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Malmaison
Malmaison - Home of Greenwood Leflore Malmaison, the beautiful old home of the last and most powerful chief
of the Choctaws, Greenwood Le Flore, is in Carroll County, Mississippi, nine
miles east of the town of Greenwood, which was named in honor of the
chief. A more picturesque location for a home could scarcely be
found. An immense hill rises gradually from a lovely valley. About
two-thirds of the way to the top it resolves into a broad plateau; upon
this plateau stands Malmaison, the home of four generations of Le Flores. The building is colonial in architecture, consisting of two halls
crossing in the center of the building, four large rooms on each side, and an
“L” of an equal number of rooms. It is two stories, surmounted with an
observatory from which the country for miles can be seen. Towards the
north the hill slopes upward and away, covered with rich grass and crowned with
forest trees of giant size, interspersed with enough of pine and cedar to keep
the background always green, thus presenting a scene of perpetual spring.
This home was built in 1854, a successor to the first one, which was built in
1835, about one hundred yards east of the present site. The furnishings of this stately mansion are in perfect accord with
the building. The parlor is elegantly furnished; all the furniture was imported
from Paris; the chairs, sofas, and divans are of French hickory overlaid
with gold and upholstered with crimson silk damask; the long damask
curtains are of the same rich color; the tables and étagère are of ebony inlaid
with pearl of every hue. The carpet is a seamless tapestry of roses on a
cream ground. The walls of this room are decorated with handsome
paintings of Swiss and French scenes, and three immense mirrors in frames of
gold. The mantle supports a clock of ebony and gold, representing a
Crusader on horseback riding over the field of battle. The workmanship of
this clock is exquisite and must be seen to be appreciated; also, on the
mantle are two candelabra representing the figure of a knight holding a cluster
of the golden lilies of France. The window shades are hand-painted
pictures of four famous French palaces,—Versailles, Fontainbleau, St. Cloud and
Malmaison. In all the rooms of the house the arrangement of furniture and
bric-a-brac reveals the artistic taste and deft fingers of the lovely mistress
of the home, Mrs. W. L. Ray, the granddaughter of Col. Le Flore. In the
library are hung the portraits of Col. and Mrs. be Flore and their daughter,
Mrs. Harris. That of the Chief is an excellent piece of workmanship and
is said to be a perfect likeness. Beneath his portrait hang the sword and
handsomely embroidered belt presented by the President of the United States,
when Le Flore was made chief of the Choctaws; there is also a silver medal
four inches in diameter given by Thomas Jefferson to a former chief and
presented to be Flore when he was made chief. This medal was a symbol of
peace between the Indians and the United States. On one side of the medal
is depicted the pipe of peace across the tomahawk; beneath these are
clasped hands denoting brotherly love. The other side bears the words,
“peace and prosperity,” the name of the President and the date,
1802. A heavy silver-mounted
sword-cane hangs near. On a table in the center of the library are
several large volumes containing sketches of all the famous Indian tribes of
North America, showing excellent likenesses and biographical sketches of their
most noted chiefs. The dining room shows the same elegant taste that is
seen throughout the home; handsome sideboards and china cabinets, laden
with priceless china, cut-glass, and silver. The lawn is quite extensive, covered with a heavy sward of Bermuda
grass, shaded by magnificent forest trees; the gardens are noted for the
wealth of bloom through the summer and autumn. This is one of the few old
Southern homes still in the family of the builder and kept in the old-time
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