MOBILE AND HISTORIC OAKLEIGH

Throughout it’s 185-year history Oakleigh House Museum experienced periods of prosperity during an era when cotton was king, slavery prevalent and railroads were expanding but it also faced devastation from a yellow fever epidemic, the Civil War and emancipation.  

Historic Oakleigh House Museum

Historic Oakleigh House Museum

The route for today would take me from Biloxi, Mississippi to Mobile, Alabama where my stop would be at Historic Oakleigh. Taking I-10 would be a quicker route, at just under 70 miles, but I opted for the more scenic drive via U.S. Route 90 through Pascagoula, adding only an additional 20 minutes to my drive time.   

Leaving Biloxi at 8:30am, I arrived at Historic Oakleigh House at 10:00am, just as they were opening.  Located in the heart of the Oakleigh Historic Garden District, the home sits atop the highest elevation in the neighborhood.  The two-story house was originally built as a gentlemen’s escape and is constructed of pine and cypress.   

The house was designed and built by Virginian cotton broker James W. Roper who moved to Mobile in 1820, during the cities boom period. 

Portrait of Thomas W. Roper

Historians cite Oakleigh among the rarest example of a raised Greek Revival architecture in the United States.

It has belonged to several families through it’s history and has seen a number of modifications.

Staircase to front door of Oakleigh

You will find the home open 10am-4pm on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday.  Tours begin on the hour at a cost of $10 for adults with the last tour at 3pm. 

Upon entering the home I was first introduced to docent Michael Gewin.  Over the course of the next two hours I was constantly amazed at Michael’s ability to cite dates, places and names with such ease and confidence.  He was simply a walking encyclopedia of facts and statistics and was able to answer any question thrown at him. 

We began the tour at the front of the house where Michael laid the foundation of the tour by talking about the founding of Mobile by the French in 1702. Alabama was prime cotton land and Mobile became the principal shipping port for cotton. 

Construction on the home began in 1833 and was completed in 1837. There have been five families in the house throughout it’s history and it was continuously lived in until 1955 when it was sold to the city of Mobile.  It is now managed and maintained by the Historic Mobile Preservation Society. The home is located within the Oakleigh Historic Garden District, 1 of 14 districts within the city.

James W. Roper married Sarah Ann Davenport shortly after arriving in Mobile.  Unfortunately both Sarah and their first child died during childbirth.  After a fire destroyed a substantial part of the city in 1827, construction required the use of bricks. In addition to being a dry goods merchant and a cotton factor, Mr. Roper was also a brick mason so this period of time found him doing very well financially.  He married Eliza Ann Simison in 1838 and they had four children. 

When the Panic of 1837 hit, Roper was especially hard hit and the bank repossessed Oakleigh.  His brother-in-law Boyd Simison bought Oakleigh, along with half of the acreage and all but one of his slaves. This allowed Roper and his family to remain in Oakleigh rent-free until 1850 when he moved to New Orleans, Louisiana.  

Oakleigh was used primarily as a summer country estate to get away from the heat of downtown Mobile. It was built on a rise situated about 30 feet above sea level.  In contrast, downtown Mobile has an elevation of only 2 feet.  Most probably the name Oakleigh was chosen because of the grove of live oaks surrounding it, now over 100 years old.   The oaks are covered in vegetation called “Resurrection Ferns”.  These remarkable ferns can turn green within hours of being watered.

Resurrection Ferm growing on oak tree

Before 1861, Mobile street names commemorated federal personages and states however, they were all renamed when Alabama succeeded from the Union in 1861.  Maine Street was changed to Palmetto, Massachusetts to Charleston, New Hampshire to Augusta, Rhode Island to Savannah, Connecticut to Selma, New York to Elmira, Vermont to Texas, Pennsylvania to Montgomery, Stone to Davis Avenue, Hunt to Beauregard, and Poe to Manassas. 

As you face the house it forms a T shape with the wings being the bedrooms. Oakleigh is one of the largest T-shaped homes in the state of Alabama. The unique shape of the home allows for cross-ventilation in Mobile's humid subtropical climate.  

View of the T-shape design from a side view

Just before we entered the front door he pointed out the haint blue porch ceiling. "Haints are restless spirits of the dead who, for whatever reason, have not moved on from their physical world."   Haint blue, which can also be found on door and window frames, is intended to protect the homeowner from being "taken" or influenced by the haints. It is said to protect the house and the occupants of the house from evil. Most port ceilings on the gulf coast are painted haint blue.  Haint spirits thinks it is the sky and they escape through the ceiling.  Michael was quick to point out that Mobile also has Haint Blue Beer.  Of course I had to have a sample over lunch. 

Haint Blue Beer

Just to the left of the door on any historic building one finds an historical banner and crest. 

Historical Banner and Crest at Oakleigh

This is typical of all the historic homes in the Mobile area.  The banner displays the name of the original and current owners of the house and also the year it was built.  The Crest shows the flags that have flown over Mobile during it’s 316-year history. The Oakleigh Crest displayed 6 different flags - Spanish, English, French, U.S., Confederate and Republic of Alabama. As I questioned the Republic of Alabama flag Michael stated that Alabama succeeded from the Union in January of 1861 but the Confederate government wasn’t formed until February of 1861, thus it was the Republic of Alabama for one month.  

Finally we enter the home.  Michael pointed out that all of the furniture and furnishings were period pieces with the exception of just a couple of items.  The ceilings were 14 feet high with quite large windows covered in very heavy drapes.  You could tell the window panes were quite old but some had to be replaced due to damage from hurricanes. 

