This is what the mansion looked like before Mr. Thompson had it remodeled.
When you were born and raised in the same small town and live there all your life, you kind of grow up with community history. As a kid, I visited many elderly people in my hometown and learned even more about the history of the town and their families.
Moving to Mississippi was a big change because I didn’t know much about the history of the community. When Suzanne and I were still in California, I was told that the house was haunted but the spirits were friendly. I was also told that there was a murder in the house! Upon moving here, I find that only part of that is true. Yes, there are friendly spirits in the house. Namely, Charlie and Johnny… If they are actually the ones. There were no murders in the house, though to my knowledge.
I was initially told, by a black man that brought us to the house in mid-December, that he was born on the Dean Plantation and Mr. Dean built this house. That turned out to be untrue. I was told that the Thompson family were the original owners and that the house was a much smaller single story home. I think that is untrue. I am very sure it isn’t true, but I have no tangible proof yet.
I have spoke with an elderly lady, she looks like she must be 90 but she can’t even remember how old she is. She stops in front of the house every time she is brought to town. It used to freak me out when I would see the same strange car either drive by slow and sometimes stop in front of the house until we found out who she was. She said that her father was Judge Rabun Jones, a former owner, and she grew up in the house. She was married in the house and threw her bouquet off the balcony. She said she had many good memories of growing up in the house.
Now, I have heard that the house was built in the late 1880′s all the way through the 1920′s. The town historian knows all about every house along Deer Creek, especially since this is part of the historic district. He seems to think the original owners were the Thompsons. He bases his facts on the history he has read in the local newspaper which states that Mr. Thompson got a building permit to build a servants quarters, I think in 1920… He also bases his knowledge by what he has been told by residents of the community. Thompsons sold it to the Jones. Jones sold it to Charlie Upshur. Suzanne then bought the home from the Upshur family.
The home was actually “traded” between Mrs. Thompson and the Rabun Jones family. They just switched homes in January of 1940.
There have been several deaths in the mansion. The first death was Mr. Thompson I think in 1939. Then both Charles Upshur and his brother Johnny died here. Then Suzanne passed away here March 31, 2009.
According to a late October edition of The Leland Enterprise, Joseph Wood Thompson, died at the King’s Daughters Hospital, a short time after he has brought from home to the hospital. It says that his health had been failing for two years.
More about J.W. Thompson and their relationship with the mansion toward the bottom of the page…
Now, there are some mysteries that make a person wonder how the Thompsons could be the original owners and the builders of the home. The local historian is merely assuming that the Thompsons were the original owners and builders of the mansion based only on the fact that Mr. Thompson got a building permit to build servants quarters in 1920. From 1906 when the newspaper started until the building permit was issued in 1920, there is no mention of the property transferring owners. (NEWSPAPER says the home was “REMODELED”, no mention of when they actually bought or built it.) SO, the Thompsons were apparently the owners prior to 1906. (?) The reason I do not believe the home was smaller is because there is a basement under the library and a pretty high crawlspace under the rest of the house. You can clearly see that the same old brick foundation goes all the way around the entire. It completely appears to be original. So, how was is smaller when it was originally built when there is no evidence of that from under the house? How could the same leaded, beveled, rippled glass be on every window in the entire house? Rippled glass, so I have been told, is a pre-1900 thing. Well, there could have possibly been windows in a warehouse somewhere that were used in post-1900 construction and that type of glass could have still be made after 1900. If the house was originally a one story structure, why is there such a huge foyer with a staircase and hall besides the stairs that goes all the way back to the glass french doors that lead to the den (possibly formerly a back porch)? The foyer is at least 12 feet wide, the stairs are about 4 1/2 feet wide. If this home was ever a single floor home, it was built with a second floor in mind using the floor plans for the mansion as it is today. Perhaps they could only afford one floor at a time… Maybe the windows are all the same because all the windows were bought at the same time. Maybe all the trim and molding were all bought at the same time. Someone also said the sun rooms were added later… All you have to do is go under the home. The west sun room, from under the home, looks as if the foundation was built with the sun room. On the west side, however, there is a wall that you can tell was partially knocked out when water pipes for the radiators were installed. However, there is the same old brick foundation under the home. The floor in the west sun room is tile just like the front porch, and it look as though the floors were both done at the same time. The floor of the west sun room us hardwood, just as the parlor, and the wood floor continues from one room to the other so they were installed at the same time.
