Additions to the Collection - Spring 2025

A Much Needed Safe for the Pantry

The inventory of Belmont taken after Adelicia’s death in 1887, lists a safe located in the pantries.  After decades of searching for a 19th century safe, a casual conversation with a former board member yielded Belmont just what was needed, a circa 1870s cast iron safe.  Steve Sirls and Allen DeCuyper donated the piece to fill a gap in our collection. In this location a safe was likely used for the storage of sterling flatware and serving pieces. The lock mechanism for this safe was made by Yale Lock Company. It is unclear where the safe was made, but the name "Louisville" is painted on the bottom of the safe front beneath the door.

Portrait of Elizabeth Hunt Acklen

When visitors walk through the Acklen’s library at Belmont Mansion, it is easy for them to miss this portrait of Elizabeth Hunt Acklen. But Elizabeth is an important part of the mansion’s history. She was the wife of Samuel Black Acklen and mother of Joseph A. S. Acklen, Adelicia’s second husband. Elizabeth was likely born in Hawkins County, North Carolina, in the 1780s, which later became a part of the State of Tennessee. Her father, John Hunt, was among the first white settlers to move into Mississippi Territory, then still held by the Cherokee and Chickasaw nations. The state legislature originally named the town Twickenham, but local citizens petitioned the legislature to rename it Huntsville, since they had originally called it Hunt’s Spring.

The portrait is oil on canvas and has been attributed to Huntsville artist William Fry, 1822-1872. The Belmont Mansion Association recently had the opportunity to purchase this portrait from Franck and Stephen Kaiser, direct descendants of Adelicia and Joseph Acklen. We wish to thank the Kaiser brothers for thinking of the mansion for the portrait’s new permanent home.