Blantonia Plantation House, Lorman Mississippi

Date added: August 15, 2023 Categories:

Front elevation, view to northeast (1992)

According to local tradition, Blantonia was constructed circa 1812 by members of the Blanton family. The house received a major rear addition comprised of an extension of the central hall between two new rooms and a cross hall, plus an exterior renovation in approximately 1845 which gave it its Greek Revival character. Despite another rear addition in 1967, Blantonia's original pile-and-a-half expanded I-house form is still quite discernible. Double-galleried and full-colonnaded I-houses typically have a narrow range of rooms across the rear balancing the width of the gallery and creating a pile-and-a-half expanded I-house plan. What is not readily apparent is whether Blantonia originally featured double galleries with story-high pillars on each level or a full monumental colonnade with an upper gallery. There are pre-1812 precedents for both I-house subtypes in or near Jefferson County.

Nevertheless, Blantonia is a finely executed example of an I-house with a full monumental colonnade and an upper gallery. I-houses with a full monumental colonnade were constructed in both the Federal and Greek Revival styles throughout Mississippi during the antebellum period and were usually found in rural settings. Blantonia is one of nine such I-houses with a full monumental colonnade and an upper gallery identified in the state so far. One of these nine, the Sevier House in Leake County, is no longer extant. Two of these are located in what was the Old Natchez District, as is Blantonia. Springfield is believed to have been built circa 1804 in Jefferson County and is of brick construction which is rather unusual for an I-house in Mississippi. Its five-bay front facade features six monumental Tuscan columns and an upper gallery tied into the colonnade. Holly Grove in Wilkinson County was constructed in 1812 and probably remodeled in the 1820s. Its front facade displays an irregular fenestration and six large Tuscan columns. Blantonia with its wood frame construction and symmetrical Greek Revival design is a more archetypal interpretation of this I-house subtype which was so popular in the Old Natchez District and, indeed, throughout Mississippi during the antebellum period.

The history of the families who resided at Blantonia is somewhat sketchy. According to local tradition, the Blanton family built the original expanded I-house known as Blantonia circa 1812. An 1810 census of the Natchez District records a Sarah Blanton in Jefferson County. Her household consisted of one white female over age 21 and one white female under age 21 plus six slaves. Another census taken in 1816 lists Sarah Blanton and William Blanton as individual heads of households in Jefferson County but no other information about them is given. The 1820 Federal Census records two Blanton households in Jefferson County that year. One was comprised of Sarah Blanton who lived alone and the other was the William W. Blanton family. The census does not specifically state where they resided in the county. Benjamin Blanton was listed as a resident of Claiborne County (1820 U.S. Census). He eventually acquired Blantonia.

Benjamin was born about 1789 and was the son of Christopher Blanton. The elder Blanton was from Warren County, North Carolina and migrated to Lincoln County, Georgia where he died in 1800. Benjamin was in the Old Natchez District at least as early as 1816 when he married Narcissa Watson. The couple's only daughter, Martha Eliza Blanton, was born around 1821 in Jefferson County. Four years later, in 1826, Sarah Blanton died leaving five hundred acres in Jefferson County.

This acreage may have included Blantonia which was then purchased or inherited by Benjamin Blanton. In any case, the 1830 Federal Census listed Benjamin Blanton and his family as residents of the county (1830 U.S. Census).

Benjamin's daughter, Martha, married Lewis C. Watson who had been born in Jefferson County circa 1816. Watson gradually pieced together tracts of land in the county to form one large plantation. From the late 1830s to mid-1840s he set about purchasing from the numerous heirs of William Watson their interests in a 640-acre tract which was described as having once belonged to Benjamin Blanton (Deed Book D:170-171; Deed Book E:140-141; Deed Book F:252-253). A deed of sale between James W. Watson and L. C. Watson recorded in April 1846 described the parcel as being where "Lewis C. Watson now resides" (Deed Book F:252-253). Watson was a successful planter. In 1840 he owned fifty-five slaves and reported that thirty-four people on his plantation were involved in agriculture. Ten years later, Watson's real estate was valued at $1800.00 and he owned eighty-four slaves. He had only sixty-one slaves in 1860 but his real estate was valued at $25,000.00 and his personal estate equaled $80,000.00 (1840, 1850, 1860 U.S. Censuses). It seems likely then that Lewis and Martha Watson were responsible for the renovation of Blantonia which occurred circa 1845.

