Will Dockery

Will Dockery (b.1865 – 1936) built from scratch the Dockery Plantation, the famous home of such original Delta blues musicians as Charley Patton, the legendary Robert Johnson, Son House, Howlin' Wolf, Willie Brown, Tommy Johnson, and Pops Staples.]

The Mississippi Blues Commission placed a historic marker at the site of the plantation in recognition of its enormous importance in the development of the Mississippi blues.

The blues

Although the complete history will never be known, there is a central theme to the development of what is known as the blues, and that is the plantation that Will Dockery built outside of Cleveland. Although Dockery was unaware of the music his laborers played in their quarters at "house parties" during their off hours, his plantation provided a particularly fertile atmosphere for musicians to gather and play their music while others listened and danced. It is difficult to know what Mississippi music would have emerged without the musical mix of Tommy Johnson, Charley Patton, and Robert Johnson.cite book| last = Oliver| first = Paul
title = Blues Off the Record:Thirty Years of Plue Commentary
publisher = Da Capo
date = 1984
location = New York
pages = p. 45
isbn = 0-306-80321-6]

Historic Marker

A marker designating Dockery Plantation as a site on the Mississippi Blues Trail is an acknowledgment of the important contribution of the plantation to the development of the blues in Mississippi.cite web
url=http://www.msbluestrail.org/blues_trail/
title=Mississippi Blues Commission — Blues Trail
publisher=www.msbluestrail.org
accessdate=2008-05-29]

The marker was placed in Cleveland, Mississippi. Governor Haley Barbour stated:quotation|I’m pleased to include Dockery Plantation on the Mississippi Blues Trail. Apart from thetown’s unique historical legacy, which includes printing its own money, Dockery was home tofamed Bluesman Charley Patton and played a significant role in the development of the Delta Blues. [cite web
url=http://www.visitmississippi.org/press_news/DockeryPlantation.pdf
title=Dockery Plantation to be honored with Blues Trail Marker
publisher=Mississippi Development Authority
accessdate=2008-05-29
last=
first=]

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