical form that originated among African Americans in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues has incorporated spiritual (music), spirituals, work songs, field hollers, Ring shout, shouts, cha ...
musicians resident at Dockery included
Charley Patton Charlie Patton (April 1891 (probable) – April 28, 1934), more often spelled Charley Patton, was an American Delta blues musician and songwriter. Considered by many to be the "Father of the Delta Blues", he created an enduring body of America ...
,
Robert Johnson Robert Leroy Johnson (May 8, 1911August 16, 1938) was an American blues musician and songwriter. His singing, guitar playing and songwriting on his landmark 1936 and 1937 recordings have influenced later generations of musicians. Although his r ...
and
Howlin' Wolf Chester Arthur Burnett (June 10, 1910January 10, 1976), better known by his stage name Howlin' Wolf, was an American blues singer, guitarist and harmonica player. He was at the forefront of transforming acoustic Delta blues into electric Chica ...
. The property was added to the
National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...
in 2006.


History

The
plantation Plantations are farms specializing in cash crops, usually mainly planting a single crop, with perhaps ancillary areas for vegetables for eating and so on. Plantations, centered on a plantation house, grow crops including cotton, cannabis, tob ...
was started in 1895 by Will Dockery (1865–1936), a graduate of the
University of Mississippi The University of Mississippi (Epithet, byname Ole Miss) is a Public university, public research university in University, near Oxford, Mississippi, United States, with a University of Mississippi Medical Center, medical center in Jackson, Miss ...
who originally bought the land for its timber but soon recognized the richness of its soil. At the time, much of the
Delta Delta commonly refers to: * Delta (letter) (Δ or δ), the fourth letter of the Greek alphabet * D (NATO phonetic alphabet: "Delta"), the fourth letter in the Latin alphabet * River delta, at a river mouth * Delta Air Lines, a major US carrier ...
area was still a wilderness of cypress and gum trees, roamed by panthers and wolves and plagued with mosquitoes. The land was gradually cleared and drained for cotton cultivation, which encouraged an influx of black labourers. Some became settled
sharecroppers Sharecropping is a legal arrangement in which a landowner allows a tenant (sharecropper) to use the land in return for a share of the crops produced on that land. Sharecropping is not to be conflated with tenant farming, providing the tenant a ...
, who would work a portion of the land in return for a share of the crop, while others were itinerant workers. Dockery earned a good reputation for treating his workers and sharecroppers fairly and thus attracted workers from throughout the South. Dockery's land was relatively remote, but was opened up for development by a new branch of the
Yazoo and Mississippi Valley Railroad The Yazoo and Mississippi Valley Railroad (Y&MV) was incorporated in 1882 and was part of the Illinois Central Railroad system (IC). Construction began in Jackson, Mississippi, and continued to Yazoo City, Mississippi. The line was later expand ...
, known as the Yellow Dog. Around 1900, Dockery had a rail terminal built on his plantation, so connecting his land with the main rail system at Rosedale. Because of its circuitous route, this local line was known as the "Pea Vine". Dockery Plantation eventually supported over 2,000 workers, who were paid in the plantation's own coins. In addition to the railroad terminal, it had its own plantation store, post office, school, doctor, and churches. The workers’ quarters included boardinghouses, where they lived, socialized and played music, particularly guitars, which had been introduced to the area by Mexican workers in the 1890s. Dockery took no interest in his workers' music, but he made it easy for them to travel and to spend their leisure time as they pleased.
Charley Patton Charlie Patton (April 1891 (probable) – April 28, 1934), more often spelled Charley Patton, was an American Delta blues musician and songwriter. Considered by many to be the "Father of the Delta Blues", he created an enduring body of America ...
and his family are believed to have moved around 1900 to the Dockery Plantation, where he came under the influence of an older musician,
Henry Sloan Henry Sloan (January 1870 – possibly March 13, 1948) was an American musician, one of the earliest figures in the history of Delta Blues. Very little is known for certain about his life, other than that he tutored Charlie Patton in the way ...
. In turn, Patton became the central figure of a group of blues musicians including Willie Brown, Tommy Johnson, and Eddie "Son" House, who played around the local area. Because of its location, central to Sunflower County’s black population of some 35,000 in 1920, the plantation became known as a centre for informal musical entertainment. By the mid-1920s, the group widened to include a younger generation of musicians, including
Robert Johnson Robert Leroy Johnson (May 8, 1911August 16, 1938) was an American blues musician and songwriter. His singing, guitar playing and songwriting on his landmark 1936 and 1937 recordings have influenced later generations of musicians. Although his r ...
, Chester "
Howlin’ Wolf Chester Arthur Burnett (June 10, 1910January 10, 1976), better known by his stage name Howlin' Wolf, was an American blues singer, guitarist and harmonica player. He was at the forefront of transforming acoustic Delta blues into electric Chica ...
" Burnett, Roebuck "Pops" Staples, and
David "Honeyboy" Edwards David "Honeyboy" Edwards (June 28, 1915 – August 29, 2011) was an American delta blues guitarist and singer from Mississippi. Biography Edwards was born in Shaw, Mississippi.
. Some of these were itinerant workers, while others lived more permanently on the farms. In 1936, the plantation was inherited by Joe Rice Dockery (1906–1982). With agricultural mechanisation and the employment attractions of the larger cities further north, the plantation settlements gradually disappeared, although some of the historic buildings remain. The farm later diversified to produce corn, rice and soybeans. Later members of the Dockery family have established a foundation to fund research into the Delta blues. The property was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2006. Today the site hosts a small number of private tours, lectures, and events in partnership with the
Thelonious Monk Thelonious Sphere Monk ( October 10, 1917 – February 17, 1982) was an American Jazz piano, jazz pianist and composer. He had a unique improvisational style and made numerous contributions to the Jazz standard, standard jazz repertoire, includ ...
Institute of Jazz,
Delta State University Delta State University (DSU) is a public university in Cleveland, Mississippi, a city in the Mississippi Delta. History The school was established in 1924 by the State of Mississippi, using the facilities of the former Bolivar County Agricultu ...
, and other academic and cultural institutions. Dockery is still a working farm, producing soybeans, rice, and corn (but not cotton).


