Angry, frightened whites killed as many as 200 black men, women and children. 1831 Turner leads revolt, is hanged For 10 weeks, Turner eluded capture. Turner sightings were reported throughout the South, often simultaneous ones at some distance from each other. He was captured Oct. 30 when a hunting dog found him hiding beneath a pile of fence rails on the Travis plantation, and he was caught before he hid again. More than 50,000 copies were sold within weeks of the printing.
Some historians question the accuracy of the document.
At his hanging, witnesses said, Turner maintained his composure. Not a limb or muscle was observed to have moved. Some accounts say all the executed men were buried except Nat Turner, whose body was then delivered to doctors who skinned it and made grease of the flesh.