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.
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.
