rss rss feed

NORFOLK CITY, Virginia in the 1820s: 1 through 7 of 7

Sort By:Chronology | Recently Written or Edited
  1. A Plot is Uncovered
    date January 29, 1820map NORFOLK CITY, Virginiatags African-Americans, Migration/Transportation, Race-Relations, Slavery, Women

    On January 29, 1820, M. W. deBree wrote a letter to her father to tell him some distressing news. Her letter detailed a very melancholy circumstance that very nearly occurred on a ship bound from Norfolk, Virginia to New Orleans, Louisiana. Thirty slaves who were passengers on the ship had form'd a plot...to murder all the passengers and crew except two sailors who [were] to steer them to St. Domingo....

  2. A Request from the American Colonization Society
    date July 7, 1820map NORFOLK CITY, Virginiatags African-Americans, Economy, Government, Politics, Migration/Transportation, Race-Relations, Slavery

    On July 7, 1820, the American Colonization Society took out an advertisement in the Norfolk and Portsmouth Herald. The ad, which was actually more of an announcement, concerned the need for equipment, tools, food, and other supplies by the colonists whom the Society sponsored. These colonists were free African Americans who had volunteered to set up a black colony on the west coast of the African continent....

  3. The Brig Nautius Sets Sail for African Colony
    date January 23, 1821map NORFOLK CITY, Virginiatags African-Americans, Church/Religious-Activity, Economy, Migration/Transportation, Race-Relations, Slavery

    The Brig Nautius captained by a Capt. Blair sailed from the port of Norfolk on the morning of Tuesday January 23, 1821. The vessel was bound for the coast of Africa, and carried on board a number of free blacks seeking (or having sought for them) a new life in the African colony, which would later be termed Liberia. Aboard were also a number of clergy from varying denominations ranging from Methodist...

  4. The Portsmouth Fire of 1821
    date March 21, 1821map NORFOLK CITY, Virginiatags Economy, Urban-Life/Boosterism, Women

    At around 2:45 a.m. on the morning of Wed., March 21, 1821, a fire broke out in the kitchen of a vacant tenement on the corner of Main and Market Streets in Portsmouth, Virginia. The Norfolk and Portsmouth Herald of Friday, March 23 reported that owing to the violence of the wind, which was blowing at the time a perfect gale from S. S. W., and the combustible nature of the buildings, the fire spread...

  5. Steamship Lines of Norfolk, Virginia
    date December 11, 1823map NORFOLK CITY, Virginiatags Agriculture, Arts/Leisure, Economy, Migration/Transportation

    The American Beacon and Norfolk and Portsmouth Daily Advertiser of Thursday, December 11, 1823 contained two advertisements that concerned a new technology that would greatly change the speed with which Americans traveled their vast continent. Both advertisements concerned the establishment of steamship lines from Norfolk to important cities in the Chesapeake Bay region. The first of the two ads described...

  6. The Marquis de Lafayette Visits Norfolk and Portsmouth, Virginia
    date October 19, 1824 to October 27, 1824map NORFOLK CITY, Virginiatags Arts/Leisure, Economy, Urban-Life/Boosterism, War

    Although a Frenchmen, the Marquis de Lafayette was a man dear to the hearts of many Americans in the early nineteenth century. He led American troops into battle during the Revolution, had sustained a wound at the Battle of Brandywine, and was instrumental in encouraging the participation of the French forces in the siege of Yorktown which led to the surrender of the British in 1781. Lafayette was...

  7. Ice as a New Commodity
    date May 18, 1826 to May 19, 1826map NORFOLK CITY, Virginiatags Economy, Migration/Transportation, Urban-Life/Boosterism

    Alexander Gall advertised his ice delivery service in Portsmouth's American Beacon and Portsmouth Daily on May 18, 1826. Gall's advertisement ran in the local newspaper for a month. This allowed for the news of Gall's service to effectively spread among the people of Portsmouth. Gall brought ice to the homes of his customers in a horse-drawn wagon. Gall delivered ice daily to his customers who could...