Blog Archives

Unveiling a NC Highway Historical Marker for William B. Gould

11/23/2018

On November 13th, 2018, a gathering of individuals could be seen on the steps of the Bellamy Mansion Museum. On the street in front of them, a covered marker was waiting to be revealed. The occasion was the unveiling of a new North Carolina Highway Historical Marker for William B. Gould (1837-1923), an enslaved plasterer who escaped to his own freedom in 1862 and subsequently served in the United States Navy where he fought against the Confederacy until the end of the Civil War. Some of the guests in attendance for the unveiling ceremony included Gould’s descendants, as well as descendants of Henry Taylor, an enslaved carpenter presumed to have worked at the Bellamy mansion as well. This official state historical marker was the culmination of years of research, efforts on the part of local historians like Beverly Tetterton, Gould family members, and the Bellamy Mansion Museum staff.

Unveiling William B. Gould's North Carolina Highway Historical Marker

North Carolina Highway Historical Markers, erected and managed by the North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources, “designate places, events, or persons of statewide historical significance” (ncmarkers.com). In order to be chosen for a North Carolina Highway Historical Marker, individuals or places must fulfill all the criteria listed by the program. The rules are put in place as a way to ensure that NC roadways are not littered with markers along their entire length. As well, this keeps the significance of these markers by limiting marker eligibility. The criteria states, “subjects of primarily local or regional, as opposed to statewide, significance are not eligible for state markers. An individual cannot be considered for a marker until twenty-five years after his or her death. Structures are not marked for their individual architectural value. Rather, an individual or historic event associated with a site is more likely to receive consideration” (ncmarkers.com). In placing the marker, Department of Transportation rules must be followed regarding their placement alongside a roadway. As for the applications, roughly 100 are received each year, yet only around 10 applications are approved to be recipients of a North Carolina Highway Historical Marker.

William B. Gould I's marker

Son of Englishman Alexander Gould and enslaved Wilmington woman Elizabeth Moore, William B. Gould I is known for his plasterwork at the Bellamy mansion, his subsequent escape from slavery, and his service in the US Navy. As an enslaved worker for Nicholas Nixon, Gould learned the trade of plasterwork and also learned to read and write despite laws prohibiting slaves from doing so. On September 21, 1862, Gould escaped with other slaves during one of Wilmington’s yellow fever epidemics. They rowed down the Cape Fear River and boarded a Union vessel named the U.S.S. Cambridge. Within days of this escape, Gould began recording his life in a diary, one that was later lost to the family and discovered by William B. Gould III in 1958. Decades later, William B. Gould IV published these memoirs under the name Diary of a Contraband: The Civil War Passage of a Black Sailor. Gould I joined the US Navy and served with them during the Civil War. After the war’s end, Gould I married Cornelia Read, a freed black woman also from Wilmington and moved to Massachusetts, where he settled down with his wife and family and continued working in the plastering trade, as well as becoming an important local figure in and around Dedham until his death in 1923. His six sons followed in their father’s footsteps and served in the military; all served in World War I, except for his oldest son who served in the Spanish-American War. The connection between Gould I and the Bellamy mansion was not tangibly established until 1995 when the staff of the Bellamy Mansion Museum found a section of molded plaster during renovations that had the initials “WBG” inscribed on the back. This allowed historians to connect Gould with the intricate craftsmanship that was done on the house’s plaster, giving him due credit for his work.

William B. Gould I (seated) and his six sons

During the marker unveiling ceremony, descendants of William B. Gould I came from as far away as Florida, Maryland, Massachusetts, and California to honor their ancestor, including three generations of William B. Gould’s namesakes—the IV, V, and VI. William B. Gould IV, Gould’s great-grandson and Professor Emeritus at Standford Law School, spoke during the ceremony which he followed with a lecture later that evening at the Bellamy mansion where Gould IV discussed his great-grandfather’s life and legacy.

Written by Bellamy Mansion Museum intern and UNCW English Major Kasey Baker

Works Cited:
Bishir, Catherine W. The Bellamy Mansion. Raleigh, Historic Preservation Foundation of North Carolina, 2004. Print.

——. “Gould, William B. I (1837-1923).” North Carolina Architects and Builders, NCSU Libraries, 2015. Web. Accessed 19 Nov 2018. http://ncarchitects.lib.ncsu.edu/people/P000320.

