Dennis Dallis

While little is known regarding the life of Dennis Dallis, his story is fascinating and incredibly pertinent to the revolutionary spirit in the colonies at the time. Dallis was an overseer in Loudoun County, Virginia on a plantation not far from the modern highway Route 15, near Aldie, VA.[1] Three slaves murdered Dallis on the plantation with farming equipment in 1768, just one year after the establishment of Loudoun County. The reaction to this event was the first public execution in Loudoun County, as all three slaves involved were hanged on the courthouse lawn. While a Confederate monument was recently removed from the courthouse lawn and debate looms over a World War I monument with segregated engravings, there is no trace of the first public events on the grounds.

While Dallis did not live to see the American Revolution, he died in an uprising that was at its heart fundamentally American. Dallis’ death is a testament that slaves in Northern Virginia were not passive but dreamed of a better life. This fear and frenzy surrounding slave ownership in Virginia would later come to a crescendo during the war, when Lord Dunmore would issue a proclamation that offered slaves freedom if they fled to the British Army. This tragic event also suggests that for some enslaved people, the quality of life in Northern Virginia was no better than in the deep South.

[1] Schwarz, P. J. (2004). Twice Condemned Slaves and the Criminal Laws of Virginia, 1705 - 1865. Union, NJ: Lawbook Exchange. Retrieved July 22, 2020, 146-147.