TUSCUMBIA-Belle Mont Mansion will partner with the St. Paul Missionary Baptist Church to present a program on Saturday, March 11, at 2:00 p.m. on African American history tied to the Belle Mont plantation. The program is free. Tom McKnight will give a power point of research to find his ancestors.
McKnight, a native of New York, found that his ancestors “came to life” for him as he discovered their names and the lives they made for themselves in Northwest Alabama during their enslavement and after emancipation, when they established themselves in prominent roles in the Black community of the times.
Among the people he will introduce in his program is Delia Watkins, a former seamstress at Belle Mont. Another is Bertha Watkins, highly esteemed by Belle Mont’s owner Ella Winston, who deeded a home and property to her after the Civil War. McKnight’s program, “The Hunt for Grand Master Powell”, will also introduce ancestors Sophia Napier Watkins and Rev. Fred Watkins, members of Mosiac Templars of America, an African American fraternal organization.
St. Paul Missionary Baptist Church, located off Cook Lane (St. Paul Circle), Tuscumbia, was founded post emancipation by individuals who were formerly enslaved at Belle Mont and by their descendants. Many members of the congregation trace their ancestry to the people upon whose labor the plantation’s agricultural prowess was established in the early half of the 19th Century. Pastor Keeton Stewart and members of the congregation will be special guests for the program and are
invited to bring photos and to share stories of their own ancestors, whether or not they were associated with Belle Mont.
Belle Mont will honor Ms. Charlotte Perrett, elder member of St. Paul Church, who at 101 years of age, remembers her grandmother, a midwife to many women in the Tuscumbia area and for whom she was named. Beyond that, she speaks of her great-grandfather, who was enslaved at Belle Mont. Perrett and her accompanying family members will display portraits of their ancestors.
Visitors to the program are also invited to bring photographs and stories to share. Belle Mont staff will be on hand to assist with research questions and in creating a digital file accessible to the public which will be housed at Belle Mont, with copies supplied to the St. Paul Church and to Helen Keller Library.
An official announcement will be made concerning the Meredith log homeplace, located a short distance from Belle Mont. The home was constructed by the late Oscar Meredith in the early 1900’s utilizing techniques that were typical of dwellings built in the “dog trot” style that housed enslaved people at Belle Mont and at similar plantations. It is owned by his grandson and namesake, Oscar Meredith, Jr. The house has recently been designated by the Alabama Historical Commission as one of the State’s “Places in Peril.” As such, it is considered a significant Alabama site worthy of preservation. Photographs of the house will be on display.
Media Release/Ninon Parker, Site Director
Belle Mont Mansion
