Letter containing News of Turner’s Rebellion
- Title of the Document
- Letter containing News of Turner’s Rebellion
- One Line Summary
- A letter from Eleanor Weaver in Madison County, Virginia, to her daughter, Theodosia, and son-in-law, Jacob, discussing details regarding the 1831 Southampton Rebellion led by Nat Turner
- Author
- Eleanor Weaver
- Date Created
- January 6, 1832
- Location
- Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Washington, D.C.
- Type of Document
- Letter
- Transcription
- “Dear Children you appeared to be very much alarmed about us respecting the Negroes rising we have no cause of alarm at present but how soon we can't say. all the mischief done was confined to one county in the lower part of this state the County of Southampton. There was about 67 persons old & young put to death by about eight or ten Negroes ring leaders & some few they forced to assit them. Say from 20 to thirty headed by a Negro preacher. All the murders was done in about 24 hours. They have all bin taken & put to death General Nat the preacher absconded & kept ou of the way for several weeks but he was at last taken & put to death. We hope our government wil ltake some steps to put down Negro preaching. It is those large assemblies of Negroes causes the mischief. However I wish we had not one in this country they are an unhappy race & renders all those that have them unhappy. However we have them & we must do the best we can with them.”
- Provenance
- Museum label for Letter containing news of Nat Turner’s Rebellion, Washington, D.C., National Museum of African American History and Culture, April 24, 2025.
