Melrose is a

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 ...

, located in Natchez, Mississippi, that is said to reflect "perfection" in its

Greek Revival The Greek Revival was an architectural movement which began in the middle of the 18th century but which particularly flourished in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, predominantly in northern Europe and the United States and Canada, but ...

design. The estate is now part of

Natchez National Historical Park Natchez National Historical Park commemorates the history of Natchez, Mississippi, and is managed by the National Park Service. The park consists of four separate sites: Fort Rosalie is the site of a former fortification from the 18th century, ...

and is open to the public by guided tours. The house is furnished for the period just before the Civil War. Melrose was declared a

National Historic Landmark A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the United States government for its outstanding historical significance. Only some 2,500 (~3%) of over 90,000 places listed ...

in 1974. and

History

John T. McMurran, a successful lawyer and planter who used the forced labor of

enslaved people Slavery and enslavement are both the state and the condition of being a slave—someone forbidden to quit one's service for an enslaver, and who is treated by the enslaver as property. Slavery typically involves slaves being made to perf ...

, had come to Natchez in 1824 or 1825 from

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

, and became a law partner of future

Governor of Mississippi A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political r ...

John A. Quitman John Anthony Quitman (September 1, 1798 – July 17, 1858) was an American lawyer, politician, and soldier. As President of the Mississippi Senate, he served one month as Acting Governor of Mississippi (from December 3, 1835, to January 7, 1836) a ...

. McMurran married in 1831, Mary Louisa Turner, daughter of Edward Turner, a prominent

Mississippi Supreme Court The Supreme Court of Mississippi is the highest court in the state of Mississippi. It was established in the first constitution of the state following its admission as a State of the Union in 1817 and was known as the High Court of Errors and Appe ...

justice and first cousin to John Quitman's wife Eliza. After a

tornado A tornado is a violently rotating column of air that is in contact with both the surface of the Earth and a cumulonimbus cloud or, in rare cases, the base of a cumulus cloud. It is often referred to as a twister, whirlwind or cyclone, altho ...

ravaged Natchez in 1840, John McMurran began planning a grand mansion on the outskirts of town, and hired

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...

architect, Jacob Byers, to design the house the McMurrans named "Melrose," after

Melrose Abbey St Mary's Abbey, Melrose is a partly ruined monastery of the Cistercian order in Melrose, Roxburghshire, in the Scottish Borders. It was founded in 1136 by Cistercian monks at the request of King David I of Scotland and was the chief house of ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

, that they had visited previously. Melrose is the only building that can be definitely attributed to Byers. The McMurrans spared no expense as the windows, doors, cornice moldings, stairways and floors are made out of the finest woods. In 1865, John McMurran, hurting financially due to the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

, and grieving from the deaths of their daughter and two grandchildren, sold Melrose to Elizabeth Davis, the wife of attorney and planter George Malin Davis. The couple planned on moving to Maryland, but John McMurran died in a steamboat accident in 1866. Elizabeth and George Davis purchased Melrose in 1865 as a result of Union soldiers occupying their town home, Choctaw, during the Civil War. The Davis family rarely used Melrose and it remained unoccupied for most of the next four decades. The 1883 death of George Davis as well as his daughter, Julia, as a young woman left her six-year-old son, George Malin Davis Kelly, as heir to Melrose, Choctaw and the rest of the Davis property holdings in Natchez and

Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...

. Young George was sent to

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

to be raised by his maternal grandmother. Former Davis slaves, Alice Sims and Jane Johnson are credited with being the caretakers of Melrose during this time. George Kelly married Ethel Moore in 1900 and the following year they returned to Natchez. They selected Melrose as their primary home and restored the home after its extended time of closure. Instead of remodeling, the couple decided to keep the house intact. Ethel Kelly also brought in furnishing from Choctaw to add to the furniture already existing at Melrose. The Kelly's resided in Melrose until 1975 when Ethel died. John and Betty Callon purchased the property in 1976 as their personal home, and as a venue for lavish entertainment for their company, Callon Petroleum Company. The Callons retained the integrity of the house and grounds as they took preservation issues as part of their restoration process. As a result, hundreds of photographs were taken of the property and material samples were saved that are invaluable sources of information to curators today.

