I have no time to take him within the lines. Ten Bellamys moved into the big house while nine enslaved workers moved into the outbuildings. The Bellamy Mansion Museum is a stewardship property of Preservation North Carolina. From a neighboring county he sends in this appeal. It was common at that time for free-black carpenters and, their slave artisans to bid and win construction projects, against white artisans and contractors. Joseph Hawley, a Brigadier-General in the Federal Army. Dr. Bellamy kept 24 enslaved men between the ages of 18-40 living in 9 slave cabins. A GuideStar Pro report containing the following information is available for this organization: This information is only available for subscribers and in Premium reports. Following graduate school, she was a preservation planner in the northeast Georgia Mountains where she spent a few years driving around promoting the preservation of historic buildings and landscapes. His new, wife unwilling to leave her bereaved mother, young Dr. Bellamy, assumed Dr. Harrisss medical practice in Wilmington and for, many years lived in the Harriss home. pestles, and winnowed on elevated platforms. In the early 1870s as the children grew older, Mrs. Bellamy along with her daughter Ellen, made plans to surround the property of the home with a beautiful black iron fence, which would enclose a picturesque garden to be laid out by Mrs. Bellamy herself. The mansion began to take the form of Bunnell and Posts ultimate vision.[1]. Belmont Mansion is fortunate to have a Board of Directors that help to guide the workings of the home. Wachovia Foundation, $1,000-$4,999 He had sent a flat-load of provisions and wood, to Wilmington, and when it reached Lower Town Creek, Bridge (on current Highway 133), the Federal troops, seized it and drove the confederates back towards, Wilmington. Slave quarters and a small carriage house, both made of red brick, were also on the property. Bellamy Mansion, Inc. was officially incorporated in February of 1972 by Emma Williamson Hendren, Lillian Bellamy Boney, and Hugh MacRae II. on the Board of Directors of the Wilmington & Weldon Railroad. He also served on the Board of Directors of the Cape Fear Bank. The Bellamys lived in the Dock Street home of Elizas newly widowed mother, Mary Priscilla Jennings Harriss. The Bellamy Mansion Museum of History and Design Arts offers historic tours, art. Bellamy, which explains itself. There they were, like a swarm of bees, through the woods---and did we run! Myrick lives in a 1939 historic duplex, his eighth renovation. He teaches a graduate seminar on Historic Preservation Planning each year at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Our servantswere, completely demoralizedGuy, the coachman, came to, Mother and said he did not want to leave but the Yankees, made him, after taking his good shoes for themselves, They had also taken my brother John's new homemade. nother great-grandchild of John D. and Eliza Bellamy, Robert R. Bellamy II, donated money to purchase the lot adjacent the mansion to create parking. [1], By 1860, as the Bellamy family prepared to move into their new home on Market Street, their family included eight children, ages ranging from one to nineteen. When President Davis and members of his. Cathleen is a graduate of Emory University, with a Masters degree in Historic Preservation from the University of Georgia. Chesley went off to Davidson College, caught a virus, and came home to die before his 21st birthday. Change), You are commenting using your Twitter account. in history, with a concentration in historic preservation, from UNC-Greensboro. to see the condition of the flat and the progress it had made, when the Confederate troopspassed by and told my father, he had better go back, as the Federals were advancing and, our troops were retreating; just about that time, Minnie balls. As a public-school educator, Leslie was voted Teacher of the Year in 2007 and proudly served as an instructor and curriculum coach with National Writing Project. Of the enslaved workers who had resided here before the Civil War only one remained as a paid servant. Local free-black carpenters Post employed were Frederick, Howe and Elvin Artis, and they likely owned, Posts architectural plans and specifications were completed, in October 1859, and he entrusted the project supervision to, Connecticut-born architect Rufus Bunnell, whom Post had, employed to help in his office; and free-black carpenter, This frugality of Dr. Bellamy most likely had him direct Post, and Bunnell to not only order cost-effective materials from, the north, but also to employ less expensive free-black, carpenters who held slave artisans to do their work at a lesser, rate than white artisans. Post-fire restoration efforts included stabilization of the slave quarters and near completion of the mansion's exterior restoration, but a full interior restoration required more money and time. [1] In the 1990s his great-grandson, William B. Gould IV, edited Goulds diary into a book titled, Diary of a Contraband: The Civil War Passage of a Black Sailor. William B. Gould and other enslaved workers and artisans exhibited their fine skills in the plaster moldings of the interior of the main house and extensive woodwork throughout all twenty-two rooms of the home. He resumed his practice of medicine to gain the extra money needed to pay off debts brought about by the building of the mansion, the war, and military occupation. A short while later he had settled at Goose Creek, a few miles, above the city, where he spent the remainder of his life. As he had since returned to the north after his duties were completed, draftsman Rufus W. Bunnell had joined the Connecticut regiment of the Union Army.