Last week I told you of my interest in exploring ghost towns and abandoned places. I relayed the story of the town of Rodney, the capital that almost was. This week, I continue my exploration adventures with you to another spot not too far from my home in Vicksburg, Mississippi. Let’s wander over to Windsor Ruins, what’s left of Mississippi’s greatest plantation home ever.
Windsor Ruins is the historic site of the former Windsor plantation. It has captured the imagination of thousands of people for generations. Located in Claiborne County about 10 miles southwest of Port Gibson, the ruins consist of 23 of the original 29, 45-foot-tall masonry Corinthian columns and fractured cast iron capitals, of the largest antebellum Greek Revival mansion ever built (at the time) in the state of Mississippi.
The home was built in 1861 for Smith Coffee Daniell II. Born in Mississippi, by age 30, Mr. Daniel had acquired great wealth as a cotton planter. In 1849, he married his cousin Catherine Freeland and fathered six children with her, only three of whom survived to adulthood.
The mansion was constructed near the town of Bruinsburg, where Union soldiers crossed the Mississippi River to begin their attack on Vicksburg during the American Civil War. It was built facing the Mississippi River, about 4 miles to the east, on a 2,600-acre plantation. Whether or not you could actually see the river from the home is questionable. Today the land is covered with trees. In 1861, it most likely bore cotton fields, thus making visibility more probable. Although, the tree in the photo I shot below is huge and ancient so, I’m pretty sure, at least that witness tree, was around and could tell some stories about the mansion and the Daniell family.
Anyway, moving on. The footprint for Windsor mansion was set by 29 columns which supported a projected roof line that protected 9-foot wide verandas on the second and third floors. The columns, each more than 3 ½ feet at the base, were constructed of stucco covered bricks, fired in the on-site kiln. The fluted columns were crowned with ornate, iron Corinthian capitals and were joined at the height of the third floor by ornamental iron balustrades. The column capitals, balustrades, and four cast iron stairways were manufactured in St. Louis and shipped down the Mississippi River.
The 17,000 square foot home contained three hallways and 23 to 25 rooms, each with its own fireplace. Eight chimneys extended from the slate-covered roof, and a domed cupola with glass walls was constructed above the attic, over the main part of the mansion. A featured innovation for that time were two interior bathrooms supplied with rainwater from a collection tank in the attic. How modern!
The ground floor “basement,” which by today’s terms would be the first floor of the house and not an in-ground basement as we know them, contained a school room, doctor’s office, dairy, commissary, and storage rooms. The second floor had a hallway flanked by the master bedroom, a bathroom, two parlors, a study and a library. In the ell off the second floor was the dining room. Connected to the dining room by a dumbwaiter was the kitchen, located on the ground floor or basement. The third floor contained an additional bathroom and eight more bedrooms.
In 1861, the cost of construction was about $175,000, the equivalent today is estimated to be $5,040,648. Here’s the saddest part of the story, on April 12, 1861, Smith Daniell died at age 34, just weeks after construction of the mansion was completed. He didn’t even get to live in his own mansion!!
Just a few weeks later, when the Civil War broke out, Confederate soldiers used the mansion’s cupola as an observation platform and signal station. But, in the spring of 1863, as part of his Vicksburg campaign, Union General Ulysses S. Grant and 17,000 Union troops landed at the port of Bruinsburg and took over control of Windsor mansion. Following the Battle of Port Gibson, the entire plantation was used by Union troops as a hospital, camp, and as an observation station. However, the Daniell family was allowed to live on the third floor during the Union occupation. How fun that must have been for them.
Unlike so many plantation homes in the South, Windsor mansion survived the war and continued to be used by the Daniell family as their home. During Reconstruction, the family leased part of their vast land holdings for income purposes.
When Catherine Freeland Daniell died in 1903, her daughter, Priscilla, inherited the property. Priscilla had married Joseph Magruder, and the mansion site remained in the Magruder family until 1974. But during that time, something tragic happened.
On February 17, 1890, a fire started on the third floor when a guest dropped ashes from a cigarette or cigar into construction debris left by carpenters who were making repairs. Windsor mansion was completely destroyed leaving only the columns, balustrades, cast iron stairways, and pieces of bone china. Through the years, several columns collapsed and three of the cast iron stairways, that survived the 1890 fire, disappeared from the site. The fourth stairway was moved by the State, to nearby Alcorn State University and still serves as the entrance to Oakland Memorial Chapel.
For more than 100 years, the actual outward appearance of Windsor mansion was a matter of conjecture. But in the early 1990s, something cool happened: an 1863 sketch of Windsor mansion was discovered in the papers of former Union officer, Henry Otis Dwight of the 20th Ohio Infantry. It is believed by historians that Henry Dwight made the sketch while his unit was encamped on the grounds of the mansion.
In 1974, the Magruder family donated the mansion ruins and 2 acres where they sit, to the state of Mississippi. The site was added to the National Register of Historic Places and designated a Mississippi Landmark in 1985. It is administered by the Mississippi Department of Archives and History and is one of the most iconic places in the entire state.
Just a short distance north of Windsor Ruins is a cemetery where members of the Daniell and Freeland families have been buried since the early 19th century. The earliest grave is that of Frisby Freeland (1747 – 1819), an American Revolutionary War soldier. I’m sad to say, I did not visit this cemetery. I will try to do that on my next trip if it’s possible.
More than a century of exposure to the elements has caused erosion to what remains of the mansion and there is currently a stabilization project underway to preserve the remaining columns.
If you’re interested in visiting, and I hope you do, here’s a link with the 411 you’ll need (it’s a little off the beaten path but so worth it): https://www.mdah.ms.gov/explore-mississippi/windsor-ruins All of the photos in the slideshow below were taken by me last year when I visited.
Have any of you ever been to Windsor Ruins? Any other cool places I need to check out? My offer from last week still stands, if you’re ever in the area, go check out Windsor Ruins, it’s neat! And, of course, book a room at my inn.
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Word of the Day: Ullage
Fun fact about me: I have a strange fascination with cemeteries.
Original post by Jansen Schmidt, January 2022. Images by P. Rickrode and Google.
What a cool and tragic history. Mississippi is on my bucket list, and I’ll definitely add Windsor Ruins to my must see places…as is Baer House Inn! 🙂
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We have so much really cool history here. Everywhere you go it seems there’s a story. I’ll be posting more of my adventures down the road.
I’ll save a room for you as well. No matter when you decide to visit, there’ll be something neat to see and do. I’ll make sure of it.
Thanks for stopping by today. Have a wonderful week.
Patricia
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Cool place and cool history… thanks for sharing! That’s really wild how only the columns survived!
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It’s a very interesting place. Very humbling as well. So much wealth gone in a matter of minutes. Makes you really think about where to “store up your treasure.” I can only imagine what it must have looked like back in its glory days.
Thanks for stopping by. Have a lovely week.
Patricia
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A truly fascinating vignette. The author in you shows forth. Felt like I was there with you. The shot from a distance has an eerie quality that makes me want to see it in person.
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Depending on which way you arrive on the road, you can start to see the tops of the columns from quite a long ways away. From the other direction, not so much. I can imagine what it must have been like arriving via the river and spotting that glass-domed cupola in the distance. Quite a site indeed.
It’s truly a wonder it survived the war, so many structures did not. Of course it helped that it was occupied by the Union army.
If you’re ever in the area I hope you swing by and see it for yourself. It’s truly unique.
As always, so good to see you. I hope you’re staying inside where it’s warm and dry. Lots of interesting weather in your area lately.
Patricia
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