Prairie Mont Plantation

OVERVIEW

Location: Carroll County, Mississippi
Date Constructed/ Founded: 1838
Associated Surnames: Vaiden, Herring, Kaigler
Historical Notes: After Cowles M. Vaiden and his wife Elizabeth W. Herring married in North Carolina (1837), they moved to Carroll Co., MS (1838). Dr. C.M. Vaiden was elected to serve in the State Legislature for several terms and was a co-developer of the Mississippi Central Railroad. He became a very wealthy planter who amassed a great deal of wealth. He was known for purchasing fine clothes and furniture from overseas. In his will, Dr. Vaiden left his plantation to Cowles Mead (Herring) Vaiden, his adopted son. In 1950, the plantation was purchased by W.M. “Bill” Lowery.
Associated Pages: none

ASSOCIATED ENSLAVED PERSONS

Kaigler family: Sarah Kaigler (b.?-d.?); Martha Kaigler (b.1856-d.?) – dau.; Missouri Kaigler (b.1859-d.?) – dau.; Mary Ellen Kaigler (b.1860-d.?) – dau.; Nancy Blake Kaigler (b.1863-d.?) – dau.
Note: Sarah Kaigler (freedwoman) and daughters Martha (10), Missouri (7), Mary Ellen (6), and Nancy Blake (3) to be apprenticed to C.M. Vaiden until age 18; C.M. Vaiden – Application to apprentice Orphans, March Term 1866 [Wiltshire 1997]

Herring family: Sallie Herring (b.?-d.?); Wallace Herring (b.?-d.?) – son; Wennie Herring (b.?-d.?) – child; Claiborn Herring (b.?-d.?) – son; Susan Herring (b.?-d.?) – dau.; Snythie Herring (b.?-d.?) – child
Note: Sallie Herring requested that children Wallace, Wennie, Claiborn, Susan, and Snythie not be apprenticed to C.M. Vaiden; C.M. Vaiden – Application to apprentice Orphans, March Term 1866 [Wiltshire 1997]

Vaiden family: Melissa Vaiden (b.?-d.?); Jackson Vaiden (b.?-d.?) – son; Dennis Vaiden (b.?-d.?) – son; Jeff Vaiden (b.?-d.?) – son; Sylvia Vaiden (b.?-d.?) – dau.
Note: Sallie Herring requested that children Wallace, Wennie, Claiborn, Susan, and Snythie not be apprenticed to C.M. Vaiden; C.M. Vaiden – Application to apprentice Orphans, March Term 1866 [Wiltshire 1997]

Information from Antebellum Census & Estate Records

1860: Group 1 – Male age 60 (b.1800), Male age 60 (b.1800), Male age 55 (b.1805), Male age 50 (b.1810), Male age 40 (b.1820), Male age 38 (b.1822), Male age 38 (b.1822), Male age 38 (b.1822), Male age 38 (b.1822), Male age 35 (b.1825), Male age 30 (b.1830), Male age 30 (b.1830), Male age 29 (b.1831), Male age 29 (b.1831), Male age 28 (b.1832), Male age 28 (b.1832), Male age 28 (b.1832), Male age 28 (b.1832), Male age 28 (b.1832), Male age 28 (b.1832), Male age 26 (b.1834), Male age 26 (b.1834), Male age 26 (b.1834), Male age 26 (b.1834), Male age 26 (b.1834), Male age 25 (b.1835), Male age 25 (b.1835), Male age 25 (b.1835), Male age 23 (b.1837), Male age 23 (b.1837), Male age 23 (b.1837), Male age 22 (b.1838), Male age 22 (b.1838), Male age 22 (b.1838), Male age 20 (b.1840), Male age 20 (b.1840), Male age 20 (b.1840), Male age 19 (b.1841), Male age 19 (b.1841), Male age 18 (b.1842), Male age 18 (b.1842), Male age 16 (b.1844), Male age 15 (b.1845); Group 2 – Female age 50 (b.1810), Female age 45 (b.1815), Female age 45 (b.1815), Female age 40 (b.1820), Female age 35 (b.1825), Female age 35 (b.1825), Female age 30 (b.1830), Female age 30 (b.1830), Female age 30 (b.1830), Female age 28 (b.1832), Female age 27 (b.1833), Female age 27 (b.1833), Female age 25 (b.1835), Female age 25 (b.1835), Female age 25 (b.1835), Female age 25 (b.1835), Female age 25 (b.1835), Female age 25 (b.1835), Female age 25 (b.1835), Female age 25 (b.1835), Female age 25 (b.1835), Female age 25 (b.1835), Female age 23 (b.1837), Female age 23 (b.1837), Female age 23 (b.1837), Female age 22 (b.1838), Female age 22 (b.1838), Female age 21 (b.1839), Female age 21 (b.1839), Female age 21 (b.1839), Female age 21 (b.1839), Female age 20 (b.1840), Female age 20 (b.1840), Female age 20 (b.1840), Female age 18 (b.1842), Female age 18 (b.1842), Female age 18 (b.1842), Female age 18 (b.1842), Female age 18 (b.1842), Female age 18 (b.1842), Female age 18 (b.1842), Female age 15 (b.1845), Female age 12 (b.1848) [1860 US Federal Census (Slave Schedule), Carroll Co., MS, Cowles M. Vaiden, 110 total, 19 houses]

ASSOCIATED FREE PERSONS

Vaiden family (Carroll Co., MS): Dr. Cowles Mead Vaiden (b.1812-d.1876) – founder of Prairie Mont Plantation and Vaiden, MS (1860); Elizabeth Whitfield Herring Vaiden (b.1819-d.1886) – wife (m.1837); Cowles Mead Herring Vaiden (b.?-d.?) – son (adopted)

RESEARCH LEADS AND RECORDS

• Dr. C.M. Vaiden House (1840’s) – The home of Dr. C.M. Vaiden was built in the 1840’s about two miles east of Vaiden. The house was designed by James Clark Harris, a famous architect from Georgia, who also built Greenwood LeFlore’s “Malmaison.”

MISCELLANEOUS INFORMATION

• None

REFERENCES

• Ancestry.com. 1860 U.S. Federal Census – Slave Schedules [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2010.
• Ancestry.com. 1850 U.S. Federal Census – Slave Schedules [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2004.
• Find-A-Grave: Dr. Cowles Mead Vaiden (ID: 5038628), https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/5038628/cowles-mead-vaiden
• Wiltshire BC (1997). Carroll County, Mississippi Estate Records 1840-1869 with Freedmen Apprenticeships.
• Vaiden Mississippi: Vaiden Family Lineage. http://www.vaiden.net/vaiden_family_lineage.html