Historical marker

A marker designating Dockery Plantation as a site on the
Mississippi Blues Trail The Mississippi Blues Trail was created by the Mississippi Blues Commission in 2006 to place interpretive markers at the most notable historical sites related to the birth, growth, and influence of the blues throughout (and in some cases beyond) t ...
is an acknowledgment of the important contribution of the plantation to the development of the
blues Blues is a music genre and musical form that originated among African Americans in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues has incorporated spiritual (music), spirituals, work songs, field hollers, Ring shout, shouts, cha ...
in Mississippi. The marker was placed in
Cleveland, Mississippi Cleveland is a city and one of two county seats of Bolivar County, Mississippi, United States, the other seat being Rosedale, Mississippi, Rosedale. The Cleveland population was 11,199 as of the 2020 United States census. Cleveland has a large c ...
. Governor
Haley Barbour Haley Reeves Barbour (born October 22, 1947) is an American attorney, politician, and lobbyist who served as the 63rd governor of Mississippi from 2004 to 2012. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he previously ser ...
stated


References

{{National Register of Historic Places Houses completed in 1930 Mississippi Blues Trail Yazoo and Mississippi Valley Railroad Railway stations on the National Register of Historic Places in Mississippi Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Mississippi 1895 establishments in Mississippi Houses in Bolivar County, Mississippi Houses in Sunflower County, Mississippi Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Mississippi Agricultural buildings and structures on the National Register of Historic Places in Mississippi National Register of Historic Places in Bolivar County, Mississippi National Register of Historic Places in Sunflower County, Mississippi Cotton plantations in Mississippi