Knowlton Plantation
The Knowlton Plantation was about eight miles west of Shelby at Perthshire, MS near the intersection of Highways 1 and 32. In 1939, when most of these photos were made, this plantation was owned/operated by Sam Knowlton.
Sam Dove Knowlton (1880 – 1939) came to Bolivar County in 1889 at the age of nine when his father, Pole Knowlton, moved the family from eastern Arkansas to the Donelson Plantation, near Gunnison. In 1895, Pole Knowlton rented the Perthshire Plantation, which he purchased in 1906.
Sam Dove Knowlton attended the local schools, the Academy of Franklin (TN), and business school in Nashville. He assisted his father in running the Perthshire farming operation and store until he bought land adjacent to his father’s in 1905. In addition to farming, he served on the County Board of Supervisors for two terms, the local school board, the Mississippi River Commission, the Levee Board, and the Board of the Staple Cotton Cooperative Association. He also raised Tennessee walking horses.
Sam Dove Knowlton married Susie Gibert (1905) and had three children: Maury Stafford, Emma Eleanor, and Susie Ellen.
After two marriages and being away for a number of years, Emma returned to her Mississippi home and lived there until her death in 2000. (For some reason, it had been named “Needmore Plantation.” Anyone know why or when?) She was an accomplished and well-known painter and sculptor. She set up shop at “Bienaime” (the plantation home) exhibiting fine art in paintings and sculpture at the plantation gallery. Her works had been widely sold but her paintings of cabins and the colorful clothes lines were especially well known.
The house on the plantation is known as "Bienaime," named to honor the French family nearly wiped out in the St. Bartholomew massacre of the Huguenots in the 15th century. An ancestor through her mother, Susie Gibert Knowlton, was a Bienaime, the only family survivor of the massacre.
Sam Knowlton’s family papers and photos are archived at Delta State University.
Sam Dove Knowlton attended the local schools, the Academy of Franklin (TN), and business school in Nashville. He assisted his father in running the Perthshire farming operation and store until he bought land adjacent to his father’s in 1905. In addition to farming, he served on the County Board of Supervisors for two terms, the local school board, the Mississippi River Commission, the Levee Board, and the Board of the Staple Cotton Cooperative Association. He also raised Tennessee walking horses.
Sam Dove Knowlton married Susie Gibert (1905) and had three children: Maury Stafford, Emma Eleanor, and Susie Ellen.
After two marriages and being away for a number of years, Emma returned to her Mississippi home and lived there until her death in 2000. (For some reason, it had been named “Needmore Plantation.” Anyone know why or when?) She was an accomplished and well-known painter and sculptor. She set up shop at “Bienaime” (the plantation home) exhibiting fine art in paintings and sculpture at the plantation gallery. Her works had been widely sold but her paintings of cabins and the colorful clothes lines were especially well known.
The house on the plantation is known as "Bienaime," named to honor the French family nearly wiped out in the St. Bartholomew massacre of the Huguenots in the 15th century. An ancestor through her mother, Susie Gibert Knowlton, was a Bienaime, the only family survivor of the massacre.
Sam Knowlton’s family papers and photos are archived at Delta State University.
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In response to the above "Needmore" discussion comes this from a granddaughter of Emma Knowlton Lytle:
"Your write up on Perthshire wonders why Great Grandaddy Sam Knowlton called Needmore, Needmore. According to my grandmother, Sam Knowlton always said it 'needed more' attention than other pieces of land he farmed, hence it became known as 'Needmore.' Also, I believe Needmore was the 100 or so acre tract of land immediately behind the house not the whole of Perthshire. . . . I also think it was the first piece of land he bought." |
The Library of Congress has eighty-eight photos on the plantation at Perthshire taken by Marion Post Walcott in October/November 1939. She made a return visit in July 1940 and took an additional twenty-three photos. Here are the ones from late 1939.
Each photo in a gallery shows slightly compressed on your display. To view one full size, just click on it. Then you'll see it full size and from there you can operate as a slide show if you prefer.
Each photo in a gallery shows slightly compressed on your display. To view one full size, just click on it. Then you'll see it full size and from there you can operate as a slide show if you prefer.
And now the twenty-three photos Wolcott took at Knowlton Plantation, Perthshire, MS in July 1940. [They're still hoeing in July?!?!]
The nearest town to Perthshire is Shelby, MS. I find two photos taken by Wolcott in Shelby. She must have been on her way in to the Knowlston/Perthshire site; they're dated June 1940.
