Windsor Historic Legacy

Windsor Historic Legacy. . , Welcome to Windsor Ruins, one of Mississippi's most iconic destinations. Windsor Ruins is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is a Mississippi Landmark. "Master mechanic" (a technical term that preceded the word "architect") David Shroder of Maryland designed and built Windsor with a team of white artisans and carpenters, and enslaved laborers. Destroyed by a fire in 1890, the only remains of the home were 27 of its original 29 columns, the balustrade, and four iron staircases-three that disappeared in the years after the fire and one set that now serves as the entrance to Oakland Memorial Chapel at Alcorn State University. By 1970, only 23 columns remained. The Windsor Mansion, completed in 1861, was at the heart of an extensive cotton plantation of 2,500 acres, with a workforce of over 300 enslaved people. In 1860, Claiborne County was a wealthy plantation district, producing thousands of bales of cotton for export through New Orleans to markets in New England and Britain. Windsor flaunted this wealth, with its massive Corinthian columns standing on 10-foot-high plinths (bases) and rising 45 feet from the ground, topped by ornate cast iron capitals five feet high. The site is administered by the Mississippi Department of Archives and History (MDAH), which completed an extensive stabilization project to preserve the 23 remaining columns and capitals in 2024., The Daniell Family , During the cotton boom of the early 1800s, Thomas Freeland acquired the land on which Windsor Ruins now stands. In 1857, part of his land was passed down to his daughter, Catherine Freeland Daniell. Her husband, Smith Coffee Daniell II, bought the rest of the land from Catherine's siblings. Construction on Windsor began in 1858 and was completed in 1861. , Just a few weeks after moving into the home, Smith Coffee Daniell II died. In his will, he appointed his wife Catherine-who was pregnant with their sixth child-and his mother, Priscilla Magruder Skinner Daniell, as joint executors of the estate. While in other states women were not allowed to own property, Mississippi had been the first in the nation to grant that right in 1839. Catherine and Priscilla carried on the plantation operations and cotton business. Catherine remarried in 1868 to William G. Williams, and their family continued to call Windsor home until 1890., Tragedy Strikes , Many dinner parties were held at Windsor. On February 17, 1890, the unthinkable happened the entire house was engulfed in flames. It is believed that a guest at a dinner party dropped a lit cigarette. Oral accounts detail the chaos and panic that the family experienced: , "When Windsor burned... everyone rushed outside... A few grabbed whatever they could get their hands on ... My great-aunt Priscilla got her diamond cross ... My sister Agnes Coleman has two vases... and a fruit compote... and also a chaise lounge that came out of Windsor. My mother [Katherine Crane Daniell] recalled and told me a number of times about standing under the big live oak tree out front and weeping because her dolls were burning there in Windsor." , Sam Magruder, 1975, Architecture Revealed , For over 100 years, all images of the home were thought to be lost. Incredibly in 1991, researchers discovered an image of Windsor at the Ohio state archives. The 1863 drawing was made by U.S. Army Lieutenant Henry Otis Dwight of the 20th Ohio Infantry, when members of the Union Army camped at Windsor during the Vicksburg Campaign. His sketch revealed various interesting elements-mainly the differences in the window styles. The windows on the main floor were flat-headed in the Greek Revival style while the upper-floor windows had Italianate style round heads. The top windows on the cupola, known as belvedere windows, had the pointed heads of the Gothic style.