Dr. Rush Nutt (1781-1837)

Dr. Rush Nutt, who built Laurel Hill Plantation about 1815, was known for agricultural and scientific study, for initiating improvements in agricultural implements and techniques, and for civic contributions in Mississippi’s early statehood days. A native of Virginia, where his father was a wealthy and successful planter, he moved to Mississippi Territory in 1805 to become a physician and pioneer planter in early agricultural reforms. He is generally considered second only to William Dunbar. He developed the Mexican strain of cotton that became popular in the 1830s, commonly referred to as the Petit Gulf variety because it was first grown there. This cotton was easy to pick, immune to rot, and produced fibers of superior quality. He improved the Whitney Cotton Gin by adding flumes for sorting dirt from the staples, and he was first in Mississippi to use a steam engine to drive cotton gins. He encouraged others to use field peas as fertilizer and to plow under cotton and corn stalks rather than burning them, popularized contour or horizontal plowing to prevent hillside erosion, and was one of three founders of Oakland College.

Mississippi · United States