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.29In all, thirteen slaves were tried in Halifax.Of those, five were sentencedto die.Most local authorities, like John Scott, assumed that still greaternumbers of slaves were concerned in the plot.But probably for thesake of humanity, he informed Monroe, tis well to stop here. The governor, who flinched at bloodshed beyond making the obvious point140 Halifax 1802 of white domination, readily agreed.But the leadership, he warned his coun-cil, shou d be neither reprieved or pardoned. And so on Saturday morn-ing, May 15, Sancho, Absalom, Martin, Frank, and Abram, their betrayer,all swung together from the Halifax gibbet.30The last of the Virginia conspirators taken was Lewis, the Goochland fer-ryman who had traveled toward Richmond just before Easter.In late Aprilthe literate hireling was picked up in Nottoway, several counties from thehome of his owner, John Brown.His captors demanded that he reveal verryfully the whole Scheme. When he did not, he was repeatedly and severelywhipped. Finally Lewis gave the names of the few contacts he knew inPetersburg, Arnold and a free black named Rochester Jumper. [T]hreatenedwith immediate death if he did not disclose [all of] his partizans in the con-spiracy, the bleeding Lewis gasped out the name of a Richmond slave car-penter, Arthur Farrar, whom he had not seen in years.With that his tormen-tors were satisfied.31While anxious authorities in Nottoway, Dinwiddie, and Richmond laboredto apprehend the slaves accused by Lewis, the ferryman was held in prisonas a runaway until all the information he possesse[d could] be obtained. Jumper was taken, as was a confused and astonished Arthur, who remem-bered Lewis only as a small boy.But since none of these men, guilty orinnocent, offered a confession or implicated his fellows, Lewis, like BenWoolfolk before him, would have to be escorted from county to county sothat advantage may be taken of his testimony, extracted though it wasunder torture.32As James Laughlin took Lewis to Richmond, the nervous capital againforced itself to consider the awful possibility of black revolution.JamesMonroe, who knew nothing of Arthur Farrar beyond the upsetting rumorsthat he allegedly had been heard to say he had once gotten clear of thegallows, forced himself to consider the worst: more bondmen who remindedhim of his own hypocrisy by comparing themselves to George Washington.The governor placed Arthur in cell by himself in the penitentiary.Lewistoo was isolated.Strict orders allowed no one to confer with them but Mr.Storrs and Mr.Selden the Magistrates. 33Having been tortured into providing partially false information, Lewisdiscovered that he could not safely change his story now.But Arthur wasonly a name from his past, and he had no other names to provide, for fewRichmond slaves had proved willing to give the business a second try.Whenthe Richmond court of oyer and terminer sat on May 17, Lewis s story greweven more elaborate and sounded suspiciously like what he had heard ofGabriel s plan. [A]ll of the free blacks, and a great number of the poorwhite people were to join in it, Lewis assured the court.Arthur hadThe Footsteps Die Out 141 recruited a great number of men towards Hanover, who would meet nearthe Brook bridge before marching on the town.There the poor whites wouldsupply them with arms from the magazine.34The gentlemen justices were impressed.Hezekiah Henley and GeorgeWilliamson, who had presided over many of the cases two years before,listened especially carefully.Since the plan of attack mirrored one that theytoo well remembered to be true, they readily believed Lewis s story.That itmirrored Gabriel s plot a bit too closely, including the preposterous notionof assembling at the bridge near Prosser s plantation, apparently did notoccur to them, and defense attorney Samuel McGraw was far too dull a witto point out these absurdities.While Farrar floundered about in the dock,the gavel fell.Sentenced to die on Friday, June 18, Farrar was valued at$500, as the prisoner is a Carpenter. 35While McGraw collected his fee of ten dollars for services rendered, Farrarfrantically dictated a letter to the governor, his only hope for pardon underthe oyer and terminer system.The slave pointed out that Lewis was theonly voice against him, that the testimony was tainted with torture, and that when he last saw [Lewis] in Goochland he must have been a boy. Monroe believed the words.At the very least he was uncomfortable withtestimony taken during a brutal whipping.But remembering the storm ofcriticism that settled upon him when he deigned to question the wisdom ofthe Norfolk court, the cautious man proceeded cautiously.In early July hesuggested to his council that Farrar s sentence be reduced to transporta-tion.Until then, Farrar could remain in the penitentiary [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