[1]. North Carolinas white artisans rallied against perceived threats, to their economic status. Grovely," in Brunswick county, is located on Town Creek, and consists of nearly a thousand acres, my father having, bought many adjoining tracts to keep settlers from coming too, near to interfere with his Negro slaves. Newsletter Sign Up. was his son, John, who owned the plantation on Wynah Bay, where my father [Dr. John D. Bellamy] was born., Dr. Bellamy was educated at the Marion Academy and. Besides the various modern features, the home was also outfitted with luxurious wood, iron and metal works, along with lavish rugs, furniture, and other forms of dcor. Learn how and when to remove this template message, unrelated or insufficiently related to the topic of the article, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Bellamy_Mansion&oldid=1114503858, This page was last edited on 6 October 2022, at 20:56. Prior to that her background was in traditional real estate with a degree in Historic Preservation, among many other studies, though her childhood dream was to grow up to be a mermaid. Phillis Dennis owned 4 slaves herself in 1830. them to The Line and attend their church services. In 1989, the corporation decided to donate the property to the Historic Preservation Foundation of North Carolina. 279-282), (Read more on antebellum free-black and slave labor below), According to daughter Ellen Bellamy, the family moved, their belongings into the new home at 503 Market Street, Bellamy Family History: Jen was born and raised on Long Island, the youngest daughter of a native Wilmingtonian and a native Long Islander. two sons to Virginia one in the army and the other in the navy, and was preparing to send me, another son, in the event the, The diary of a Northern occupation commander mentions that, on Wednesday, February 22, 1865: My troops are put in camp, around the town, and I assume command of the placeand. to an organized association of 250 or more workmen. Maggie Gregg, Eastern Office Regional Director. In Memoirs of an Octogenarian, Bellamys, son writes that During the Civil War, one Roberts lived, here, across the street from our home; he was quite friendly, to our gang of boys; afterwards, he became Hobart Pasha, There also lived here prominent English, French and. Congressman married Emma M. Hargrove of Granville County; George, known as the Duke of Brunswick because of his, political connections, married Kate Thees; Chesley Calhoun. This old estate was, entered by Maurice Moore, in 1750, and was called by him, Spring Garden. He afterwards sold it to John Baptiste, Ashe, who changed its name to Grovely Plantation, a name. After more fundraising, the final phase commenced in 2013 with the interior restoration. One of them is the superintendent of the cemetery himself. In August 2021, Jen married her long-time sweetheart, Aaron, at Brooklyn Art Center. Julianne lives in Rougemont with her husband, son, and Pithuahua (Pitbull/Chihuahua mix, yes, its a thing). Throughout the rest of the nineteenth century, the children of Dr. and Mrs. Bellamy would go on to live their lives as successful businessmen, farmers, politicians, doctors, homemakers, fathers and mothers. Although Dr. Bellamy wanted his home constructed with classic style, and in an old reliable fashion, he was very much interested in modern utilities and innovations that would allow his family to live in comfort. The architect James F. Post, a native of New Jersey, and his assistant, draftsman Rufus W. Bunnell of Connecticut, oversaw the construction of the mansion. returned to Wilmington to begin the practice of his profession. Sources and further reading on this topic: In 2001 the carriage house at the rear of the property was reconstructed and became the museums visitor center and office building. To underscore this, Bunnell recalled, that the " rich doctor was a free-trader who notwithstanding. Ellen was 13 years old with four younger brothers growing up in the house. 