Bellevue Plantation was the

U.S. The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

home of Catherine Willis Gray Murat, located in

Tallahassee Tallahassee ( ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Florida. It is the county seat and only incorporated municipality in Leon County. Tallahassee became the capital of Florida, then the Florida Territory, in 1824. In 2020, the population ...

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

. It was purchased in 1854 after Catherine's second husband

Prince Achille Murat Charles Louis Napoleon Achille Murat (known as Achille, 21 January 1801 – 15 April 1847) was the eldest son of Joachim Murat, the brother-in-law of Napoleon who was appointed King of Naples during the First French Empire. After his father was de ...

(son of Joachim Murat,

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...

's brother-in-law and King of Naples from 1808 to 1815) died in 1847. Murat was the great-grandniece of George Washington. She was a daughter of Colonel Byrd C. Willis (August 29, 1781 – 1846) and his wife Mary Lewis. Mary Lewis was the granddaughter of Fielding Lewis, George Washington's brother-in-law. Through the Lewis family, she was also a relative of explorer Meriwether Lewis.

Plantation home

The home was named after the Hotel de Belle-Vue in

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

, where Catherine and Achille had lived while in

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

. It has been restored and has period furnishings. The house is now part of the grounds of the

Tallahassee Museum The Tallahassee Museum is a privately funded, non-profit corporation in Tallahassee, Florida. The stated purpose of the Tallahassee Museum is "to educate the residents of and visitors to the Big Bend area about the region's natural and cultural hi ...

and is located in the Old Florida section. Visitors can learn about the area's plantation communities. There are two adjacent reconstructed building, a plantation kitchen and a

slave Slavery and enslavement are both the state and the condition of being a slave—someone forbidden to quit one's service for an enslaver, and who is treated by the enslaver as property. Slavery typically involves slaves being made to perf ...

cabin.

Plantation specifics

The Leon County Florida 1860 Agricultural Census shows that Bellevue Plantation had the following: * Improved Land: * Unimproved Land: * Cash value of plantation: $10,000 * Cash value of farm implements/machinery: $200 * Cash value of farm animals: $510 * Number of slaves: 24 * Bushels of corn: N/A * Bales of cotton: N/A

The owners

During Catherine's years at Bellevue, she became involved in America's first successful preservation effort of

Mount Vernon Mount Vernon is an American landmark and former plantation of Founding Father, commander of the Continental Army in the Revolutionary War, and the first president of the United States George Washington and his wife, Martha. The estate is on ...

, George Washington's home, through the

Mount Vernon Ladies' Association The Mount Vernon Ladies' Association (MVLA) is a non-profit organization that preserves and maintains the Mount Vernon estate originally owned by the family of President George Washington. The association was founded in 1853 by Ann Pamela Cunni ...

. She was appointed Vice Regent for Florida, the title given the central person in each state organizing the association's work. The state raised $3,791 toward the restoration of Mount Vernon, the largest per capita amount raised by any of the 30 contributing states. During the Civil War, Murat participated in the local "Soldiers Aid Societies," which met as sewing circles to clothe the southern troops. Early in 1866,

Napoleon III Napoleon III (Charles Louis Napoléon Bonaparte; 20 April 18089 January 1873) was the first President of France (as Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte) from 1848 to 1852 and the last monarch of France as Emperor of the French from 1852 to 1870. A nephew ...

, who had come to power in France in 1849, granted Murat an annuity from the French government in consideration of her losses during the

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

. Catherine Murat died August 6, 1867, at Bellevue. Bellevue was sold to Captain Bloxham who owned the William D. Bloxham Plantation. In June 1883, Bellevue, now at of land, was sold to Edward Smeaton Thomson of Oshkosh,

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

References

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External links

Tallahassee Museum website
Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Florida Museums in Leon County, Florida Florida in the American Civil War National Register of Historic Places in Leon County, Florida Plantations in Leon County, Florida Farm museums in Florida American Civil War museums in Florida Houses in Leon County, Florida Slave cabins and quarters in the United States