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.29In all, thirteen slaves were tried in Halifax.Of those, five were sentencedto die.Most local authorities, like John Scott, assumed that still greaternumbers of slaves were concerned in the plot.But probably for thesake of humanity, he informed Monroe, tis well to stop here. The governor, who flinched at bloodshed beyond making the obvious point140 Halifax 1802 of white domination, readily agreed.But the leadership, he warned his coun-cil, shou d be neither reprieved or pardoned. And so on Saturday morn-ing, May 15, Sancho, Absalom, Martin, Frank, and Abram, their betrayer,all swung together from the Halifax gibbet.30The last of the Virginia conspirators taken was Lewis, the Goochland fer-ryman who had traveled toward Richmond just before Easter.In late Aprilthe literate hireling was picked up in Nottoway, several counties from thehome of his owner, John Brown.His captors demanded that he reveal verryfully the whole Scheme. When he did not, he was repeatedly and severelywhipped. Finally Lewis gave the names of the few contacts he knew inPetersburg, Arnold and a free black named Rochester Jumper. [T]hreatenedwith immediate death if he did not disclose [all of] his partizans in the con-spiracy, the bleeding Lewis gasped out the name of a Richmond slave car-penter, Arthur Farrar, whom he had not seen in years.With that his tormen-tors were satisfied.31While anxious authorities in Nottoway, Dinwiddie, and Richmond laboredto apprehend the slaves accused by Lewis, the ferryman was held in prisonas a runaway until all the information he possesse[d could] be obtained. Jumper was taken, as was a confused and astonished Arthur, who remem-bered Lewis only as a small boy.But since none of these men, guilty orinnocent, offered a confession or implicated his fellows, Lewis, like BenWoolfolk before him, would have to be escorted from county to county sothat advantage may be taken of his testimony, extracted though it wasunder torture.32As James Laughlin took Lewis to Richmond, the nervous capital againforced itself to consider the awful possibility of black revolution.JamesMonroe, who knew nothing of Arthur Farrar beyond the upsetting rumorsthat he allegedly had been heard to say he had once gotten clear of thegallows, forced himself to consider the worst: more bondmen who remindedhim of his own hypocrisy by comparing themselves to George Washington.The governor placed Arthur in cell by himself in the penitentiary.Lewistoo was isolated.Strict orders allowed no one to confer with them but Mr.Storrs and Mr.Selden the Magistrates. 33Having been tortured into providing partially false information, Lewisdiscovered that he could not safely change his story now.But Arthur wasonly a name from his past, and he had no other names to provide, for fewRichmond slaves had proved willing to give the business a second try.Whenthe Richmond court of oyer and terminer sat on May 17, Lewis s story greweven more elaborate and sounded suspiciously like what he had heard ofGabriel s plan. [A]ll of the free blacks, and a great number of the poorwhite people were to join in it, Lewis assured the court.Arthur hadThe Footsteps Die Out 141 recruited a great number of men towards Hanover, who would meet nearthe Brook bridge before marching on the town.There the poor whites wouldsupply them with arms from the magazine.34The gentlemen justices were impressed.Hezekiah Henley and GeorgeWilliamson, who had presided over many of the cases two years before,listened especially carefully.Since the plan of attack mirrored one that theytoo well remembered to be true, they readily believed Lewis s story.That itmirrored Gabriel s plot a bit too closely, including the preposterous notionof assembling at the bridge near Prosser s plantation, apparently did notoccur to them, and defense attorney Samuel McGraw was far too dull a witto point out these absurdities.While Farrar floundered about in the dock,the gavel fell.Sentenced to die on Friday, June 18, Farrar was valued at$500, as the prisoner is a Carpenter. 35While McGraw collected his fee of ten dollars for services rendered, Farrarfrantically dictated a letter to the governor, his only hope for pardon underthe oyer and terminer system.The slave pointed out that Lewis was theonly voice against him, that the testimony was tainted with torture, and that when he last saw [Lewis] in Goochland he must have been a boy. Monroe believed the words.At the very least he was uncomfortable withtestimony taken during a brutal whipping.But remembering the storm ofcriticism that settled upon him when he deigned to question the wisdom ofthe Norfolk court, the cautious man proceeded cautiously.In early July hesuggested to his council that Farrar s sentence be reduced to transporta-tion.Until then, Farrar could remain in the penitentiary [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]