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ROCKBRIDGE, Virginia in the 1840s: 1 through 5 of 5

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  1. Gradual Abolition of Slavery in Western Virginia
    date September, 1847map ROCKBRIDGE, Virginiatags Economy, Government, Slavery

    In 1831, the issue of slavery came to the forefront of political debate following Nat Turner's rebellion in Southampton County, Virginia. President of Washington College and slaveholder Dr. Henry Ruffner delivered an address in 1847 that outlined the evils of slavery and proposed the gradual eradication of slavery from western Virginia. In correspondence to Messrs. Moore, Letcher, &c, Ruffner wrote,...

  2. Hawkins, the Horse Thief
    date February 29, 1848map ROCKBRIDGE, Virginiatags Crime/Violence, Health/Death, Government, Law

    On Thursday, February 29, 1849, The Valley Star of Lexington, Virginia reported that the infamous horse thief, Hawkins, while in jail, slit his own throat with a straight razor. The guards allowed the inmates razors and stood outside the cells as the prisoners shaved. According to the article, Hawkins turned to the guard, said, Good-bye, and promptly slit his throat. Being near at hand, we ran to see...

  3. Railroads of antebellum Virginia
    date January 29, 1849map ROCKBRIDGE, Virginiatags Economy, Government, Migration/Transportation, Urban-Life/Boosterism

    In February 1840, the Virginia Legislature was busy discussing the Lynchburg and Tennessee Railroad Bill. The Bill argued that the Southwestern part of Virginia needed access to major trade routes. The majority was in opposition to the original bill (for many reasons, particularly monetary), so Mr. Paxton of Rockbridge County, Virginia proposed a substitute bill, which was found more agreeable by the...

  4. The Price on a Life
    date February 26, 1849map ROCKBRIDGE, Virginiatags African-Americans, Government, Law, Politics, Race-Relations, Slavery, War

    Daily habits, such as flipping through a newspaper, must have been hard on an anti-slavery southerner. The newspapers prior to the Civil War are full of reminders that not all people were in fact equal. Two adds in The Valley Star (the primary newspaper in Lexington, Virginia) were surprisingly similar: one describing a lost horse and the other a lost slave. In Virginia at the time, the two were very...

  5. Selected Tales: The Power of a Story
    date Unknownmap ROCKBRIDGE, Virginiatags Arts/Leisure, Health/Death

    In this day and age, newspapers rarely print fiction. Of course, there is the occasional magical story written by a third grade class that appears every once a week in the Arts and Entertainment section of the paper, but for the most part, fictional stories of real substance are not published in newspapers anymore. This was not the case in the 1800's. Appearing in The Valley Star each week was a selected...