by John Quarstein

SOUTHAMPTON COUNTY

Southampton County was home to several important pre-Civil War freedom fighters who protested slavery’s inhumanities. The rising desire for freedom led many people of African descent to seek an end to bondage. The religious mystic and preacher, Nat Turner, took the violent approach by launching the 21-23 August 1831 Southampton Insurrection. It was the bloodiest slave uprising in American history, with casualties exceeding 100 people. Dred Scott selected the legal approach resulting in the landmark 1857 Supreme Court Dred Scott decision. Anthony Gardiner, who became the ninth president of Liberia, followed the ‘Back to Africa’ movement created by the American Colonization Society. John ‘Fed” Brown was sold away from his family to Georgia when he was 10 and eventually became a fugitive, escaping enslavement via the Underground Railroad. Brown made his way to Great Britain, where he published the book A Narrative of a Slave’s Life in Georgia.

The Nat Turner Trail was created to encourage visitors to visit 40 sites located throughout Southampton County detailing the causes, events, and aftermath of the 1831 Southampton Insurrection. The 1795 Rebecca Vaughan House is where the last enslavers were killed during the Rebellion and features exhibits detailing the revolt. Next door is the Southampton County History Museum, which highlights Nat Turner’s sword and other related artifacts, highlighting the county’s history… A walking/driving tour with 19 interpretive signs and online links begins at the Rebecca Vaughan House and enables people to witness sites associated with the slave uprising in Courtland.

Also of import is the Shiloh Colored Baptist Association founded in August 1865. It supported African American educational and humanitarian activities. The 1928 Courtland School, partially underwritten by Julius Rosenwald, was established for African American students.