"While the holidays brought a brief respite from work, many enslaved people took the opportunity to escape the bondage of the plantation," the letter said. Isaac Winston owned 114 slaves according to the 1860 census and died August 13, 1863 at Bell Mont during the American Civil War. Community Rules apply to all content you upload or otherwise submit to this site. For some reason a lot of places in Tuscumbia AL are haunted. However, the pamphlet continues by claiming that, characteristics of Jeffersonian Classicism are exhibited at Belle Mont, including finely executed brickwork with contrasting woodwork and a hilltop setting. Would like to know if anyone does know anything about it and any info in accordance with that reference. Violence against blacks and other disenfranchised groups have occurred across our nation's landscape, many in popular and well-trod locales, North and South, East and West. Id suggest a far better solution for prospective newlyweds, regardless of race or ethnicity, would be to get married where they should: in a church. The property is located just south of Tuscumbia and west of US Route 43 at 1569 Cook Lane. Group rates available. Me and a group of Freinds went out there one night and we first get there we get out the car and walking up the hill to the house and I get a snapchat (popular app used by teens) from someone I dont even got added and he said Im behind you then he sent another one and said I know where you are and I sent a snap and said where am I the. Their appetites will not be satisfied until all things and persons associated with injustice, real or imagined, are expunged from public experience and memory. All rights reserved. I came out of the cellar and saw Ronnie sitting in my truck, so I asked if he had came into the cellar, he told me no. It was the centerpiece of a 1,760 acre cotton plantation and had one of the largest slave populations in the state. Will NOT be displayed. Ken is a graphic designer, web developer and co-founder of One True Paranormal, a para-group in southwest Missouri. Unlock premium content, ad-free browsing, and access to comments for just $4/month. The house and surrounding property are reportedly haunted by the former slaves that lived and died on the plantation. But fewer probably know that it . Belle Mont also illustrates Jeffersons reverence for the neoclassical architectural elements and ideas of the Italian Renaissance architect, Andrea Palladio," (Commission 2). What Todays Cultural Marxists Would Be Wise To Learn From Martin Luther King Jr. She said he would come out shooting if he caught trespassers. The Belle Meade Plantation in Nashville hired a black historian to research the site's enslavement history and to offer tours so visitors can learn about the African Americans who were enslaved on the property. One account is from young William Acklin, a enslaved worker, and the other from a visitor to the estate. According to the letter, Christmas was a disturbing time for the enslaved. Owning 1,680 acres of cotton and corn, Dr. Mitchell became known as one of the largest planters in the area before he quickly sold the mansion and the surrounding land one year after its completion.However, while living in Belle Mont and planting the surrounding acres, Dr. Mitchell housed 152 slaves in 13 slave cabins on the property. The voices in the night are the hardest to explain away. Slavery Plantation Agriculture Robert J. Vejnar, Kennesaw State University Dogtrot Cabin at Belle Mont Plantation Plantation agriculture was a form of large-scale farming that was most prevalent during the colonial and antebellum periods of American history. Belle Mont Mansion Tuscumbia, Alabama 65.4 miles from Tupelo, MS. A former slave plantation, it is believed to be haunted by slaves that lived and died here and also possibly by the ghosts of its former owners. Top ways to experience Belle Mont Mansion and nearby attractions Florence, Muscle Shoals Multi-Attraction Pass 2 Attractions & Museums from $25.00 per adult Muscle Shoals Sound Studio Tour in Sheffield Alabama 72 Recommended Walking Tours from $20.00 per adult The Raptor, High Rope Course and Zipline Tickets, Wheeler Lake KOA 1 e prior to the Civil War. Belle Mont Mansion By Ken Weigandin Ashley Ann Lewis, Haunted Locations Belle Mont was erected in 1828 for a physician from Louisa County, Virginia, Dr. Alexander Williams Mitchell. All submissions made to The National Paranormal Society, for the purposes of data analysis, article or editorial publication, team, individual or service listing, or any other submission category not listed become the property of the NPS. Belle Mont's out-buildings are no longer standing, but several foundations, including that of a slave house, have been located by archeologists. Sign up for our newsletter and receive Halloween event updates, discounts and more! n 1832. Advertised as an event where people can experience the "hospitality of the Old South", "A Plantation Christmas" was held at the Belle Mont Mansion on Sunday evening. My wife and I went to the