“Criteria for Historic Markers” and “Placement …” ncmarkers.com, North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources, 2008. Web. Accessed 19 Nov 2018. http://www.ncmarkers.com/Home.aspx

“Gould IV to lecture on Civil War ancestor.” starnewsonline.com, GateHouse Media, 23 Oct 2018. Web. Accessed 19 Nov 2018. https://www.starnewsonline.com/news/20181023/gould-
Iv-to-lecture-on-civil-war-ancestor.

1 Comment

“We had dances and other socials durin’ Christmas times...”

11/16/2018

1 Comment

The Christmas season brings with it traditions that have often been celebrated for generations. Many traditions such as trimming the tree and caroling originated in the 19th-century. For Ellen Bellamy, she recalled 19th-century Christmas celebrations at “Uncle Taylor’s” house, where a feast was planned for over two dozen people and, "the table extended from the front windows to the back. They prepared for this dinner for weeks.” Ellen remembered being amazed by “a pyramid of glass which extended up to the top of the ceiling and was decorated with flowers and fruit.” It is thanks to Ellen’s recollections that we know what the holidays were like for the Bellamys and their prominent extended family. However, what was Christmas like for their enslaved workers? While we have no documentary evidence of what Christmas was like for the men, women, and children enslaved at the Bellamy mansion, there is written evidence of what enslaved people throughout the antebellum South and here in North Carolina experienced during the holidays.

Ellen Bellamy

"Uncle Taylor's" house, located on the other side of First Baptist church

Slave-owners were often more lenient and generous with their enslaved workers around the holidays, such as in the number of passes they gave out to their slaves. These passes allowed enslaved individuals to travel off their owner’s property and into town or to other nearby plantations, which allowed them to visit friends or relatives on nearby plantations. Without a pass, enslaved workers risked the chance of getting caught by patrols and being whipped. Since there was more travel happening around the end of the year, “planters were usually more liberal in issuing passes during the Christmas season“ (Wiggins 206). However, during this time the amount of nighttime patrols were increased to capture runaways.

In Southern cities, contracts for work began on or around January 1st for enslaved individuals. Christmas was a time when they could be with their loved ones before being hired out for months or even the entire year to another family or business. Sometimes the enslaved worker was contracted to someone in another city or even another state. Slave-owners gave these incentives in order to quell any thoughts of slave rebellions or escape during the holidays. Enslaved worker Henry Bibb recalled making plans to run away at the end of the year, but before he could act on his plans, Bibb’s master gave him the option to get married. Bibb remained and the marriage festivities consumed his time, as he says “Our Christmas holidays were spent in matrimonial visiting among our friends, while it should have been spent in running away to Canada” (Bigham).

"Plantation Frolic On Christmas Eve." Library of Congress.

Other “traditions” that occurred around the Christmas season were those of slave-owners giving small gifts and feasts to their enslaved workers. Slave-owners filled up enslaved children’s stockings on Christmas day with small knickknacks like fruit and nuts, and Christmas was when enslaved individuals received their one pair of shoes for the year. As Emma Blalock recalled in Slave Narratives: A Folk History in the United States from Interviews with Former Slaves, “We had plenty homespun dresses and we got shoes once a year, at Christmas Eve. I ken ‘member it just as good. We got Christmas Holidays an’ a stocking full of candy an’ peanuts. Sometimes we got ginger snaps at Christmas. My grandmother cooked them.” Slave-owners giving gifts to their enslaved workers was a way to show to the world how affluent a family was. This was especially seen during the Civil War when “consumer shortages threatened to interrupt their performance. Slave-owners desperately sought even the paltriest gifts for slaves, knowing that their pretensions of power hinged in part on their being able to repeat past gift-giving” (Bigham). In addition, the Christmas season was a time when slave-owners gave special food and alcohol to their enslaved workers in celebration. Food and alcohol that was given, though not all together at once, included turkey, pigs, sweets, nuts, rabbits that they were given permission to catch, whiskey, eggnog, brandy, cedar, wine or beer. With these feasts, “whole hogs, sheep, or beeves were cooked and the slaves ate peach cobbler and apple dumplings, and frequently got drunk.” (Blassingame 107).

