Overview

Location

Orange Co., NC (changed to Durham Co., NC)

Date Constructed/ Founded

ca. 1785

Associated Surnames

Bennehan, Cameron

Historical notes

The Bennehan-Cameron families were among the largest land/ slave holders in in antebellum North Carolina and even the South in general. Staggville lies at the center of this 30,000 acre estate. Approximately 900 enslaved persons operated the Bennehan-Cameron families' plantations.

Today, the curators of this historic site display a family tree of the enslaved persons and their descendants at the visitor center. They have also compiled a database of names to aid African-ancestored slavery research. Read more about this project at the Historic Staggville Genealogy Page.

Associated Slave Workplaces

Brick House Plantation (Orange Co., NC)

Associated Free Persons

• Richard Bennehan (b.1743) - plantation owner; first home was Brick House Plantation; the family moved from Brick House to Staggville ca. 1785
• Mary Amis Bennehan - wife of Richard Bennehan

• Thomas Bennehan (b.1782-d.1847) - son of Richard and Mary A. Bennehan; inherited Staggville Plantation in 1825

Associated Enslaved Persons

• none recorded yet

Research Leads and Plantation Records

• The Cameron Family Papers, 1757-1978, Collection Number 133. Manuscripts Department, Library of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. http://www.lib.unc.edu/mss/inv/htm/00133.html

Miscellaneous Information

• Horton Grove was an enslaved African-American community that was part of the Bennehan-Cameron families' estate.

References

• Historic Staggville. http://www.historicstagvillefoundation.org/historic_stagville.htm
• Inventory of the Cameron Family Papers. Manuscripts Department, Library of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. http://www.lib.unc.edu/mss/inv/htm/00133.html

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