Summer intern seeks ties to Merrehope's past
Jun. 21—Members of the Meridian Restorations Foundation Inc. are searching for anyone whose wedding ceremony took place at Merrehope in years past or is a descendant of a former resident of the historic home.
In an ongoing foundation project, Josephine Hanegan, a summer intern from The Riley Foundation who is working at Merrehope, is currently researching and developing files on the house's former owners and occupants. This includes not only those who lived in the house when it was a private residence but also when it was turned into rental property, serving as a boarding house then apartments.
"When it was a boarding house and when there were apartments is where it gets a little trickier because we know who owned it at the time, but we don't know who all lived here or what they were doing in Meridian or if they were here for a short time, a long time or where they worked," said Hanegan, a Meridian native who recently graduated from Louisiana State University with degrees in English and anthropology.
Hanegan also is attempting to compile a list of residents who were married at Merrehope or were part of a wedding party in the home, as well as individuals who volunteered a great deal of time to the house and its preservation over the years.
"Merrehope's been a pillar of the Meridian community for generations," she said.
Originally built as a Greek Revival cottage in 1859, Merrehope survived Union Gen. William T. Sherman's burning of Meridian during the Civil War. Over the next century, the property changed hands multiple times, being used as a private residence, then converted to rental property in 1915 and serving as a boarding house. Otto Tibbetts purchased the house in 1945 and divided it into eight apartments, according to its history on the Merrehope website.
In the late 1960s, the historic home was purchased by Meridian Restorations Foundation, formed by members of the nine Federated Women's Clubs of Meridian, and named Merrehope, beginning a lengthy restoration process of the home.
With changes in foundation leadership over generations, sometimes records were lost, misplaced or were incomplete, Hanegan said, which has led to the current research project's effort to compile an accurate community history of Merrehope.
"We're trying to get stories and pictures of people who were married here, who had their receptions here, had their bridal luncheons here, and people who may have just spent a lot of time here, helping out with Trees of Christmas," she said, noting the house was a popular wedding venue in the 1980s and 1990s.
"More people were married here than you probably realize," she added.
Anyone who has a story or photos to share of a wedding, reception, luncheon or other event or who can assist with a recorded history of Merrehope's former residents can email the information and photos to merrehopemeridian@gmail.com, share them to Merrehope's Facebook page or call the historic home at 601-483-8439.
"We would love any photos, but we will need to know if it is okay if we publish them on social media or on the website," said Hanegan, who will continue as a summer intern through the end of July before leaving to work on her master's degree in English at Mississippi State University this fall.
Hanegan said she is enjoying her summer project because it's important to preserve shared community histories such as Merrehope's.
"It's a building with a lot of rich history. It's had so many owners. It stood through the Civil War," she said."It's just kind of interesting that there's something so old, so full of history, that's had so many uses, but it kind of gets overlooked sometimes."
Contact Glenda Sanders at gsanders@themeridianstar.com.
