Haller Nutt was born February 17, 1816[1] on Laurel Hill Plantation in Jefferson County, Mississippi. Dr. Haller Nutt was a successful cotton planter and plantation owner in Mississippi. He developed a strain of cotton that became important commercially for the Deep South.
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Haller was educated at the University of Virginia from 1832 to 1835. After college he returned to Mississippi and assisted his father in management of Laurel Hill Plantation[1].
Haller owned several plantations throughout his life including Araby, Evergreen and Winter Quarters in Louisiana and Cloverdale and Laurel Hill in Mississippi.[1] Haller mainly grew cash crops including cotton and sugar cane. These plantations brought him considerable wealth. He made a net profit of more than $228,000 from agricultural enterprises in 1860.[1] He owned 43,000 acres (170 km2) of land and 800 slaves. His fortune prior to the Civil War was estimated at more than three million dollars.[1]
Haller married Julia Augusta Williams in 1840. She was only eighteen at the time. Haller and Julia had eleven children:[1]
Haller and his wife Julia decided to begin construction on Longwood Plantation in the spring of 1860. They hired Philadelphia architect Samuel Sloan to design the multistory octagonal in the Oriental Revival style[1]. Construction of the exterior was completed by the beginning of the Civil War. With the threat of the Civil War looming, Sloan's artisans soon haulted their construction, fearing for their safety, and fled back to the north. The basement story was completed by slave labor and was ready for occupancy by 1862. Longwood is the largest octagonal house in the United States.[1].
Haller suffered large financial losses during the Civil War due to the destruction of his cotton fields and real estate.[1] The expropriation of stores and supplies by the Union and Confederate armies led to the foreclosure on Nutt's plantations in Louisiana. After the war, Haller filied documents with the federal government that would compersate for the loss of assest due to the Union army[1]
Haller Nut died on June 15, 1864 of pneumonia. His family continued living at Longwood plantation after his death[1].