Anthony Hutchins, one of the first white settlers of the Natchez District, was born in New Jersey about 1724. His family later moved to the Carolinas. Hutchins received a British army commission in the late 1750s, and he fought in the French and Indian War. After retiring as a captain with half-pay, he became colonel of the militia of Anson County, North Carolina. Hutchins also owned and operated a plantation from 1762 to 1772. He married Ann White about 1763, and the couple eventually had eight children: twins Samuel and Mary, Thomas, Celeste, John, Nancy, Magdaline, and Isabella. During this time, he was elected to the colonial assembly of North Carolina. Hutchins’s brother, Captain Thomas Hutchins, was a surveyor in British West Florida. Hutchins followed his brother there, settling near the site of the Indian village, White Apple, twelve miles from Natchez. He moved his family there in 1772.

Hutchins became one of the largest landowners in the Natchez District. Under British rule, he was appointed the first justice of the peace of Natchez. He also represented the Natchez District in the assembly of British West Florida at Pensacola in 1778. In the turbulent years of political struggle, Hutchins took up arms several times to defend Natchez and his interests. In 1781, Hutchins was forced to flee to Georgia, South Carolina, and then to London for several years. His wife, Ann, and the children stayed behind to maintain their property and interests in his absence. Hutchins returned in 1785. In order to gain a seat in the territorial legislature, he renounced his commission as a British officer. Hutchins took the oath of allegiance to the United States in 1798. He was elected a member of the territorial assembly in 1800. Hutchins died in November of 1804. Ann White Hutchins died on October 24, 1811.

Several of Anthony Hutchins’ children married into prominent families of the Natchez District. One daughter, Mary, was the wife of Abner Green, son of Thomas Marston Green. Another daughter, Magdaline, married General Ferdinand Leigh Claiborne, with whom she had six children. One of their sons was the noted Mississippi historian, J. F. H. Claiborne.

Anthony Hutchins’ son, John, was born on July 26, 1773, and he died on October 15, 1853. He married Elizabeth Green, sister of Abner Green, but their marriage ended in divorce one year later. Hutchins’ second marriage was to Betsy Brooks Towsen, with whom he had three children: Anthony White, Elizabeth Brooks, and John Odlin Hutchins. He acquired Woodbourn Plantation, now known as Fair Oaks, near Natchez in 1836.

John Odlin Hutchins was born on November 14, 1816, and he died on July 3, 1890. He was the owner of a plantation known as Glen Aubin, south of Natchez on the east bank of the Mississippi River.

This collection consists of a photocopy of a typewritten manuscript draft entitled "The Hutchins Family: Extracts from Manuscripts by John Hutchins." The draft is based on the same sources as the memoir by John Hutchins contained in the John Odlin Hutchins manuscript cited below that describes life in the Natchez District in the late eighteenth century. Along with his descriptions of building a plantation on the frontier, John Hutchins relates several encounters with native Americans and panthers. Hutchins also describes his voyage to England about 1800, his extended visit there, and a stopover on the island of Madeira on the return trip.

1. Typescript. n.d. 1 folder.