The Brady family purchased Blantonia in 1912.

The I-House form

The I-house with its various subtypes was a common house type in rural Mississippi during the first three-quarters of the nineteenth century, reaching its apex in popularity and conformance to floor plan in the antebellum period, particularly during the 1840s and 1850s. In general, I-houses were of wood frame construction with weatherboard siding and featured external brick chimneys in their side gables. Those with a central hall, such as Blantonia, usually had a three-, five- or seven-bay-wide front facade with five bays being the most common.

The I-house form first appeared in Mississippi circa 1800, having been brought to the Old Natchez District (which was comprised of present-day Wilkinson, Adams, Jefferson and Claiborne Counties plus most of Amite, Franklin and Warren Counties) by Anglo-American settlers from the eastern seaboard. Nine subtypes of the I-house have been identified in Mississippi to date. These are:

1) basic I-house with no porch

2) I-house with one-story portico

3) I-house with monumental portico

4) I-house with double-tiered portico

5) I-house with composite porch (combining a one-story, full-width porch and a two-story or monumental portico)

6) single-gallery or "Carolina" I-house (one story, full-width porch)

7) double-gallery I-house (two-story, full-width porch)

8) I-house with full monumental colonnade

9) I-house with dual, overlapping colonnades

Building Description

Blantonia is an antebellum plantation house located in the hilly pine woods area of Jefferson County, approximately four miles northeast of Red Lick, a tiny rural community in the north-central part of the county. The two-story, five by eight bay, Greek Revival house is of wood frame construction and rests on brick piers. Its eave-oriented gable roof, which is clad in standing seam tin, shelters a two-tier, undercut gallery with a full colonnade. Despite both historic and modern rear additions, Blantonia's original pile-and-a-half "expanded I-house" form is still discernible.

Blantonia was initially constructed circa 1812 (according to local tradition) as a pile-and-a-half "expanded I-house". In other words, this original section of the house, which is still evident today, was a two-story building with two large front rooms divided by a wide central hall and a rear range of three narrow rooms on each floor. The rear range of rooms was approximately the same depth as the two-story front gallery. The roof ridge is aligned at approximately the center of the front range of rooms and the external brick chimneys are positioned at the side gable peaks, further evidence of the original structure's I-house configuration. (Interview with Mrs. Dorothy Brady).

Around 1845, a cross hall and two more rooms were added on the first floor. The original central hall was also extended between these two rooms. In 1967, sympathetically designed additions of a rear wing and a sun room were added to the rear elevation.

The circa 1845 exterior alterations to Blantonia included a full colonnade of Doric box columns across the front facade plus other Greek Revival architectural details. Thus, it is difficult to determine if the house originally had one-story high columns on each tier of the double gallery or a full monumental colonnade. The interior, which will be discussed more fully below, features both Federal and Greek Revival details.

The five-bay-wide front elevation of Blantonia features a two-tiered, undercut gallery with a colonnade of six monumental, Doric box columns supporting a simple cornice. The first story of the undercut gallery has a concrete deck. Located within this first story is a centrally located Greek Revival frontispiece with a shouldered surround. The frontispiece is comprised of paneled, double-leaf doors flanked by Doric pilasters and sidelights with an architrave and a multi-light transom. On either side of the frontispiece are two 6/6 double-hung sash jib windows with louvered shutters. An upper gallery with a latticework balustrade ties into the colonnade. Within this gallery space, a single-leaf door with a multi-light transom is flanked on each side by two 12/8 double-hung sash windows with louvered shutters.

Both side elevations feature an exterior, shouldered, brick chimney (although the chimney on the west elevation has been stuccoed with cement) and a small porch with a pedimented gable marked by a simple cornice that is supported by Doric box columns. The balustrade treatment on the front upper gallery is repeated on these porches. Within each side porch area is a single-leaf door crowned by a three-light transom. The first story windows on each side elevation are 12/12 double-hung sash with louvered shutters. The second-story side windows are 12/8 double-hung sash and also have louvered shutters.

