Stephen Minor

Stephen Minor
BornFebruary 8, 1760
DiedNovember 29, 1815
Occupation(s)Planter, banker
Spouse(s)Martha (Ellis) Minor
Anna (Bingaman) Minor
Katherine (Lintot) Minor
Children3, including William J. Minor

Stephen Minor (1760–1815) was an American plantation owner and banker in the antebellum South.

Early life

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Stephen Minor was born on February 8, 1760, in Greene County, Pennsylvania.[1][2][3] One of his grandsons, John Minor, went on to live at the Oakland Plantation in Natchez.[4]

Career

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He moved to New Orleans, Louisiana, in 1779 and served as Captain in the Spanish Army, participating in the Battle of Fort Charlotte.[1][3][5] He then served as the Secretary to the Spanish Governor Manuel Gayoso de Lemos (1747–1799).[2][5][6] In 1791, he received generous land grants from the Spanish government for his service.[2][5]

He turned his land grants into nine plantations, including the Southdown Plantation in Terrebonne Parish, Louisiana, where he grew sugar cane.[2][6] In 1797, his plantations produced twenty-five hundred bales of cotton.[5] He became one of Natchez's richest residents in the 1810s and 1820s.[5]

Additionally, he served as the first President of the Bank of Mississippi from 1797 to 1815.[2]

There was a building in Port Gibson, Mississippi that was described in 1818 as "the tavern of Stephen Minor."[7]

Personal life

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He resided in Natchez, Mississippi from 1780 to 1815.[3] He purchased the Concord in Natchez, which burned down in 1901.[2][8][9][10]

He married three times. His first wife was Anna Bingaman Minor. His second wife was Martha Ellis Minor. His third wife was Katherine Lintot Minor, the daughter of Bernard Lintot,[2][3] "a founding member of the United States Mississippi Territory."[11] They had three children.

Death

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He died on November 29, 1815, in Natchez, Mississippi.[3]

References

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  1. ^ a b MINOR FAMILY PAPERS: Stephen Minor Family, Mississippi Department of Archives and History
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Louisiana State University Libraries: MINOR (William J. and Family) PAPERS
  3. ^ a b c d e The Order of the First Families of Mississippi: Stephen Minor
  4. ^ UNC University Libraries: Collection Title: Minor Family Papers, 1763-1900
  5. ^ a b c d e Mary Carol Miller, Lost Mansions of Mississippi, Jackson, Mississippi: University Press of Mississippi, 1996, Volume 1, p. 4 [1]
  6. ^ a b Herman De Bachelle Seebold, Old Louisiana Plantation Homes And Family Trees, Gretna, Louisiana: Pelican Publishing, 2004, p. 220 [2]
  7. ^ "Admr. of John Turnbull decd". The Western Citizen. Paris, Kentucky. 1818-10-06. p. 2. Retrieved 2024-09-22.
  8. ^ THE BURNING OF "CONCORD."; Old Mansion at Natchez, Miss., Was Owned by a New Yorker., The New York Times, March 24, 1901
  9. ^ Lost Mississippi: Concord, Natchez (1789-1901), Preservation in Mississippi, May 4, 2010
  10. ^ Early Natchez: Concord Archived 2015-05-03 at the Wayback Machine, Mississippi Department of Archives and History
  11. ^ Fabel, Robin (July 1981). "Bernard Lintot: A Connecticut Yankee on the Mississippi, 1775-1805". The Florida Historical Quarterly. 60 (1): 88–102. JSTOR 30148554.

Further reading

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