Following the death of her husband William Patrick Stone, in May 1859 Amanda Susan (Ragan) Stone established Brokenburn, a cotton plantation on the Mississippi River. Located in the Carroll Parish of Louisiana, about five miles west of the river, Brokenburn was 1,280 acres in extent.

Brokenburn Plantation northwest of Milliken’s Bend in Madison Parish, Louisiana (997). The approximate plat of Brokenburn is as described by the deed made to Amanda Susan Stone (391).

On 16 May 1859, Amanda Susan (Ragan) Stone purchased 1,280 acres in Carroll and Madison Parishes of Louisiana from the Estate of William H. K. McAlpine at auction for $40,000 (391). The deed describes the property as:

Township 18 N, Range 12 E, Section 12;
West 1/2 of the northwest 1/4 of Section 13;
East 1/2 of the northwest 1/4 of Section 11;
Southeast 1/4 of Section 11; and
Northeast 1/4 of Section 14.

Deed by Malvina McAlpine, Executor to Amanda S. Stone, Carroll Parish, Louisiana, 16 May 1959 (391).

The 11 Jul 1860 federal census of Carroll Parish, Louisiana enumerates the household of Amanda Stone, a plantation owner, age 36 years (308). Living in the household were William R. Stone, age 20 years, Sarah K. Stone, Age 20, Coleman P. Stone, age 16, Walter F. Stone, age 15, James A. Stone, age 13, John B. Stone, age 12, and Amanda R. Stone, age 10 years. Amanda Stone and her children William R. Stone, Sarah K. Stone, Coleman P. Stone, and Walter F. Stone were born in Mississippi. All other children were born in Louisiana. Amanda Stone’s brother, Ashburn R. Ragan, age 16 years and born in Mississippi was living in her household as was Albert B. Newton, age 24 years, born in Mississippi and working as a teacher. 

By May 1861, Amanda Stone developed the Carroll Parish land to establish Brokenburn Plantation, including a new house for her family. On 15 May 1861, Amanda Stone's oldest daughter, Sarah Katherine "Kate" Stone, began a journal that would chronical her experiences through the American Civil War and into the period of reconstruction that followed. Through the efforts of John Q. Anderson, the Louisiana State University Press published Kate Stone's journal, first in 1955, and in a second edition in 1972. Kate Stone's journal provides a unique description of life in Louisiana durig the Civil War and the challenges faced by southern refugees fleeing the Union Army through the eyes of a young woman (401).

Sources

308. Amanda  Stone Household, 1860 U.S. Federal Census, Carroll Parish, Louisiana, 11 Jul 1860. Ward 1, Roll: M653_409, Page: 347, Image: 350, Family History Library Film: 803409. U.S. National Archives and Records Administration, Washington, D.C. (Images: Ancestry.com, Image on file.)

391. Deed by Malvina McAlpine to Amanda S. Stone. 1,208 acres of land, Carroll Parish, Louisiana, 16 May 1859. Carroll Parish Deed Books, East Carroll Parish, Louisiana. (Images on file.)

401. Stone, Sarah Katherine. Brokenburn: The Journal of Kate Stone 1861-1868. John Q. Anderson (Ed.). Louisiana State University Press, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, 1972.

997. Map of the State of Louisiana and Eastern Part of Texas. J. H. Colton, New York, 1863. (Image: Library of Congress Geography and Map Division, Washington, D. C. Image on file.)

 Revised 1 Aug 2020.