The antebellum plantation experience, as lived by the enslaved, was neither happy nor joyous. "It is unacceptable to subject the descendants of enslaved African Americans to whitewashed versions of history that ignore their ancestors experience.". One day toward the end of the project, My friend Ronnie and I went down to remove what was left from an old tree my Dad had cut down the day before and other light work. Required fields are marked *. Create your own unique website with customizable templates. Positioned on a commanding hilltop, Belle Mont Mansion is one of Alabama's crowning architectural achievements. All rights reserved. Then he didnt snap back and unadded me and my Freinds girlfriend said a woman followed us back to the car and as soon as we pulled out a car came out of no where like we seen no headlights the whole time and we get home And another Freind of mine gets a text and said we know you was here no trespassing and Said I had a picture taker (dont really know what that means) and he had a drink and a bag of chips and he threw it down and they said we found your snack. Lewis called our tendency to view our own age as superior to others, is a dark chasm ending in our own destruction. Most Americans know that George Washington owned enslaved people at his Mount Vernon home. 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. Isaac Winston owned 114 slaves according to the 1860 census and died August 13, 1863 at Bell Mont during the American Civil War. Off Campus Book Store University of North Alabama, Norton Auditorium University of North Alabama. Share Your Experience or Comments - Belle Mont. Founded in 2008, AlabamaHauntedHouses.com is a simple and unique online haunted event & attraction resource created to make it easy for locals to find Haunted House, Spook Walk, Corn Maze, and other Halloween Attractions in their local area. I was amazed at the huge floor joist under the house, then I had that feeling someone had walked up behind me, I thought it was Ronnie, at that time I noticed some graffiti that had been put there, and asked Ronnie what he thought about, but when I turned around, Iwas there by myself. This is not a good thing. The underlying premise of the anti-plantation movement is that Southern plantations cannot be romanticized. Indeed, I wonder how many black Americans even have a deceased grandparent who could have had a memory of antebellum America. The site is 1/4 mile west of US 43 South on Cook Lane, three miles south of intersection US 43 and US 72. The home was built. The letter was signed by social justice groups Project Say Something, Standing in Power, of Decatur, and Beyond the Women's March. Nor do the sins of our forefathers nullify their many acts of virtue or the great political and cultural gifts they bestowed upon future generations. Although the actual design of Belle Mont is a mystery, this particular relationship provides a clue about the original designer, or at least his influence. 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. Happy haunting! At first you think this is all in your imagination. First, there is no such thing as a slave plantation. There are cotton plantations, sugar plantations, tobacco plantations, etc., etc., but no slave plantations. 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. Four bedrooms surround the rear or south courtyard, forming its U-shaped brick exterior. If you've had a paranormal experience here, or have any additional information about this location, please let us know! 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. The answer will always be a mystery. It remained in the Winston family for over a century, and is currently used as a historic house museum open for tours by appointment. Constructed between 1849 and 1860, Belmont Mansion was the home of Adelicia and Joseph Acklen. The modern application of this practice is also redolent of any of those ancient heresies that are uncomfortable with the complicated reality that vice and virtue, spiritual and material, co-exist within the human experience. Being new to the area, none of us knew of the Belmont Mansion or its location. That seems far more justified than puritannical policing of plantations. The Belle Mont Mansion was constructed from 1828-1832. At this time, the family decided to move to a different location but continued to hold Thanksgiving and Christmas celebrations in the mansion. 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. Tickets may also be purchased by credit card by calling the museum at 256-381-5052 or online . . 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. And have seen shadows and once a figure of a person. If you purchase a product or register for an account through one of the links on our site, we may receive compensation. He says, the man that lives in that house. still pointing. How many of the great nations of human history have so actively beat their breasts over their sins, both against their own citizens and the peoples of the world? Yet self-righteous assaults on these places and the many ways they are used will not bring restorative justice. Now, thats poetic justice. Earlier this month, prodded by the group Color of Change, four wedding websites said they . Belle Mont, built between 1828 and 1832, was a plantation that used slave labor. Use the "Browse" or "Choose File" button below to select an image to upload along with your comment. According to the letter, Christmas was a disturbing time for the enslaved. The architecture of Belmont Mansion makes it one of the most significant homes of 19th century Tennessee. The property is located just south of Tuscumbia and west of US Route 43 at 1569 Cook Lane. Community Rules apply to all content you upload or otherwise submit to this site. The use of the NPS name for any unauthorized events or activities is strictly prohibited. The tell when I was growing up was that the book 13 Alabama Ghosts held a tell from that house. I have heard quiet voices in the night. William F. Buckleys popularization of Eric Voegelins warning is apt: Dont immanentize the eschaton!. It has been referred to as the Isaac Winston House and is listed as Belmont in the National Register of Historic Places and as the Henry B. Thornton Plantation House in the Historic American Buildings Survey. Slaves in the plantation generations were members of what Berlin calls "slave societies," where slavery was the primary source of labor. I grew up in Florence and my Great Grandmother lived near the mansion on Colbert Heights mountain. Couple looking at a car in the Alabama Music Hall of Fame. 2023 The Federalist, A wholly independent division of FDRLST Media. 