13. Belle’s Parents Probably Lived in Pensacola, Florida, Where Her Mother Owned Land
Belle’s mother, Maria Belle, was taken from her native land and forced into a slave ship. Belle’s father, Sir John Lindsay, was an officer on board the vessel which captured the slave ship. While historians are not sure exactly where Belle’s mother went after the ship arrived in the British West Indies, we do know Belle’s parents made it to Florida. Belle and her mother accompanied Lindsay to Pensacola, Florida, in 1764. At the time, Belle would have been around three years old.
In 1772, years after Belle was sent to Lord Mansfield, Sir John Lindsay gave Maria Belle a house. Archeologist Margo Stringfield found historical documents related to this while going through Maria Belle’s house. Stringfield, who works for the University of Florida, found a 1772 document signed by Sir John Lindsay. This document deeded a lot in Pensacola to Maria Belle, who was also a freed slave. As Springfield noted, this was very unusual because men did not deed land to freed slaves.