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A December 1804 revolt at Chatham warned the region of potential insurrections by those enslaved.  A January 1805 “Virginia Herald” article related that the Chatham enslaved rebelled at having their Christmas holiday cut short, then seized and whipped the overseer, a Mr. Starke.  Militiaman Benjamin Bussell of Falmouth was wounded and died.  An enslaved leader,…

Potential revolts by enslaved persons kept Virginia militia strengths at high levels. By 1840, Virginia’s organized citizen-soldier militia fielded over 111,000 men (compared to a U.S. Regular Army of over 8,000). Maintained throughout the antebellum period, historian Kelly O’Grady relates: “Militias, as state-level military organizations, were mustered by counties and even small communities like Hartwood.…

Over 220 year-old pick marks are still visible where Federal-era immigrant stone-cutters and enslaved workers cut and moved the Aquia sandstone from Government Island quarry to build the President’s House and U.S. Capitol in D.C., as well as many public and private buildings throughout the new nation. Sprinkled throughout the county were other stone quarries…

Even though no side came out the decisive winner, the Southerners had a different take of the engagement.  According to an article in “The Fredericksburg News,” dated June 4, 1861, the final result was reportedly limited to the death of a chicken and horse, the destruction of the wharf, and damage to part of the…

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This church, organized in 1789, was first known as White Oak Church of Christ but changed its name in the 1830s in opposition to Baptists straying from original doctrines. Many early black members had been enslaved at Chatham plantation. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Marker inscription: This modern road follows the route over which a mule-drawn wagon delivered the body of John Wilkes Booth, President Lincoln’s assassin, from Caroline County to Belle Plains for transport to the Navy Yard for an autopsy. Below this location, Russell “Rabbit” Sullivan was born and raised on modern-day Lorenzo Drive. Playing for the…