Belle Mina Plantation, Limestone County, Alabama
Location: Limestone, Alabama, United States
Surnames/tags: Black_Heritage Bibb Slavery
Contents |
Introduction
US Black Heritage Index of Plantations
Background
One of the earliest plantation houses with a monumental portico in the state, Belle Mina was built from 1826–35 for Alabama's second governor, Thomas Bibb. Bibb was a native of Amelia County, Virginia.
Belle Mina, known as Belmina during the 19th century, was a "historic slave farm and plantation house"[1] in Belle Mina, Alabama, United States. Completed in 1826, the Late Georgian-style house was built for Alabama's second governor, Thomas Bibb.[2]
Originally located at the center of a "2,500-acre agricultural slave complex, the red brick main house is one of the earliest Alabama examples of a stereotypical columned plantation house."[3][4][5] The house and surrounding 9 acres were added to the National Register of Historic Places on October 31, 1972.[6]
Location
The coordinates for Belle Mina Plantation are 34.64479°N 86.88078°. This is at Belle Mina, Limestone, Alabama just in the center part of the far northern part of the state. In 1860, 52.8% of the county population were slaves.
History
Thomas acquired a large land acreage at Belle Mina, Alabama,[7] where he erected the famous Bibb mansion (see Belle Mina Plantation House) and lived in regal style surrounded by his race horses and fox hounds. This mansion has long been one of the show places of the South, disclosing an elegance hardly surpassed in any section of the country. There is hardly a more out¬ standing example of the old southern aristocracy than this Bibb mansion, which has been occupied by Governor Bibb’s descendants up to the beginning of the year 1941. [8]
As the area was still being converted from a frontier, no sawed lumber or ready-made brick was available when Bibb set out to build the house. So he used the profits from crops grown by slaves to raise a sawmill and build a brick kiln. Bibb enslaved skilled artisans to produce the construction materials and build the house. It took him several years to find and enslave a highly skilled mason and an expert carpenter.[4]The house was basically complete by 1826, although work on various buildings of the plantation complex continued up to 1835.[9]
During the Civil War, the home was occupied by Federal troops.[10]
Bibb died in 1839, but the plantation remained in his family until 1941. At that time it was purchased by Dr. and Mrs. Berthold Kennedy, who renovated the mansion shortly afterward. Another renovation was completed in 1967. At that time a kitchen wing and garage were built and some minor interior modifications were done.[4]
Another plantation home, Woodside, was built on the estate one half-mile from the main house. It was constructed in 1860-61 as a wedding gift to Mary Chambers Bibb by her father Porter Bibb, the son of Alabama’s second governor, Thomas Bibb. It was completely destroyed in a fire on November 18, 2022.[11][12]
Architecture
The two-story brick structure features exterior walls that are 3 feet thick, laid in Flemish bond. The front (east) elevation of the house is dominated by a monumental Tuscan hexastyle portico that spans the entire five-bay, 60-foot wide front facade. The floor of the stylobate and the columns are brick. The portico shelters the main front entrance with its delicate fanlight and sidelights in the central bay. A three-part window is centered above the front entrance. The remaining bays are defined by rectangular twelve-over-twelve sash windows on both levels. A hip roof, originally crowned by a balustrade, covers both the portico and main structure. An original one-story, semi-detached brick service wing with three rooms is located towards the rear of the house, on the south side.[9]
The house and grounds were initially surrounded by a 5-foot-high brick wall. It was demolished during the Civil War. The rooftop deck and balustrade were destroyed in a tornado on July 16, 1875.[9]
The interior of the house featured Federal-style woodwork, Adam-style fireplace mantels, and a spiral primary stairway.[13][9] The floor plan was based on the center-hall prototype, with two large primary rooms on either side of a 15-by-60-foot hallway. The first floor also features a side hall and a secondary stairway.
