That's a shame about the conditions.

Many early records are missing because the court house burned Jan 19, 1904. Marion Buck (m. Ralph Persell, mother of Margaret Persell m. George Marshall of Lansdowne, Natchez) was the queen of Mardi Gras...the last year they had Mardi Gras in Natchez (until about 100 years later).

The Mardi Gras parade was winding its way through Natchez. There were lots of people. All the fire trucks were in the parade. The court house caught on fire & the trucks were not able to get out of the parade & crowds of people in time to save the building....and LOTS of old records were lost.