In July 1863 Colonel Thomas Kilby Smith of the Union army, then stationed in Natchez, Mississippi, wrote his wife Elizabeth:
Natchez is a beautiful little city of about 7000 or 8000 inhabitants, a place for many years past of no great business significance but rather a congregation of wealthy planters and retired merchants and professional men, who base built magnificent villas. [ldots] Wealth and taste[ldots]have enabled them to adorn these, in such a manner as almost to give the Northerner his realization of a fairy tale. [ldots] One continuously wonders that such a Paradise can be made on Earth. [1]
Smith's words reflect a community that had grown and prospered considerably since 1823, when John James Audubon painted the panorama shown in Plate IV. The intervening years were a golden age for Natchez, a city of palatial town houses and suburban villas [2] designed and furnished in the most fashionable styles (see Pls. II, III, and V).
Antebellum Natchez was dominated by an elite of planters referred to by their rivals as the nabobs. [3] Many were actually doctors, lawyers, and merchants from the Northeast lured by cotton during the 1820s and 1830s. They bought plantations in Louisiana and northern Mississippi and quickly amassed fortunes from the sale of sugar and cotton. [4] Their families intermarried and created a refined style of life that for them rivaled culture in the Northeast. [5]
Militarily unimportant and with a population bound by family and economic ties to the North, Natchez was spared from devastation during the Civil War. However, when peace came, the vast majority of residents were compelled to cut back their purchases of furnishings, Later generations preserved their ancestors' possessions, especially furniture, as tangible tokens of the paradise that had once existed (see Pl. XI).
The extant furniture of antebellum Natchez provides an excellent opportunity to observe patterns of furniture patronage and taste in the lower Mississippi River valley Coupled with surviving documents, the furniture can also define the complex distribution patterns for material goods throughout the country before the Civil War. [6]
Court records demonstrate that the bulk of furniture made in Natchez before the Civil War was the result of cooperative efforts by several woodworkers. In 1825, for example, John McCanaco sued David Collins for payment of services rendered, including carving bedposts, columns, and lion's paws. [7] Similarly, Jesse Trahern filed an action against Richard Cecil in 1828 for payment for turning bookcase legs and fancy posts. [8] The 1837 business invoices of David Perry, a cabinetmaker, reveal a web of transactions in hardware, furniture parts, and lumber with two other furniture businesses in Natchez. [9]
Despite their efforts to capture a share of the market, local makers had to compete with furniture imported into Natchez via the Mississippi River. Family connections in Philadelphia and plantation supplies sent from Cincinnati both involved shipments of furniture. Furniture made in Boston and New York City also came to Natchez and New Orleans on ships that were then loaded with cotton bound for the mills of New England and Europe. Louisiana and Mississippi relied on imported furniture as the economy and industry there were overwhelmingly linked to the production of cotton.
Auction houses were the principal retailers of furniture imported into Natchez during the 1820s and 1830s. They purchased their stock from northeastern merchants, who, in turn, bought the furniture at auctions in large cities and shipped it as venture cargo from port to port in the South until it had been sold. John Henderson and Sons of Natchez, for example, advertised great auctions of elegant household furniture, including bedsteads, sofas, and mahogany center tables (see Pl. VI), all suggesting a large furniture distribution network. The most successful auction houses, such as Jacob Soria and Company and F. H. Dolbeare and Company, targeted an elite clientele, selling furniture "suitable for a professional gentleman." [10] Advertisements listed vast amounts of furniture in popular styles, and sometimes French objects and furniture "made in Europe." [11]
Consignments from distant manufacturers formed the backbone of the Natchez furniture trade (see Pl. IX). In 1838, Jacob Soria and Company advertised that it had
just received on consignment, 1 splendid mahogany armoire 1 mahogany dressing bureau, 2 mahogany sofas, and 1 pair of mahogany pier tables with marble slabs, of the latest fashions from New York. [12]