Now, lets look at the Thompson Family as being the first owner. The problem with that is the fact that the earliest records of the community are mainly taken from the local newspaper. There wasn’t a newspaper here until 1906. So, unless someone told someone, had pictures, family info etc. to share, no one would know. I was previously told that someone that once lived here had ties to the Holiday Inn. They thought a son may have founded it. Well, I didn’t pursue that story at the time because I was to involved with other things.
Kyle Halls grandmother was here at the house, and she confirmed that the original owners were not the Thompsons. She said this was originally the Kessler Plantation AND that Kessler built the house AND there is an identical house to this one in Vicksburg to this day which is STILL owned my the Kesslers Family. She was also told that there was a port right in front of the mansion along Deer Creek where cotton was loaded on river boats. Deer Creek used to be MUCH bigger than it is today. It is also one of the longest creeks in the U.S. She told me that “another man”, who was born and raised in Leland, and grew up in a home on the street behind the mansion, had given her the information about the Thompsons buying the home from the Kesslers.
NEW UPDATE: On February 22, I spoke with the “man” mentioned in the above statement. The one that supposedly gave the information about the Kesslers selling the mansion to the Thompsons. He told me he never said such a thing!
I mentioned all this to Mr. Lewis, the historian. He is going to give me copies of everything he can find relating to this home. A good historian puts in a lot of time doing research and writing, as he does with a passion. He practically lives his life around the history of this community and is also a history teacher. The only reason he doesn’t know something is because it isn’t documented or he hasn’t been told, which are basically the only way anyone would know. I told him what I heard about the Kesslers and the Kessler Plantation. Well, he highly questioned that story and has never even heard of the Kessler name in this community! He has read every publication of the newspaper thoroughly from 1906 to the present, and is doing it the second time. He said there were four original plantations here and Kessler was not one of them. He agreed to go with me to the Chancery Clerk and search abstract and find out who all the owners were of the house. Most county records in most counties in Mississippi were destroyed during the Civil War, but a slave of the Washington County Sheriff had taken the records from the courthouse hid them somewhere.
Kyle is working at the local coffee shop. He mentioned the house to his boss. She asked why he didn’t ask before! She said she was a distant cousin of the Thompsons.
Well, as far as I know, no one that has lived or grew up in this home founded the Holiday Inn. It was founded by a man by the name of Wilson who lived in another part of the country. Charles Upshur, however, does have a connection with the Holiday Inn. He, I think, built Holiday Inns for the company. But, no one ever living here founded the Holiday Inn.
That is all I know for now. I will find out more when I get the records.
NEW UPDATE ON DEC. 25! The local historian, Daryl Lewis, called a few days ago. He ran across an article in the newspaper that states that Mrs. Thompson “traded” homes with the Jones in December of 1939… After the death of her husband, Mrs. Thompson said the house was to large for just her. Mrs. Thompson’s nephew, Lee Cossar, rented a room in the house, and continued doing so after the Jones family moved in. Mr. Cossar was in the insurance business and later built one of the largest homes in Leland.
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ADDED DECEMBER 28, 2009:
Joseph Wood Thompson was a pioneer Washington County planter. He was born in Charleston, Mississippi and moved to Leland in 1891. He operated Lewis, Archer, and Perrin Plantations totaling 3,000 acres at the time of his death. He organized and served as President of the Planters Bank in Leland. He was a member of the Board of Alderman in Leland and was also engaged in the mercantile business in Leland. He was president of the Board of Mississippi Levee Commissioners during the flood of 1927.
In 1919, Mr. Thompson purchased the Sam Perrin place on Boque Phalia from William Kennedy of St. Louis for $150,000, after he leased and operated the place for 20 years.
J. W. Thompson was the treasurer of the Leland Business League in 1904.
He was treasurer of the Leland Law and Order League formed in 1914.
According to the Leland Enterprise, July 1920, Mr. Thompson moved with his family to their new home, which was completely “made over” and is indeed a palace…
In the book “From Hellhole to Beauty Spot” it mentions the “Thompson Home” looked just like the Dobson home, which was built in 1901. The book shows a picture of the “remodeled” Thompson home. SO, IT WASN’T ORIGINALLY A ONE STORY HOME!!! It was remodeled in 1920, so when was it built?
INTERESTING FACT: Charles Upshur, a former owner, was elected Mayor of Leland in 1960. He defeated John Dickins in that race. John Dickins was the son-in-law of J. W. Thompson!
