The Bellamy Mansion & Slave Quarters

The Bellamy Mansion and Slave Quarters. . The two-story brick building at the northeast corner of the lot is the original slave quarters, constructed by free and enslaved laborers in 1859. While this type of building is now rare, it was typical for slave quarters in cities throughout the United States. A two-story brick building that is one room deep was common, but most slave quarters buildings were converted for other uses after the Civil War or let fall into disrepair and eventually demolished. The original slave quarters building at the Bellamy site underwent a multi-year restoration which was finished in 2014. , First on Site , The slave quarters building was the first completed on site. Dr. John D. Bellamy was required by law feed, clothe and shelter any enslaved worker he contracted, or “hired out,” to help construct the mansion. Between 1859 and early 1861,enslaved carpenters, plasterers, masons, and other artisans were likely the only inhabitants of this building. When the Bellamy family moved into the completed mansion in February of 1861, their enslaved domestic workers moved into the slave quarters. , Female Dormitory , The building's first floor includes one sleeping chamber along with a laundry room and two privies. The second floor includes three additional sleeping chambers. In 1861, the occupants included Rosella Bellamy, Harriett and Charlotte Potter, and Mary Ann Nixon, as well as Sarah, Joan, Caroline, and an unnamed I-year-old girl. The enslaved coachman and butler, Guy Nixon, may have slept in the original carriage house. Sarah was the cook and housekeeper. Rosella was the laundress while Joan was the nanny for the Bellamy children. Teenaged MaryAnn likely helped the older enslaved women. Caroline, Joan's young daughter, was Mrs. Bellamy's “maid.” Harriett and Charlotte were likely Rosella's children. , A Space for Work , The enslaved women and girls were awakened by the market house bell daily at 5 am, and their tasks immediately began. Sarah went into the mansion's kitchen, Mary Ann likely retrieved the Bellamys' chamber pots from the mansion and emptied them in the privies, and Rosella began stoking the fires in the laundry room. Rosella spent almost all of her waking time taking care of the laundry for everyone on site. After emancipation, the only former enslaved worker to remain with the Bellamy family as a paid servant was Mary Ann. She was a 24-year-old “house servant” for the Bellamys and still lived in the slave quarters building in 1870. , [Captions] , . Top left: A photograph of the slave quarters taken in 1972. , . Top right: An upstairs sleeping chamber before restoration and after. The building was inhabited by black renters and servants through the late 1930s.