The retailer Archibald Glaskins brought in furniture mass-produced in Cincinnati, as is revealed in a court case in 1849 showing that he owed money to Mudge and Clawson (w. together 1839-1853) and Henry Wiederecht (w. c. 1848-1870), large Cincinnati firms that shipped a great deal to the South. [13]
The dry-goods dealer N. L. Williams received bundles of chairs from the Philadelphia upholstery and decorating firm John Hancock and Company (see P1. VII). Other distinguished Philadelphia manufacturers such as Crawford Riddel (or Riddle; w. c. 1835-1849) and Anthony Quervelle (1789-1856) shipped boxes of furniture to Natchez commission merchants. Many of these merchants sold to Natchez retailers who, in turn, sold to the planters. Dr. William Newton Mercer (1792-1874) of Laurel Hill in Natchez owned the Baltimore sofa table shown in Plate XV, which was sold, and presumably shipped to Natchez, by Cook and Parkin of Philadelphia. [14] However, on the whole, Philadelphia was not as involved in the cotton trade as Boston, Cincinnati, and New York City, and therefore was not as competitive with those cities in the export of furniture. [15]
Robert Stewart was the most prolific furniture maker and retailer in Natchez before the Civil War, [16] importing furniture from Boston, Cincinnati, and New York City for most of the Natchez elite, including the owners of Arlington, Lansdowne, Rosalie, Stanton Hall, and Melrose (see Pl. VIII). Extant business records confirm that from 1851 to 1860 Stewart placed more than three hundred orders for furniture with dozens of manufacturers of all sizes in the Northeast. Advertisements and credit reports indicate that many of the larger businesses devoted some of their production to the southern market. Among these were Edwin A. Smallwood (w. c. 1817-1870) of Boston, [17] Mitchell and Rammelsberg (c. 1847-1881) of Cincinnati, [18] and Henry Weil (w. c. 1838-1870) of New York City. [19] Stewart also dealt with less well-known makers who seemed to have specialized in certain furniture forms. These included a number of small shops near the Bowery section of New York City. Planters obviously bought this inexpensive fu rniture, which is found in juxtaposition with high-style objects in many of the intact Natchez mansions.
A closer look at Stewart's orders reveals that he selected most of his furniture from designs in trade catalogues distributed by firms such as Heywood and Brothers (w. c. 1826-1897) of Gardner, Massachusetts, and Samuel S. Stevens and Sons (1844-1869) of Baltimore. Occasionally he ventured to Boston or New York City to buy directly from the manufacturers or at public auctions. Indeed, Stewart was a conduit for furniture between Boston and Natchez, since no planters are known to have ordered furniture directly from Boston yet many decorated their mansions with fashionable Boston furniture (see Pl. X). The bedstead manufacturer Charles Lee (1817-1889), who stamped his furniture "C.LEE," used Stewart to distribute his bedsteads to nearly every wealthy planter's house in Natchez. [20] Clearly, Stewart knew what would sell.
Stewart's business cycle often coincided with the cotton season in Natchez. He placed his orders with suppliers several months before picking began in August or September, and the furniture was delivered between November and March on ships arriving to pick up the new cotton crop. Fall and winter were ideal times to increase furniture stock because successful planters had ready money from the annual cotton sales. When the manufacturers themselves established retail stores in New Orleans, Stewart also profited because he was assured efficient delivery on short notice. Shearer and Paine of Boston, Shearer and Jones of New York City, and Morris L. Duncan of Cincinnati were a few of the many manufacturers that sold to Stewart through their New Orleans warerooms. [21]
Stewart persuaded planters to shop locally by developing business connections with many of the same furniture shops in New Orleans that the Natchez elite patronized, such as Cyrus Flint and James H. Jones, and William McCracken. [22] Stewart's vast inventories also indicate that he stocked walnut bureaus similar to one labeled by McCracken that was owned by George M. Marshall of Landsdowne. Despite the label, McCracken, like Stewart, received most of his furniture from northern cities. This was probably the case with the desk in Plate XIII, also labeled by McCracken. It was bought by George Malin Davis of Natchez and is nearly identical to the one shown in Figure 1 from the catalogue of Foster and Lee, a New York City furniture dealer.