mansion and learned of its peculiarities from the informative guide person. As there is not formal cemetery for the slaves it is likely that they were buried on some part of the estate. In addition, volunteers from the Colbert County Historical Landmarks Foundation assist as docents for special events and participate in fund-raising activities. Peace to everyone. No haunted tours for me. Belle Mont Mansion | Tuscumbia AL Belle Mont is located south of Tuscumbia in Colbert Couty in northwest Alabama. You can visit the historic Belle Mont Mansion at 1569 Cook Ln., Tuscumbia, Alabama 35674. The Knot, WeddingWire, and Pinterest are seeking to limit content on their websites that promotes Southern plantations as a wedding venue. Small items like dimes and nails are moved. Just outside the city of Tuscumbia, the 700+ acre Cane Creek Canyon Nature . Belle Mont Mansion is located outside of Tuscumbia. However, while living in Belle Mont and planting the surrounding acres, Dr. Mitchell housed 152 slaves in 13 slave cabins on the property. It has a staff of three: a site director, curator, and tour guide. Plantation Christmas at Belle Mont is held annually the first Sunday in December and features period costumed interpreters, decorations, refreshments, and entertainment. Nanyehi was among the first Cherokee to own African-American slaves. According to the Times Daily, the event, which has been a holiday tradition in the Muscle Shoals area for over 30 years, offered vintage ballroom dancing, food and tour guides dressed in Antebellum garb. It is said to be haunted by slaves who died on the grounds and also by former owners. Only a country with a conscience in our case informed by the Christian beliefs of our ancestors would bother to engage in the kinds of self-criticism and atonement visible in American society. It was one of those drizzly unpleasant days, so after a while I went into the Cellar area of the plantation. Not sure if it did or not but sure does fit. "Others feared the upcoming slave auctions commonly held in January and February in north Alabama as well as upcoming contracts for slave labor that was 'hired out.'". By the following year, in 1890, all the houses occupied by enslaved Blacks on the estate had been destroyed, leaving no physical presence for interpretation. We also dont need to police their repurposing. In a letter sent to multiple Alabama Historical Commission officials Tuesday night, the coalition demanded an apology as well as a promise to no longer hold events supporting tours and events that "deny the brutality of the past." Earlier this month, prodded by the group Color of Change, four wedding websites said they . My son says, Yes, hes walking to the house. Having passed the sign and turn to the house, I realized there is no way he could have known of the house based on his not being able to read and having no pre-exposure to the houses existence. It's estimated that 40 percent of slave owners may have been white women. When i was 17 years old, Belle Mont Plantation house was in very bad shape and had not had any restoration done to it yet. In 1833, the property was bought by Issac Williams, who owned 119 enslaved people by 1855. "The celebration of a 'Plantation Christmas' represents a willful ignorance of the experience of enslaved people and a concocted memory of a joyous, white supremacist Christmas celebration," the letter said. She said that at times, she, and others, would smell a floral scent like a womans perfume and get a cold feeling for no reason as if in the presence of a ghost. These families included the Baker and Snowden families, among others. Its two-story north entrance salon is flanked on either side by a formal dining room and parlor. First, there is no such thing as a slave plantation. There are cotton plantations, sugar plantations, tobacco plantations, etc., etc., but no slave plantations. Belmont Mansion, or Belle Monte as it was known in the 19th century, was not a plantation but still relied on a large number of enslaved workers to maintain the estate. Share Your Experience or Comments - Belle Mont. At the time, the name of the plantation was not Gay Mont, but Rose Hill. Intimate and elegant elopement ceremonies are popular at Belmont Mansion! Is this place really haunted? The site originally served as the centerpiece for the large scale cotton. Slaves in the plantation generations were members of what Berlin calls "slave societies," where slavery was the primary source of labor. The Mitchell family sold Belle Mont and 33 of the surrounding acres to their friends Isaac and Catherine Baker Jones Winston, who were also from Virginia, in 1833. 