| Walter Ross Wade | |
| Birth Date: | 1810 |
| Birth Place: | South Carolina |
| Death Place: | Jefferson County, Mississippi |
| Occupation: | Physician, planter |
| Spouse: |
|
| Children: | 4 |
| Parents: | Daniel Wade Jean Brown Ross |
| Relatives: | Isaac Ross (grandfather) |
Walter Ross Wade (1810 - 1862) was an American physician and planter in the Antebellum South. He owned the Rosswood Plantation, a cotton plantation in Jefferson County, Mississippi. His diary was published posthumously.
Walter Ross Wade was born in 1810 in South Carolina.[1] [2] His father was Daniel Wade and his mother, Jean Brown Ross.[2] His maternal grandfather was Isaac Ross, the first owner of the Prospect Hill Plantation.[3]
He worked as a physician, treating patients in the Natchez District.[3] [4] He kept a diary of his patient visits and other activities.[3] [4]
He purchased the Rosswood Plantation, a 1,250-acre cotton plantation in Jefferson County, Mississippi.[4] [5] [6] He owned more than 100 African slaves who picked cotton in the fields.[6] In 1857, he hired architect David Schroeder to design the Greek Revival mansion.[5] [6] [7] It was built as a gift for his second wife.[3] The Wades entertained guests regularly and went fox-hunting on the grounds.[3] During the American Civil War of 1861–1865, they invited the Confederate States Army to use the mansion as a Confederate hospital.[7]
He married a cousin, Martha Taylor Wade.[2] They had two children.[2] After she died, he married Mabella Jane Duncan Chamberlain, and they also had two children.[3]
He died in 1862.[1]
His diary was published posthumously. In 2003, it was recorded as an audio book on a CD.[3]