Rosalie "Lady on the Bluff"
- Jay Brothers
- 1 day ago
- 2 min read
100 Orleans St. Natchez, MS
Circa 1823. Grand Federal style
It is named for the Ft. Rosalie nearby - the French fort built in the early 1700s. It was built 200 feet above the Mississippi River on the bluff.
Peter Little (1782-1856) built the home on 22 acres overlooking the Mighty Mississippi. Little was a Pennsylvania native who came to Natchez as a young man. Per the Rosalie website, Little got the know the ferryboat owner, Jacob Lowe, when Little was visiting his land across the Mississippi. Whey Jacob die of yellow fever and his wife was dying of it, the mother asked Little to care for their daughter. Little promised to do so. Elizabeth Ann "Eliza" Lowe Little (1793-1853) was Peter’s ward, and he sent her East to get an education and age. When she returned, they wed. Little also amassed a good deal of land in Louisiana. While childless, Eliza helped start the Natchez Children's Home and numerous children enjoyed the warmth of Rosalie with the couple.
Andrew Wilson purchased the property at auction in 1858. They also were childless and took in orphaned children. They adopted Fanny McMurtry Wilson Rumble, and she later wed Capt. Stephen Rumble. They resided at Rosalie for their lives. During the Civil War, Gen. U.S. Grant used the home as his headquarters during the Natchez occupation.
Over the years, portions of the estate lands were lost to railroad tracks and development and driveways.
In the early 20th century, Rebecca Rumble and Annie (Mrs. James) Rumble Marsh owned it. In 1938, they sold the home to the Mississippi Society of Daughters of the American Revolution. That chapter of the DAR has maintained the home as a historic house museum since. Rosalie was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1989.
Sources:
Comments