This gruesome stuff about putting heads on poles was popular during the time of the Nat Turner rebellion. Then a group of mounted militia from Greensville County came along, tied him to a tree and shot him because, as Alfred's owner wrote, they "deemed that his immediate execution would operate as a beneficial example to the other Insurgents-many of whom were still in arms and unsubdued." I believe that Alfred is the person whose head was placed as a warning. The short version is that Alfred had his hamstrings cut by the local militia, so that he could not escape. Want to know more about the circumstances of Alfred's death? Check out the petition sent by his owner to the Virginia legislature to ask for compensation and the supporting affidavits. A slave - I think it was the blacksmith Alfred - was killed and then his head put in a post as a warning to others. I completely understand those sentiments - though I think what we need is another sign, which explains where the road got its name in the first place: in the violence of the Turner rebellion. I explained to them what I was coming to do today, and I told them I was going to do it because I believe this is the right thing to do." I have a son, granddaughter and grandson. Ricks told the commissioners that “I’m asking that Blackhead Signpost Road … This is 2015, this is not 1860. Up in Southampton County, Virginia, the site of the Nat Turner rebellion, there's a move afoot to change the name of "Blackhead Signpost Road." John Ricks, a retired Marine who lives in Southampton, made the request at the County Commissioners meeting back in July. At UT Austin they're about to move the Jefferson Davis statue. Last week William and Mary's president Taylor Reveley announced that they were taking the Confederate battle flag and the Confederate seal (which, btw, is the Washington Equine Statue in Richmond and here) off the College's mace and that they're removed a plaque put up in the early twentieth century in the college's Wren building to honor students and a few faculty who went off to fight for the Confederacy. In the aftermath, Turner was hung and an estimated 200 Black people, many of whom had nothing to do with the rebellion, were also killed.There's so much going on regarding monuments and symbols of the Confederacy these days. Fifty-five white people were killed in a span of days. In 1831, Nat Turner led a group of slaves through the region on a spree of violence, killing slave owners and their families. Southampton County is known in history as the place for America’s most famous slave rebellion. It’s time for us to look at how we can bring our county forward and make it a more inclusive community for all of us in Southampton County.” Blackhead signpost road full#It truly came from I always thought these street names were crazy and here we are in 2020, they’re still there with no full story being told, no historical context attached to it. Nothing came out of it.īut this past April, she decided to try again. Native resident Toya Bynum says she originally tried to take action about five years ago to get the names of Hanging Tree Road and Blackhead Signpost Road changed. (WAVY) - A community in Southampton County is working to change the names of roads that spark pain in a county known for a violent insurrection.
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