However, there were former slaves who reported that their owners never gave them time off for Christmas or New Year’s. As Charity McAllister says in Slave Narratives, “Dey did not give us any holidays Christmas in Harnett County. Dat was ‘gisnt de rules.” While some reports say that most slaves were given anywhere from a day up to a week of time off during the holidays, this was not a guarantee, especially in the case of slaves on plantations or slave-owners punishing slaves for misbehavior earlier in the year. The entirety of the holiday experience was based upon the master and what they deemed appropriate. For some slave-owners, the enslaved worker’s celebrations during Christmas were seen as entertaining, such as their dancing, and often slave-owners had the workers sing or play the fiddle for them on Christmas day.

Decorated tree in the Urban Slave Quarters at the Bellamy mansion

While the holiday experiences of enslaved workers at the Bellamy mansion are unknown, at the Bellamy Mansion Museum visitors can experience the fully decorated mansion as well visit the decorated original slaves quarters. The decorations in the slave quarters are designed according to the research mentioned in this article, as well as other research on the experience of enslaved workers during the holiday season throughout North Carolina.

Written by Bellamy Mansion Museum intern and UNCW English major Kasey Baker

Special thanks to former Bellamy Mansion intern Alyson Mayernik for her research on this topic, which was used in the writing of this article.
Works Cited:
-Bigham, Shauna, and Robert E. May. "The Time o' all Times? Masters, Slaves, and Christmas in the Old South." Journal of the Early Republic 18, no. 2 (Summer, 1998): 263-288. https://search- proquest-com.liblink.uncw.edu/docview/220950705?accountid=14606.
-Blassingame, John W. The Slave Community: Plantation Life in the Antebellum South. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1940.
-“Born in Slavery: Slave Narratives from the Federal Writers' Project, 1936 to 1938.” Library of Congress, online collection. Accessed 12 Nov. 2018. Web.
-Wiggins, D. “Good Times on the Old Plantation: Popular Recreations of the Black Slave in Antebellum South, 1810-1860.” Journal of Sports History 4. Fall 1997. 260-284.

1 Comment

A Presidential Pardon

11/5/2018

1 Comment

When the Bellamy’s left their newly built house on Market Street in 1862 to escape the Civil War and Yellow Fever epidemic, little did they know that they would not officially return for over two years, in the fall of 1865. After leaving Wilmington, the Bellamy’s lost their house due to the Confiscation Act of July 17, 1862, which “authorized in rem procedures against the property of Southern rebels and their sympathizers” and “stated that the properties seized were to be used for supporting the Union cause in waging its war” (Kochan). It was thanks to Dr. Bellamy’s efforts after the war to obtain a presidential pardon from President Johnson that the family regained their property and house. Yet, what did it take to get his pardon after the war? The troubles that the Bellamy’s went through are in part due to the reconstruction efforts of President Andrew Johnson.

Johnson was caught between the two sides that had appeared due to the war--the union supporters and the Secessionists. He himself was a Democrat from Tennessee, and in his government positions, “generally adhered to the dominant Democratic views favoring lower tariffs and opposing antislavery agitation” (“Andrew Johnson”). Yet, after Lincon’s election in 1860, Johnson broke away from the Democratic party when he voiced his dissent against Southern secession. When Lincoln eventually selected Johnson to run as his Vice President in 1864, it was merely to gain the support of “loyal ‘war’ Democrats” (“Andrew Johnson”). No one thought that he would be anything other than Vice President of the United States.

But then Lincoln was assassinated, and suddenly Johnson found himself president of a divided nation that needed to rebuild itself, with a Congress intent on doing what it determined was best for reconstruction, no matter what the new president thought. However, there was one power that President Johnson had, which he used as an attempt to pull the country back together: presidential pardons. These pardons were an attempt to bring the secessionists back into the Union, while also appeasing the Republicans who called for even harsher punishment. Johnson’s pardon gave clemency to many white Southerners, excepting those who fell under one of the fourteen exceptions listed in his Amnesty Proclamation decreed on May 29th, 1865. In addition, the pardon restored all property (except former slaves) and rights of a US Citizen to the former Confederates.

As for the pardon process itself, it involved a number of steps before an individual could obtain one. Johnson first “pardoned all who would take an oath of allegiance, but required leaders and men of wealth to obtain special Presidential pardons” (“Andrew Johson” whitehouse.gov). These leaders and men of wealth had to make a trip to Washington D.C. or send a representative in their stead. However, it is possible that these individuals were more successful if they appeared themselves to request a personal pardon from President Johnson (“Restoring the Union”). These men were additionally required to also swear an oath of allegiance to the Union and promise to uphold the 13th amendment which abolished slavery.

