Margaret Mercer (1791-1846), an educator and reformer, purchased Belmont plantation in 1836 and ran a prominent academy for young women there, waiving tuition for those unable to afford it. Best known for advocating the liberation of enslaved African Americans and promoting their resettlement in Liberia, Mercer also gained recognition for her book Popular Lectures on Ethics (1841). She commissioned the construction of Belmont Chapel, which opened by 1841. The chapel hosted Episcopal services and a Sunday school where African Americans were educated alongside whites. Long an important community center, the chapel burned in the 1960s, and St. David's Episcopal Church opened there in 1990.