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During the Civil War in 1862, Magnolia Manor was occupied by the Union Army and used as Headquarters. Four Union generals stayed here. Mrs. Miller told the Generals they could "only use half of the house" as she was "a delicate woman." It has been told by the Miller Family that during one meal, Mrs. Miller was seated with Generals Sherman and Grant. General Sherman made the comment that he believed "all southern men, woman and children should be exterminated!" General Grant did not hear this comment, but Mrs. Miller did! She was so upset by this remark that she left the table and went to the back porch to cry. General Grant followed her to see what was wrong. Mrs. Miller told General Grant what Sherman said to her. Grant ordered Sherman to apologize to their hostess at once! Sherman did apologize, but was so humiliated by the order he stormed up to his room! As he approached this stair case, he drew his sword from its scabbard and slashed the banister with it. The mark is still visible to this day!
Judge Austin Miller built Magnolia Manor in 1849. He was a prominent attorney and is credited with helping place the southern boundary of Tennessee so that Memphis was in Tennessee, not Mississippi. In fact, Austin Miller is mentioned by name in the Constitution of the State of Mississippi in article two as having established the northern boundary of that state. He also donated 20 acres of land in Tunica County, Mississippi in 1848 for the county seat. The town was named Austin in honor of Judge Miller.
Magnolia Manor is a classic two story Georgian Colonial design. Each brick was hand made and sun dried on the home site by slaves. It features fourteen foot ceilings and thirteen inch thick walls from the ground to the roof. There are four bedrooms in the main house and nine fireplaces. Two of the bedrooms are master suites, two full baths and two half baths. The house also features double parlors.
It was used as a Headquarters for the Union Army by Generals Logan, McPherson, Sherman and Grant during the Civil war and it is believed to be the home in which these four Generals planned the battle of Vicksburg.
Three generations of the Miller family lived in the house until the 1970's. Charles Austin Miller, son of Judge Austin Miller, followed his father's footsteps to become a prominent attorney and later the Secretary of State of Tennessee. One of C.A. Miller's daughters, Lizzie Lea Miller, was one of the first female Representatives of the Tennessee State Legislature - the second woman elected to the Tennessee General Assembly.
William T. Sherman & Ulysses S. Grant
The Marked Staircase
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