Bellevue Plantation

Bellevue Plantation is a historic plantation property in Tallahassee, Florida, associated most closely with Catherine Willis Gray Murat, a member of a prominent American family and the widow of Prince Achille Murat. Murat was the son of Joachim Murat, who served as King of Naples under Napoleon from 1808 to 1815, and Catherine was a great-grandniece of George Washington through her Willis and Lewis family connections. The Bellevue house became her American residence after the death of her second husband in 1847. She purchased the property in 1854 and named the home after the Hotel de Belle-Vue in Brussels, where she and Achille had lived during their years in Europe. The property represents the social, agricultural, and racial history of antebellum north Florida. The 1860 Leon County agricultural census recorded 470 acres of improved land and 50 acres of unimproved land. It assigned the plantation a cash value of $10,000, with farm machinery valued at $200 and animals at $510. The same census recorded 24 enslaved people associated with the plantation; the source treated enslaved people as property, while their human value cannot be ethically or meaningfully represented as a financial figure. The surviving house therefore has significance not only as a residence linked to an internationally connected family, but also as a place through which the history of slavery and plantation agriculture must be interpreted. During Murat's ownership, she participated in the Mount Vernon Ladies' Association, one of the earliest successful organized historic-preservation efforts in the United States. As Florida's vice regent, she helped coordinate fundraising for the restoration of George Washington's Mount Vernon estate. Florida reportedly raised $3,791, described in the source as the highest per-capita contribution among the participating states. During the Civil War, Murat also took part in local soldiers' aid societies, whose sewing-circle activities supported Confederate troops. In early 1866, Napoleon III's French government granted her an annuity in recognition of losses she had suffered during the war. Murat died at Bellevue on August 6, 1867. After her death, Bellevue was sold to Captain Bloxham, who also owned the William D. Bloxham Plantation. In June 1883, the property, then reduced to 357 acres, was sold to Edward Smeaton Thomson of Oshkosh, Wisconsin. The historic house has since been restored and furnished with period objects. It is now located on the grounds of the Tallahassee Museum in the institution's Old Florida section, where visitors can examine the plantation house alongside reconstructed structures representing plantation labor, including a kitchen and a cabin associated with enslaved farm workers. Bellevue is consequently best understood as a historic site and museum interpretation rather than as a conventional commercial brand.

Bellevue Plantation's documented history is centered on Catherine Willis Gray Murat and the Tallahassee-area plantation economy of the nineteenth century. Catherine was born into the Willis and Lewis family networks. Her father was Colonel Byrd C. Willis, and her mother, Mary Lewis, descended from Fielding Lewis, George Washington's brother-in-law. Through the Lewis family she was also related to explorer Meriwether Lewis. Her marriage to Prince Achille Murat connected her to European royal and Napoleonic history: Achille was the son of Joachim Murat, Napoleon Bonaparte's brother-in-law and the former King of Naples. Following Achille Murat's death in 1847, Catherine purchased Bellevue in 1854 as her American home. The name referred to the Hotel de Belle-Vue in Brussels, a place where the couple had lived in Europe. The estate operated within the plantation system of antebellum Leon County. The 1860 agricultural census listed 520 total acres, including 470 improved acres and 50 unimproved acres. It also recorded the plantation's implements, livestock, and 24 enslaved people. These figures document the material scale of the property while also underscoring that its agricultural operation depended on slavery. Murat's public activities extended beyond the plantation. She became involved with the Mount Vernon Ladies' Association, a preservation organization that worked to protect George Washington's home. As Florida's vice regent, she helped organize the state's contribution to the effort. The source credits Florida with raising $3,791, the largest per-capita contribution among the thirty states that participated. During the Civil War, Murat joined local soldiers' aid societies, which operated as sewing circles producing clothing for Southern troops. After the war, Napoleon III granted her a French government annuity in early 1866 in connection with losses she had sustained during the conflict. She died at Bellevue on August 6, 1867. The property changed hands after Murat's death. Captain Bloxham acquired it and held it alongside the William D. Bloxham Plantation. By June 1883, Bellevue comprised 357 acres and was sold to Edward Smeaton Thomson, an Oshkosh, Wisconsin, resident. The later ownership history is not detailed in the supplied material. In the modern period, the Bellevue house was restored and placed within the Tallahassee Museum grounds. It forms part of the Old Florida section, where the house is presented with period furnishings and two reconstructed adjacent buildings: a plantation kitchen and a cabin associated with enslaved farm workers. The museum setting allows the property to be interpreted as a layered historic landscape rather than simply as the former residence of a prominent family.

• 1883

  Bellevue is sold to Edward Smeaton Thomson

  [1]Bellevue Plantationen.wikipedia.org

  After passing to Captain Bloxham, the property, then measuring 357 acres, was sold in June to Edward Smeaton Thomson of Oshkosh, Wisconsin.

• 1867

  Death of Catherine Murat

  [1]Bellevue Plantationen.wikipedia.org

  Catherine Willis Gray Murat died at Bellevue on August 6, 1867.

• 1866

  French government annuity granted to Murat

  [1]Bellevue Plantationen.wikipedia.org

  Napoleon III's government granted Murat an annuity in recognition of losses she experienced during the Civil War.

• 1860

  Agricultural census records the plantation

  [1]Bellevue Plantationen.wikipedia.org

  The Leon County agricultural census recorded 470 improved acres, 50 unimproved acres, a plantation value of $10,000, machinery valued at $200, animals valued at $510, and 24 enslaved people.

• 1854

  Catherine Murat purchases Bellevue

  [1]Bellevue Plantationen.wikipedia.org

  Catherine Willis Gray Murat purchased the property and named the home after the Hotel de Belle-Vue in Brussels.

• 1847

  Death of Prince Achille Murat

  [1]Bellevue Plantationen.wikipedia.org

  Achille Murat, Catherine Willis Gray Murat's second husband and the son of Joachim Murat, died. Catherine later acquired Bellevue as her Florida residence.

• Incorporation into the Tallahassee Museum

  [1]Bellevue Plantationen.wikipedia.org

  The restored house became part of the Tallahassee Museum's Old Florida section, with period furnishings and reconstructed plantation-related outbuildings.

A preserved historic property and museum exhibit interpreting plantation life, elite residence, agriculture, enslavement, and nineteenth-century Florida history.

1. 1Bellevue Plantationen.wikipedia.org