Bellevue Plantation was the U.S.

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 home of Catherine Willis Gray Murat

Catherine Willis Gray

Catherine Daingerfield Willis Gray Murat was born near Fredericksburg, Virginia and died in Tallahassee, Florida, United States.-Family:...

, located in Tallahassee

Tallahassee, Florida

Tallahassee is the capital of the U.S. state of Florida. It is the county seat and only incorporated municipality in Leon County, and is the 128th largest city in the United States. Tallahassee became the capital of Florida, then the Florida Territory, in 1824. In 2010, the population recorded by...

, Florida

Florida

Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...

. It was purchased in 1854 after Catherine's husband Prince Achille Murat

Prince Achille Murat

Achille Charles Louis Napoléon, Crown Prince of Naples, Hereditary Prince of Berg, 2nd Prince Murat was the eldest son of the King of Naples during the First French Empire and later in life mayor of Tallahassee, Florida in the United States.-Early life:Murat was born in the Hôtel de Brienne in...

 (son of Joachim Murat, Napoleon's brother-in-law and King of Naples from 1808-1815) died in 1847.

Plantation home

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

Brussels

Brussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...

, where Catherine and Achille had lived while in Europe

Europe

Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

. It has been restored and has period furnishings.

The house is now part of the grounds of the Tallahassee Museum

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 history, from the nineteenth century until the...

 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 cabin.

Plantation specifics

The Leon County Florida 1860 Agricultural Census shows that Bellevue Plantation had the following:

• Improved Land: 470 acre (190.2 ha)
• Unimproved Land: 50 acre (20.2 ha)
• 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 (plantation)

Mount Vernon, located near Alexandria, Virginia, was the plantation home of the first President of the United States, George Washington. The mansion is built of wood in neoclassical Georgian architectural style, and the estate is located on the banks of the Potomac River.Mount Vernon was designated...

, George Washington's

George Washington

George Washington was the dominant military and political leader of the new United States of America from 1775 to 1799. He led the American victory over Great Britain in the American Revolutionary War as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army from 1775 to 1783, and presided over the writing of...

 home, through the Mount Vernon Ladies Association. 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, 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

American Civil War

The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...

. Catherine Murat died August 6, 1867 at Bellevue.

Bellevue was sold to Captain Bloxham who owned the William D. Bloxham Plantation

William D. Bloxham Plantation

The William D. Bloxham Plantation was a small cotton plantation of located southwest of Tallahassee, Leon County, Florida, USA established by William D. Bloxham.-Plantation specifics:The Leon County Florida 1860 Agricultural Census shows that the William D...

. In June 1883, Bellevue, now at 357 acre (144.5 ha) of land, was sold to E. L. Thompson of Wisconsin

Wisconsin

Wisconsin is a U.S. state located in the north-central United States and is part of the Midwest. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michigan to the northeast, and Lake Superior to the north. Wisconsin's capital is...

.