Historic Stagville is a story of a pre-Civil War farm, enslaved people and surviving the war that tore the U.S. apart.

 

For farm equipment collectors, additionally, this site offers a chance to see the Great Barn, which was one of the largest built at that time period. There are period pieces of farm items in the barn, but the tour also includes the family home and slave quarters.

The Great Barn was built over a five-month period during 1860. The barn measures 133-by-32 feet and was originally used as a stable for mules, which operated the farming equipment and wagons. There is a loft area where my tour guide suggested one of the overseers lived.

The brochure about Historic Stagville states it was part of a plantation complex, once the largest in (Durham) North Carolina. At its height in 1860, the land holdings of the Bennehan-Cameron family totaled 30,000 acres, or 47 square miles. More than 900 enslaved men, women and children also lived and worked on the plantations in 1860 – the largest enslaved community in North Carolina.

The Bennehan House was originally the home of Richard Bennehan, his wife and two children. The family purchased the property in 1787 and ran a store on it. They brought the first enslaved family to their site – Ned and Esther and their children Humphrey, Phebe and Bett. The Bennehan house started out as a two-room structure in the vernacular Georgian style. The family expanded the home in 1799. By then there were more than 44 slaves on the property.

While it appears simple, the large rooms, decorative woodwork and glass windows showcased the family’s wealth.

Richard also added barns, granaries, cribs and stables to his ever-expanding property.

The Bennehan family lived in the home until 1847; after that, it served as a home for the overseer and later as a sharecropper house. The house was occupied until the 1950s when the Liggett & Myers Tobacco Co. purchased the home and remaining acreage.

The Cameron connection comes in from the man Richard Bennehan’s daughter, Rebecca, would marry, Duncan Cameron, in 1803. Richard later established a partnership with his son, Thomas, and Duncan. Duncan and Rebecca went on to have 8 children, but Thomas never married.

When he passed, he left the Stagville holdings to his nephew, Paul Cameron. A historical article claims Paul was the sole heir of both his father’s and Uncle Thomas’ estates.

He was actively engaged in the operation of the plantation. He also became a state senator from 1856-57. At the beginning of the Civil War, Paul was considered the wealthiest man in North Carolina. The isolated location of the plantation helped keep the Civil War from affecting the day-to-day operations of the plantation, except for some raids and small fights at the end of the war.

The tour also includes the Visitors Center, the Bennehan House, Horton Grove – which is the site of four original slave cabins – and the beautiful Great Barn. The website adds: “These (enslaved) carpenters and artisans were responsible for the erection of the Horton Grove slave quarters, the Great Barn and all of the other buildings on the plantation except for the Bennehan House.”

The slave quarters were built at Horton Grove in 1851. Each dwelling contains four rooms and approximately 80-100 people lived in the homes. They were well designed and off the ground – the guide contended this was to ensure the slaves stayed healthy. The brochure states: “The slaves living at Horton Grove worked from dawn to dusk, six days a week, planting and harvesting crops. When returning after dusk, slaves tended gardens, fruit trees and livestock to supplement their meager rations of cornmeal, molasses and salted pork. Hunting and fishing helped in supplementing their diets.

“Slaves prepared meals over an outdoor fire pit; a West African tradition brought by ancestors to the New World, then passed down. Communal cooking provided slaves with necessary nutrients and an expression of community.” After the war, many newly freed families left Stagville. Some chose to stay,however, as day laborers or sharecroppers.

Many descendants of the Bennehan-Cameron enslaved community remain in present day Durham County and the surrounding area.

In 1976, Liggett & Meyers donated some of the acreage to the state of North Carolina. The site is located at 5828 Old Oxford Highway in Durham. It is open Tuesday-Saturday from 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Check out the website at www.stagville. org for more information.

(Writer’s correction: In my column two weeks ago I incorrectly stated that Sullivan Auctioneers are from Hamilton, Ind., when it is actually Illinois.)