Last updated: September 9, 2024
Place
Maker of Most Things Wood
Christy Hoover
Quick Facts
Location:
Natchez, LA
Amenities
1 listed
Historical/Interpretive Information/Exhibits
The carpenter was an important craftsman. Carpenters built and repaired houses, barns, and shops. The Carpenter Shop, built of hand hewn timbers held together with half-dovetail notching, may be one of the oldest remaining structures as it was needed to build everything necessary to operate the plantation.
Using only hand tools, these artisans joined wood togehter using only the wood itself. Young men learned carpentry by spending time in the shop with family members and through apprenticeships.
Enslaved carpenter Solomon Wilson was furnished with the tools of his trade including a set of augers, five planes, an adze, and a trimming hatchet. With these tools he crafted doors, cabinets, moldings, and shingles. Wilson lived at Oakland until 1873.
Marie Wilson, Solomon's wife, in 1935 at the age of 104. According to the Prud'homme family, Marie was a nanny for many of the Prud'homme children. Prior to the Civil War, the enslaved nanny lived in a room on the lower level of the main house.
Using only hand tools, these artisans joined wood togehter using only the wood itself. Young men learned carpentry by spending time in the shop with family members and through apprenticeships.
Enslaved carpenter Solomon Wilson was furnished with the tools of his trade including a set of augers, five planes, an adze, and a trimming hatchet. With these tools he crafted doors, cabinets, moldings, and shingles. Wilson lived at Oakland until 1873.
Marie Wilson, Solomon's wife, in 1935 at the age of 104. According to the Prud'homme family, Marie was a nanny for many of the Prud'homme children. Prior to the Civil War, the enslaved nanny lived in a room on the lower level of the main house.