Haller Nutt

Haller Nutt (1816-1864) was an American Southern planter. He was a successful cotton planter and plantation owner in Mississippi. An intelligent, highly competent man, he developed a strain of cotton that became important commercially for the Deep South.

Haller Nutt
BornFebruary 17, 1816
Laurel Hill Plantation, Mississippi Territory, US
DiedJune 15, 1864
Natchez, Mississippi, US
Resting placeLongwood
EducationUniversity of Virginia
OccupationPlanter
Spouse(s)Julia Augusta Williams Nutt
Children11
Parent(s)Rush Nutt
Mary (Ker) Nutt
RelativesDavid Ker (maternal grandfather)

Early life

Haller Nutt was born on February 17, 1816 on Laurel Hill Plantation in Jefferson County, Mississippi.[1] His father was Dr. Rush Nutt, son of Richard Nutt of Northumberland County, Virginia.[2] His maternal grandfather was David Ker, the first presiding professor (later known as university president) of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and later a Judge of the Mississippi Supreme Court.

Nutt was educated at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, Virginia from 1832 to 1835.[1]

Career

Nutt returned to Mississippi and helped his father manage the Laurel Hill Plantation.[1]

He owned several plantations, including:

He mainly grew cash crops, including cotton and sugar cane.[1] These plantations brought him considerable wealth. He made a net profit of more than $228,000 from agricultural enterprises in 1860.[1] He owned 43,000 acres (170 km2) of land and 800 slaves.[1] His fortune prior to the Civil War was estimated at more than three million dollars.[1]

He suffered large financial losses during the American Civil War due to the destruction of his cotton fields and real estate.[1] However, General Grant spared the Winter Quarters plantation because Nutt was pro-Union.[3] Nevertheless, the expropriation of stores and supplies by the Union and Confederate armies led to the foreclosure on Nutt's plantations in Louisiana.[1] After the war, he filed documents with the federal government that would compensate for the loss of assets due to the Union army.[1]

Personal life

Nutt married Julia Augusta Williams, the daughter of Austin Williams and Caroline Routh Williams, in 1840.[1] She was only eighteen at the time.[1] They had eleven children:

  • Caroline Routh Nutt (c. 1841-1842)
  • Mary Ella Nutt (1844).[1]
  • Fanny Smith Nutt (1846).[1]
  • Haller Nutt Jr. (1848).[1]
  • John Ker Nutt (1850).[1]
  • Austin Nutt (1852).[1]
  • Sargeant Prentiss Nutt (1855).[1]
  • Julia Nutt (1857).[1]
  • Calvin Routh Nutt (1858).[1]
  • Lillie Nutt (1861).[1]
  • Rushworth Nutt (1863).[1]

They decided to begin construction on Longwood in the spring of 1860. They hired Philadelphia architect Samuel Sloan to design the multistory octagonal in the Oriental Revival style.[1] Construction of the exterior was completed by the beginning of the Civil War. With the threat of the Civil War looming, Sloan's artisans soon halted their construction, fearing for their safety, and fled back to the North. The basement story was completed by slave labor and was ready for occupancy by 1862. Longwood is the largest octagonal house in the United States.[1] He is also a distant relative of former college football head coach Houston Nutt.

Death

Nutt died on June 15, 1864, of pneumonia. His family continued living at Longwood plantation after his death.[1]

References
  1. "Pilgrimage Historical Association Collection: Nutt Family Papers 1841-1911". Mississippi Department of Archives and History. Archived from the original on 2011-07-22. Retrieved 2008-07-14.
  2. Named in Richard Nutt's will, Northumberland Co., VA Record Book 19, p. 107.
  3. "The Haller Nutt Claim. The Findings of the Court Reported to Congress". The Evening Times. Washington, D.C. December 20, 1899. p. 4. Retrieved December 28, 2015 – via Newspapers.com.
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