While we don’t know everything about John D. Bellamy’s pardon process, the aforementioned steps to obtain a pardon are likely the same that Dr. Bellamy had to go through himself. As Dr. Bellamy fell under the 13th exception to President Johnson’s Amnesty proclamation, that “All persons who have voluntarily participated in said rebellion, and the estimated value of whoso taxable property is over twenty thousand dollars” (“President Johnson's Amnesty Proclamation”), he was an individual who had to receive a personal pardon. We know from records that he began the process of obtaining his pardon in July 1865 and continued into August and early September when he finally received it. Dr. Bellamy and his family did not move back into their home until late September or early October of 1865. It would not be improper to surmise that he was traveling back from getting his pardon during the gap in events. Else, if he had sent a representative to get his paperwork in order, this time would account for the paperwork being sent to Dr. Bellamy. Despite the fact that this time period is murky in that the exact events and processes that transpired were not recorded, we know for sure that Dr. Bellamy did indeed receive his pardon from the president and was able to finally settle back into the home that he had built for his family five years earlier.

Written by Bellamy Mansion Intern and UNCW English Major Kasey Baker

Works Cited:

"Andrew Johnson.” Encyclopedia Britannica, 12 Oct. 2018, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Andrew-Johnson.
“Andrew Johnson.” The White House, https://www.whitehouse.gov/about-the-white-house/presidents/andrew-johnson/
Foner, Eric. “Reconstruction.” Encyclopedia Britannica, 5 Jan. 2018, https://www.britannica.com/event/Reconstruction-United-States-history#ref226039.
Kochan, Donald J. “B. The Confiscation Act of 1862 and Civil War Forfeitures.” Mackinac Center for Public Policy, 1 July 1998, https://www.mackinac.org/1278.
“President Johnson's Amnesty Proclamation.; Restoration to Rights of Property Except in Slaves. An Oath of Loyalty as a Condition Precedent. Legality of Confiscation Proceedings Recognized. Exception of Certain Offenders from this Amnesty. By These Special Applications for Pardon May be Made. Reorganization in North Carolina. Appointment of a Provisional Governor. A State Covention to be Chosen by Loyal Citizens. The Machinery of the Federal Government to be Putin Operation. AMNESTY PROCLAMATION.” The New York Times, https://www.nytimes.com/1865/05/30/archives/president-johnsons-amnesty-proclamation-restoration-to-rights-of.html.
“Restoring the Union.” Lumen Learning (OER Services), https://courses.lumenlearning.com/suny-ushistory2os2xmaster/chapter/restoring-the-union/.

1 Comment

Keeping Up With The Bellamys: Textiles and Fashion of the Civil War Era

11/5/2018

2 Comments

Need a new shirt? You can go to any of a hundred different stores in modern Wilmington or even simply buy on online and have it shipped right to your door. But in the mid-1800’s, getting some new threads was not as easy as it is today, even for a wealthy family like the Bellamys. Though we do not know much about the clothing that the Bellamy family wore, we can use written historical records and resources to gain a better understanding of how they acquired the clothing they did have.

First up is the foundation of any piece of clothing, historic or modern- the material. The Bellamy family had their own source for cotton and wool as they owned a plantation in Brunswick County. Ellen Douglas Bellamy, the youngest daughter of John and Eliza Bellamy, mentioned these resources in her memoir Back With The Tide. “We had provisions of all kinds, raising cotton, spinning and weaving our cloth, both cotton and wool, for we had a large flock of sheep,” (p. 14) at Grovely Plantation where John Bellamy kept 82 enslaved workers who did the “raising,” the “spinning,” and the “weaving.” While cotton is the crop most people associate with the antebellum South, plantations in the Wilmington area, like Grovely, mainly grew food products like peanuts, rice, and corn, as well as raising livestock. Cotton and other materials brought in through Wilmington’s busy port were often in the form of already woven fabrics or finished clothing ready for purchase, ranging from rough textiles like “gunny cloth” to refined French cashmere.

