Urban Slavery at the Bellamy Residence

When his father died in 1826, nine-year-old John D. Bellamy inherited 21 enslaved people. By 1860 he owned 115 in North Carolina, spread across three counties. He had 82 enslaved men, women, and children working at "Grovely," Bellamy’s produce plantation in Brunswick County. In Columbus County, there were 24 enslaved men between the ages of 17-40 who lived and worked at "Grist," Bellamy’s turpentine plantation. And in New Hanover County at the 503 Market Street townhome, nine domestic enslaved workers maintained the property and served the Bellamy family and their guests. The museum is fortunate to know their names and something of their lives. 

Antebellum cities of the South were like urban plantations where the lives of rural planters, town merchants, and enslaved workers were enmeshed.

At Bellamy's Grist plantation, slaves distilled turpentine from pine sap. They cut the sapped trees into large sections and floated them down the river to Wilmington’s lumber mills.

The 1860 county slave census detailed the enslaved person's age, sex, and if they were "black" or "mulatto" beside the name ​of their owner.

​​In the 1860 slave census for John D. Bellamy’s Wilmington townhome, shown here, we can glean the following: Sarah, age 45, was the cook/housekeeper; Joan, 37, wet nurse/nanny; Rosella Simmons, 21, laundress; Mary Ann Nixon, 14, maid; Guy Nixon (the only “mulatto” - a person defined as being of mixed Black and White ancestry), 20, butler/coachman; Caroline (Joan’s daughter), 7, maid; and three unnamed girls, age 4, 3 and 1. Newly discovered records indicate that two of the youngest girls were Rosella’s daughters Charlotte and Harriett Potter. Ellen also recalled Tony Bellamy, an enslaved handyman, who likely lived at Grovely and came to the city when maintenance was needed.

​At the Bellamy residence in Wilmington, Sarah readied coffee and began meal preparations each day at 5 o’clock in the morning in the townhome's basement kitchen pictured at right.

​Mary Ann collected chamber pots from the mansion and emptied them into the privies. Guy’s first job was to pump water from the backyard cistern to a holding tank in the mansion, which supplied water to the second floor bathroom.​

The Bellamys moved into the home with their eight children, who ranged in age from a 19-year-old daughter, Belle,  to 18-month-old Chesley. Primary care of the youngest Bellamy children was the responsibility of Joan, an enslaved wet nurse and nanny. Joan’s young daughter, Caroline, was described in a family memoir as matriarch Eliza Bellamy’s “little maid” who followed her “foot to foot.” She likely helped Mrs. Bellamy with her morning routine while Joan roused and tended to the Bellamy children.

As coachman, Guy cared for the carriage as well as the horses. Each morning he prepared to drive Dr. Bellamy to his properties, or take Mrs. Bellamy and the children to visit friends or relatives. He ran errands in town and needed written permission from the Bellamys to legally purchase goods. Laws regulated where and when enslaved people could go, with whom they could do business, and with whom they could spend their leisure time. Wilmington’s slave owners nevertheless often disregarded the laws if it benefitted them.

Similar to the image of an enslaved worker shown at left, ​Rosella spent most of her 16-hour workdays as a laundress. She washed and dried linens and clothing for the Bellamys and their guests in the slave quarters’ laundry room. She was likely assisted by Mary Ann; together they ironed in a basement room in the mansion. The youngest enslaved girls likely helped carry laundry bundles and fold napkins.

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The slaves used these exterior stairs to move between the mansion’s floors as their daily work required. The enslaved women and girls who were not preoccupied with the Bellamy children, meal preparations, or laundry spent their afternoons climbing the slave stairs as they cleaned, dusted, polished silver, and readied the mansion for guests.

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Guy served the evening meal, while Caroline used a “shoo fly” to ensure diners’ meals were insect free. They would then tend to the needs of the family and their guests after dinner in the parlors while Sarah tidied the kitchen and Mary Ann washed dishes. Joan put the Bellamy children to bed, and after all guests left for the night, the slaves retired to their bed chambers. Their workday ended around 10 o’clock, but they were on-call 24 hours a day. After a few hours’ slumber, the market house bell rang and another day began.
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Source: Bellamy Mansion Museum Slave Quarters Exhibit.​