Remarkable Chapel in the Mississippi Woods

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St. Mary’s Episcopal Chapel at Laurel Hill Plantation | Adams County, MS | c. 1838

**This chapel is located on private property and not accessible to the public. We cannot arrange tours of the site**

You would have to travel far and wide to find a historic building that compares to this church in the Mississippi woods.

This one-of-a-kind gothic-style church is adorned with spires and an iron cross on the outside and impressive fixtures on the interior as well, including a massive glass window rosette.

A unique marble floor and incredible word work reflect the exterior marvel of this place. The plantation home it belonged to burned in the 1960s leaving this church as one of a few reminders of an expansive operation that is long gone. 

The Richard Ellis Family

Richard Ellis and his family moved from Virginia to Louisiana in the 1760s because lands were easily acquired at that time from the King of Spain. Ellis secured a land grant in Point Coupee Parish, LA but soon found the lands to be unusable after floods in 3 successive years. He requested a new land grant from the Spanish, loaded his family, servants, and belongings onto flatboats, and headed up the Mississippi River. Upon spotting some bluffs high above the river, Ellis staked out a property here about 12 miles south of Natchez. Several of Ellis’ family arrived afterward and settled around the land grant.

They first set up a property on the cliffs along the river but then decided to relocate to a better location. Ellis selected an ideal spot atop a rolling hill that was lined with 14 magnolias. He would name it Laurel Hill.

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The first building on this new site was constructed by 1775 and the original plantation home had three large rooms and galleries all the way around. Servants quarters were built to the south and east of the home.

As the Ellis family grew, some of their daughters married but would stay on the property- contributing their own stories and adaptations to the plantation over time. When Ellis passed away on November 6, 1792, at the age of 60, his daughter, Mary Ellis Farar married Capt. Benjamin Farar and took the reins over Laurel Hill, until the Summer of 1820 when Mrs. Farar and her children contracted Yellow Fever while traveling to the Gulf Coast. They would all succumb, except for one daughter, Anna.

Anna Farrar and Dr. Newton Mercer

During this time, Anna was aided by a U.S. Navy surgeon named Dr. William Newton Mercer, and in just a short time, they were married on June 2, 1823. It was time for a new generation to take the helm at Laurel Hill and Dr. Mercer proved more than capable of the job. Under his supervision, the plantation is said to have become the most productive it had been.

But Mrs. Anna Farrar Mercer became affected by tuberculosis and her health suffered greatly for much of her life. The Mercer’s had 2 daughters, Mary (who died at 11) and Anna. Anna the younger also suffered from the illness which plagued her mother.

Looking for a Cure

Dr. Mercer and his family took trips to Europe to try to find respite from their ails with little result. On one trip abroad, they gathered antiques and designs from architects to build a memorial chapel at Laurel Hill where Mrs. Mercer’s family would be memorialized.

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The construction of the chapel began while they were still away, and while we don’t know who designed the chapel, we know the carpenter and contractor was a Mr. Hardie of Natchez. 

St. Mary’s Episcopal Chapel was built with brick made by enslaved labor under the direction of Henry Huntington, Dr. Mercer’s overseer. It is a brick building, stucco-covered with a gothic spire made of iron.

The Mercers again traveled to Europe but Mrs. Mercer’s health became an increasing concern and she returned home to Laurel Hill early. She would pass away two weeks later. Dr. Mercer invited a young cousin to come to live at Laurel Hill to raise young Anna in the loss of her mother. Anna was well looked after and doted on, but she fell ill as her mother had and died at the age of 19. After her death, her father made fewer visits to Laurel Hill, spending much of his time at his other properties in New Orleans and elsewhere. Dr. Mercer shut off the rooms west of the parlor which had been used by his wife and daughter. They remained closed and locked for almost 30 years.

The Enslaved Congregation at St. Mary’s

The Rev. Daniel H. Deacon was the first rector of St. Mary’s in 1842, who reported that the prinicipal charge of his work was ‘the colored people’ who lived at Laurel Hill. That same year, his records indicate that 118 slaves were baptized here in 1842 and another 26 in 1843.

