The Manse (Natchez, Mississippi)

Manse, The
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
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Location	307 S. Rankin St., Natchez, Mississippi
Coordinates	31°33′20″N 91°24′9″W / 31.55556°N 91.40250°W / 31.55556; -91.40250
Area	less than one acre
Built	1838 (1838)
Architectural style	Greek Revival
NRHP reference No.	79001291[1]
Added to NRHP	March 7, 1979

The Manse, also known as Presbyterian Manse, is a historic house within the Natchez On-Top-of-the-Hill Historic District in Natchez, Mississippi. It has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since March 7, 1979;^[2] and is listed as a pivotal property in the Natchez On-Top-of-the-Hill Historic District.^[3]

The site is located at 307 South Rankin Street in Natchez, Mississippi, USA.^[4][5] It is next door to the antebellum house named Green Leaves.

Margaret Overaker is first known to have owned the property.^[6] It was purchased in 1832 for $3,500 by Thomas Macdannold—a rich man about whom not much is known.^[6] Macdannold must have had the house built, because the property was purchased just four years later in 1836 for a much higher price ($14,320.88) by Thomas Henderson—a First Presbyterian Church of Natchez elder.^[6] The property was purchased in 1838 by the First Presbyterian Church of Natchez to serve as its manse.^[7] The previous Presbyterian manse was the Natchez home known as the Elms.^[8] The following is a list of some of the Presbyterian pastors who lived in the manse.

• 1823: Reverend George Potts^[9]
• 1843–1894: Reverend Doctor Joseph Buck Stratton.^[6] The two side wings and the pastor's study building in the side yard were built during this time at the manse.^[6]
• 1950–1954: Reverend Doctor James Walton Stewart.^[10] Church membership increased from 657 to 754 during Rev. Dr. Stewart's tenure in the manse.^[10]

As built in the 1830s for Thomas Macdannold, the home was designed in the Federal architectural style.^[6] The home had the fine detailing found in the largest two-story Natchez area mansions, and its front door was among the best in the area.^[4][6]

When entering from the front door, one stepped into a 9-foot-wide by an 18.5-foot-long hallway with a 17 by 18.5 foot room on each side.^[6] Each of these side rooms had a fireplace.^[6] At the rear of the front hallway, folding double doors led into a 15 foot wide by 23 foot long back portion of the hallway.^[6] This space had an approximately same sized room (14 by 23) on each side of it.^[6] Each of these three back rooms had a window, fireplace and a door to the back.^[6] A porch ran along the back side of the house.^[6] A service wing connected to one end of the rear porch and contained a row of rooms stretching away from the home toward the back of the property.^[6] These rooms consisted of a storage room, kitchen, laundry room and enslaved African servants quarters.^[6]

In 1847 two smaller wings were added to opposite ends of the house.^[6] At this point the home had seven rooms with fireplaces in the main portion and a servant's wing off the back of the house.^[6] In 1849 a small separate building was added to the property that was used as Reverend Doctor Joseph Buck Stratton's study.^[4] The study was designed in the Greek Revival architectural style.^[5]

In 1895 the dining room, which was then located at one of the rear corners of the main block of the house was divided into three service rooms.^[6] The rear portion of the center hall became the new dining room.^[6] In 1947–48 the rear porch was enclosed.^[6] Despite the need to fit in interior bathrooms and a kitchen over the years, the original design has remained largely intact.^[6]

• 
  The Manse
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  Rear view of the Manse in Natchez at 307 South Rankin Street, Natchez, MS

• Media related to The Manse (Natchez, Mississippi) at Wikimedia Commons