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ADVERTISER SPOTLIGHT
Monmouth Historic Inn
Where romance loves history AUDREY JAMES
Within the great halls and expansive grounds of
Monmouth Historic Inn is a history rich in stories of
bygone eras. Beyond the flicker of gas lights and
heavy brocade drapes are the tales of tragedy and
triumph, romance, antebellum intrigue, Civil War, and
great social change. Monmouth’s evolution from a
grand antebellum estate to the renowned small luxury
hotel of today was not always a tale of grandeur. Each
episode of its history is filled with the men and women
who lived and worked on the estate, including its
enslaved population and their descendants, as well as
the white family members who dwelled within its halls
in those days not so long ago.
Monmouth’s early years begin in 1818, when Natchez
Postmaster John Hankinson built Monmouth just within
the Natchez city limits. Although not quite the mansion
that it would later become, it was an impressive estate.
Hankinson named the estate after his birthplace in
Monmouth, New Jersey. As hard times fell on Hankinson,
the house was eventually advertised for sale in the
Mississippi Republic on the 17th of November, 1824.
Hankinson never lived to see the sale, passing away
with yellow fever within that same time period.
In March 1826, John Anthony Quitman purchased
Monmouth, a two-story Federal-style brick mansion
situated on thirty-one acres, for $12,000. Quitman and
his wife, Eliza Turner, a woman from one of Natchez’s
most prominent families, made significant changes to
Monmouth that radically altered the interior and exterior
appearance.
Like their father, Quitman’s sons and daughters
were avid supporters of slavery and state’s rights, all
promoting the Southern way of life. As was typical for
the era and of men of his stature, Quitman owned
more than four hundred slaves divided between
Monmouth and four plantations located in Louisiana
and Mississippi. While some slaves worked in the main
70 2024 VISIT NATCHEZ