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There was likely never a large congregation here, although during its years of operations, nearby plantation families (many of whom were Episcopalian) would’ve been in attendance. The Rev. Thomas Savage was probably the last resident rector, being there in 1845 because by 1854, a journal states that ‘the parish has been for nearly five years unoccupied.’

The floor is tessellated white and black marble.

The chancel floor, of dark wood with a heavily carved railing separating the nave, is raised about eighteen inches above the common level of the nave, and under the chancel is a brick vault in which the bodies of the Mercer women have been placed. The site was a cemetery before 1837 for the Ellis family and surrounding neighbors.

Since he had originally received most of the property from his wife’s side, Dr. Mercer left the property to the nearest relation, Mrs. Nancy Ellis Butler and her children and by 1910, Laurel Hill soon came to be owned by Pierce Butler. The main plantation house was burned in 1967, leaving some remaining dependencies (a brick kitchen, barns, and storage buildings) from the original compound, as well as this remarkable church that rests near the site where Laurel Hill stood for nearly 200 years.

**This chapel is on private property and we are not able to help coordinate tours**


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17 Comments

  1. This is such an amazing place and it has such wonderful history. The story of the family and the illness, really should make us stop and think of what hard times they had back then. It is well spoken of Mr. Mercer for marrying the last daughter and taking such good care of her after her family died. It is also well of him to have given the property back to the original family and not pass it to his people. That tells me, he truly loved Anna and was completely marrying her for her and not her property. I bet there is a wonderful love story there if only we knew it. That church though.. something out of a fairy tale. Thanks again.

  2. Beautiful building and beautiful story. I hope that it is being taken of. I hate losing old buildings and such. Thank you for sharing!

  3. A beautiful story, as it were taken right out of a novel. Thank you for telling these stories from the south – a place I’ve never been to, but a region I have a great longing for. A big thank you all the way from the southern parts of Norway.

  4. Thank you for sharing this, especially since it is a private location. No one would know of it’s existence would it not be on your life path to discover. Thank you.

    1. Thanks for sharing this I love stories like this too bad we can’t walk through it and really enjoy the presence of what used to be

  5. This is truly a wonderful story of the lifeline of the family! The chapel is a beautiful work,enjoyed the photos! Thank you for all that you do and sharing.

  6. Astoundingly beautiful. This would be such a gorgeous wedding site. I’d love to just sit and pray there. I hope someone still does.

  7. Thank you for bringing the Past to life in this long ago story! Wonderful
    tribute to these people- made the story come alive.

  8. Incredible story of love, life and loss, the land and the legacy. Would love to see this place that is full of Christianity toward all who attended. Thank you for sharing and look forward for more.

  9. I went to college with a Pierce Butler. I thought he was from Charleston, S.C. I wonder what his connection was with this lovely story and the chapel.

    1. There are and have been many men by the name of Pierce Butler….. all of whom descend from the Irish family of Butlers from Ormond Castle. Once every ten years they hold an enormous family reunion there.

  10. The church is still as beautiful as ever. My husband and friends leased Laurel Hill Plantation about 20 years ago for hunting property. The land is gorgeous lots of hills, cliffs and sandy creeks. We visit there still and enjoy the peaceful existence of the amazing chapel

  11. It would be wonderful to celebrate Christmas and Easter and perhaps a few other holy duque of the year there. I am an Anglican (Episcopal) priest and would be honored to celebrate the Lord’s Supper there in memory of the enslaved people who built this beautiful chapel and also this those of the family who are buried there.

  12. Wow! Such beauty! It would be amazing to see in person. I do hope it will be preserved. Thank you so much for sharing!

  13. Like the other comments, this is an amazing story but also sad. So sad that so many of the women in the family died and/or were in poor health. I have read many books in those periods and realized how the diseases took so many lives. I agreed with another comment that it was interesting that the last husband gave the property back to his wife’s family. I agree that he had to have loved his wife to not give it to HIS family.
    Thank you so much for the pictures and story.

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