The Bellamy Mansion, located in historic downtown Wilmington, North Carolina

Wilmington, North Carolina

Wilmington is a port city in and is the county seat of New Hanover County, North Carolina, United States. The population is 106,476 according to the 2010 Census, making it the eighth most populous city in the state of North Carolina...

, was built between 1858 and 1861. Located on Market Street in the heart of downtown Wilmington, this spectacular mansion is one of North Carolina’s finest examples of historic architecture. Designed with Greek Revival and Italianate styling, this twenty-two room house was constructed with the labor of both enslaved skilled carpenters, and local, freed black artisans. The architect James F. Post, a native of New Jersey

New Jersey

New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...

, and draftsman Rufus Bunnell, of Connecticut

Connecticut

Connecticut is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, and the state of New York to the west and the south .Connecticut is named for the Connecticut River, the major U.S. river that approximately...

, oversaw the construction of the mansion. Originally built as a private residence for the family of Dr. John D. Bellamy, a prominent planter, physician and businessman, the Mansion has endured a remarkable series of events throughout its existence. The home was taken over by Federal Troops during the American Civil War

American Civil War

The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...

, survived a disastrous fire in 1972, was the home to two generations of Bellamy family members, and now due to extensive restoration and preservation acts over several decades, the Bellamy Mansion is a fully functioning museum

Museum

A museum is an institution that cares for a collection of artifacts and other objects of scientific, artistic, cultural, or historical importance and makes them available for public viewing through exhibits that may be permanent or temporary. Most large museums are located in major cities...

 of history and design arts, and a stewardship property of Preservation North Carolina, a private nonprofit organization dedicated to the protection of historic sites in North Carolina.

Family

John Dillard Bellamy, M.D. (September 18, 1817 - August 30, 1896) married Eliza McIlhenny Harriss (August 6, 1821 – October 18, 1907) on June 12, 1839. Over the next twenty-two years Dr. and Mrs. Bellamy would welcome ten children to their family. Elizabeth (Belle) (1840-1900) would be the first, followed by Marsden (1843-1909), William James Harriss (1844-1911), Eliza (1846-1929), Ellen Douglass (1852-1946), John Dillard Jr. (1854-1942), George Harriss (1856-1924), Kate Taylor (1858-1858), Chesley Calhoun (1859-1881), and Robert Rankin (1861-1926).

As a young man, John Dillard Bellamy, Sr. had inherited a large piece of his father’s plantation

Plantation

A plantation is a long artificially established forest, farm or estate, where crops are grown for sale, often in distant markets rather than for local on-site consumption...

 in South Carolina

South Carolina

South Carolina is a state in the Deep South of the United States that borders Georgia to the south, North Carolina to the north, and the Atlantic Ocean to the east. Originally part of the Province of Carolina, the Province of South Carolina was one of the 13 colonies that declared independence...

, along with several slaves. John soon moved to Wilmington, North Carolina, to begin studying medicine with Dr. William James Harriss. John would later marry his eldest daughter, Eliza. Leaving for two years in 1837 to study at Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Philadelphia is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Philadelphia County, with which it is coterminous. The city is located in the Northeastern United States along the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers. It is the fifth-most-populous city in the United States,...

, he would return to Wilmington in 1839 to marry Eliza and take over Dr. Harriss’ medical practice after Eliza’s father’s untimely death in July. By 1860 as the Bellamy family prepared to move into their new home on Market Street, their family now included eight children aged one to nineteen. Along with the ten members of the Bellamy family, living at the household were also nine slaves. In 1861 Robert Rankin would be the last of the children, and the only one to be born in the mansion on Market Street.

The sons of Dr. John D. Bellamy would follow in their father’s footsteps and become successful students and career men in and outside of Wilmington. Marsden, the eldest of the sons, would become a prominent trial attorney in Wilmington. William would have a successful medical practice of his own, just as his father and grandfather had before in Wilmington. George had become a farmer and took over Grovely Plantation, land that his father had purchased in 1842, in Brunswick County, North Carolina

Brunswick County, North Carolina

-External links:*******....

. The youngest son, Robert, would become a successful businessman in the pharmaceutical industry. John Jr. would attend Davidson College

Davidson College

Davidson College is a private liberal arts college in Davidson, North Carolina. The college has graduated 23 Rhodes Scholars and is consistently ranked in the top ten liberal arts colleges in the country by U.S. News and World Report magazine, although it has recently dropped to 11th in U.S. News...

, and the University of Virginia Law School and eventually become a successful politician in the conservative Democratic Party. From 1899 -1903 John Jr. would represent North Carolina as a United States Congressman. Chesley Calhoun would unfortunately die at the young age of twenty-one, while studying at Davidson College.

Only one of the four daughters of Dr. and Mrs. John D. Bellamy would marry and have children. Elizabeth (Belle) married William Jefferson Duffie of Columbia, South Carolina

Columbia, South Carolina

Columbia is the state capital and largest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina. The population was 129,272 according to the 2010 census. Columbia is the county seat of Richland County, but a portion of the city extends into neighboring Lexington County. The city is the center of a metropolitan...

 on September 12, 1876. They would have two children, Eliza (Elise) Bellamy Duffie, and Ellen Douglas Duffie. Of the other three daughters of Dr. and Mrs. Bellamy, Eliza and Ellen would live out their days unmarried in the family mansion on Market Street, while Kate Taylor died as an infant in 1858. All together, the children of Dr. and Mrs. Bellamy would have thirty children of their own.

History

After their wedding, and after taking over Dr. William James Harriss’ medical practice in July of 1839, Dr. John D. Bellamy and his new wife Eliza lived in the Dock Street home of Eliza’s now widowed mother Mary Priscilla Jennings Harris. Upon his death, Dr. Harris left behind his wife, along with seven children and fourteen slaves who were also living at the household. John and Eliza would welcome four of their own children into the Dock Street home, before moving across the street, in 1846, to the former residence of the sixteenth Governor

Governor

A governor is a governing official, usually the executive of a non-sovereign level of government, ranking under the head of state...

 of North Carolina, Benjamin Smith

Benjamin Smith

Benjamin Smith was the 16th Governor of the U.S. state of North Carolina from 1810 to 1811.Smith was born in Brunswick County, North Carolina into a socially prominent family...

. It was here, from 1852-1859 that the next five of the Bellamy’s ten children would be born.

Dr. Bellamy’s prosperity would continue to grow through the second half of the nineteenth century, as he was not only a successful physician and landowner, but also now the owner of a turpentine

Turpentine

Turpentine is a fluid obtained by the distillation of resin obtained from trees, mainly pine trees. It is composed of terpenes, mainly the monoterpenes alpha-pinene and beta-pinene...

 distillery in Brunswick County, a director of the Bank of the Cape Fear, and a stockholder in the Wilmington and Weldon Railroad

Wilmington and Weldon Railroad

Originally chartered in 1835 as the Wilmington and Raleigh Railroad, the Wilmington and Weldon Railroad name began use in 1855. At the time of its 1840 completion, the line was the longest railroad in the world with 161.5 miles of track...

. In March of 1861 the family prepared to move into their new home on Market Street, and held a housewarming party. The party was described as a grand occasion, but just two months later on May 20, 1861, North Carolina officially seceded from the Union

Union (American Civil War)

During the American Civil War, the Union was a name used to refer to the federal government of the United States, which was supported by the twenty free states and five border slave states. It was opposed by 11 southern slave states that had declared a secession to join together to form the...

. As Dr. Bellamy was known to be secessionist, he would take the honor of heading the welcoming committee as Jefferson Davis

Jefferson Davis

Jefferson Finis Davis , also known as Jeff Davis, was an American statesman and leader of the Confederacy during the American Civil War, serving as President for its entire history. He was born in Kentucky to Samuel and Jane Davis...

 visited Wilmington in late May.

Marsden Bellamy, the eldest of the sons, had enlisted in the Scotland Neck Cavalry

Cavalry

Cavalry or horsemen were soldiers or warriors who fought mounted on horseback. Cavalry were historically the third oldest and the most mobile of the combat arms...

 volunteers before the official secession, and later enlisted in the Confederate Navy. Just a few months later, his younger brother William would join the Wilmington Rifle Guards. Even those who had constructed the Bellamy Mansion would join in the war effort on both sides of the Mason-Dixon Line

Mason-Dixon line

The Mason–Dixon Line was surveyed between 1763 and 1767 by Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon in the resolution of a border dispute between British colonies in Colonial America. It forms a demarcation line among four U.S. states, forming part of the borders of Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware, and...

. The architect, James F. Post had joined the Confederate artillery, and even helped to build various structures at Fort Fisher

Fort Fisher

Fort Fisher was a Confederate fort during the American Civil War. It protected the vital trading routes of the port at Wilmington, North Carolina, from 1861 until its capture by the Union in 1865....

, and Fort Anderson

Fort Anderson

Fort Anderson can refer to:*Fort Anderson — A Union fort used in the American Civil War and site of the Battle of Paducah, Kentucky*Fort Anderson — A Confederate fort used in the American Civil War...

. As he had since returned to the north after his duties were completed, draftsman Rufus Bunnell had joined the Connecticut regiment of the Union Army.

Even an enslaved plasterer, William B. Gould

William B. Gould I

William B. Gould was a former slave and veteran of the American Civil War.On September 21, 1862, a slave named William Benjamin Gould escaped with seven other slaves by rowing a small boat down the Cape Fear River and out into the Atlantic Ocean where the USS Cambridge of the North Atlantic...

, who had worked on the house, had managed to escape from Wilmington with several other slaves on the night of September 21, 1862. Eight slaves rowed a small boat down the Cape Fear River to a Union blockage ship, where Gould and some of the others joined the Union navy. Gould had kept an extensive diary during the war, which is thought to be one of only a few diaries written by a former slave, serving in the Civil War, in existence today. Gould would later continue plastering in Massachusetts

Massachusetts

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...

, where he would marry and have eight children. His great grandson, William B. Gould IV, in the 1990s, edited Gould’s diary into a book titled, Diary of a Contraband: The Civil War Passage of a Black Sailor.

As the war raged on, the Bellamy family would still continue to hold residence at their new Market Street home. However, as the effects of the war, and the deadly outbreak of a yellow fever

Yellow fever

Yellow fever is an acute viral hemorrhagic disease. The virus is a 40 to 50 nm enveloped RNA virus with positive sense of the Flaviviridae family....

 epidemic had begun to spread throughout Wilmington, the Bellamy family took refuge at Grovely Plantation. They would soon return to Wilmington, only to have to leave for Grovely time after time, as Union ships continued to bombard nearby Fort Fisher. On January 15, 1865 Dr. Bellamy and his family learned that Fort Fisher had fallen to the Federal, Troops. This was a devastating blow to the Confederacy, as Wilmington was the last major port supplying the Southern states.

As the family was still at Grovely Plantation, Federal troops had arrived in Wilmington on February 22, pushing many of the Confederate troops inland. Union officers had taken shelter in many of the nice homes in town, whose owners had left for safety. They had even occupied the Bellamy House to be headquarters for staff members of the Union Army. On March 1, 1865 General Joseph Roswell Hawley

Joseph Roswell Hawley

Joseph Roswell Hawley was the 42nd Governor of Connecticut, a U.S. politician in the Republican and Free Soil parties, a Civil War general, and a journalist and newspaper editor. He served two terms in the United States House of Representatives and was a four-term U.S...

 was placed in charge of the Wilmington District, and assigned the Bellamy House. Soon after, the General’s wife Harriet Foote Hawley, an experienced war nurse, arrived in Wilmington to help tend to the wounded.

During this time, General Hawley refused Dr. Bellamy entry into Wilmington. After the official end of the war, the Federal Government seized southern property, including land, buildings, and homes of Dr. Bellamy. Mrs. Bellamy had traveled into Wilmington to meet with Mrs. Hawley hoping to retrieve her home. It certainly wasn’t easy for Eliza Bellamy to be entertained by a “yankee

Yankee

The term Yankee has several interrelated and often pejorative meanings, usually referring to people originating in the northeastern United States, or still more narrowly New England, where application of the term is largely restricted to descendants of the English settlers of the region.The...

” in her own home, but she tried her best to be polite. General and Mrs. Hawley left for Richmond, Virginia

Richmond, Virginia

Richmond is the capital of the Commonwealth of Virginia, in the United States. It is an independent city and not part of any county. Richmond is the center of the Richmond Metropolitan Statistical Area and the Greater Richmond area...

 soon after, however the home was still being occupied by other Union soldiers.

Over the summer months of 1865 Dr. Bellamy would try his best to gain a government pardon to reclaim his property. By the end of August, he would personally receive a Presidential Pardon from Andrew Johnson

Andrew Johnson

Andrew Johnson was the 17th President of the United States . As Vice-President of the United States in 1865, he succeeded Abraham Lincoln following the latter's assassination. Johnson then presided over the initial and contentious Reconstruction era of the United States following the American...

 to retrieve his plantation land, and commercial buildings, but the Bellamy House on Market Street was still under control of the military. By the end of September of 1865 however, the Bellamy family was given permission to reclaim, and move back into their home in Wilmington.

Wilmington would slowly return to what it once was before the war. Dr. Bellamy would gain back his property and resume business as usual, only now he had hired freed workers for the turpentine distillery, Grovely Plantation, and the family home on Market Street. Dr. Bellamy would return to practicing medicine in order to gain the extra money needed to pay off debts brought about by the building of the mansion, the war and occupation. In the early years of the 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 fence and the garden have been maintained throughout the years, and are still on the grounds of the Bellamy Mansion today.

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. Dr. Bellamy would pass on just before the turn of the century in 1896, and his wife Eliza would pass away roughly ten years later in 1907. Eliza and Ellen, the daughters of Dr. and Mrs. Bellamy would live the rest of their days in the mansion, Eliza passing on in 1929 and Ellen in 1946. In February of 1972 fourth generation members of the Bellamy family started the Bellamy Mansion, Inc., in order to begin preservation and restoration of the historic home. Sadly, one month later arsonists set fire to the home. Luckily the fire department was able to put out the flames, but not before extensive damage was done to a large amount of the interior.

Design and Construction

It is unclear where the idea for such an elaborate structure, with a full colonnade

Colonnade

In classical architecture, a colonnade denotes a long sequence of columns joined by their entablature, often free-standing, or part of a building....

 came from, but certain signs point to the artistic eye of Belle, the first Bellamy child. While studying in South Carolina, she had taken a liking to a nearby home in Columbia that featured a similar design, and so she shared her ideas with Dr. Bellamy and eventually with the draftsman, Rufus Bunnell. Dr. Bellamy hired James F. Post, an architect in Wilmington who had already designed Thalian Hall. In May of 1859 Post hired Bunnell to be an assistant architect. Drawings for Dr. Bellamy’s new home would be produced though the late summer and early fall months, and in October the excavation of the construction site began and the foundation was laid.

After the New Year most of Bunnell’s drawings were complete and most of the building supplies had been ordered from New York

New York

New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

, including the large Corinthian columns, along with various blinds and window draping. By February a large portion of the pine frame had been erected, and in March the cornices and the tin roof were completed on the mansion. On the property would also be a slave quarters, and a small carriage house

Carriage house

A carriage house, also called remise or coach house, is an outbuilding which was originally built to house horse-drawn carriages and the related tack.In Great Britain the farm building was called a Cart Shed...

, both made of red brick. Among the men building the main house along with the slave quarters, and carriage house were a number of slaves from Wilmington, several freed black artisans, and other skilled carpenters from the area. William B. Gould and other slaves and artisans executed their fine skills on the plaster moldings of the interior of the main house, and extensive woodwork throughout the entire twenty-two room home. The Corinthian columns had arrived and been mounted in early April of 1860. The home had now begun to take the form of Bunnell and Post’s ultimate vision.
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 house was equipped with running hot and cold water, which was supplied by a large cistern

Cistern

A cistern is a waterproof receptacle for holding liquids, usually water. Cisterns are often built to catch and store rainwater. Cisterns are distinguished from wells by their waterproof linings...

 and pump. The mansion was even furnished with gas chandeliers to light the large rooms. The channeled tin roof allows for quick and effective drainage, and insulation; and due to Wilmington’s high heat and humidity levels in the summer months Dr. Bellamy also wanted the large, door-sized windows of the first floor to open all the way, disappearing into the wall. This allowed for nice cross breezes to circulate through the home, and also multiple walkways to and from the wrap-around porch.
Because the children’s rooms on the top floor did not have these large windows, another way to ventilate their living space was needed. Each of the small bedrooms on the top floor would have vents that would travel up and empty into the belvedere at the very top of the mansion. On hot days, the windows of the belvedere could be propped open to create a vacuum

Vacuum

In everyday usage, vacuum is a volume of space that is essentially empty of matter, such that its gaseous pressure is much less than atmospheric pressure. The word comes from the Latin term for "empty". A perfect vacuum would be one with no particles in it at all, which is impossible to achieve in...

effect that would naturally cool the upper floors of the home. Besides the various modern features, the home was also outfitted with luxurious wood, iron and metal works, along with stylish rugs, furniture, and décor. Although Dr. Bellamy was described as a man with somewhat conservative taste, he needed his home to be both modern and comforting, especially with such a large number of people living in it.

Restoration and Today

After the devastating fire in March of 1972, Bellamy Mansion Inc. now faced a whole new set of challenges in terms of restoring the historic home. The fires had caused extensive plaster and wood destruction due to the water needed to extinguish it, and of course the flames and smoke themselves. Over the next two decades more Bellamy family members and community volunteers joined in helping to raise awareness and funds for this historic restoration project.
Through the 1970s and 1980s Bellamy Mansion, Inc. would work to complete exterior restoration of the main home, the slave quarters in the rear of the property, and to raise the needed funds for the interior renovations. Around 1989 the corporation decided to donate the property to the Historic Preservation Foundation of North Carolina. This would now turn the Bellamy home from a once private residence, into a public, historic site. Over the next few years the necessary interior restoration tasks would be completed, and in 1994 the Bellamy Mansion Museum of History and Design Arts would officially open.
Today the Bellamy Mansion is a fully operational museum, focusing on history and design arts, and a Stewardship Property of Preservation North Carolina. The facility often features changing exhibits focusing on history, design and historic preservation, as well as various community events, including the annual garden tour of the famous North Carolina Azalea Festival in Wilmington. In 2001 the carriage house, which sat at the rear of the property, was reconstructed and became the museum’s visitor center, and office building. Acting as a non-profit organization, the Bellamy Mansion is home to many volunteers from the Wilmington community, many of who are very knowledgeable of the Bellamy family and the history of the home itself. Tours are given at the museum Tuesday – Saturday from 10:00 AM – 5:00 PM (with the last tour starting at 4:00 PM) and Sunday from 1:00 PM – 5:00 PM (with the last tour starting at 4:00 PM). Aside from being an operational museum, the Bellamy Mansion is also available for weddings and special events rentals. The Bellamy Mansion Museum is located at 503 Market Street in Wilmington, North Carolina and on the Web at www.bellamymansion.org