Owners
- Date of Erection; 1826
- Governor Thomas Bibb (until his death in 1839)
- Parmelia (Thompson) Bibb (1784-1854) (Thomas's wife, until her death in 1855)
- Thomas Bibb Jr (abt.1810-abt.1861) (until his death in 1861)
- See this page to create enslaved people recorded in Thomas Bibb Jr's will:
Slaves of Thomas Bibb Jr, Limestone County, Alabama
- Thomas Jr's wife Anna C. (Unknown) Bibb (abt.1810-) (Anna refused to reliquish the estate until 1865 to her brother-in-law, David Porter Bibb, who inherited the plantataion under the conditions of his father Thomas Bibb Sr's will of 1840.[14])
- David Porter Bibb (abt.1814-abt.1865) (Moved in during 1865 and died the same year)
- Mary Parrott Chambers (Betts) Edwards (abt.1816-1898) (D P Bibb's wife commenced a series of lawsuits for 10 years for her dower rights which ended up in the Alabama Supreme Court and was denied on appeal.)[15] Meanwhile, her son David Porter Bibb Jr was managing the estate.[16]
- David Porter Bibb Jr (until he died in 1915)
- Bibb family (until 1941)
- Berthold Kennedy
Slaves
The following are the slave records for Thomas Bibb and his descendants when they lived on Belle Mina Plantation.
1830 U.S. Census
The 5th Census of the United States recorded slaves for Thomas Bibb in Huntsville, Madison, Alabama.[17]
| Male | ||
| 10-24 | 1 | |
| Female | ||
| Less than 10 | 3 | |
| 24-36 | 2 |
1840 U.S. Census
The 6th Census of the United States recorded slaves for Thomas Bibb in Limestone County, Alabama in 1840.[18]
| Male | ||
| 10-24 | 15 | |
| 24-35 | 6 | |
| 36-55 | 8 | |
| 55-100 | 1 | |
| Females | ||
| Less than 10 | 5 | |
| 10-24 | 10 | |
| 24-35 | 10 | |
| 36-55 | 5 | |
| 55-100 | 1 |
1850 U.S. Census (Slave Schedule)
The 7th Census of the United States recorded slaves in separate enumerations. Parmelia (Thompson) Bibb (1784-1854) was the owner in 1850.[19]
| Name | Sex | Age | Birth Yr |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | F | 50 | 1800 |
| 2 | F | 45 | 1805 |
| 3 | F | 40 | 1810 |
| 4 | M | 35 | 1815 |
| 5 | F | 35 | 1815 |
| 6 | M | 30 | 1820 |
| 7 | F | 26 | 1824 |
| 8 | M | 16 | 1834 |
| 9 | F | 12 | 1838 |
| 10 | F | 7 | 1843 |
| 11 | M | 8 | 1842 |
| 12 | F | 20 | 1830 |
| 13 | M | 17 | 1833 |
| 14 | F | 13 | 1837 |
1860 U.S. Census (Slave Schedule)
The 8th Census of the United States recorded slaves in separate enumerations. Thomas Bibb Jr (abt.1810-abt.1861) was the owner in 1860[20]
| Name | Sex | Age | Birth Yr |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | F | 80 | 1780 |
| 2 | F | 75 | 1785 |
| 3 | F | 75 | 1785 |
| 4 | F | 70 | 1790 |
| 5 | F | 47 | 1813 |
| 6 | F | 52 | 1808 |
| 7 | F | 60 | 1800 |
| 8 | F | 58 | 1802 |
| 9 | M | 6 | 1854 |
| 10 | M | 55 | 1805 |
| 11 | M | 40 | 1820 |
| 12 | F | 52 | 1808 |
| 13 | M | 50 | 1810 |
| 14 | M | 65 | 1795 |
| 15 | M | 38 | 1822 |
| 16 | M | 48 | 1812 |
| 17 | M | 25 | 1835 |
| 18 | M | 30 | 1830 |
| 19 | M | 28 | 1832 |
| 20 | M | 26 | 1834 |
| 21 | M | 23 | 1837 |
| 22 | M | 19 | 1841 |
| 23 | M | 21 | 1839 |
| 24 | M | 16 | 1844 |
| 25 | M | 16 | 1844 |
| 26 | M | 16 | 1844 |
| 27 | M | 11 | 1849 |
| 28 | M | 10 | 1850 |
| 29 | M | 11 | 1849 |
| 30 | M | 10 | 1850 |
| 31 | M | 9 | 1851 |
| 32 | F | 8 | 1852 |
| 33 | F | 65 | 1795 |
| 34 | F | 25 | 1835 |
| 35 | F | 6 | 1854 |
| 36 | M | 1 | 1859 |
| 37 | F | 2 | 1858 |
| 38 | F | 1 | 1859 |
| 39 | F | 1 | 1859 |
| 40 | M | 4 | 1856 |
| 41 | F | 30 | 1830 |
| 42 | F | 1 | 1859 |
| 43 | F | 40 | 1820 |
| 44 | M | 40 | 1820 |
| 45 | M | 40 | 1820 |
| 46 | F | 35 | 1825 |
| 47 | F | 30 | 1830 |
| 48 | F | 18 | 1842 |
| 49 | F | 16 | 1844 |
| 50 | M | 25 | 1835 |
| 51 | F | 23 | 1837 |
| 52 | F | 23 | 1837 |
| 53 | F | 14 | 1846 |
| 54 | F | 24 | 1836 |
| 55 | M | 8 | 1852 |
| 56 | F | 4 | 1856 |
| 57 | F | 7 | 1853 |
1866 Alabama State Census
The 1866 Alabama State Census in Limestone, Alabama, United States has the following Bibb entries under Colored as head of households. Meaning that most of these took the Bibb surname after emancipation.