Extending from the rear elevation on the west side is a one story, gabled wing which houses the kitchen and a utility room. In the ell created by this wing is a sun room with banks of floor-length, multi-light windows. Both the rear wing and the sun room were added to the house in 1967. Before these additions, a porch extended across the rear elevation.

The floor plan of Blantonia is dominated by the intersecting halls which allow ample cross ventilation. Simple, yet sophisticated, design elements in both the Federal and Greek Revival styles adorn the interior spaces. These features date from the antebellum period. However, the paneled wainscoting found throughout Blantonia was added during the 1967 renovation.

The central hall on the first floor of the original section of the house is marked by a chair rail and a simple cornice. The hall leads through a wide entrance into what was the middle room of the original rear range of three narrow rooms. The entrance features paneled pilasters supporting a heavy, but plain, entablature. The room itself is now a sitting area and also contains the staircase leading to the second floor. The staircase is probably an 1845 alteration. The sitting area features a simple cornice and paneled wainscoting. A column screen of two paneled pilasters and two paneled box columns delineate the sitting area from the cross hall.

The front west room off the central hall now serves as a bedroom. It retains no chair rail or cornice. The room's mantel is of a Greek Revival design and is probably a historic replacement for the original Federal-style mantel. A doorway on the north wall of this room leads into a room that has been converted into a bathroom. In turn, a doorway on the north wall of this room leads into the cross hall.

The front east room is also used as a bedroom. It retains its Federal-style mantel and its cornice. Its paneled wainscoting is a modern alteration. A doorway on the north wall of this room leads into a room that is now a bathroom. A door on the north wall of the bathroom enters the cross hall.

The cross hall spans the width of the building and creates an open, inviting space in the center of the house. A modest, but heavy, cornice, the column screen, paneled pilasters and wainscoting accent the cross hall.

The c. 1845 addition was comprised of this cross-hall, the two rooms and the rear central hall beyond it. The central hall features a cornice and wainscoting. It leads into the sun room which was added in 1967. The dining room off the east side of the hall has an internal chimney with a Greek Revival mantel. In the northeast corner of the room next to the chimney are original built-in cabinets. The room has no chair rail or cornice but does display shouldered, Greek Revival door surrounds. One doorway leads into the cross hall, the other into the rear central hall and a third into the sunroom. Off the west side of the rear central hall is a room which now serves as the den. It has a chair rail which is probably not original but does retain its internal chimney with a Greek Revival mantel and its shouldered Greek Revival door surrounds. The den also has three doorways; one to the cross hall, one to the rear central hall, and one to the kitchen.

The L-shaped kitchen is part of the 1967 addition. It wraps around the utility room which is in the northwest corner of the house. French doors on the east wall of the kitchen lead into the sunroom. The large sunroom has a wood floor and is lighted by banks of windows. Though these three rooms are modern additions, they do not detract from the architectural integrity of the house.

Blantonia's second story is part of the original pile-and-a-half "expanded I-house". As with the first floor, this story has two large rooms divided by a central hall with a rear range of three narrow rooms. The two front rooms, which are bedrooms, the hall, and the east back room have chair rails but no cornice. The two front bedrooms also feature Federal style mantels similar to the one in the east front room on the first floor. The central rear room has wainscoting. A doorway leads from the hall into the central rear room. This room serves as a small parlor and also contains the stairwell. In the west front bedroom, a doorway leads into a room that has been divided into a bathroom, a powder room, and a closet. The small room behind the east front bedroom was originally a bedroom but is now utilized for storage. In the early twentieth century, a window was cut into its western wall which overlooked the stairwell and the intersection of the halls. The window has since been enclosed.

Blantonia is sited on a small knoll between Willis Creek and Brady Creek. A half dozen early twentieth-century outbuildings form a semicircle to the north and west of the house. No antebellum outbuildings are extant. Meadows and forests surround Blantonia and its small cluster of buildings.