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William Alexander Whitfield
Shelly
Again, the Pageant opens a crinkled, forgotten, yellowed page of the album of Pine Hills past. Editor Bro. Len Baenen did it for the anniversary issue; and Fr. Ralph Rath journalized on the soft-carpet-and-fox-trot days of Pine Hills. Now, Miss Yvette Whitfield, a teacher in Lafayette, La., tells us interesting facts about the days when this spot was called Shelly. Read on. Perhaps this will be our last tryst with the past?unless Fr. Alex Kons discovers the saga behind the arrow heads he has found on the beach. Anyway, a long time ago, where now stands a pink seminary building, once stood a wood frame house. It was SHELLY . . .
William Alexander Whitfield, who built Shelly, was born in Wayne County, North Carolina, on May 20, 1817. On Dec. 1, 1841, he married Charity Helen Jones. They moved to Mississippi, Hancock County, in 1845. At first they managed the Bay Place which belonged to Benjamin Whitfield. Then, in 1849 or 1850, they bought the Shell Bank Plantation and built the house called Shelly. Their fourth child, Blanchard Kearney Whitfield, was the first child born there. Blanchard was the father of Fr. J. Loyd Whitfield, SM, who is presently teaching at Immaculata Seminary in Lafayette.
The Whitfields operated the plantation with the aid of slaves until after the Civil War. A beautiful penthouse garden rested on Shelly's cement roof. The flowers were watered by an artesian well south of the house. On the plantation, which was level for 500 feet back from the bay, there were 5000 orange trees, 400 Japanese persimmon trees, 150 scupper-nong and other grape vines, and 150 varieties of roses, some of which are now blooming in Lafayette, La. The Whitfields sold fruit as far as New Orleans.
People came to Shelly from New Orleans to admire the place. The house was beautifully furnished. The silver goblets and mugs had the children's names engraved on them. Some of these are still in use. The organ that Mrs. Whitfield brought in an ox-cart from North Carolina to Gulfport is in the home of her granddaughter, Yoland Whitfield, in Lafayette.
Mr. Whitfield was a graduate of the Law School of Chapel Hill, North Carolina. It is said that he never did a bit of manual labor in his entire life. He enjoyed his