Some New Orleans establishments obtained significant commissions from Natchez planters, among them the firm of Sampson and Keene (c. 1846-1864), which furnished an entire house for Lemuel Conner of Natchez in 1854. [23] The planter Frederick Stanton (Pl.I) in 1859 spent more than eight thousand dollars on furniture and upholstery from Henry Siebrecht, one of the premier decorators in New Orleans, to furnish his grand town house, known today as Stanton Hall (see Pls. II, XII). Siebrecht sought out wealthy clients by offering the most stylish New York and European furnishings. [24] Receipts indicate that he valued the business of his elite customers since he was willing to send his men to Natchez to decorate on site. [25] The same services and goods could have been acquired in Natchez through Robert Stewart, who himself ordered furniture from Siebrecht in the 1850s. Evidently however, there was little loyalty among wealthy residents of Natchez to local furniture retailers. The extensive stock in the New Orlean s showrooms tempted the planters. [26]
The Natchez elite also liked to order directly from prestigious furniture firms in Philadelphia [27] and New York City. Manufacturers in these cities advertised in Natchez newspapers at moments when wealthy planters and their families escaped the summer heat to resorts such as Newport, Rhode Island, and Saratoga Springs, New York. During summers in the late 1830s, for example, the planter Levin R. Marshall (1800-1870), Edward Turner (1778-1860), the chief justice of Natchez, and the hotel owner Elijah Bell all placed furniture orders with the Philadelphia manufacturer Charles Haight White. [28] Earlier, John McMurran bought a labeled sideboard and pair of card tables (now at Melrose) from White (see Pls. XIV, XVIII). [29]
While visiting his daughters at school in Philadelphia, the cotton planter and physician Haller Nutt (1816-1864) of Natchez engaged the architect Samuel Sloan (1815-1884), the furniture manufacturer George J. Henkels (1819-1883), and the upholsterer Gottlieb Vollmer (1816-1883) to design and furnish the picturesque villa that Nutt called Longwood. [30]
Natchez women coordinated many of these furniture purchases. [31] Magazines such as Godey's Lady's Book, which was popular in Natchez, pictured furniture, named manufacturers, and provided ideas for interior designs, all of which encouraged wealthy women to take an active role in furnishing their mansions. [32] Charlotte Surget Bingamen presumably had decorated Arlington with Philadelphia furniture by the early 1830s (see Pl. XIX). [33] Mary Duncan Gustine bought from several New York City furniture makers and retailers, including E. W. Hutchings (w. c. 1832-1884) and Deming and Bulkley (c. 1820-1850). [34] And during a visit to her daughter at boarding school in New York City in 1858, Eliza Wilson (1812-1892) bought two identical parlor suites made in the factory of John Henry Belter (see Pl. III). [35]
Throughout most of the antebellum period Natchez planters and their wives ordered furniture through their cotton agents in the Northeast. To stay in touch with the international economy as well as the growing domestic market for cotton, many planters relied on these agents. Some agents offered cash advances, paid the planters' bills, and assured them cheap rates and easy access to products like furniture. The best documented of these contacts were between the Natchez planters Stephen Duncan (1787-1867), William Newton Mercer, and William J. Minor (1807-1869), and the cotton agents Charles P. and Henry Leverich of New York City, who supplied the Natchez group with elegant furniture from the 1830s through the 1850s. [36] At their clients' request, the Leveriches worked with commission merchants to arrange for the delivery and the assembly of furniture in New Orleans and Natchez. The bedstead in Plate XVI, for example, was delivered to John McMurran in the 1840s or 1850s by Stanton, Buckner and Company, commiss ion merchants in Natchez and New Orleans. [37] Sometimes the Leveriches were responsible for finding suitable furniture for planters, and in most cases they supervised furniture transactions with New York City makers chosen by their clients. In 1860, for example, Charles Leverich paid Bruner and Moore (w. c. 1848-1891) of New York City for furniture ordered by Francis Surget Jr. of Natchez. [38] Ten years earlier Surget had complained bitterly to Leverich that J. and J. W Meeks of New York City had botched an order.
Will you please inform Meeks that I have sent back to him the etagere as it is entirely too small. I ordered him to make me one with three apartments & on the one sent has just two[ldots]So you see the whole thing was ordered to be made much longer and deeper. There is no use of ordering one by letter, for if he could not make one from a verbal order, he certainly cannot make one from a letter[ldots]When we come on next summer I will order one early so that I may see it before we leave for home.
And two months later he wrote:
Do the best you can with that rascal Meeks. He neglected to take the order as it was given and I have no doubt sent me an etagere that he had already made, and not worth what he charged for it[ldots]it is the last that I or anyone that I can influence shall have to do with him: he has not made anything of the consequence by his acts, as I intended to have got him to have made new furniture for one, if not both of my parlors next summer. [39]
Surget may have been persuaded to buy from Meeks because of the fact that other Natchez planters had Meeks furniture. John McMurran, for example, owned the labeled center table shown in Plate XVIL McMurran's law partner John A. Quitman (1798-1858) of Monmouth also owned Meeks furniture, as did Quitman's neighbor Samuel Boyd (d. 1867) of Arlington (see P1. XI). [40]
From trips to the showrooms of New York City, shopping in New Orleans, local purchases, and orders through agents, a wide range of furniture was available to the elite of antebellum Natchez. The market for furniture in Natchez fluctuated according to the success of the cotton crop. Planters, manufacturers, cotton agents, and commission merchants had to establish strong relationships with each other to ensure the sale and distribution of acceptable furniture--a trade that always remained tied to the Mississippi River.