2023 Advance Local Media LLC. Blue Star Museum: Belle Mont proudly offers free admission to active duty military personnel and their families between Memorial Day and Labor Day. 2019 was the year it finally became socially unacceptable to use a historic plantation as a wedding venue. If such locales have tragic histories, this is all the more reason to reimagine them in ways that both recognize and overcome that past. Plantations represent none of those things, declared a Pinterest spokesman, calling the glamorization of these estates a disrespectful practice. Pinterest visitors who search for plantation weddings or similar terms will now be warned that some results may violate the sites policies, de facto making plantations the equivalent of pornography. Chronological snobbery, as C.S. Belmont Mansion, also known as Acklen Hall, and originally known as Belle Monte, Belle Mont or Belmont, is a historic mansion located in Nashville, Tennessee. So all the people who work at these historic plantations, regardless of their race, sex, or income, must suffer the economic consequences of what feelings their employers history might provoke. He has a bachelors in history and masters in teaching from the University of Virginia and a masters in theology from Christendom College. Visitors to the mansion have reported seeing dark shadowy figures walking the fields and have heard the sound of chains rattling near the house.http://bellemont.weebly.com/history.htmlhttp://www.mystery411.com/Landing_bellemonttuscumbia.html. Contact the museum for current rates, policies, and an application. After finding lesson plans asking Alabama fourth-graders to write their own slave narratives, experts talk about the hardships of teaching slavery on an elementary school level. The schooner Clotilda smuggled African captives into the U.S. in 1860, more than 50 years after importing slaves was outlawed. It was built by Joseph and Adelicia Acklen to serve as the center of their 180-acre summer estate in what was then country outside the city, and featured elaborate gardens and a zoo. The celebration of a Plantation Christmas is racist, the letter reads. Happy haunting! Moreover, the entire country was once the land of American Indians, and a good deal of it deceptively or violently taken from them. A graduate of the University of Edinburgh, Scotland, he was a physician, planter, and an early elected official of Franklin (present-day Colbert) County, where he settled around 1820. Disclaimer: Alabama Haunted Houses does not endorse or support trespassing to visit real haunts. I havent asked in years the last I remember I think I may have heard it was being restored but privately owned and with no plans to open to the public. But she never mentioned any slave ghosts. Affordable Nashville Elopements start here! Multiple north Alabama organizations are demanding an apology after a Christmas event was held at a Colbert County plantation mansion where enslaved people once labored. The first slaves arrived to Belle Meade in 1807, and as decades rolled on, the number of slaves tripled to 136 of by 1860 based on the 1860 census record. Disclaimer: The stories posted here are user-submitted and are, in the nature of "ghost stories," largely unverifiable. All rights reserved. In. Indeed, I wonder how many black Americans even have a deceased grandparent who could have had a memory of antebellum America. The answer will always be a mystery. If you have lived in a haunted house you will not find this fun. If you've had a paranormal experience here, or have any additional information about this location, please let us know! Not-So-Scary Haunted Houses (Kid Friendly). The property is also available for tours Thursday through Sunday and for special event rentals. He was also a founding member of a Presbyterian church in Tuscumbia and among the area's largest owners of, Throughout the antebellum period, Isaac Winston operated Belle Mont as a cotton plantation, and the 1860 Census lists him as the owner of 114 enslaved African Americans. You can imagine me trying to picture my great aunt doing this, haha! I dont know any ghost stories but my mother tells a few funny stories. The historic home is the site of the annual Art of the Dish this week. This would have been in the late 60s, early 70s I would guess. It is best to play gospel or Christian radio in your house 24/7 to make them move on. Plantations used for bourgeois ceremonies with language that obscures or even glorifies the estates dark past are one example. Your email address will not be published. The Belle Mont Mansion in Tuscumbia Alabama was built around 1828 for physician and planter Alexander Williams Mitchell. Whats good for the goose is good for the gander, and one would have to be a clinical narcissist to think future generations wont find us at fault for any number of things. Visit BelmontMansionEvents.com to review options to Elope in Nashville at Belmont Mansion. Belle Mont isnt included in either of Kathryn Tucker Windhams books about Alabama ghosts. Many "ghost hunters" have been arrested because they failed to contact property owners and/or local authorities ahead of time. Went back into the cellar a coupple more times, but never had that akward feeling again. Being new to the area, none of us knew of the Belmont Mansion or its location. He was not buried on the property as many legends say but in the Winston Family Cemetery in Tuscumbia as was his wife Catherine who