Oaks House

Friday, March 9th

(pictures to be added at the next place with good internet)

On Friday we visited The Oaks House Museum in Jackson, MS. We had searched online for a plantation, but found this home was more on our route and decided to check it out instead. We met Kathy there, who gave us a tour of the home and showed us a short video. It was so fun to hear her stories about the owners of the house. Currently, The Colonial Dames of America own the house, but before that the house only had one owner, the Boyd family. As we explored the rooms, Kathy informed us that this home was one of only five standing buidlings in Jackson after the Civil War. Almost the entire town was burned down and completely destroyed, but some mystery lies in how these five buildings survived. Much of the furniture and floors were miraculously original and the decorations the Dames added truly made it feel like we'd stepped back in time. It was so interesting to learn a little about this family and what might've taken place in the rooms we walked through. The main hallway went all the way from the front of the house to the back, with four rooms off of it. Each room had a fireplace that shared a chimney with the room next to it. There was a room with a piano and card table, the master bedroom, a second bedroom, and a dining room. Kathy told us how it was all originally set up, what furniture pieces were original to the house, and where others came from. Conversation lead to the importance of tracking your family's lineage and how interesting it is to see where you came from. (Mom, I was sure to tell her some of the things you've found, don't worry! I just couldn't remember much.) All the talk got us thinking about the future as well as the past, and although we can't rewrite history, history is being made every day. What kind of legacy do we want to leave for our great-great-grandchildren? We haven't even put a dent in our "plan," but we've already driven through battlefields and Lexington and Bull Run, and talking about visiting the Liberty Bell and all sorts of sites in Washington, DC. Call me a nerd, but I am so excited to explore these things! It is so neat that we can walk the exact same steps that someone else did hundreds of years ago.
Woops, this was supposed to be a short, quick, summary of the Oaks House. Looks like I'm the last one awake, so I'm going to join the other girls. I'm excited that you're journeying with us, I hope you're having as much fun as we are! (If that's even possible.)

-Hannah