The Cotton King(dom): Reevaluating the Economic Capital of Cedar Grove Plantation in Western Tennessee

Summary

This is a poster submission presented at the 2021 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology.

This poster will contextualize the socio-economic role of Cedar Grove Plantation in western Tennessee. This type of economic-based, historical investigation has not been conducted within this transition zone of the Lower Mississippi Delta and the Upland South. We focus on the life story of John Walker Jones before, during and after the rapid growth of Cedar Grove Plantation (1825-1865), which amassed up to 5,800 acres in Fayette County. Historical sources, like the agricultural/population/non-population census, land deeds, bills of sales etc, were analyzed in parallel with archaeological findings from the 2019 Rhodes College Field School. We uncovered that Cedar Grove, with its 240+ enslaved population, generated more cotton than any local or regional entity. Jones also maintained significant land holdings and was a large-scale slave trader and lender within his county and beyond. Fundamentally, his socio-economic legacy continues to shape the past, present and future landscape of western Tennessee.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• 2021 SHA Poster Submissions   •
• Society for Historical Archaeology 2021

Keywords

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology