| Born on January 14, 1843, Marsden Bellamy was the eldest son of John and Eliza and their second child after Mary Elizabeth (Belle). Marsden was named for John's brother who had died in 1839. While a student at the University of North Carolina in 1861, 18-year-old Marsden was among the first to leave school to join the Scotland neck Cavalry volunteers. He later served in the Confederate navy. After the war, Marsden completed his law degree at Chapel Hill and began his practice in Wilmington in 1866, where he had a long and successful career, excelling as a trial attorney. |  Marsden Bellamy is pictured here on a carte de visite, a 2-1/2 by 4 inch print of a photograph by Cronenberg of Wilmington. Such cards were all the rage in the 1860s and 70s because they could be used as calling cards and were also easy to send by mail to family and friends. |
 | He married Harriet Harlee and moved up the street from Mom and Dad into a house on Market just east of the Lutheran Church where they raised eight children. |