died July 25, 1884. I have heard quiet voices in the night. Following the death of his wife Alexander Mitchell remarried and sold the plantation to Isaac and Catherine Winston and moved to Philadelphia in 1833. Is it possible that Dr. Mitchell built Belle Mont in this style, two years after Jeffersons death, to honor the late president? We have located just two first-hand accounts of slavery at Belmont. Officials from multiple wedding-planning websites recently announced they are either no longer advertising plantation wedding venues or making those venues harder to find on their websites. Magnificently sited on a commanding hilltop, Belle Mont is one of early Alabama's crowning architectural achievements.. Mitchell became known as one of the largest planters in the area before he quickly sold the mansion and the surrounding land one year after its completion. The National Paranormal Society is not responsible for individuals, teams and submissions listed on the NPS website. Constructed between 1849 and 1860, Belmont Mansion was the home of Adelicia and Joseph Acklen. Couple looking at a car in the Alabama Music Hall of Fame. Use of the directory is at the discretion of the individual. As there is not formal cemetery for the slaves it is likely that they were buried on some part of the estate. It was then purchased by two women who in 1890 started a college which evolved into Belmont University. The Winston family maintained ownership and continued living in Belle Mont through the Civil War and until around 1940. Indeed, it is the Christian character of America that has allowed us to recognize and seek to rectify our past errors. A Pinterest representative, for example, announced that the website is working on de-indexing Google searches for plantation wedding. In December, a coalition of Alabama activists protested a Plantation Christmas event held at the Belle Mont Mansion near Tuscumbia, Alabama, because it memorialized white supremacist celebrations of Christmas. Surely, we do not want to pretend these places dont have a violent, racist past. At this time, the family decided to move to a different location but continued to hold Thanksgiving and Christmas celebrations in the mansion. "It is unacceptable to subject the descendants of enslaved African Americans to whitewashed versions of history that ignore their ancestors experience.". Montvale, the farm at Belmont, was destroyed in 1864. The source of Belle Monts design is shrouded in mystery, but tantalizing clues suggest the direct influence of President Thomas Jefferson, gentlemen architect of the early Republic, the official Belle Mont pamphlet states (Commission 2). It also reflects the vulnerability of American businesses to the whims of leftist protest movements. Three years later, during the middle of the. ?????? Visiting here is an opportunity to explore one of the few 1850s era homes still standing in Nashville while learning about the place and the people -- both free and enslaved -- who make this site worth understanding. An example of this occurred in December, when a number of black medical students posed for a photo at a former slave plantation, a site some of them called holy. Heck, why not celebrate their graduation there? Last edit to this listing: 1/16/2016 (2604 days ago). Owning 1,680 acres of cotton and corn, Dr. Mitchell became known as one of the largest planters in the area before he quickly sold the mansion and the surrounding land one year after its completion. Moreover, the entire. Built between 1828 and 1832 in the Jeffersonian style, Belle Mont was originally the home of Dr. Alexander Mitchell, who quickly sold the building to one Isaac Winston in 1833. It was then purchased by two women who in 1890 started a college which evolved into Belmont University. No profanity. Off Campus Book Store University of North Alabama, Norton Auditorium University of North Alabama. Her aunt, who was only a few years older than her, got busted sneaking in/vandalizing the mansion. If you purchase a product or register for an account through one of the links on our site, we may receive compensation. Admission: Adults $6; students, seniors, military $5; and children 6-18 $3. Its also not as if Dixie estates were the only sites where acts of brutality were committed by one group of Americans against another. Visitors to the mansion have reported seeing dark shadowy figures walking the fields and have heard the sound of chains rattling near the house. I know someone who used to volunteer at Belle Mont, which is open for tours, and she said the house was definitely haunted by a woman, possibility a former mistress or daughter who once lived in the house. I have experienced some very strange things in my home. During the 1960s, star-crossed lovers camped inside the rotting mansion in the woods, and the home has long been the site of drunken high school parties. This mansion is believed to have been influenced by Palladian style architecture for which Thomas Jefferson is known.
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