1772 Foundation Guy Nixon, the butler and carriage driver for the Bellamys, would run errands, answer the door, and serve meals. Robert was the only Bellamy born in this house, and when they moved back in he was about 4 years old. The now restored slave quarters on the property are one of the best examples of urban quarters in the state, and one of very few open to the public. He grew up to become a politician, lawyer, and U.S. Mary Frances Wilson, Donor Engagement Manager. This organization has not provided GuideStar with a mission statement. Five of the city's 10 doctors fall victim to the fever. First Citizens Bank and from there to the Carolina coast, with Sir John Yeamans. Click on the link in that email Jack Thomson is a native of Western North Carolina and attended the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. Its mission is saving historic places important to the diverse people of North Carolina. She even described the basement as "more like hog pen than anything else." Symbolically, the pitch of the roof of the slave quarters was highest at the outside edge and then slanted sharply toward the yard; an expression of the human relationship involved. NC Arts Council Mary Elizabeth (Belle) (18401900) would be the first, followed by Marsden (18431909), William James Harriss (18441911), Eliza (Liza) (18451929), Ellen Douglass (18521946), John Dillard Jr. (18541942), George Harriss (18561924), Kate Taylor (1858-1858), Chesley Calhoun (18591881), and Robert Rankin (18611926). Thanks for signing up! Bishir, Catherine W. The Bellamy Mansion: An Antebellum Architectural Treasure and Its People. He went on to become a farmer and ran Grovely Plantation for his father when he grew up. it still bears. It was then purchased by two women who in 1890 started a college which evolved into Belmont University. Building : Bellamy, John Mansion (Wilmington, New Hanover County, North Carolina) Architect-carpenter: Post, James F., 1818-1899 Contractor: Artis, Elvin, 1820-1886 Architect: Bunnell, Rufus, 1835-1909 Plasterer: Price Family Carpenter: Taylor, Henry, 1823-1891 Plasterer: Gould, William Benjamin, 1837-1923 Carpenter: Howe Family Built: 1859-1860 They work at the front desk/shop, as tour guides, on our Board of Directors, on special events committees, and in the garden. PNC has saved nearly 900 endangered historic properties, generating an estimated $500,000,000 in private investment. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Want to stay in the loop? The plantation had, beside the manor house. Rosella and six other females were also working in the home, including Joan, a wet nurse and nanny for the Bellamy children; Caroline, Joans daughter (who was 7 in 1860) and was described as Mrs. Bellamys "little maid" who followed Eliza "from foot to foot"; Mary Ann, a 14-year old in 1860 who was likely learning tasks from Sarah, Joan, and Rosella. Covington Foundation, $10,000-$19,999 2022 Board of Directors Executive Committee. The, ordinary procedure in teaching a slave a profession was to, bring him up under the tutelage of a slave craftsman or, apprentice him to a free tradesman. Eight enslaved workers rowed a small boat down the Cape Fear River to a Union blockade ship, where Gould and some of the others joined the Union navy. Though immediate honeymoon plans were to tour Europe, the sudden death of Dr. Harriss changed everything. Long hair down to their shoulders, not cut since before the war. 140-141), Opposition to Northern and Black Tradesmen: prominent at the reception; he escorted me across the mall, and introduced me to the President, who put his hand on, my head and said to me, Young man, you will live to be, a good man and make a valiant soldier, I know. The train, departed shortly thereafter, carrying the visitors to, Richmond, where they established the new capital, The town of Wilmington was transformed with colorful, characters during the war, and the most daring were the, blockade runners who brought goods in and out of, Wilmington. Having grandparents living in Wilmington, Jen spent many of her summers at Grandma and Grandpa Camp, as her family called the trips to visit them. Attorney General in the Cabinet of President Jefferson Davis. [4] The facility often features changing exhibits of history and design as well as various community events, including the annual garden tour of the famous North Carolina Azalea Festival in Wilmington. The Bellamy Mansions Slave Quarters are currently undergoing lots of construction in order to restore them for viewing purposes. Almost 500 free-blacks, Certainly there were free-blacks who possessed slaves for the, purpose of advancing their own economic well-being and, free-black slaveholders were more interested in making their, farms or carpenter-shops pay than they were in treating their, slaves humanely. She lives in Raleigh with her husband, daughter, and Scottish Terrier, and still loves exploring all that our state has to offer. Board of Directors; News; Bellamy Mansion Museum. Ten Bellamys moved into the big house while nine enslaved workers moved into the outbuildings. Web Design and Website Hosting/Management by ProjectBox Media, Courtyard By Marriott Wilmington Wrightsville Beach, Embassy Suites by HIlton Wilmington Riverfront, Courtyard by Marriott Carolina Beach Oceanfront, Courtyard Wilmington Downtown / Historic District, Fairfield by Marriott Wilmington/Wrightsville Beach, Home2 Suites Wilmington Wrightsville Beach, Lumina on Wrightsville Beach, A Holiday Inn Resort, The Arts Council of Wilmington/New Hanover County, Web Design and Website Hosting/Management by ProjectBox Media. Chesley was almost 6 years old. own freedom, and to purchase his own slaves. In her free time, Dawn enjoys spending time with her family, traveling, cooking, and dreaming of rehabilitating a historic home of her own someday. Sign up for free. Annie Jernigan, Marketing Manager and Member Services. She loves to travel, and loves the beach and mountains equally, but is always excited to visit new places.