Episodes Located: HENRICO, Virginia in the 1810's

  1. Southern Marriage
    date August 22, 1811map HENRICO, Virginiatags Urban-Life/Boosterism, Women

    Benjamin Rawlings prepared eagerly for his wedding day. His brother James, concerned for Benjamin's future, wrote to him to give some pre-marital advice. In the early nineteenth century south, young marriage was encouraged. James, though a bachelor, spoke highly of marrying young, as a friend once told him, "temper and habits of the young are not come so still and uncomplying as when more advanced...

  2. 50 Negroes for Sale
    date January 23, 1816map HENRICO, Virginiatags African-Americans, Law, Race-Relations, Slavery

    Epes Spain put an ad in the Richmond Enquirer advertising the sale of fifty negroes, to be sold at the Price Edward court house at the end of the month of January. He stated that African Americans were raised by him, and that among them was a blacksmith, a carriage driver, a seamstress, a weaver, excellent house-servants, and boys of good size for plough. He also made sure to mention that all of...

  3. Fifty Dollar Reward for Return of a Slave
    date August 5, 1815 to August 30, 1815map HENRICO, Virginiatags African-Americans, Law, Race-Relations, Slavery

    In August of 1815, George Hay put an add in the Richmond Enquirer newspaper offering a fifty dollar reward (plus expenses) for the apprehension and delivery of Manuel, a runaway slave. Hay gave only the name Manuel; either Manuel had no last name, or Hay felt that labeling him as a negro and a slave was sufficient. Hay described Manuel as broad shouldered and well formed, along with giving...

  4. Henry Banks' Land Sale
    date May 8, 1816map HENRICO, Virginiatags Agriculture, Economy, Law

    In May of 1816, Henry Banks put up his estate for sale. Banks had incurred debt to a man named Neil McCaul, and he needed the profit from this sale to settle up with him. The land for sale was property on both sides of the canal, just a mile or so south of Richmond, Virginia. Banks put an ad in a local Richmond paper, the Virginia Argus, to inform his neighbors of the sale. He did not, however,...

  5. Discord at Camp Mitchel
    date November 4, 1814map HENRICO, Virginiatags War

    All was not well at Camp Mitchel. Sure, the camp itself was not at war, but daily life and responsibility started to wear on the soldiers in Henrico County, Virginia. John B. Tate communicated in a letter to his superior officer, Jacob van Lear, that the men were restless. Embroiled in a military chess match with Britain on their own soil, this was an awful time to have depressed soldiers. At...