There are some records of fabrics being produced directly by the enslaved workers of Bellamy household, once again as told in Ellen Bellamy’s memoirs:

“One of our women, Mozella, was such an expert spinner that her yarns were too fine and even for our looms. Mother took me with her to Drs. Drew’s, a first rate weaver, file miles from us, and got her to weave a bolt of beautiful white flannel from Mozella’s yarn. It was used then, and long afterwards, for skirts for all our family and kin [...]. We tanned the leather and made our shoes. Richmond, one of our slaves, cut his knee and thus was disabled for doing accustomed work of cutting wood; so Pa apprenticed him for a time to a Mr. Hewett, a shoemaker in Wilmington, and Richmond became quite an expert. His shoes would bear inspection by the most fastidious. My sister would make the uppers of little shoes from old pants or scraps of heavy cloth for my baby brother, and Richmond would sole them” (p. 14).

Ellen Douglass Bellamy, circa 1860.

Those in Wilmington without enough money to own a slave but enough to commission a dressmaker or a seamstress to create a garment had many options, as newspaper ads from 1850-1865 show. After the Civil War ended in 1865, many former enslaved women with seamstress skills also began advertising themselves in local newspapers alongside other seamstresses. These ads usually wouldn’t give clues as to the race of the advertiser, leaving the details of their identity to local knowledge.

The inhabitants of the Bellamy Mansion and its longest resident, Ellen Bellamy (1852-1946), witnessed many changes in fashion and the production of it during their lives. With the introduction of the Singer sewing machine in 1851, the production of garments became much easier. While there are no records of the Bellamy household owning a sewing machine, the Singer sewing machine did have a presence in Wilmington, judging by this ad from 1859.

Singer sewing machine ad from The Wilmington Daily Herald, published Friday, July 15th, 1859.

As the Bellamys were wealthy and could afford it, their dresses were often made with numerous folds, full floor-length skirts, and miles upon miles of ruffles. This is evident in the pictures of the Bellamy family which display the family’s fashion choices.

Two women, identities unknown but most likely Bellamy family or relatives.

Mary Elizabeth "Belle" Bellamy, circa 1860.

One part of 19th century fashion the Bellamy women embraced was that of lace collars, as seen in the picture of Mary Elizabeth “Belle” Bellamy above. As with other fashion production in the mid-1800s, the manufacturing of lace became more mechanized in order to produce enough to fulfill demands, but some lace was also still handmade, mostly through methods of bobbins, tatting, or crochet. Accent pieces that used lace were usually in the form of detachable collars that laid over the dress neckline and cuffs that were either detachable or sewn onto the end of sleeves (Origins of Lace).

While there are no clear records of lace use or production in the Bellamy household, it is safe to assume that it existed, especially since we have photos of family members wearing lace collars as seen in this article. There are also contemporary records of lace and lace collars being sold by merchants in Wilmington, ads touting both “real” and “imitation” laces, meaning handmade and machine-made lace respectively (Origins of Lace).

Ad published in The Wilmington Daily Herald on Tuesday, October 11th, 1859.

Ad published in The Tri Weekly Commercial on Saturday, September 16th, 1854.

The culture of fashion and textiles in America changed rapidly throughout the lifetime of the Bellamy family, heralding the beginning of the clothing industry we are familiar with today. While some of the fashion of the era may seem old and antiquated, there are parts of it that survive in our style even today and connect us to the past.

Written by Bellamy Mansion intern and UNCW English Major Caitlyn Dark.

References
Bates, Christopher G. “The Early Republic and Antebellum America: An Encyclopedia of Social, Political, Cultural, and Economic History.” First edition, Routledge, 2015.
Bellamy, Ellen Douglass. “Back With The Tide.” Edited by Janet K. Speaker, Reprint edition, Bellamy Mansion Museum of History and Design Arts, 2002.
Gerard, Philip. “A House Divided.” Our State Magazine, Our State Magazine, 28 April 2011, https://www.ourstate.com/bellamy-mansion/.
“Ladies' Antebellum Clothing - Fabrics.” Historic Northampton Museum and Education Center, 2018, historic-northampton.org/virtual_exhibits/antebellum/fabrics.html.
“The Origins & History of Lace.” The Lace Guild, 2017, https://www.laceguild.org/craft/index.html.

2 Comments

Unveiling a NC Highway Historical Marker for William B. Gould

“We had dances and other socials durin’ Christmas times...”

A Presidential Pardon

Keeping Up With The Bellamys: Textiles and Fashion of the Civil War Era

About Us

Categories

Archives