Stephen Minor
Stephen Minor (1760–1815) was an American plantation owner and banker in the antebellum South.
Stephen Minor | |
|---|---|
| Born | February 8, 1760 |
| Died | November 29, 1815 |
| Occupation | Planter, banker |
| Spouse(s) | Martha (Ellis) Minor Anna (Bingaman) Minor Katherine (Lintot) Minor |
| Children | 3, including William J. Minor |
Early life
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
He moved to New Orleans, Louisiana, in 1779 and served as Captain in the Spanish Army.[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]
Personal life
He resided in Natchez, Mississippi from 1780 to 1815.[3] He purchased the Concord in Natchez, which burned down in 1901.[2][7][8][9]
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."[10] They had three children.
Death
He died on November 29, 1815, in Natchez, Mississippi.[3]
References
- MINOR FAMILY PAPERS: Stephen Minor Family, Mississippi Department of Archives and History
- Louisiana State University Libraries: MINOR (William J. and Family) PAPERS
- The Order of the First Families of Mississippi: Stephen Minor
- UNC University Libraries: Collection Title: Minor Family Papers, 1763-1900
- Mary Carol Miller, Lost Mansions of Mississippi, Jackson, Mississippi: University Press of Mississippi, 1996, Volume 1, p. 4
- Herman De Bachelle Seebold, Old Louisiana Plantation Homes And Family Trees, Gretna, Louisiana: Pelican Publishing, 2004, p. 220
- THE BURNING OF "CONCORD."; Old Mansion at Natchez, Miss., Was Owned by a New Yorker., The New York Times, March 24, 1901
- Lost Mississippi: Concord, Natchez (1789-1901), Preservation in Mississippi, May 4, 2010
- Early Natchez: Concord Archived 2015-05-03 at the Wayback Machine, Mississippi Department of Archives and History
- 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
- Holmes, Jack D. L.. "Stephen Minor: Natchez Pioneer." Journal of Mississippi History. 42 (1980):17-26.