Belle Ville was a settlement of African Americans established in

McIntosh County, Georgia McIntosh County is a county located in the U.S. state of Georgia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 10,975, a drop of 23.4 percent since the 2010 census. The county seat is Darien. McIntosh County is included in the Brunswick, GA ...

during the

Reconstruction Era The Reconstruction era was a period in American history following the American Civil War (1861–1865) and lasting until approximately the Compromise of 1877. During Reconstruction, attempts were made to rebuild the country after the bloo ...

after the U.S. Civil War. It was established by

Tunis Campbell Rev. Tunis Gulic Campbell Sr. (April 1, 1812 – December 4, 1891), called "the oldest and best known clergyman in the African Methodist Church", served as a voter registration organizer, Justice of the Peace, a delegate to the Georgia Constitut ...

who bought 1,250 acres of land in the area after the war. As a justice of the peace, minister, and political boss, Campbell organized a black power structure in McIntosh County that protected freed people from white abuses, whether against their bodies or in labor negotiations. He headed a 300-strong African American militia that guarded him from reprisals by the Ku Klux Klan or others, even though his home was burned, he was poisoned, and his family lived in constant fear. Duncan, R (2004, Dec. 10, ed. 2018, Feb. 21). Tunis Campbell (1812-1891). New Georgia Encyclopedia.
New Georgia Encyclopedia
Tunis Campbell entry

References

Unincorporated communities in McIntosh County, Georgia {{McIntoshCountyGA-geo-stub