Davis Bend

Davis Bend, Mississippi was originally founded as a model slave community by Joseph E. Davis, the older brother of Jefferson Davis, who became the President of the Confederate States of America. It was influenced by the utopian ideas of Robert Owen, and developed into an autonomous free community in the aftermath of the American Civil War. Its origins go back to the 1820s, after Davis had met Owen during Owen's tour of the United States. The property was sold by Davis to his former slave, Benjamin T. Montgomery in 1866, and continued as a cooperative until the 1880s. Upon its economic failure, it was refounded under the leadership of Isaiah Montgomery as Mound Bayou and continued through the 1920s.

References

Janet Sharp Hermann, "The Pursuit of a Dream" NY, OUP, 1981