Walter Ross Wade (1810–1862) was an American physician and planter in the Antebellum South. He owned the Rosswood Plantation, a cotton plantation in

Jefferson County, Mississippi Jefferson County is a County (United States), county located in the U.S. state of Mississippi; its western border is formed by the Mississippi River. As of the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census, the population was 7,726, making it the third ...

. His diary was published posthumously.

Biography

Early life

Walter Ross Wade was born in 1810 in

South Carolina )''Animis opibusque parati'' ( for, , Latin, Prepared in mind and resources, links=no) , anthem = " Carolina";" South Carolina On My Mind" , Former = Province of South Carolina , seat = Columbia , LargestCity = Charleston , LargestMetro = ...

.Wade Family Papers, 1847-1851
University of South Carolina Libraries
/ref> His father was Daniel Wade and his mother, Jean Brown Ross. His maternal grandfather was

Isaac Ross Isaac Beattie Ross (born 27 October 1984) is a New Zealand rugby union player. He plays in the lock position for the Austin Gilgronis of Major League Rugby (MLR) competition. Professional career Ross is of Māori descent, and played for New ...

, the first owner of the

Prospect Hill Plantation The Prospect Hill Plantation was a former 5,000-acre plantation in Jefferson County, Mississippi. 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 ...

.Walter Wade's Rosswood Plantation diary now available on CD
''Natchez Democrat'', September 17, 2003

Career

He worked as a physician, treating patients in the

Natchez District The Natchez District was one of two areas established in the Kingdom of Great Britain's West Florida colony during the 1770sthe other being the Tombigbee District. The first Anglo settlers in the district came primarily from other parts of Britis ...

.The History of the Rosswood Plantation
/ref> He kept a diary of his patient visits and other activities. He purchased the Rosswood Plantation, a 1,250-acre cotton plantation in

.Bill Seratt
A Whimsical Farm of Frogs and the Singing Chef of Lorman
Visit Vicksburg, September 25, 2014Jack and Winnie Baldwin, ''Baldwin's Guide to Inns of Mississippi'', Pelican Publishing, p. 7

/ref> He owned more than 100 African slaves who picked cotton in the fields. In 1857, he hired architect David Schroeder to design the Greek Revival architecture, Greek Revival mansion.Marc R. Matrana, ''Lost Plantations of the South'', Oxford, Mississippi: University Press of Mississippi, 2009, p. 14

/ref> It was built as a gift for his second wife. The Wades entertained guests regularly and went fox-hunting on the grounds. During 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 ...

of 1861–1865, they invited the

Confederate States Army The Confederate States Army, also called the Confederate Army or the Southern Army, was the military land force of the Confederate States of America (commonly referred to as the Confederacy) during the American Civil War (1861–1865), fighting ...

to use the mansion as a Confederate hospital.

Personal life

He married a cousin, Martha Taylor Wade. They had two children. After she died, he married Mabella Jane Duncan Chamberlain, and they also had two children.

Death

He died in 1862.

Legacy

His diary was published posthumously. In 2003, it was recorded as an audio book on a CD.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wade, Walter Ross 1810 births 1862 deaths People from South Carolina People from Jefferson County, Mississippi Physicians from Mississippi American planters American diarists American slave owners 19th-century diarists