William Johnson was a black man born into slavery who was set free by his owner (who was also presumably his father) when he was 11. He became a well known barber in town eventually owning three barbershops, a bath house and, surprisingly, slaves. William died when his neighbor shot him in the back over a land dispute. Though William, with his dying breath, identified his killer, according to the law black people, even free ones, couldn't testify, so the neighbor got off.
We visited the Melrose Plantation grounds which we found particularly fascinating/horrifying. The former slave quarters had been turned into a small museum that detailed the history of slavery. Natchez had been one of the largest slave markets along the Mississippi river.
Here, the reason for our horror:
On the eve of the Civil War the 1860 census showed 4 million Africans were enslaved in America. One third of enslaved children, if they survived infancy, grew up in one-parent homes due to the high death rate of slaves and that 10-20% of families were broken up by sale.
Following the war many freed slaves had no place to go. Many young men signed up for the military but were begrudgingly admitted and treated so badly that 13% ended up deserting and 1 in 3 died from disease. Many women and children ended up in camps run by the Union army with such poor conditions that in one summer over 2000 people died...in one camp.
Following our historic tour we drove along the scenic Natchez Trace Parkway. Taking this lush road all the way to Tupelo we spent the night in Elvis' boyhood home but did little beyond a brief tour. The coke couple we met in Clarksdale live here and we found no need to run into them again.
William Johnson's colorful entryway
(the louder the color, the richer you were)
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