The Bellamy Mansion & Slave Quarters

The Bellamy Mansion and Slave Quarters. . Antebellum Origins , The Bellamy compound was built by a combination of free black and enslaved laborers between 1859 and 1861 under the direction of northern-born architect, James F. Post and draftsman Rufus Bunnell. It was the town home of Dr. John D. Bellamy, his wife Elza Harriss Bellamy, and their large family, which included eight children by the summer of 1861. Nine enslaved domestic workers lived in the brick slave quarters and original brick carriage house. Dr. Bellamy, a native of South Carolina, was not only a medical doctor but also a “merchant” who invested in banks and railroads. He also owned a produce plantation in Brunswick Co. worked by over 80 enslaved men, women, and children along with a turpentine and tar enterprise in Columbus Co. manned by 24 enslaved men. , The Civil War and Beyond , During a yellow fever outbreak in Wilmington in 1862, the Bellamy family fled inland to Robeson County where they remained for most of the American Civil War. During their absence, the Bellamys' enslaved cook Sarah oversaw the compound, and in the spring of 1865 the Union army commandeered the mansion as its headquarters. Among its residents during this occupation was Union Brigadier General Joseph Hawley. Dr. Bellamy reclaimed the site in the fall of 1865 after obtaining a presidential pardon from President Andrew Johnson. Bellamys continually occupied the mansion after the Civil War until the death of John and Eliza's middle child, Ellen D. Bellamy, in 1946. Renters and paid servants occupied the slave quarters building through the 1930s. , A Site Saved , After Ellen's death, the mansion and slave quarters building remained mostly vacant for decades. Several of Dr. Bellamy's great-grandchildren, including Hugh MacRae II and Lillian Bellamy Boney, rallied to save the site. Their efforts stalled after an arson attempt in 1972 devastated the main levels of the mansion. In 1989, the Bellamy heirs donated the property to Preservation North Carolina which restored the site and operates it as a museum to this day. , The Bellamy Mansion Museum opened its doors as a stewardship property of Preservation North Carolina in 1994 following a multi-year restoration project that took the mansion back to its original 1861 appearance. The brick carriage house, rebuilt in 2001, serves as a visitors' center. The restoration of the site's original slave quarters was completed in 2014. Much more than a traditional house museum, the Bellamy Mansion Museum is a community hub where visitors and locals can experience Wilmington's rich history. The museum offers daily tours as well as a variety of special events, lectures, and exhibitions. , [Captions (left to right)] , . Three generations of Bellamys posed in front of the mansion circa 1873. This is the first photograph of the house. , . Plasterer William B. Gould (1837-1923) and carpenter Henry Taylor (1823-189 ) both worked on the mansion between 1859-1861. , . Dr. John D. Bellamy (1817-1896) , . Eliza Harriss Bellamy (1821-1907)