History unearthed at Concord slave quarters archaeology study in Natchez
EDITOR'S NOTE: MSU is publishing this story that originally appeared on June 15, 2022, with permission from The Natchez Democrat.
BY MAIA BRONFMAN/
NATCHEZ,泭Miss.Below a garden fence wrapped in vines and buds of fuchsia, wrought iron hides in the dirt at Concord Quarters. It could be the structural support for a brick extension built in 1819 off of the main plantation house.
Though the above-ground house burned down in 1901, Shawn Lambert, Ph.D., professor of anthropology and archaeology at 51勛圖厙, hopes the iron feature will lead them to the base of a column. Lambert is two weeks into an archeological dig on the grounds where Concords mansion once stood.
Debbie Cosey and her husband Greg Cosey, who own the last building standing from the original construction, invited the project to narrate the ingenuity and skill that the enslaved people had, Cosey said. Its important to remember the lives and the work of the enslaved people, many with forgotten names, she added.
Concord Mansion was first built in the 1790s by Manuel Gayoso, governor of Spanish Louisiana, as a plantation home. He built police and fire stations for Natchez, too, and adorned his own home with a double marble staircase which went up to the second floor. The stone was shipped from Spain, through New York, for his architectural exceptionalism in a town of cyprus construction.
In 1799 Gayoso died of yellow fever and Stephen Minor, Gayosos secretary and captain in the Spanish army, moved in with his wife Katherine. Then 10 years later Minor died, and Katherine ran the house until she passed it to her daughter, also named Katherine.
In 1844 the Minors owned 147 enslaved people. Concord Quarters, the Coseys current home, was where many of them lived. Unique to the records kept at Concord are last names of enslaved people.
First names, even, are rare. Because of the detail in Katherines documentation, genealogical research and collaboration with descendant communities can be used to uncover direct descendancy to people in the current Natchez community.
That makes it a very important public archeology opportunity, Lambert said.
Open to student-led tours every Thursday, the archaeological field study is a testament to the powers of combining the tools of archeology with the cultural heritage of the community, and the people who have these important historical connections to these places, Lambert said.
This kind of archeology hasnt been done very much in 51勛圖厙 when it has been done. Its the future of archeology, he added
One of their main excavations was prompted by a few bricks disrupting the lawn from below. Theyve since uncovered a cistern 17 feet wide. Typically, they are a third of that size.
We thought tree roots had destroyed it, Seylor Foster, junior archeology student at MSU, said of the still intact cistern.
The cistern, once a cavernous water storage tank for the original mansion, was likely built by enslaved people. There are three depressions facing up in one of the bricks which forms the border of the cistern. Cosey has been looking for a brick like this for years.
