Historic Cedar Grove Manion Inn, Bed and Breakfast in Vicksburg, MS

Arkansas-Mississippi Road Trip Part 2 (View Part 1, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6)

During our stay in Mississipi, we encamped at the Cedar Grove Mansion for two nights. Normally I don’t blog about accommodations, however this bed and breakfast deserved a post of its own. Construction on this antebellum estate began in 1840 and was completed in 1852 by the self-made businessman John Alexander Klein. He married Elizabeth Bartley Day in 1842 and because of her ties to William Tecumseh Sherman (her uncle), Cedar Grove survived the American Civil War. During the war, Cedar Grove served as a hospital for the Union and a place for General Ulysses S. Grant and several of his soldiers to stay in. Many of the furnishings are original to the house, purchased when the Kleins went on a year long honeymoon in Europe. Considering its turbulent history (it was hit 41 times during the war), the estate is still well and beautifully kept!

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This is the room that General (and later, the 18th President) Ulysses S. Grant stayed in, supposedly the same bed as well –although the mattress & furnishings have been updated! 90% of the furnishings are original to the room. This was also considered the master bedroom.

The Grant bathroom covered in marble. Someone left the toilet cover up! Was it Grant?

The bright red Bohemian Glass above the doorway was a sign of wealth –it’s dusted with 24k gold. It’s also good for insulation.

One of the many sitting rooms, the Gentleman’s Parlor… which also had….

….A cannonball lodged into the wall!

The top left corner of the door contains the patchwork covering where the cannonball came through.

Sitting room (Ladies Parlor)

Ballroom that was being prepared for the Porsche Club during our stay. The piano in this room is Elizabeth Klein’s Centennial piano. Only 100 were made and to date, there are only 3 left in existence. It’s appraised at $1.5 million.

Library & Game Room

Which led down to the Library Suite. So glad we did not reserve this room –it was the morgue during the civil war! If any place in the mansion is haunted, it is definitely this room.

Another sitting room? They did a lot of sitting back then.

Wicker room, Elizabeth Klein’s favorite room for tea.

Regina music box, which went out of style after Thomas Edison invented the phonograph.

Portrait of Robert E. Lee.

The Lee Suite (he did not stay here).

On our second night we stayed in Sherman’s Room:

It is not as ornate as the Grant Room, however, we found it more comfortable –it was brighter and seemed, er, less haunted.

Dining room. The wooden buffet to the right of the room is actually a metal safe hidden in plain sight! It is said that this was how the Kleins actually kept their wealth while so many of their neighbors lost theirs.

View of the Mississippi from the top of the mansion.

Back entrance of the mansion.

The Kleins had 10 children, 4 of which died of childhood diseases. At some point, this is where they were buried. They were reburied in the city cemetary later on, placed with their mother when she passed away.