The research for this article was conducted for my master's thesis in the Winterthur Program in Early American Culture. It was largely funded through a Lower Mississippi Delta Region Initiative Grant awarded by the National Parks Service and the Historic Natchez Foundation. I wish to thank J. Ritchie Garrison, Stephen G. Harrison, Ronald and Mary Warren Miller, and Richard Murphy for generously sharing their advice and research My deepest gratitude goes to the owners, friends, and staff of the furniture collections at Arlington, Lansdowne, Melrose, Rosalie, and Stanton Hall in Natchez.
JASON T. BUSCH is the assistant curator of American decorative arts at the Wadsworth Atheneum in Hartford.
(1.) Thomas Kilby Smith Papers, Huntington Library, San Marino, California, copy in Clifton research file, Historic Natchez Foundation, Natchez, Mississippi.
(2.) For a discussion of suburban villas, see Andrew Jackson Downing, The Architecture of Country Houses (New York, 1850).
(3.) D. Clayton James, Antebellum Natchez (Louisiana State University Press, Baton Rouge, 1968), p. 136, defines nabob as "man of great wealth" and, in Natchez, as "the town's privileged class[ldots]separated from the masses by distinctions of property and economic power."
(4.) By 1860, Natchez and the surrounding counties had more millionaires than any other place in the United States (Thomas A. H. Scarborough, "Cotton, Planters and Plantations in the Natchez District, 1760-1880," in Natchez on the Mississippi: A Journey through Southern History[ldots], ed. Joyce L. Broussard and Ronald L. F. Davis [California State University School of Social and Behaviorial Sciences, Northridge, California, 1995] p. 15).
(5.) For more about the elite planters of antebellum Natchez, see Morton Rothstein, "The Natchez Nabobs: Kinship and Friendship in an Economic Elite," in Toward a New View of America: Essays in Honor of Arthur C. Cole, ad. Hans L. Trefousse (Burt Franklin and Company, New York, 1977), pp.97-112; William K. Scarborough, "Lords or Capitalists? The Natchez Nabobs in Comparative Perspective," Journal of Mississippi History, vol. 54 (August 1992), pp. 239-267; and William Banks Taylor, "Southern Yankees: Wealth, High Society, and Political Economy in the Late Antebellum Natchez Region," ibid. vol.59 (Summer 1997), pp. 79-121.
(6.) For more information, see Jason T. Busch, "'Such a Paradise can be Made on Earth': Furniture Patronage and Consumption in Antebellum Natchez, Mississippi 1828--1863" (master's thesis, University of Delaware, Newark, 1998).
(7.) Debt execution, John McCanaco vs. David Collins, August 4, 1825, Adams County Circuit Court case file (Historic Natchez Foundation).
(8.) Office of the Chancery Clerk Adams County Probate, Box 41 (ibid).
(9.) Probate papers of David F. Perry, cause no. 20 and Inventory and Appraisement Book 5 (Chancery Clerk Office, Adams County Courthouse, Natchez).
(10.) Natchez Mississippi Free Trader, March 19, 1838.
(11.) Ibid., April 9, 1838.
(12.) Ibid., October 29, 1838.
(13.) R. G. Dun and Company Report, Ohio. vol. 78, p. 438 (R. G. Dun and Company Collection, Baker Library. Harvard Business School, Boston). Glaskins was also importing knobs, table legs, and other furniture parts from the New York City mahogany dealer Jacob Vanderpool Jr. (Adams County Circuit Court case file; copy, Historic Natchez Foundation).
(14.) Customs manifests show that in July 1836 John Hancock and Company also shipped furniture to Alfred Cochran and Company, Natchez commission merchants, who then delivered it to Mercer (United States Bureau of Customs, Outward Coastal Manifests, District of Philadelphia, July 27, 1836, Record Group 36, National Archives, Washington, D.C.).