Mansion and grounds

The interior of the first floor is arranged around a central hall and consists of a dining room, drawing room, parlor, library, back hall, storage, and service rooms. The central and back hall provide a fine example of painted floor cloth that is original to the house, and another feature is the

punkah A punkah, also pankha (, Hindi: , ), is a type of fan used since the early 6th century BC. The word ''pankha'' originated from'' pankh'', the wings of a bird which produce a draft when flapped. In its original sense in South Asia, ''pankah' ...

found in the dining room. Interior doorways are framed by Ionic columns and sunburst-type woodwork above. The rooms also feature plaster ceiling medallions and solid pocket doors. Bedrooms, many with original furnishings, are found on the second floor. Above, Melrose possesses an unusually large

widows walk A widow's walk, also known as a widow's watch or roofwalk, is a railed rooftop platform often having an inner cupola/turret frequently found on 19th-century North American coastal houses. The name is said to come from the wives of mariners, who ...

The grounds feature outbuildings including the two storied kitchen and dairy buildings, octagonal

cistern A cistern (Middle English ', from Latin ', from ', "box", from Greek ', "basket") is a waterproof receptacle for holding liquids, usually water. Cisterns are often built to catch and store rainwater. Cisterns are distinguished from wells by t ...

houses, a

smoke house A smokehouse (North American) or smokery (British) is a building where meat or fish is cured with smoke. The finished product might be stored in the building, sometimes for a year or more.

, a

privy Privy is an old-fashioned term for an outdoor toilet, often known as an outhouse and by many other names. Privy may also refer to: * Privy council, a body that advises the head of state * Privy mark, a small mark in the design of a coin * Privy Pur ...

, one of the last remaining

slave Slavery and enslavement are both the state and the condition of being a slave—someone forbidden to quit one's service for an enslaver, and who is treated by the enslaver as property. Slavery typically involves slaves being made to perf ...

quarters in Natchez, a barn, and a carriage house.http://www.natchezontheriver.com/news/2008/oct/13/melrose/ Article about the history of Melrose, ''Natchez on the River'', Oct. 13, 2008

Tourism and legacy

As Melrose was one of the most intact antebellum estates in the South, due to the fact that the McMurrans had sold their furniture with the house and subsequent owners did the same, the

National Park Service The National Park Service (NPS) is an agency of the United States federal government within the U.S. Department of the Interior that manages all national parks, most national monuments, and other natural, historical, and recreational propertie ...

purchased the estate in 1990. Melrose along with

Fort Rosalie Fort Rosalie was built by the French in 1716 within the territory of the Natchez Native Americans and it was part of the French colonial empire in the present-day city of Natchez, Mississippi. Early history As part of the peace terms tha ...

and the William Johnson House form the Natchez National Historical Park. File:Melrose, Main House, 1 Melrose-Montebello Parkway (Natchez, Adams County, Mississippi).jpg, Melrose in 1975 File:Melrose-natchez-2.jpg, Melrose dining room File:Melrose-natchez-1.jpg, Melrose portico

References

External links

Natchez National Historical Park
{{authority control Slave cabins and quarters in the United States Houses in Natchez, Mississippi Historic house museums in Mississippi Museums in Natchez, Mississippi Natchez National Historical Park Plantation houses in Mississippi Houses completed in 1845 1845 establishments in Mississippi National Historic Landmarks in Mississippi Historic American Buildings Survey in Mississippi Antebellum architecture Greek Revival houses in Mississippi National Register of Historic Places in Natchez, Mississippi Individually listed contributing properties to historic districts on the National Register in Mississippi