Bellamy Family Papers 1825-1894 - UF Special and Area Studies Collections

A Guide to the Bellamy Family Papers, 1825-1894

Finding aid created by Gene Goldmintz

University of Florida Smathers Libraries - Special and Area Studies Collections
April 2007


Descriptive Summary
	Provenance:	Bellamy family.
	Title:	Bellamy Family Papers
	Dates:	1825-1894
	Bulk dates:	1847-1860
	Abstract:	Correspondence amongst members of the Bellamy family and others.
	Extent:	0.2 linear feet. (1 box)
	Identification:	Ms 214

Biographical/Historical Note

John Bellamy (??- 1845) and his wife Margaret Bellamy (??-1847) moved to East Florida with their five children in 1821. The Bellamys were one of the first inhabitants of Tallahassee and longtime residents of Jefferson County. Through the labor of his seventy or more slaves Bellamy constructed a plantation near Miccosukee Lake where other wealthy "barons" lived (Davis 1944, 27). Establishing himself early on as a resilient entrepreneur, Bellamy grew rice, tobacco, cotton, and sugar cane amassing assets of over $87,000 in slaves, equipment, and financial holdings by the time of his death in 1845 (Jefferson County 1847, April 10).

John Bellamy was closely associated with construction of a major east-west thoroughfare across Florida. Known as the Bellamy Road, it roughly followed the old Mission Trail. Prior to the construction of this road the only other major highway in Florida was the King’s Road, constructed by the British in 1763 to run from St. Augustine to Colerain, Georgia (Rerick 1902, 165). John Bellamy agreed to complete the portion of the Bellamy Road that ran from the Ochlockonee River to the St. Johns River for a sum of $13,500 (Boyd 1936, 160, 161). Construction began on December 21, 1824 with Bellamy’s own equipment and slaves. The Bellamy Road was completed in 1826.

Sources: Grenelle, Eleanor Hortense, The Bellamys of Territorial Florida (Master’s Thesis, University of Florida, 1953). Book of Inventories and Appraisements, and Account of Sales (Jefferson County, September 15, 1846). "The Tallahassee Historical Society’s ‘Apalachee’: Tallahassee Through Territorial Days," Florida Historical Quarterly 23 (July) 1944: 27-28. Rerick, R.H., Memories of Florida, 2 Vols., edited by Francis P. Fleming (Atlanta: Southern Historical Association, 1902). Boyd, M.F., "The First American Road in Florida: Pensacola-St. Augustine Highway, 1824, Part II," Florida Historical Quarterly 14 (January) 1936: 139-192.

Scope and Content

The Bellamy Papers contain correspondence between members of the Bellamy family and their acquaintances, spanning the years 1825-1894. These letters are personal in nature, consisting mostly of family members and friends corresponding with one another over personal matters. The major correspondents are Burton William Bellamy and his mother, Eliza A. Bellamy. Eliza's second husband was William J. Bailey, and the collection contains correspondence relating to the Bailey family, also of Jefferson County.

Of particular interest is Burton Bellamy’s “Paper on Slavery” (1849). This piece, written from the eyes of a southern man studying at Yale, defends the institution and maintenance of American slavery as the South’s unalienable right as derived from the Constitution of the United States. This was the prevailing argument during this time, and thus reflects the greater socio-political climate of the slave-holding section of the nation. The letters are arranged chronologically.

Access or Use Restrictions

Access

Collection is open for research.