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. Before you visit ANY local real haunt, make sure to acquire the appropriate permits and/or permissions, and be respectful of privately owned properties. Marble bust of Helen Keller. Located in the heart of Nashville on the Belmont University Campus. The Belle Mont Mansion in Tuscumbia Alabama was built around 1828 for physician and planter Alexander Williams Mitchell. This was just word of mouth and may not have been accurate, but Im glad to hear it can be toured. Your email address will not be published. The house is listed on the National Historic Registry (#19820223). This celebration clearly ignores the perspective of those who experienced Belle Mont as a forced labor camp., Slavery hard to teach in Cotton State of Alabama, elementary educators say. A mural of the Clotilda adorns a concrete embankment in Africatown, a community near Mobile founded by Africans illegally transported to Alabama aboard the slave ship. Ken is a graphic designer, web developer and co-founder of One True Paranormal, a para-group in southwest Missouri. 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. The Miracle Worker organ. 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. 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. 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. Admission: Adults $6; students, seniors, military $5; and children 6-18 $3. Then you maybe talk to family members and realize everyone feels the same way. 1569 Cook Lane, Tuscumbia, Alabama 35674 View Map CONTACT Site Director: Ninon Parker Museum: 256- 381-5052 Email: bellemontmansion@gmail.com Dr. Mitchell and his family of seven were already living in Belle Mont when it was fully completed in 1832. The vast majority of information provided on this web site is anecdotal, and as such, should be viewed in the same light as local folklore and urban legends. 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. Mr. Winston was a cousin of Dolly Madison, Patrick Henry, and Isaac Cole, who was a personal friend and secretary of President Thomas Jefferson. It was one of those drizzly unpleasant days, so after a while I went into the Cellar area of the plantation. Contact the museum for current rates, policies, and an application. According to census records, Mitchell enslaved 115 people at the cotton plantation. 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. Nearby, an early 1800s mansion, Belle Mont, is available for touring. Affordable Nashville Elopements start here! 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. My wife, son (age 5) and I were heading from Muscle Shoals to our home in Littleville after a night of shopping and eating. In addition, volunteers from the Colbert County Historical Landmarks Foundation assist as docents for special events and participate in fund-raising activities. Dr. Mitchell and his family of seven were already living in Belle Mont when it was fully completed in 1832. Belle Mont was built for Alexander Williams Mitchell, who grew up in Louisa County, Virginia, only 25 miles from Jefferson's home at Monticello. The house and surrounding property are reportedly haunted by the former slaves that lived and died on the plantation. Related Videos Video #1 10 years later, I relayed the story for the first time to him the day my wife and I decided to visit the place and asked him if he would like to go see the man he saw that night. he respectfully declined. Its also not as if Dixie estates were the only sites where acts of brutality were committed by one group of Americans against another. Stay safe. 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. The groups who are critiquing the event in Tuscumbia believe historical sites must be honest and respectful. 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." Constructed between 1849 and 1860, Belmont Mansion was the home of Adelicia and Joseph Acklen. I got chills then tried to write it off. While slavery is often associated with large plantations, the institution permeated Southern culture. Moreover, the entire. "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. 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. 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). The Winston family maintained ownership and continued living in Belle Mont through the Civil War and until around 1940. Colbert County Historical Landmarks Foundation, Inc. is the support group in charge of operating the site. Visit BelmontMansionEvents.com to review options to Elope in Nashville at Belmont Mansion. 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. Located just outside Tuscumbia in Colbert County, the mansion is one of a few Palladian-style houses in the Deep South. The voices in the night are the hardest to explain away. 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. The organization behind this growing movement, Color of Change, indicts vendors for using words like breathtaking to describe plantations. e prior to the Civil War. What do you think? All information on this page was submitted to Alabama Haunted Houses and was believed to be accurate at the time it was posted. For more information, click here. 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. I have lived here since 1963. And in the process, these attacks have unintended economic consequences on working-class Americans. It is said to be haunted by slaves who died on the grounds and also by former owners. Then they could celebrate their wedding reception at a Southern manor and have a hell of a good time. Tickets are available at Belle Mont Mansion and at Fiddledee D! You can visit the historic Belle Mont Mansion at 1569 Cook Ln., Tuscumbia, Alabama 35674. As there is not formal cemetery for the slaves it is likely that they were buried on some part of the estate. The property remained in the family until 1941 and in 1983 the house and 35 acres was donated to the State of Alabama by the Fennel family. belle mont mansion slaves July 3, 2022 July 3, 2022 July 3, 2022 July 3, 2022. 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. This is not to say there isnt something a bit discomforting about vendors labeling slave cabins on these properties as evoking an elaborate past, as if blacks were happy, willing participants in a fanciful world of white gentry as portrayed in Gone with the Wind. All the same, targeting Southern wedding venues for bigotry reflects yet another manifestation of a purification of our culture and history. Catholics in the 19th century suffered violent assaults at the hands of anti-papist mobs on the streets of Boston, Philadelphia, and New York. No profanity. This would have been in the late 60s, early 70s I would guess. 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