A Little Southern History

Day 209

During the planing stage of our trip, it was recommended a few times that we visit a plantation during our visit to the southern states. Being in Alabama, I did a little research. Alabama was fertile land and slave plantation agriculture was the centre of the Alabama economy before the civil war. With over 45% of the state population being slaves, Alabama was one of the first states to join the Confederacy. 

I did a few searches and found the Bragg-Mitchell Mansion in Mobile that allowed tours, and only an hour away. Unfortunately, it turned out this was the Bragg family’s winter home and their plantation was in Lowndes county. John Bragg was a judge and his wife Mary Frances Hall brought her family plantation into the marriage and was sharp enough to manage it - having been educated at Troy Female Seminary in New York. 

The winter home of the Bragg-Mitchell house was built in the mid 1850s for the Bragg’s on 27 acres in what is now midtown Mobile. During the summers they would live at their plantation and move to Mobile during the fall and winter months. 

Picnics and parties were regular on the Bragg estate, but all of that changed as the Civil War cast a dark shadow over the southern way of life. Especially for John and his family. Two of his brothers would join the war effort. One brother died from wounds received at Chattanooga and his second brother Braxton Bragg became the general of the Army of Tennessee. 

Believing Mobile was going to be a target for the Union army, the reputation of John’s  political leanings and his brother Braxton’s rank drove the family to seek refuge at Mrs. Bragg’s plantation. They packed up all their belongings and left, unaware that they might have been safer in Mobile. Raiders of the Union army tore through Lowndes County toward the end of the war and burned the plantation to the ground, along with the priceless items that filled it. 

They did survive and returned to Mobile to find that the Confederate Army had clear cut the entire property of all trees so the artillery would have clear shots of any invading army. John determined to rebuild the life that had been destroyed by the war, took the acorns that were left from the original trees and replanted them. In 1869 Mary Bragg passed away and John followed in 1878. The house went through a few short lived owners before ending up in the hands of Minnie Mitchell in 1931. Minnie and her Husband Alfred rented the home at first and  later purchased the home for $15,000. Minnie had the know-how to make sure it was preserved for future enjoyment and worked vicariously to restore the home and furniture of the 19 century era.