Echoes of the Enslaved: Discoveries at the Bellamy Slave Quarters

This is an updated version of a piece on the slave quarters renovation from the Fall 2014 issue of Preservation NC magazine:
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Our historic buildings often hold mysteries just waiting to be uncovered. The slave quarters at the Bellamy Mansion Museum in Wilmington is no exception.​

Back in 1993, when the entire property was conveyed by Bellamy Mansion, Inc. to Preservation NC for restoration and operation, we knew little about the small, handsome building in the back northeastern corner of the property. ​​The building had severely deteriorated through the years, and its counterpart on the northwest corner, the carriage house, was long gone. Only a stack of bricks remained of that.
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​While there are no windows at the back of the Bellamy Museum slave quarters, there are more than enough on the front of the building to provide the enslaved people who lived and worked there a constant reminder of the family and the house they served across the back yard.

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The Bellamy slave quarters in 1994 prior to restoration with some of its secrets soon to be discovered.

In Wilmington, when the slave quarters building was constructed in 1859, such structures were often termed “negro houses.” This Italianate style dependency is a rare, intact example of an urban slave dwelling, and includes sleeping quarters, laundry room, and privies.

A 1994 grant enabled us to research both the slave quarters and carriage house to learn more about the property's African-American legacy. Research historian and author Peter Sandbeck completed a historic structures report on the slave quarters, while teacher and African-American history specialist Alice Eley Jones researched the people who would have lived in those buildings. These studies, together with extensive archaeological research, and more than $1 million in private support, led to the reconstruction of the missing carriage house in the early 2000s; landscaped grounds and gardens; and in 2014 the restored slave quarters.
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From the beginning, the slave quarters has parceled out its secrets. Alice Jones predicted that we would find cowry shells and coins in the ground in front of the slave quarters entrance -- and we did. For centuries, cowry shells were used as African currency, and they were considered symbols of wealth and fortune.

We learned that the slave quarters were built prior to the main house, and were probably used as a residence for the enslaved and free Black craftsmen who worked on its construction.

While repointing the east wall of the slave quarters, Wayne Thompson of Heritage Restoration found three pieces of broken white china that had been placed in mortar joints to fill space. Wayne also found some fired glass, shells, sticks and animal bones embedded in the mortar. Whether they are part of a ritual or accidental inclusion is open for more research. (We have a blog by UNCW's Dr. Lynn Mollenauer exploring this question here.)

South Asians and Africans considered cowrie shells beautiful objects of personal adornment, yet they were also used as "packing peanuts" for imported porcelain from China. European slave traders bought slaves using cowrie shells as currency. Source: Monticello.org.

The building had badly deteriorated because of many decades of roof leaks and termite damage. Any element that was intact and stable was left unaltered. Alongside that, areas of the original 1859 plasterwork and new 2013 plasterwork stand side-by-side, with no effort to disguise the difference. However, the restoration process went as far as to match the fineness of the sand, source of lime, and variety of horsehair in the plaster to get it as true to the original as possible.

It is likely that this collection of seemingly mundane items is a ritual concealment.

While the first slave quarters restoration project yielded the mentioned discoveries, more were to be found during the second round of work. Most notably was a precious find under a floorboard in the corner of the first story bedchamber. Archeologists discovered a cache of small objects, including buttons, a bead or two, an animal’s jawbone, a shard of pottery, and parts of a child’s doll. 

Perhaps the most striking discovery at the end of our restoration projects has been the sheer beauty of the two complementary buildings behind the Bellamy mansion. Finished with a pinkish slaked lime wash and dark green shutters to mimic their likely  original state, the slave quarters and carriage house are now unabashed examples of 1859 Italianate style.
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​One can't overlook the irony that the beauty of these buildings contrasts with the evil of slavery. And yet, the survival of these buildings has allowed us both to learn more about the full history of the site and to teach visitors more effectively about our state's complicated heritage.