Southampton County

The Southampton Rosenwald-Washington School Museum

The Key to the future of the World is finding the positive stories and let them be known….

Pete Seeger

What the heroes in our personal and collective consciousness have been teaching us is to keep the big picture and the long run in mind while living in the moment—to think globally and act locally.

1735

During the selling of their reservation land in 1735, the Nottoway Indian Tribe borrowed the name William Hines for one of their chiefs. The chief used it to transfer title, a sign of respect and cooperation between the Native Americans and the settlers. William Hines, a slaveowner also baptized an African American boy. Hines considered him more than property as defined by Virginia law at the time.

1794

At the Jerusalem Courthouse, an orphan, executes a document with these stirring words…”I Holland Browne of Southampton County being fully persuaded that freedom is the natural right of all mankind and that it is my duty to do unto others as I would desire to be done”...emancipates his slaves.

1800

On or about the year 1800, Dred Scott is born. He courageously brought suit against his master in an attempt to gain freedom for his family. The Supreme Court of the United States decision of March 1857 bears his name. The Peter Blow children who grew up with Dred funded his court cases. This infamous ruling is usually referenced as a major contributor to the American Civil War.

1817

Henry Taylor Blow is born, the last of the Peter Blow children born in Southampton County. His daughter was Susan Blow, an educator who opened the first successful kindergarten in the United States. For her contributions she is recognized as the Mother of the Kindergarten.

1826

Local lore indicates that General George Henry Thomas, known as “The Rock of Chickamauga”, as a young man taught as many as fifteen of his family’s slaves to read. This violated Virginia law at that time and went against the wishes of his father.

1831

Nat Turner’s Rebellion

“The souls of saint and sinner flew forth to face the judgement of a righteous God, who alone in all creation was certain which was which.” Thomas Parramore

On July 4th, Nat Turner plans a slave rebellion. The people’s Independence day is observed throughout the land. His decision to rebel on this historic day cannot be ignored. He cancelled due to inclement weather. It was deferred until August which also postphoned a public relations nightmare for the State of Virginia.

On August 21, Will Francis responds to Nat Turner’s inquiry on why he is joining the slaves rebellion to be free. His response was “his life was worth no more than the others, and his liberty as dear to him as theirs”. He was later killed in the rebellion.

1895

William Mahone, a confederate general who was considered a replacement to Robert E. Lee, if Lee was killed in battle during the American Civil War.

His stirring words reflect the character of this great man.

I looked down on the scene of the great crater fight, and wondered in my heart if God could have any forgiveness for those men who led the South...and are answerable for the blood, misery, and ruin that followed...I was one of the most bitter and irreconcilable of all who flew to the arms in the cause of the Confederacy. I never learned my wretched error, the curse of her institution of slavery until I sat in the United States Senate, and day by day had borne in upon me the amazing significance of our form of government, what it meant, on what basis it was founded, how great and grand it was above any previous human effort, what it meant for humanity, and how much greater the nation was than any State.

1902

Benjamin Hicks received a patent for his gas powered machine for stemming and cleaning peanuts. He successfully completed against larger firms in this endeavor. He is noted for his contributions for the development of the peanut harvester.

1920

Julius Rosenwald and Booker T. Washington collaborated with local African Americans throughout the South to build five thousand schools in the early 20th Century. There were at least eight such Rosenwald schools completed in Southampton County.