Jump to content

Homochitto, Issaquena County, Mississippi

Coordinates: 32°52′03″N 91°03′36″W / 32.86750°N 91.06000°W / 32.86750; -91.06000
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Homochitto, Mississippi
Part of Issaquena County c. 1866–1874 showing location of Homochitto along the Mississippi River
Part of Issaquena County c. 1866–1874 showing location of Homochitto along the Mississippi River
Homochitto is located in Mississippi
Homochitto
Homochitto
Homochitto is located in the United States
Homochitto
Homochitto
Coordinates: 32°52′03″N 91°03′36″W / 32.86750°N 91.06000°W / 32.86750; -91.06000
CountryUnited States
StateMississippi
CountyIssaquena
Elevation
98 ft (30 m)
Time zoneUTC-6 (Central (CST))
 • Summer (DST)UTC-5 (CDT)
GNIS feature ID687598[1]

Homochitto was an 800-acre (320 ha) plantation located directly on the Mississippi River[2] in Issaquena County (initially the lower portion of Washington County), Mississippi, United States.[1] According to one source, Homochitto is a Choctaw name likely meaning "big red",[3] and was earlier applied to the Homochitto River in Mississippi.

Homochitto Plantation was owned by Stephen Duncan.[4] The 1831 tax rolls indicated that Duncan enslaved 96 individuals on the 1,520 acres (6.2 km2) property.[5]

In 1865, following the abolition of slavery, a number of freedmen were listed at the Homochitto Plantation.[6] Duncan had a reconstruction contract "Disapproved for insufficient compensation to freedmen".[7] The plantation was included on a U.S. government map of lands available for lease during the Reconstruction period. The map lists Homochitto as property 31, and indicates that unlike neighboring plantations, it has no main residence, no slave quarters, and no cotton gin. The legal owner is listed as Henry P. Duncan.[8]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b "Homochitto (historical)". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior.
  2. ^ Searles, Jas M.; Stratton, David (1873). "Map of the County of Issaquena, Mississippi". Hugh Lewis.
  3. ^ Baca, Keith A. (2007). Native American Place Names in Mississippi. Univ. Press of Mississippi. p. 40. ISBN 978-1-60473-483-6.
  4. ^ "Biography: Dr. Stephen Duncan". Issaquena Genealogy and History Project. Retrieved May 5, 2020.
  5. ^ Amy L. Young (Summer 1999). "Archaeological Investigations of Slave Housing at Saragossa Plantation, Natchez, Mississippi" (PDF). Southeastern Archaeology. 18 (1): 57–68. Prior to this, the tax roll of 1831 shows that Duncan owned four plantations in Adams County: West Grove with 846 acres and 54 slaves; Homochitto with 1520 acres and 96 slaves; Ellisbe with 1580 acres and 63 slaves; and Saragossa with 846 acres and 68 slaves.
  6. ^ "1865 Freedmen Contracts for Issaquena County". Issaquena Genealogy and History Project. Retrieved May 5, 2020.
  7. ^ Dee Woodtor (1999). Finding a Place Called Home: A Guide to African-American Genealogy and Historical Identity. Random House. ISBN 9780375708435.
  8. ^ "Map of Plantations in Carrol Parish, Louisiana, and Issaquena County, Mississippi. Goodrich Division, Skipwith District (NAID 26465536) - Treasury Department Maps of Captured and Abandoned Properties 1869–1940". U.S. National Archives and Records Administration.