William Ailes House (Bellevue)

657 S. Canal St. Natchez, MS

Circa 1852-56 1.5 story square brick Greek Revival home

Image from Big Daddy Dave blog

The William Ailes House/ Bellevue faces the Mississippi River on S. Canal St. A previous owner, John Girault, built a mansion called Bellevue on the site, but it is gone. William Ailes (1830-1856) and Rhoda Caroline Wall Ailes Addison (1830-1900)(1849) purchased the 11 acre site in 1852 and kept the original name. She was the widow of Obadiah Tate and of James W. Addison (m.1879). Ailes died just after his home was completed. 

In 1859, the home was sold to Charles Boyle (1827-1877) and Mary Boyle (1833-1910). He was a prominent levy contractor.

Then it was sold again fifteen years later, in 1876, to John Baptist Quegles (1820-1903) and Margaret McGraw Quegles (1822-1883)(1843). He was a local merchant. He later wed Kate Kelly Quegles (1840-1910) in 1886.

In the 1960s, the Lum family purchased it for use as a gift shop. They made renovations to make it a commercial building. 

In 1980, Carla Ann Johnson Lea, Barbara Kaiser, and Katherine Killelea owned the property and ran a gift and china shop - Brown-Barnett Dixons. In 1984, the shop moved to 511 Main St. with the assistance of a Historic Natchez Foundation Storefront Program. The Killelea family owned the Main St. building. NR 1980