Sources
- ↑ Alabama's Tapestry of Historic Places: An Inventory. Montgomery: Alabama Historical Commission. 1978. p. 99
- ↑ White, Ronnie (May 9, 2007). "Belle Mina is Bibb legacy". The Huntsville Times. Retrieved July 25, 2011
- ↑ Robert Gamble (September 2, 2008). "Plantation Architecture in Alabama". The Encyclopedia of Alabama. Auburn University. Archived from the original on 26 July 2011. Retrieved July 25, 2011,
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Hammond, Ralph (1951). Antebellum Mansions of Alabama. New York: Architectural Book Publishers. pp. 48–51. ISBN 0-517-02075-0.
- ↑ Belle Mina; Society of Architectural Historians; (note-best one page summary)
- ↑ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. NRHP reference No. 72000164; National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
- ↑ [https://glorecords.blm.gov/results/default.aspx?searchCriteria=type=patent|st=AL|cty=083|ln=bibb|sp=true|sw=true|sadv=false#resultsTabIndex=0&page=1&sortField=11&sortDir=0 Thomas Bibb's Alabama Land Purchases
- ↑ Bibb, Charles William, compiler; "The Bibb Family in America; 1964-1940," Baltimore, MD, 1941, digitized by the Internet Archive in 2018; see: https://archive.org/details/bibbfamilyinamerOObibb
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 Gamble, Robert (1987). The Alabama Catalog: A Guide to the Early Architecture of the State. University, AL: University of Alabama Press. pp. 45, 260. ISBN 0-8173-0148-8.
- ↑ Dylan Tucker, University of North Alabama, “Belle Mina Plantation,” Omeka at Auburn, accessed April 29, 2023, https://omeka.lib.auburn.edu/items/show/553.
- ↑ Kremer, Nick (November 20, 2022). "Plantation house destroyed in Friday night fire". WSFA-TV. Archived from the original on November 22, 2022
- ↑ [https://www.enewscourier.com/news/historic-woodside-mansion-destroyed-by-fire/article_241742da-68fa-11ed-aa4a-ab4c7e5670d1.html Historic Woodside Mansion destroyed by fire, The News Courier, Athens, Alabama, Nov 20, 2022
- ↑
- ↑ Edwards v. Bibb, 54 Ala. 475 (1875) Dec. 1875 · Alabama Supreme Court
- ↑ Edwards v. Bibb, 54 Ala. 475 (1875) Dec. 1875 · Alabama Supreme Court
- ↑ Alabama, Freedmen's Bureau...Officce Records, 1865-1872, Roll 15, Misc Records, 1856-1867, https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-99L6-92CK?i=14&cc=2575789
- ↑ "United States Census, 1830", database with images, FamilySearch (ark:/61903/1:1:XHPH-SH2 : Fri Jun 02 19:13:50 UTC 2023), Entry for Thomas Bibb, 1830.
- ↑ 1840 Census: "United States Census, 1840," database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XHTL-DT1 : 2 October 2021), Thos Bibb, Limestone, Alabama, United States; citing p. 134, NARA microfilm publication , (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.), roll ; FHL microfilm .
- ↑ "United States Census (Slave Schedule), 1850 ", database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:HRWT-69ZM : 23 February 2021), Permilia Bibb in entry for MM9.1.1/MV88-7FN:, 1850.
- ↑ "United States Census (Slave Schedule), 1860", database with images, FamilySearch (ark:/61903/1:1:WKN5-Q43Z : Fri Jun 16 07:57:07 UTC 2023), Entry for T Bibb, 1860.
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