Scotia
(Dog
Trot House)
The
house was built by Thomas Foster as a one room log house in 1768
in the community of Scotia, located 5 miles south of the present
town of Roxie in Franklin County, Mississippi. The area was settled
by a group of Scotch Highlanders in 1768 after Great Britain acquired
the land from France following the French and Indian War.
The
pioneers squared the logs with their broadaxes and carefully dovetailed
the corners for a snug fit. The timbers above the front door are
52 feet in length out from heart pine and still in perfect condition.
The thick walls made the houses cool in the summer and warm in
the winter; and heart pine or cypress wouldn't rot, not did insects
bother it.
Most
frontier houses were only one story, however this one was two-story.
The upstairs was added for families living quarters and the downstairs
was used as a stage stop accommodation for travelers. Originally
the kitchen had been a separate building, and an open hall in
the middle of the house which was later enclosed to give the house
six large rooms. The open hall was called a "dog trot".
At
each end of the dewlling was a chimney; four fireplaces, two on
each floor, heated the building.No nails were used to hold the
structure together; construction of the logs were entirely with
wooden pegs and dovetailing. attic and ceiling joists were exposed,
and the upstairs floor extended through the logs to the outside.
Split logs were even used on the floors.
Mr.
and Mrs. J. A. Faulk purchased "Scotia" from the Robert
Ferrells and moved it to Warren county, log by log. It was moved
to Grand Gulf Military Park in 1974 and donated in memory of the
Faulk, Foster and Johnston families of Claiborne County. Information
for the above was gathered from park files, but a special thanks
to Mrs. Hattie Howard of Port Gibson for sending us a copy of
an article "Log House Predates Revolution" that appeared
in the Vicksburg Sunday Post, Vicksburg, MS, on Sunday, May 26,
1974.