Updated 7 Mar 2023
Just outside of Tar Heel is a small rural community called White Oak. We drive through it every year on our way to Jones Lake State Park. It’s a gorgeous place, full of some of my favorite things: farms and falling-down houses. One of those houses, Harmony Hall Plantation, was the home of Col. James Richardson.
The History of Harmony Hall Plantation
Serendipity brought Col. James Richardson of Connecticut to North Carolina. Shipwrecked off of Cape Hatteras while on the way to the West Indies with a cargo of flour, Richardson spent months in Bladen County waiting on ship repairs. He fell in love with the area and was granted 900 acres of it in return for his service during the French and Indian War.
Col. Richardson quickly set to laying down roots on his new land. Before 1769, he married the widow Elizabeth O’Neal Purdie and finalized the construction of Harmony Hall. Shortly after settling into their new home, the Revolutionary War broke out, and Richardson enlisted in the American Army.

Ever loyal to the American cause, Richardson re-enlisted in the army after the British captured and paroled him. Local legend suggests his wife shared his patriotism.
According to the legend, General Cornwallis briefly used Harmony Hall as a headquarters during his march to Wilmington. One night Mrs. Richardson crept up the exterior stairwell into the attic to eavesdrop through a hole in the ceiling. She overheard Cornwallis and his staff planning their campaign against General Greene in an upstairs bedroom. She slinked back down the stairs and sent the plantation overseer to warn Greene. Her heroic actions gave Greene the information he needed to defeat Cornwallis.
Though evidence proves General Cornwallis marched close to Harmony Hall, it shows that he was on the opposite side of the Cape Fear River. That doesn’t mean the legend isn’t true, just that it didn’t happen at Harmony Hall. Mrs. Richardson may have relocated during the war and spied Cornwallis’ plans elsewhere.
Col. and Mrs. Richardson survived the Revolution and lived out the remainder of their lives at Harmony Hall. The home remained with their descendants until 1865.
Daniel Tatum purchased the property in 1874, passing it down to his daughter Sarah Tatum Layton. In 1961 it was gifted to the Bladen County Historic Society. The home was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1972.
More About The Site
The two-story gabled house has double porches and exterior stairs that lead into a full attic. The home features an unusually tall foundation, probably a flooding precaution (it stands less than a mile from the Cape Fear River).
In addition to the house, there are several buildings on the property. There is a schoolhouse, two restored country stores, a chapel, corn-crib, external kitchen, log cabin, a gatehouse, and a caretaker’s cottage. Most of these structures are not original to the property. They were relocated to the site and restored.

The Harmony Hall Plantation grounds are open to the public – but the hiking trail to the Cape Fear River is currently closed. Unfortunately, the house is closed too due to mold damage caused by Hurricane Florence.
You can help save Harmony Hall for future generations by mailing a donation check to HHPV, Inc C/O E. Melvin, 3401 Old Hwy 41, Bladenboro, NC 28320.
**Information in the Harmony Hall Plantation post came from several websites including, BladenOnline, NC State University Libraries, and NCDCR.
Thank you for the post about Harmony Hall. It has some amazing history but there is a correction that needs to be made to your post. The home was not purchased by the Layton family. It was purchased by my great great grandfather, Daniel Tatum, in 1874. He later transferred the deed to his daughter Sarah Margaret and her husband N. Austen Layton, Sr. Sarah Margaret (maiden name Tatum) Layton and her husband deeded it to the the Bladen County Historical Society in 1961.
Here is a link to an article in the Bladen Journal detailing it.
https://bladenonline.com/harmony-hall-village-a-piece-of-history-in-white-oak/
Thank you,
Emily
You’re so welcome! I’m glad you enjoyed it. And thank you for the correction. I will update ASAP. 🙂
The house is closed completely for tours?? When does the hiking trail open?
I don’t know if it’s closed for tours completely. I believe they had a private event there the Christmas before I wrote this post. It has been closed every time we’ve visited since though.
I’m not sure if or when they’ll be opening the hiking trail back up. I’ll try to reach out to them and see if I can get some more information. 😉
I was at Harmony Hall
Yesterday. The house and grounds are open
Sundays 2-4. They have a FB page and a website, so you can check on events and such
Excellent! Thank you for the information. I’d heard that they were working on some restoration efforts. I’ll try to ride out there one Sunday to tour the interior.
Thanks for this article. I live in SC and Col Richardson was my 7th great-grandfather. I was stationed in Jaskson ville NC, but was unaware of my ancestorial ties to the area at the time. I plan to make a day trip up there soon.
You’ll love it! The grounds are wonderful. We visit often.
The mold damage has been repaired. The trail is open and continues to be improved.
I love to hear that! We came out a few months ago. The house was open but the trail wasn’t. I’ll have to schedule another trip soon and do a big post update. 🙂
My Grandfather James Richardson was the last born in that house in 1865. One year later his father Edmund (son of Samuel Neal, son of Col. Richardson) sold the property and moved to Leon County Texas, along with the Anders Family of Bladen who had begun settling there around 1850, and who were very close to the Richardsons. Put another way, Edmund had fought as a Confederate Captain and could see the unwritten agenda of “Reconstruction.” Hence, he moved to Leon County Texas, whereby the 1870 census there reflected new first names for all of the Richardson men.
Your story on Purdie Richardson’s home was uplifting with respect to its new owner. I almost wept. I have, somewhere, what was known as a “campaign button” during the war between the states, being a steel disc about an inch in diameter with a facial photo of Purdie (in his headdress regalia). Purdie was somehow the stepson offspring of Elizabeth Neal’s previous marriage to Hugh Purdie, of the Barbados, as I recall, and not a Richardson. He had black hair, unlike the Richardsons at hand who’ve either red or blond hair that never goes gray, trust me.
Thanks for all of the good work.
What a small world we live in! I love learning about all of these connections to North Carolina from those whose families have moved on to new locations! Thank you so much for sharing your history with me. <3