Inside Oakleigh

The large double parlor rooms were separated by double doors.   Furnishings included a tilt top buffet table, a rug from 1812 and heavy French draperies.  The table in the dining room is one of the first pedestal tables.  The wallpaper design in the dining room is replicated from a pattern on one of Martha Washington’s gowns. The children’s room upstairs overlooks the backyard and is equipped with period toys and dolls. 

Inside Oakleigh

Inside Oakleigh

Inside Oakleigh

The stairwell to the first floor was added in the 1930’s.  The style was known as a side-hall plan and differs from the more common shotgun style house. The side-hall design was a more expensive feature and allowed you to enter and leave the rooms independently. 

Roper owned sixteen slaves and was directly involved in the buying, transporting and selling of slaves as verified by ship manifest entries. In 1808 it became illegal to import slaves.  Timothy Meaher however, made a bet that he could sail a ship, The Clotilda,  to the West coast of Africa and bring back slaves to Mobile, escaping the revenue ships. The ship was under the command of Captain William Foster and carrying a cargo of 110 enslaved Africans, arrived in Mobile Bay in July 1860.  The Clotilda was burned and scuttled to destroy any evidence.  

Update 5/24/2018:  
I ran across an article about the possible discovery of the remains of The Clotilda.  This is a nice 2 minute video about the find.   

Timothy Meaher retained 30 of the 110 slaves on his property north of Mobile. After the war and emancipation, the 30 Africans taken by Meaher were returned to Magazine Point.  Financially, they were never able to return to Africa.  They set up a community called Africatown in 1866.  Their population of Africatown reached a high of about 12,000 during the 20^th century.  Several major industries, including International Paper, were subsequently forced to close their doors.  Compound that with the air, ground and water pollution that had been produced by these plants and Africatown found their residence suffering high rates of cancer deaths. As a result, the population dropped to less than 2,000 by the early 21st century.    

I decided to take a drive through Africatown and found it to be a skeleton of a town with just a couple of streets and some very run down houses.  A check online shows a population now of 24.  

Typical house in Africatown

Warning Sign in Africatown "IF YOUR CAUGHT ON THIS YARD YOU WILL BE SHOT! KEEP OUT! I WILL NOT CALL THE POLICE. SHOT YOU DEAD!"

By 1860 Mobile’s focus was almost exclusively in cotton.  With a state population of just under one million, 45% were slaves. Mobile ranked as the 24^th largest city in the country with a population of 30,000, 30% of which were slaves.  Although very little cotton was found directly around Mobile, it ranked as the 2^nd largest shipping port in the country, with a journey from New Orleans to New York via Mobile taking 13 days.  Two-thirds of all the exported cotton was shipped to Liverpool, the remainder to other European countries and New England. 

Dr Henry Strachey LeVert and wife Octavia Walton LeVert were prominent residence of Mobile roughly between 1830-1860 but never actually lived in Oakleigh.  They are mentioned numerous times on the tour as Oakleigh owns one of the most famous portraits ever completed of Madame LeVert.  It was painted by early American portrait artist named Thomas Sully.  In addition, several of Madame LeVert's personal items reside at Oakleigh.  

She was known as the “Countess of Mobile” and “Belle of the South”, and was born in Augusta, Georgia. Her grandfather signed the Declaration of Independence for Georgia, she spoke 6 languages and wrote a book about her travels.   

Photo of Dr. LeVert

1833 Oil Painting of Octavia Walton LeVert

The building of the M&O Railroad brought another family to Oakleigh.  Alfred Irwin and Margaret Kilshaw Irwin, rented the house for a couple years and then purchased the house and 9 acres in 1852 for $4,500.  The Irwin's son and granddaughter lived in the home from 1852 until 1913, using the house as a summer and entertainment home.  Oakleigh remained in the Irwin family until sold by Daisy Irwin Clisby, granddaughter of Alfred, in 1916.

Robert P. Denniston’s moved into Oakleigh in 1927.  He had 3 sons and 2 daughters. He moved from New York and he worked for W R Grace Company, later operating his own shipping business. 

Robert P Denniston

Update 5/25/2018:  Owners of Oakleigh as supplied by 
Marye Newman, Museum Manager.  

1833-1950     James W Roper
1852-1880     Alfred and Margaret Irwin
1880-1911     T.K. and Mary Irwin
1911-1916     Daisy Irwin
1916-1927     Herbert and Jessie Cole
1927-1945     Robert P. Dennison
1945-1948     Greek Orthodox Church
1948-1955     Henry and Suzanne Gwynn
1955              Sold to City of Mobile Preservation Society

There is a house in the back of Oakleigh originally called Cook’s House.  While in the process of restoring the building 5 years ago it was discovered that it wasn't a cooks house at all but built to house two Union officers and their wives. 

Union Barracks formerly Cook's House

The Union Barracks, formerly known as the Cook's House, is a circa 1867 barracks building built for Union troops stationed in Mobile during the Reconstruction period. Originally located two blocks south of Oakleigh, it was relocated by the Cole family in the early part of the 20th century. A self-guided tour of the barracks is included in your admission to Oakleigh House Museum.   

The museum's collection contains over 1,000 artifacts that interpret life in Mobile between 1830-1900. Highlights include a James Conning silver collection, a Haviland Limoge china set, and an extensive fine art collection, including works by Thomas Sully,  Roderick McKenzie,  Louise Heustis,  and William West.