Prospect Hill Plantation
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The Prospect Hill Plantation was a former 5,000-acre
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 ...
in
Jefferson County, Mississippi Jefferson County is a county located in the U.S. state of Mississippi; its western border is formed by the Mississippi River. As of the 2020 census, the population was 7,260, making it the fourth-least populous county in Mississippi. Until 182 ...
. In the early 19th century, the plantation was owned by planter Isaac Ross of South Carolina, who enslaved African American people to farm cotton as a
cash crop A cash crop, also called profit crop, is an Agriculture, agricultural crop which is grown to sell for profit. It is typically purchased by parties separate from a farm. The term is used to differentiate a marketed crop from a staple crop ("subsi ...
. In 1830, Ross and other major planters co-founded the Mississippi chapter of the
American Colonization Society The American Colonization Society (ACS), initially the Society for the Colonization of Free People of Color of America, was an American organization founded in 1816 by Robert Finley to encourage and support the repatriation of freeborn peop ...
, which sought to move enslaved people to Mississippi-in-Africa, a colony on the coast of what became
Liberia Liberia, officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country on the West African coast. It is bordered by Sierra Leone to Liberia–Sierra Leone border, its northwest, Guinea to Guinea–Liberia border, its north, Ivory Coast to Ivory Coast–Lib ...
. In 1836, Ross died, and his will freed those enslaved people who agreed to move to Mississippi-in-Africa, and provided for sale of his plantation to fund their move. His will was contested and litigated by a grandson and heir who occupied the plantation while the court case and appeals were litigated. The will was finally upheld by the
Mississippi Supreme Court The Supreme Court of Mississippi is the highest court in the state of Mississippi. It was established in 1818 per the terms of the first constitution of the state and was known as the High Court of Errors and Appeals from 1832 to 1869. The court ...
in 1845. That year, the
mansion A mansion is a large dwelling house. The word itself derives through Old French from the Latin word ''mansio'' "dwelling", an abstract noun derived from the verb ''manere'' "to dwell". The English word ''manse'' originally defined a property l ...
had burned down and a girl died in the fire. About a dozen enslaved people suspected as responsible were
lynched Lynching is an extrajudicial killing by a group. It is most often used to characterize informal public executions by a mob in order to punish an alleged or convicted transgressor or to intimidate others. It can also be an extreme form of in ...
. The plantation was finally sold, and about 300 enslaved people were freed and transported by 1848 to Mississippi-in-Africa. They and their descendants were among the
Americo-Liberian Americo-Liberian people (also known as Congo people or Congau people),Cooper, Helene, ''The House at Sugar Beach: In Search of a Lost African Childhood'' (United States: Simon and Schuster, 2008), p. 6 are a Liberian ethnic group of African Am ...
elite that held power into the late 20th century. In the 1850s, Ross' grandson Isaac Ross Wade reacquired the Prospect Hill property, building a second plantation great house in 1854. Wade and Ross family descendants occupied the house until 1956, and it was occupied by others until 1968. This mansion still stands today. In 2011 the plantation and house were acquired by the Archeological Conservancy for preservation of the total property. It is expected to yield artifacts that will contribute to the story of
slavery in the United States The legal institution of human chattel slavery, comprising the enslavement primarily of List of ethnic groups of Africa, Africans and African Americans, was prevalent in the United States of America from its founding in 1776 until 1865 ...
, as well as to African-American culture and the diaspora.


Location

The plantation is located in a rural area near Lorman in Jefferson County,
Mississippi Mississippi ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Alabama to the east, the Gulf of Mexico to the south, Louisiana to the s ...
.Prospect Hill Plantation (Mississippi)
The Archeological Conservancy, August 8, 2014
By car, it is located 15 minutes east of Lorman, 20 minutes away from
Port Gibson Port Gibson is a city and the county seat of Claiborne County, Mississippi, United States. The population was 1,567 at the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census. It is bordered on the west by the Mississippi River. The first European settlers i ...
, and 45 away from
Natchez Natchez may refer to: Places * Natchez, Alabama, United States * Natchez, Indiana, United States * Natchez, Louisiana, United States * Natchez, Mississippi, a city in southwestern Mississippi, United States ** Natchez slave market, Mississippi * ...
."See Prospect Hill With Your Own Eyes!"
''Preservation in Mississippi'', October 19, 2011


History

The plantation was built for Isaac Ross, a South Carolina slave owner.Alan Huffman
"Mississippi In Africa: The Saga of the Slaves of Prospect Hill Plantation and Their Legacy in Liberia Today"
''African Diaspora Archeology Newsletter'', Volume 13, Issue 4, December 2010

University of Mississippi Libraries
He migrated with an older brother to Mississippi in 1808, taking a contingent of enslaved people, as well as some free Blacks who had served with him in the war. He developed the property as a cotton plantation, and enslaved many more people to develop and work it. He eventually enslaved nearly 300 people and acquired other plantations as well. The plantation had a cemetery, where Isaac Ross and some of his family were buried. After his grandson Isaac Ross Wade reacquired the plantation, this area became known as the Wade Family Cemetery. The mansion and cemetery property acquired by the Conservancy span 23 acres.


