The members of the Auburn Antebellum Home will be hosting a ribbon-cutting, open house and Chamber After-Hours on from 5:30 to 7 p.m. Thursday, April 28 for the completion of the restored detached kitchen/servants quarters.

This is a brick two-story brick dependency located behind Auburn that was built by Dr. Stephen Duncan in 1830. With a community heritage grant provided by the Mississippi Department of Archives and History, matching funds by the City of Natchez and Auburn Antebellum Home and the invaluable help of Waycaster Associates and James Johnston, community development director for the City of Natchez, we have saved one of only four such structures in Mississippi. Food will be provided by René Adams of Rolling River Bistro.

Auburn was built by Levi Weeks for attorney Lyman Harding, who had moved to Natchez from Boston. The house was completed in 1812. It was the first mansion to be built in Natchez. Weeks wrote to his friend that “This is the first house in the territory on which was ever attempted any of the orders of architecture.”

Attorney Harding died in 1820, but not before being named Mississippi’s first attorney general. The second owner of the house with Dr. Steven A. Duncan, who moved to Natchez from Pennsylvania. He and his wife Catherine moved into Auburn around 1821 and lived there until 1863 when they left Auburn with four of the five children and their families by a Union gunboat which conveyed them north and eventually to New York City. Dr. Duncan died in New York in 1867.

Stephen Duncan Jr. elected to stay at Auburn and lived off and on there until his death in 1910. His heirs decided to donate Auburn, all the furnishings, and 210 acres to the city of Natchez with the stipulation that the land would be made into a public park in memory of the Duncans — thus we have Duncan Park. The second stipulation was that the house and land remain together. Because of the stipulation, the city decided to sell all the furnishings, thinking that the house would be easier to take care of if it were empty.

The city made an apartment upstairs for the caretaker of the park and his family to live, but downstairs remained virtually empty and became a playhouse for the children of the city. In 1972, the Town and Country Garden Club (later to be named Auburn Garden Club) set up a lease with the city to restore the house and open it for tours on a daily basis. The group operated a bed-and-breakfast for many years to earn money to furnish Auburn with period furniture. Over the years, a few of the Duncan original pieces of furniture and fixtures have been returned to Auburn. We would be very interested in acquiring more.

In 2009, the members of the Auburn Garden Club, petitioned the city in the state for a name change and new bylaws. The Auburn Antebellum Home is the new name with a focus on Auburn preservation. We are small group of male and female volunteers who leased the house from the city and manage it. If anyone wishes to join our group, please contact Auburn at 601–442–5981, and I will get back to you as soon as possible.

We will eventually be telling the story of Georgia Davis, the head male house servant, who stayed at Auburn after he was freed and remain living and working there until at least 1910. Our members still need to furnish the building, especially the servants’ quarters. Auburn Antebellum Home is a 501(c)(3) for federal income tax purposes and donations for our restoration purposes, will be appreciated and are tax-deductible. A receipt will be provided upon request. Auburn doesn’t receive any tax money so we operate only on tourist dollars and donations.

Our next project, which we have received a grant from MDAH, is to fix the severe water damage to the balconies and columns of the main house. As with most grants, the amount of money that is needed is not fully provided, but we are very pleased with the amount we have received. Again if anyone wishes to help with this project, donations will be gratefully accepted and a tax donation receipt will be provided.

Save the date for the following:

4Our third annual calliope concert, with Burnley Cook, mint juleps and finger food for a $20 donation will be at 5:30 p.m. Sept. 30.

4Our 10th annual Christmas Open House will be Sunday, Dec. 11. Free admission and free tours will be offered. Baked goods will be provided by Terri DeShong.

 

J. Clark Feiser is the president of the Auburn Antebellum Home.