(15.) Philadelphia furniture was sent to Natchez on scheduled trips to New Orleans or combined with stops in Grand Gulf, Vicksburg, and other ports north of Natchez along the Mississippi River. See customs manifests from Philadelphia to Natchez, April 18, July 27, and September 7, 1836; April 22, 1837; and September 22, October 8, and November 6, 1838 (ibid.). For more information about the furniture trade in antebellum Philadelphia, see Deborah Ducoff-Barone, "The Early Industrialization of the Philadelphia Furniture Trade, 1800-1840" (Ph.D. dissertation, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, 1985).
(16.) Newspaper advertisements, receipts, and more than a dozen account books document Stewart's retailing activities and his trade in the assembly, repair, and maintenance of furniture. These sources reveal that he controlled most of the furniture business among Natchez upholsterers and woodworkers, some of whom he trained and supplied with raw materials (Robert H. Stewart family account bcoks, 1822-1904, vols. 5A, 9-11, 14, 29-31,34-41, Louisiana and Lower Mississippi Valley Collections, Hill Memorial Library, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge).
(17.) Vols. 11, 30, 35, Stewart family account books; David Bigelow, History of Prominent Mercantile and Manufacturing Firms in the United States, vol. 6 (Boston, 1857), pp. 172-173. Other firms Stewart patronized in Boston were Allen and Webber Beal and Hooper; E. H. R Ruggles; and Willard Everett and Company.
(18.) R. G. Dun and Company Report, Ohio, vol. 78, p. 225; vols. 11, 30, 35, Stewart family account books. Steamship bills of lading confirm connections between Robert Stewart and Mitchell and Rammelsberg (Cottrell Collection, Rare Books and Special Collections Department, Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County). Other Cincinnati furniture concerns he patronized included: Henry Closterman; Edwin Bishop Dobell; Morris L. Duncan; Johnston and Mitchell Johnston; Shaw and Company; Daniel F. Meader; Enoch Mudge, and later his wife, H[epzibah] B. Mudge.
(19.) Vols. 11,30,35, Stewart family account books; Elizabeth A. Ingerman, "Personal experiences of an old New York Cabinetmaker," ANTIQUES, November 1963, pp. 576--580. Other firms Stewart patronized in New York City were: Frederick Bang; Rudolph Bohm; Charles E. Cannon; Tunis R. Cooper and Company; Degraff and Taylor, George Ebbinghousen; Frey and Scott; William Gullifer; John C. Hahn; Ludwig Lauer and Brother; Charles Reinshagen; George Rammelkamp; Smith and Schoenenberger; Sommer and Company; A. and H. S. Thorp; Tweed and Brother; Charles and Julius Wesslau; and Jacob Zerfass.
(20.) Four bedsteads stamped "C.LEE" remain intact at Arlington, Rosalie, and Melrose. For a discussion of this firm, see Stephen G. Harrison, "C. Lee: Maker of Bedsteads for the Southern Market," Maine Antique Digest, April 1994, pp. 28-29a
(21.) Both Shearer and Jones and Shearer and Paine operated a New Orleans branch under the name Daniel L. Shearer (R. G. Dun and Company Report, Louisiana, vol. 10, p. 312). Stewart also patronized the following New Orleans commission merchants: S. Boldan, P. H. Brinton, William Brown, Edwin D. Dobell, Joshua Jones, Henry Kentz, George W. Miller, Montgomery and Smith, and Wiederecht and Jones. See vols. 11, 30, 35, Stewart family account books.
(22.) A secretary sold by Cyrus Flint and James H. Jones (w. together 1846-1866) and a hat rack sold by Cyrus Flint and Carnes (w. together c.1834--c.1843), both original furnishings of Melrose, are illustrated in Stephen G. Harrison, "The nineteenth-century furniture trade in New Orleans," ANTIQUES, May 1997, pp. 750-751, Pls. V. VII.
(23.) Record of purchase from Lemuel Conner to Sampson and Keen, May 15, 1854, Lemuel P. Conner family papers (Louisiana and Lower Mississippi Valley Collections, Hill Memorial Library). In 1854 the R. G. Dun and Company Report, Louisiana, vol. 9, p. 49 stated that Sampson and Keen was regarded as the best New Orleans furniture business, which supports the many purchases made from the firm by Natchez planters, including Haller Nutt, during the mid-1850s (see receipt from Sampson and Keen to Haller Nutt, May 20, 1853, in Haller Nutt papers, series F, part 1, microfilm 5322, Records of Ante-Bellum Southern Plantations from the Revolution through the Civil War [University Publications of America, Frederick, Maryland, 1986]).
