Gotta’ Run: Historic Stagville

Booper and I headed north from Salisbury on Aug. 6 in hopes of visiting N.C. Historic Sites at Stagville and Bennet Place. Both are in the Durham area. I read about Stagville and couldn’t wait to hear the story.
From 1776 to 1865, the Bennehan and Cameron plantations spread across 30,000 acres of land. They had jointly invested in slavery at Stagville. The Camerons inherited complete control in 1847. Hundreds of enslaved people were the backbone of the complex of farms, workshops, mansions and mills. Those enslaved families suffered separation, violence, hard labor and disease. They resisted with varying levels of sabotage, direct action, cultural traditions and freedom seeking. In 1865, 900 people were enslaved on the plantation.
What we found is the 165 acres that make up the Stagville State Historic Site that is one of the few plantation sites that remain in the nation that focuses on the lives, culture and labors of enslaved African Americans. We made it just in time to take the walking tour with Assistant Site Manager Adarra Blount
Dominating the visitor center portion of the tour was the Bennehan House, built between 1787 and 1799. It was a busy house as the center of the plantation complex. We were not able to tour the inside of the home, but heard how the enslaved people, especially those that worked inside, thought the luxury of the house was built on violence, forced labor and the sale of human beings. The house remained as the plantation centerpiece until a much grander mansion was built by the Camerons in 1847.
A kitchen foundation remains and is located nearby because many of the period homes kept the kitchen in a separate building safely away from the main structure. Nearby too was the foundation of the domestic slave quarters for the Bennehan House. Servants and cooks used their skills to survive, memorizing the etiquette, expectations and personalities of the Bennehan and Cameron families. The cabin was probably a small sanctuary for them away from the trials of serving the owner families. The Camerons referred to enslaved people as family but demanded a spirit of subordination.
We also visited the Great Barn, built in 1860. A three-story structure, it has withstood the weather since then with only minor damage. Horses and mules were housed here as well as their feed and hay. The barn was built with pegs, not nails, and is located in the section of the historic site called Horton Grove.
Also in Horton Grove, in my opinion, is the real centerpiece of today’s historic site and the wonderful tour. A row of slave dwellings from the plantation are well preserved and we toured inside the bottom floor of one of them. Each building housed four families, one to each room. Whether the family had three or 11 members, they still had only one room. Though the room was large, each room was heated and cooking was done from a fireplace. One of the rooms we saw was furnished, the bare basics of the place for family time after work rest and comfort area. Most notably in the chimney of the first slave quarters building were fingerprints in the bricks, originally molded from local clay. Enslaved residents of this area were field workers. One notable statement concerned the birth of a new family member who immediately became property and were subject anytime to be sent away to other holdings of the Cameron family or even sold eventually.
The largest of the enslaved quarters is the Hart House. The Harts were a formerly enslaved family that remained on the plantation at the end of the Civil War. In April 1865, when the residents were freed, many stayed and many left. The freed people advocated for land ownership. Through overseers, discriminatory laws and Federal Troops, the Camerons were able to regain control of their land. Many people that stayed, like the Harts, lived through long decades of sharecropping and Jim Crow discrimination. They struggled for civil rights, fair work, equality and land.
We heard harsh stories of violence and mistreatment, and several intense ones of how specific individuals fought back and occasionally won their freedom. Stagville descendants are organized and now reside around the world. Their story is often heartbreaking and incredibly powerful! This was another wonderful N.C. Historic Site and well worth your visit. The report on Bennett Place Historic Site will come soon.
Remember SRR’s Prediction Run on Aug. 29 at City Park, beginning at 8 a.m. And another of our beginning runners classes is just ahead and set to begin on Sept. 8 at the Salisbury PD. It is eight weeks of increased running distance and pertinent classes each Tuesday evening that includes subjects like shoes and equipment, stretching and strengthening, running form, nutrition, safety and injury prevention. The rate for the class, a training shirt, membership is SRR and one free race entry remains at $65. You can register at runsignup or at the first class, all of which begin at 6 p.m.
Look for these and more upcoming events at https://ift.tt/bVNF28Z