Four cisterns on each corner of the Old warren County Courthouse grounds collected rainwater from the roof of the 1858 slave-built courthouse, funneling it into the cisterns for use inside the building, to supply an old horse fountain, and for fire protection.
The horse fountain was located on the north side of Court Square.
Today, that fountain has been restored and renovated into a small water garden, dedicated to the memory of Eloise Freeman, a descendant of the First Families of Mississippi and an avid volunteer gardener at the Old Court House Museum.
A white marble plaque has been added, engraved as follows:
In Memory
ELOISE GAUGH FREEMAN
1917-2005
Come to the garden"
From her obituary: (
visit link)
"Natchez Democrat - February 16, 2005
Eloise Gaugh Freeman
Fayette
Eloise Gaugh Freeman, 87, died Monday, February 14, 2005 at Franklin County Hospital. Visitation is 5-8 p.m. Friday at Riles Funeral Home in Vicksburg and from 2 p.m. until the hour of service at Fayette Methodist Church in Fayette. Services are 3 p.m. at the church with burial in with burial in the Fayette Cemetery. Rev. Calvin Cosnahan officiating.
She was born in Meadville on October 3, 1917, the daughter of the late john Powell Gaugh and Leslie Guice Gaugh. She lived most of her life in Jefferson County near Fayette.
She was a member of the Fayette Methodist Church, the First Families of Mississippi, the Fayette Garden Club, the James Rex Whitney Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution, the Harvesters Fellowship and was a life member of the Unite Methodist Women. She was a nationally accredited flower show judge.
Mrs. Freeman was preceded in death by her husband, Dumont Sidney Freeman, Jr.; a brother, Lynn Shaffie Gaugh; and a sister, LaVelle "Tut" Wilson. She is survived by two sons, Dumont S. Freeman, III of Deltona, Fla., and Hobbs Freeman of Yokena; a brother, James Powell Gaugh of Greenwood; two granddaughters, Sydney Wheeler of Oviedo, Fla., and Debra Henry of Chulusta, Fla.; and four great-grandchildren.
Honorary pallbearers will be Charles Rule, Jimmy Watt, Barry Griffin, Robert Griffin, Dr. Elma P. Gabbert, Jim Tabor, Walter May, Grover Brown, John Leigh Hyland, Hurbert Miller, Robert Torres, Gordon Cotton and Dorethea M. Gholson.
Memorials may be made to the Fayette Cemetery Association, P.O. Box 424, Fayette, MS 39069, or the Old Court House Museum, 1008 Cherry St., Vicksburg, MS 39183."
A memorial to her grandson, Milton Hobbs Freeman, a sculptor who served as director of the Warren County Historical Assocaition (which runs the Old Courthouse Museum) is nearby.