Nathan Bryan Whitfield (19 September 1799 in

Lenoir County, North Carolina Lenoir County is a county in the U.S. state of North Carolina. As of the 2020 census, its population was 55,122. Its county seat is Kinston, located on the Neuse River, across which the county has its territory. Lenoir County comprises the K ...

-27 December 1868 in

Demopolis Demopolis is the largest city in Marengo County, in west-central Alabama. The population was 7,162 at the time of the 2020 United States census, down from 7,483 at the 2010 census. The city lies at the confluence of the Black Warrior River and T ...

Marengo County, Alabama Marengo County is a county located in the west central portion of the U.S. state of Alabama. As of the 2020 census, the population was 19,323. The largest city is Demopolis, and the county seat is Linden. It is named in honor of the Battle of ...

) was a planter,

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

and

General A general officer is an officer of high rank in the armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colonel."general, adj. and n.". OED ...

of the

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and ...

Militia A militia () is generally an army or some other fighting organization of non-professional soldiers, citizens of a country, or subjects of a state, who may perform military service during a time of need, as opposed to a professional force of r ...

Background

Born on the Whitfield family owned Pleasant Plains

plantation A plantation is an agricultural estate, generally centered on a plantation house, meant for farming that specializes in cash crops, usually mainly planted with a single crop, with perhaps ancillary areas for vegetables for eating and so on. The ...

(built by his grandfather William Whitfield II), to General Bryan Whitfield (1754-1817), he attended school at the age of nine under a tutor and entered the University at age 12. At 17, he completed coursework at the University. Two years later, he became the Counselor of State for the State of North Carolina and was a State Senator. He was later commissioned to

Major General Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of ...

rank to succeed his father. In 1789 he was one of the founders of the

University of North Carolina The University of North Carolina is the multi-campus public university system for the state of North Carolina. Overseeing the state's 16 public universities and the NC School of Science and Mathematics, it is commonly referred to as the UNC Sy ...

and one of its first

Trustee Trustee (or the holding of a trusteeship) is a legal term which, in its broadest sense, is a synonym for anyone in a position of trust and so can refer to any individual who holds property, authority, or a position of trust or responsibility to ...

Gaineswood Gaineswood is a plantation house in Demopolis, Alabama, United States. It is the grandest plantation house ever built in Marengo County and is one of the most significant remaining examples of Greek Revival architecture in Alabama.Gamble, Rober ...

, the grandest

plantation house A plantation house is the main house of a plantation, often a substantial farmhouse, which often serves as a symbol for the plantation as a whole. Plantation houses in the Southern United States and in other areas are known as quite grand and e ...

ever built in

Marengo County Marengo County is a county located in the west central portion of the U.S. state of Alabama. As of the 2020 census, the population was 19,323. The largest city is Demopolis, and the county seat is Linden. It is named in honor of the Battle of ...

and one of the most significant remaining examples of Greek Revival architecture in Alabama.Gamble, Robert ''Historic architecture in Alabama: a guide to styles and types, 1810-1930'', page 76. Tuscaloosa, Alabama: The University of Alabama Press, 1990. . was designed and built by Whitfield, beginning in 1843 as an open-hall log dwelling. Whitfield is known to have designed most of the house from pattern books by James Stuart,

Minard Lafever Minard Lafever (1798–1854) was an American architect of churches and houses in the United States in the early nineteenth century. Life and career Lafever began life as a carpenter around 1820. At this period in the United States there were no ...

Nicholas Revett Nicholas Revett (1720–1804) was a British architect. Revett is best known for his work with James "Athenian" Stuart documenting the ruins of ancient Athens. He is sometimes described as an amateur architect, but he played an important role in t ...

and others. Much of the work on the house was executed by highly skilled

artisan An artisan (from french: artisan, it, artigiano) is a skilled craft worker who makes or creates material objects partly or entirely by hand. These objects may be functional or strictly decorative, for example furniture, decorative art ...

slaves. Whitfield moved from

to Marengo County, Alabama in 1834. In 1842 Whitfield bought the property from George Strother Gaines, younger brother of

Edmund P. Gaines Edmund Pendleton Gaines (March 20, 1777 – June 6, 1849) was a career United States Army officer who served for nearly fifty years, and attained the rank of major general by brevet. He was one of the Army's senior commanders during its format ...

. The grounds had been the site of a notable historic event while owned by George Gaines. When Gaines was serving as the US

Indian Agent In United States history, an Indian agent was an individual authorized to interact with American Indian tribes on behalf of the government. Background The federal regulation of Indian affairs in the United States first included development of t ...

, he is said to have met with the famous chief

Pushmataha Pushmataha (c. 1764 – December 24, 1824; also spelled Pooshawattaha, Pooshamallaha, or Poosha Matthaw), the "Indian General", was one of the three regional chiefs of the major divisions of the Choctaw in the 19th century. Many historians cons ...

, of the Choctaw Nation, under an old

post oak ''Quercus stellata'', the post oak or iron oak, is a North American species of oak in the white oak section. It is a slow-growing oak that lives in dry areas on the edges of fields, tops of ridges also grows in poor soils, and is resistant to r ...

tree on what would become the Gaineswood estate. They were negotiating the terms of the treaty that would lead to the Choctaw removal to

Indian Territory The Indian Territory and the Indian Territories are terms that generally described an evolving land area set aside by the United States Government for the relocation of Native Americans who held aboriginal title to their land as a sovereign ...

. The tree became known as the Pushmataha Oak.Hammond, Ralph ''Ante-bellum Mansions of Alabama'', pages 114-120. New York: Architectural Book Publishers, 1951. Whitfield first named the estate Marlmont in 1843, he renamed it Gaineswood in 1856 in honor of Gaines.Marengo County Heritage Book Committee: ''The heritage of Marengo County, Alabama'', page 18. Clanton, Alabama: Heritage Publishing Consultants, 2000. The Whitfield family tradition maintained that Gaines' original log house was the nucleus around which Whitfield had the mansion built, and that it was located at the present site of the south entrance hall and office." Gen. Whitfield sold the house to his son, Dr. Bryan Watkins Whitfield, in 1861. The second generation of Whitfields maintained Gaineswood as a residence. Mary Foscue Whitfield inherited the nearby Foscue-Whitfield House in 1861 upon her father's death and used that as a residence as well.

References

External links

Nathan Bryan Whitfield
at

Encyclopedia of Alabama The ''Encyclopedia of Alabama'' is an online encyclopedia of the state of Alabama's history, culture, geography, and natural environment. It is a statewide collaboration that involves more than forty institutions from across Alabama that share the ...

Nathan Bryan Whitfield
at NCpedia.org
Gen. Nathan Bryan Whitfield, I
at Geni.com
Nathan Bryan Whitfield
at

Ancestry.com Ancestry.com LLC is an American genealogy company based in Lehi, Utah. The largest for-profit genealogy company in the world, it operates a network of genealogical, historical records, and related genetic genealogy websites. In November 2018, ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Whitfield, Nathan Bryan 1799 births 1868 deaths People from Lenoir County, North Carolina Confederate States Army personnel Whitfield family