National Register Listing

Burn, The

307 Oak St., Natchez, MS

The Burn, a beautifully detailed and proportioned suburban structure, is the oldest documented Greek Revival residence in Natchez. (Britton and Koontz First National Bank, originally The Agricultural Bank, constructed in 1833, is the earliest documented Greek Revival building. An 1832 date attributed to the front of Richmond has not been substantiated.)

The Burn was constructed in 1834 (Clarence A. Walworth, The Walworths of America (Albany, New York: Weed-Parsons Printing Co., 1897), p. 129) as the residence of John P. Walworth, wealthy planter, merchant, banker, and politician (Biographical and Historical Memoirs of Mississippi (Chicago: The Goodspeed Publishing Company, 1891), II, 981). The builder of the house was the firm of Montgomery and Keys (spelled variously as Keyes), which, in an 1837 proposal (subsequently adopted) to erect the west wing and the west kitchen of the National Register of Historic Places property Historic Jefferson College, suggested that the college board members take a "squint" at the Walworth house in the northern part of the city for an example of the firm's work (Jefferson College papers, Mississippi Department of Archives and History, Jackson, 259, folder 69).

John P. Walworth was born in Aurora, New York, in 1798, and came to Natchez by way of Cleveland, Ohio (Walworth, pp. 129-30) in 1819 (Memoirs, II, 981). His first job was as a clerk in the Natchez post office (Ibid.) but by 1825 he and his brother Horace had established their own mercantile business in Natchez (The Ariel, Nov. 7, 1825, p. 7). In 1827, Walworth married Sarah Wren, daughter of Woodsen Wren, an early Natchez postmaster and organizer of Masonic lodges in Mississippi (Natchez Daily Courier, Apr. 10, 1855, p. 2). In 1833, Walworth became president of The Planters' Bank. Later he served Natchez as mayor and alderman (Memoirs, II, 981). By 1860, Walworth had accumulated real estate valued at $300,000 and personal property at $ 26,000 (Population Schedules, Adams Co., Miss., 1860, p. 31), making him one of the wealthiest men in Adams County. Listed in the 1860 census as a planter, his working plantations were located across the Mississippi River in Louisiana and Arkansas (Memoirs, II, 981).

According to family tradition, The Burn received its historic name at the time of its construction. The Scottish word for "brook" was chosen because a small brook originally flowed through the property (Alice Walworth Graham, great-granddaughter of John P. Walworth, interviewed by Mary Warren Miller, research consultant, at Natchez, Feb. 12, 1979). An 1881 deed is the first legal reference to the house by its historic name (Adams Co., Miss., Deed Book XX:136). According to the 1864 map of the defenses of Natchez, The Burn was located within Fort McPherson, the Union fortification in Natchez, and family tradition maintains that the house was used as a Union hospital during the war (Graham). Photographs of the house taken during the Union occupation of Natchez show Union soldiers on the porch (Mr. and Mrs. Reuben L. Harper, The Burn, Natchez, Miss.).

After the deaths of John Walworth and his wife, The Burn became the property of their son, Douglas, who was adjutant general to William T. Martin, Confederate general from Natchez, with whom he was also associated in a law practice (Memoirs, II, 981). Douglas Walworth was a state legislator in 1859-60 (Ibid.) and served many years as editor of The Daily Democrat in Natchez (The Daily Democrat, Jan. 3, 1893, p. 2). His antebellum mansion, Elmo, was seized by the Union army, converted to a Negro school, and eventually destroyed by fire (Graham). The Burn remained in the Walworth family until 1935 (Deed Book 4T:244). In 1978, the house was purchased by Mr. and Mrs. Reuben L. Harper (Deed Book 132:412), who have under taken extensive renovation of the house and grounds. The Burn is open daily to tourists and has been on the Natchez Pilgrimage tour.

Local significance of the building:
Listed in National Register of Historic Places in 1979.