Family history

Isaac Ross died in 1836 and was buried in the cemetery on his plantation. The Mississippi Colonization Society (of which he was a co-founder) commissioned a monument to him for US$25,000 (~$ in ) two years later. They had it installed at his gravesite in 1838.Walt Grayson, ''Mississippi Seen:'' "Grand monument honors man’s benevolent legacy"
''Today in Mississippi'', 17 October 2014, published by Electric Power Associations of Mississippi, accessed 2 December 2015
Ross' grandson Isaac Ross Wade, contested the will, but it was upheld by the
Mississippi Supreme Court The Supreme Court of Mississippi is the highest court in the state of Mississippi. It was established in 1818 per the terms of the first constitution of the state and was known as the High Court of Errors and Appeals from 1832 to 1869. The court ...
in 1845. There were additional legal delays, but during this period, the enslaved people stayed on the plantation and worked for Wade. They were technically considered free, under the terms of the will, and were supposed to receive pay. On an April night in 1845, a fire in the mansion burned it down, killing a six-year-old white girl. A Wade descendant attributed it to a slave uprising; and 12 suspects among the enslaved people were quickly captured and
lynched Lynching is an extrajudicial killing by a group. It is most often used to characterize informal public executions by a mob in order to punish an alleged or convicted transgressor or to intimidate others. It can also be an extreme form of in ...
.MYSTERY MONDAY: "12 Lynchings and a MS-African Colony Connection at 'Prospect Hill' "
''
WJTV WJTV (channel 12) is a television station in Jackson, Mississippi, United States, affiliated with CBS. Its second digital subchannel serves as an owned-and-operated station of The CW. Owned by Nexstar Media Group, the station has studios on TV ...
'', April 22, 2014.
In the settlement of the court case, the enslaved people gained their freedom and the plantation was sold to fund their migration to the colony in West Africa, which the final group reached in 1848. They never received any of the pay owed for their three years of working for Wade.Dale Edwyna Smith, ''The Slaves of Liberty: Freedom in Amite County, Mississippi, 1820-1868'', Routledge, 2013, pp. 15-2

/ref> The area near Monrovia where freed enslaved people from Mississippi were settled became known as Mississippi-in-Africa. It later became part of the country of
Liberia Liberia, officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country on the West African coast. It is bordered by Sierra Leone to Liberia–Sierra Leone border, its northwest, Guinea to Guinea–Liberia border, its north, Ivory Coast to Ivory Coast–Lib ...
. Wade ultimately reacquired the plantation property and had a new great house built in 1854. He and his descendants lived there, with family ownership extending into the 20th century.


20th century to present

The last Ross and Wade family descendants left in 1956, by which time the outbuildings had collapsed: the kitchen, slave quarters, smokehouse and barns.Mary Carol Miller, ''Lost Mansions of Mississippi'', Jackson, Mississippi: University Press of Mississippi, 2010, Volume II, pp. 53-5

/ref> The mansion at Prospect Hill Plantation is still standing, although it has deteriorated in its decades of vacancy. The roof was damaged by
Hurricane Katrina Hurricane Katrina was a powerful, devastating and historic tropical cyclone that caused 1,392 fatalities and damages estimated at $125 billion in late August 2005, particularly in the city of New Orleans and its surrounding area. ...
in 2005. In 2011, it was purchased by the Archeological Conservancy, a non-profit organization, to preserve it and the property. It has received $50,000 from the
Mississippi Department of Archives and History Mississippi Department of Archives and History (MDAH) is a state agency founded in 1902. It is the official archive of the Mississippi Government. Location The Mississippi Department of Archives and History is located at 200 North St., Jackson, ...
as well as private donations for preservation purposes. Planned archeological excavation of the grounds is expected to yield important evidence about the African-American culture of the slaves and their relation to the diaspora. In 2014 the Archeological Conservancy held a reunion at the plantation for descendants of its residents: "descendants of the divided slave-holding family, the slaves who remained in the area, and the slaves who emigrated to Liberia."Alan Huffman, "Wednesday, April 9, 2014"
Alan Huffman blogspot
The Prospect Hill Plantation Collection papers, from the period 1873–1917, are kept at the library on the campus 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 ...
in
Oxford, Mississippi Oxford is the List of municipalities in Mississippi, 14th most populous city in Mississippi, United States, and the county seat of Lafayette County, Mississippi, Lafayette County, southeast of Memphis, Tennessee, Memphis. A college town, Oxford ...
. They are primarily copies of tenant and other contracts, as well as family correspondence.


See also

*
Rosswood Rosswood is a historic Southern plantation located off of Mississippi Highway 552, in Lorman, Jefferson County, Mississippi, USA. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1978. It is also a Mississippi Landmark. History I ...
* '' Mississippi in Africa: The Saga of the Slaves of Prospect Hill Plantation and Their Legacy in Liberia Today'' - A book about slaves from this plantation who emigrated to Liberia


References

{{Reflist


External links


Prospect Hill Plantation
at the Archeological Conservancy website Houses in Jefferson County, Mississippi Houses completed in 1854 Burned houses in the United States American colonization movement History of slavery in Mississippi Cotton plantations in Mississippi