An open letter to county commissioners:

Col. James Richardson, my fourth great-grandfather, built Harmony Hall probably around the late 1760s. He likely built the first two rooms of the four-room house before marrying the twice-widowed woman Elizabeth Neal who lived across the Cape Fear River. He probably added on to the house after his marriage. The basement even has loopholes in the rock work where the residents would huddle under danger sticking their guns out those of loopholes to defend themselves. Col. Richardson fought in the American Revolution.

The Richardsons had a small number of enslaved people who produced turpentine for the naval stores which aided in the American Revolution. As the generations went on the numbers of enslaved people increased. There are many questions about how the enslaved people lived, where they were buried, and more. Their stories need to be told along with the upkeep of the house and the Richardson stories that are already known. The contribution of the enslaved people to the founding of our country and their service after that needs to be described and acknowledged.

The Richardsons in possession of Harmony Hall at the end of the Civil War sold it and moved to Texas. Starting about 80 years later, when I was a child, my mother used to take me from time to time from Alabama to Bladen County to visit Harmony Hall, which at times was in near ruins.

Harmony Hall is not only a state treasure, but is also a national treasure, in part, because it is unusual in not being a fancy plantation house yet surviving all these years. It needs restoration help. And, it needs help in telling the story of the enslaved people there and conducting the related research. If we don’t do that kind of work, people will not know the truth, the story of the people who owned Harmony Hall and its acreage and the full story of the people they owned who have been silenced all these years. We need to hear the enslaved peoples’ voices.

A small group of dedicated volunteers has struggled for years to keep up Harmony Hall without any state support.

I ask you, along with several of my relatives who are direct descendants to please support this important asset for Bladen County, our state, and our country.

Thank you for your consideration.

Sincerely,

Marcia E. Herman-Giddens (Pittsboro, NC)

Elizabeth Swearingen (Calif.)

Marion Breeze Williams (England)

Lindis Herman-Giddens Chetwynd (NC)