The land on which Cedarwycke is built was acquired from the other Martin heirs by Griffin and Mary after it had been quitclaimed to them by the original patentee, John M. Coulter, in 1836. The Federal-style, brick dwelling was constructed circa 1828 as a family home by the Edmondsons. It was home to the Roberts family from 1833 to 1852, and then subsequently used by the cook and overseer.

In the early 1850’s, the contractor of Cedarwycke was Hardy Stevens of Columbus, Mississippi. Bricks and masonry were by George W. Marquess of Columbus. W. N. Evans supplied plastering materials, and he may well have been the talented plasterer who cast and installed the beautiful ornamental decoration in the parlor and front hall.

Other furnishing materials, labor, etc., were obtained from Hale & Murdock—for nails, pulleys, glass, putty, etc.; Reeder & Key—for lumber; C. D. Hay—for lightening rods; Columbus Foundry, owned by A. R. Wolfington—for window weight iron castings; James Blair’s Drug Store—for paint and painters; and Lynch & Gillespie—for one hundred and eleven yards of three-ply carpet ordered from New York. So far as is known, all of these firms were in Lowndes County.

The 815-acre plantation was run by the widow Roberts for ten years until her death in 1862, with the service of 38 slaves, whom were housed in eight log cabins arranged in a semi-circle behind the garden. During this time, the sons attended Ole Miss and, later, joined the Confederate Army. The daughters attended private colleges in Aberdeen. Earlier schooling for the younger children was obtained from private tutors, teaching in the Mansion’s third-floor ballroom.

In later years, daughter Mrs. Mary Imogene Roberts Alexander (1843-1902) bought out the other heirs. Though she was childless, she raised her sister’s children and passed the plantation to Parker Alexander III, her nephew. Thus, the property remained in the Roberts family until 1902, when Parker sold it to a neighbor, Mrs. Mary Troup Bowen. So far as is known, the house has never been vacant.

By the 1930’s, the Mansion was made into apartments, which remained through WWII, until it was purchased by D. Marshall Mattox in 1946. Previous to D.M., owners include: Dan I. Howard of Aberdeen (1912); Warren and Georgia Waite from Tennessee (1914); Luke B. and Cora James Anderson from Tennessee (1919); J. E. and Ruby Brown (1931); and Phillip H. Dalton from Tennessee (1932). By 1951, when D. M. Mattox died, Cedarwycke had been reduced to approximately 195 acres.

Helen Mattox Crawford, of Hamilton, acquired the home in 1984, and restoration has been underway since her death in January of 1990.

Though Cedarwycke has been deemed eligible for National Register nomination by individual members of Mississippi Department of Archives, final papers have not yet been completed and submitted.

In October of 1993, a 1 ½ story Log house (ca. 1845) was added to the Cedarwycke complex. This was built by George Ross for his bride, Elizabeth Fowler, whom he married in 1845. The land on which it stood in Section 22, Township 15 South, Range 18W was patented to him in the mid 1840’s by the U. S. Government.

Many descendants of George and Elizabeth Ross still live in this area. During the turbulent reconstruction days, the log house was connected with a pivotal event in the halls of the U. S. Congress known as “the bloody shirt affair.”