(24.) Siebrecht's main competitor, Prudent Mallard (1812-1879), also imported goods from Paris and New York City and was sought after by the Natchez elite (see R. G. Dun and Company Report, Louisiana, vol. 10, p. 326; Prudent Mallard research file [Historic Natchez Foundation]; and receipt from P. Mallard to E. Surget, June 15, 1861 [Surget family papers, private collection, microfilm at Mississippi Department of Archives and History, Jackson]).
(25.) Probate box 173, estate papers of Frederick Stanton, cause no. 173 (Chancery Clerk's office, Adams County Courthouse, Natchez).
(26.) For a study of the furniture makers and retailers of antebellum New Orleans see Harrison, "The nineteenth-century furniture trade in New Orleans," pp. 748-759; and Stephen G. Harrison, "Furniture Trade in New Orleans, 1840-1880: The Largest Assortment Constantly on Hand" (master's thesis, University of Delaware, Newark, 1997).
(27.) In 1853 W. and J. Allen (w. together c. 1847-1869) informed their Natchez clients that they had changed locations in Philadelphia but still offered "SPLENDID FURNITURE of every description" (advertisements in Natchez Mississippi Free Trader, June and July 1853).
(28.) Customs manifests from Philadelphia to Natchez, September 7 and October 22, 1836, and October 8, 1838 (United States Bureau of Customs, Record Group 36).
(29.) Later furniture produced by White may also be at Melrose. A walnut revolving sofa of 1850-1855 there is identical to a labeled White sofa (New Orleans Auction Galleries, March 17-19, 2000, lot 1329). The sofa appeared in White's 1854 trade catalogue, where it was priced from $77 to $110 (Chas H White Upholstery and Furniture Bazaar [Philadelphia, 1854], copy in the Philadelphia Athenaeum).
(30.) For the construction and furnishing of Longwood, see Ina May Ogletree McAdams, The Building of "Longwood" (Ina May Ogletree McAdams, Austin, Texas, 1972).
(31.) In December 1849 Jane Conner of Natchez bought furniture at the New Orleans stores of Daniel Kelham (w.c. 1843-1874) and Henry Weil (w. in New Orleans c. 1843-1854) (receipt from H. Weil and Brothers to Jane Conner, December 9,1849, and receipt from D. Kelham to Jane Conner, December 12, 1849, Lemuel P. Conner family papers, Louisiana State University Library). Mary Linton ordered furniture from J. and J. W. Meeks and Henry Siebrecht (estate papers of John Linton, cause no. 107 [Adams County Courthouse, Natchez]).
(32.) For a thorough discussion of this subject see Gail Caskey Winkler, "Influence of 'Godey's Lady's Book' on the American Woman and Her Home: Contributions to a National Culture, 1830-1877" (Ph.D. dissertation, University of Wisconsin, Madison, 1988).
(33.) In addition to the sofa in Pl. XIX a dressing table of c. 1824-1835 labeled by Charles White and two Philadelphia bedsteads of c. 1825-1830 remain at Arlington. See also Pl. VI.
(34.) Receipt from Deming and Bulkley, January 19, 1837, and from E. W. Hutchings, November 18, 1856, Leverich family papers (New-York Historical Society, New York City).
(35.) Belter's neighbor Julius Dessoir(w.c. 1842-1866) sold two tete-a-tetes, two stuffed-back chairs, and a table to the Gustines of Natchez in February 1852 (receipt for Gustine from Julius Dessoir, February 1853, Leverich family papers).
(36.) Charles P. Leverich papers, Boxes 1-4, Letters, December 2, 1833 to December 20, 1854 (Mississippi Department of Archives and History, Jackson). The Leveriches married into the Duncan and Minor families.
(37.) In another instance, Charles and Henry Leverich sent a wardrobe of c. 1840 from New York City to their brothers James and William Leverich in New Orleans, who arranged transportation of the wardrobe to Arlington. The documentation of the wardrobe's journey is written on the back of the piece, which is in a private Natchez collection.
(38.) Receipt from Bruner and Moore to F. Surget, October 19, 1860, and canceled check to Bruner and Moore from Francis Surget Jr., November 28, 1860. Surget family papers.
(39.) Francis Surget Jr. to Charles P. Leverich, January 24 and March 17, 1850, Box 4, Charles P. Leverich papers.
(40.) Identical sets of Gothic revival dining chairs owned by Stephen Duncan of Auburn and John T. McMurran of MxIrose suggest that the acquisition of one set influenced the purchase of the other.
