Eleanor (Baskin) Deason (1816 - 1888)

Born 4 Jul 1816 in Lancaster, South Carolina, United States

Ancestors

Descendants

Died 8 Oct 1888 at age 72 in Ellisville, Jones County, Mississippi, USA

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Biography

Eleanore Baskin ... was the daughter of William Baskin and Susannah Horton.

History of the Deason Home:

This is the oldest home in Jones County, Mississippi. It was built in the 1840’s. We are not sure of the exact date. Some family members have said it was as early as 1842, but they have produced no proof. When it was placed on the National Register of Historic Places, 1845 was the accepted date. Amos Deason and his wife, Eleanor Baskin, were from Hanging Bucket, South Carolina. Family members say that it was Eleanor’s dowry that gave them a start in Mississippi. Ellisville is the oldest village in south Mississippi except for settlements on the coast and Mississippi River. It was on the road leading from Fort St. Stevens on the Tombigbee (which was the federal land office for this area) to Natchez on the Mississippi River. According to the estate settlement Amos Deason owned about 1500 acres of land at his death, much of which was swampland. It should be noted that when the first settlers came to this part of Mississippi land could be bought for 25 cents an acre.

The original house has two architectural features that are unique to this area and time period. First the exterior of the house appears to be made of stone. The planners employed a technique that George Washington has used at Mount Vernon to transform wood to the look of stone. Second is the front entrance to the house which has a uniquely hexagon shaped vestibule with French doors opening onto the porch. The doorway is flanked on each side by an angled side panel. It is believed the original panel contained partial glass. The house was built of hand hewn timbers from the hearts of virgin pine forests that surrounded the property at the time. The heavy framework of the house was pinned together with wooden pegs. The original roof structure was stripped with lathing and hand split wooden shake shingles were applied in an interlocking method to prevent leaks. One can still see the underside of the original lath and shingles from the attic. All rooms were connected to the outside by a partial wrap around porch. There were no interior doors or doorways. To go from one room to another one had to go outside on the porch and then enter a door to the desired room.

The house has only four owners: Amos and Eleanor Deason; Issac Anderson, Jr. and his wife Sarah Poole; Welton and Frances Anderson Smith who bought the house from her Uncles and Aunts while it was still in the Anderson Estate, for $5000.00 in the early 60’s; and most recently the Tallahala Chapter NSDAR.

There are several stories that go with the house. One is the story of Virginia Holloman Anderson, the wife of George Anderson, a Grandson to the Deasons. The story goes that Jenny and George has moved into the house to be with Grandma Deason who was a widow at the time (sometime between 1878 and 1888). The young couple were looking forward to a long life of happiness when suddenly Jennie died in the spring of an unknown malady. The funeral was held on the front porch of the Deason Home. Here her body was lovingly laid out adorned by gardenias clipped from the bushes on the grounds. Family and friends stood in the front yard while the funeral eulogy was delivered. After the funeral George accompanied Jennie’s coffin to Old Town (a.k.a. Anderson/Deason) cemetery where she was laid to rest, or so they thought. Today she lays sleeping in an unmarked grave. Apparently Jennie’s spirit was disquieted following her sudden death and she desired to return to her final place of happiness. It has been told that for several years afterward she would roam the Deason grounds in May when the gardenias peaked in full bloom. On occasion at dusk a hazy specter could be seen drifting among the fragrant flowers followed by a sudden rustling of their leaves. This was said to be the ghost of Jennie.

Upon acquiring the property in 1890, Isaac Anderson Jr. took on a building and renovation project to accommodate his large growing family. He enclosed porches, extended on of the small bedrooms, added rooms to the back and side of the house with connecting halls and brought the kitchen inside. Of particular interest to the additions is the back left corner bedroom with four windows looking out on the back and side of the house. This is referred to as Ma’s room (Sarah Rebecca Pool Anderson) and is known to have been the bedroom of Mr. and Mrs. Anderson. Mr. Isaac Anderson Jr. died in this room when Annie his youngest child was two years old.

While Isaac Anderson Jr. and wife Sarah Rebecca “Sallie” Pool were living in the Deason house, Sarah’s father Dr. Daniel Richard Pool came to stay with them. Here he mysteriously died. As was customary for the times, she bathed the body, dressed her Father in the proper attire and “laid him out” on one of the simple beds for viewing. It was a hot July summer day and buckets of ice were placed under the bed with additional pans of ice arranged around the corpse to prevent decomposition until the appointed time of burial. On occasion one can experience an apparent cod spot or sudden chill when visiting this old house.

On September 14, 1863 Major Amos McLemore started in the fire, exhausted. Somewhere in the dark of the night, the War Between the States raged on. He sighed and sat down in the old wooden rocker. Laying his side arms down on the table, he wrenched off his mud-encrusted boots. It was good to be in a warm, comfortable place tonight. His soldiers were quartered elsewhere but his friends Amos and Eleanor Deason, had invited him to stay in their home. He was happy to accept. McLemore’s eyes were getting heavy and his head was nodding. Outside unknown to the tired man, Newt Knight was stealing up on the house with some of his followers. Suddenly the door to the room was flung open. Newt Knight stormed into the room, shot Amos McLemore, and vanished into the night. The wind moaned as Amos fell and died in front of the fireplace. Passing by the fireplace one day, Eleanor gasped when she saw the blood stain had returned. Her arms broke out in goose bumps as she scrubbed the spot again. Finally satisfied that it was gone, she left the room, saying a little prayer under her breath for her fallen friend. However it wasn’t that easy to wipe away this blot of infamy as the stain kept coming back. Every time it rained and the wind howled, just as it had on that fateful night, the blood stain returned. The family tried everything, Eleanor put a carpet over the spot and tried not to think about it too much. Her children refused to sleep in that room which was Mr. and Mrs. Deason’s original bedroom. Years later a second flooring was laid on top of the first, coving the stain. You can still see the stain under the house where the blood came through the floor onto the rafters. Members of the McLemore family alive during 1987, claim as youngsters, to have seen the coat he wore when he was shot, and state that there was a bullet hole in the back of the coat at about the level of the chest. This would indicate that the one fatal shot was not to the head as other’s have speculated.

Sources

• 1850 US Census, Jones, Mississippi
• 1860 US Census, Jones, Mississippi
• 1870 US Census, Township 8, Jones, Mississippi
• Find a Grave, database and images (accessed 11 December 2022), memorial page for Eleanor Baskin Deason (4 Jul 1816–8 Oct 1888), Find A Grave: Memorial #41263508, citing Anderson-Minter Cemetery, Ellisville, Jones County, Mississippi, USA; maintained by Marshall Parker (contributor 46498853), headstone photo.
• US Federal Census
• "Secrets of the Deason Home"

Acknowledgments

Thank you to A Fabry for creating Baskin-68 on 6 Sep 13. Click the Changes tab for the details on contributions by A and others.