Overview
Location
White Oak, Bladen County, NC
Date Constructed/ Founded
1768
Associated Surnames
Richardson
Historical notes
In 1768 that Colonel James A. Richardson built his home on a 12,000 acre tract on the Cape Fear River near the village of White Oak. A native of Stonington, Connecticut, who ran a West Indies shipping line, he had earlier been shipwrecked off Cape Hatteras and while waiting for the arrival of one of his ships, had explored the area. He liked the Cape Fear River bottom lands so much that he decided to settle and make his home there. About the same time, he met a young widow named Elizabeth O’Neal Purdy, a native of Jamaica. The two were soon married and moved up the river to build their new home. This house remained in the Richardson family until 1874 when it was acquired by Daniel S. Tatum. Tatum transferred the title to his daughter Sarah Margaret and her husband N. Austin Layton, Sr. In 1961, Mr. and Mrs. N. A. Layton Jr., of Winter Haven, Florida, deeded the structure to the Bladen County Historical Society.
Associated Slave Workplaces
none
Associated Free Persons
- James A. Richardson - owner
- Elizabeth O'Neal Purdy Richardson - wife of James A. Richardson
Associated Enslaved Persons
Research Leads and Plantation Records
Miscellaneous Information
- The Main House: Only one room deep, the house sits on a high basement with double-galleried porches on each facade and large double-shouldered chimneys in each gable. Inside can be found four Adamesque mantels and rooms paneled with wide pine boards, some with chair-rails and some with paneled dados and plastering above. The house and galleries are covered by a large gable roof with full attic.
- Harmony Hall Chapel: originally known as Kelly Freewill Holiness Church, was built in Kelly, N. C., more than a hundred years ago. It was also used by Methodists until they built their own church.
References
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