Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1895-07-25
TRUE STORY OF THE NAT
TURNER INSURRECTION
FROM HIS OWN CONFESSION
The Awful Tale Contained in an Old
Pamphlet Found in Southampton
County, Virginia, Where the Muir
derS Took Place-A Fearful Occur
renee of Many Years Ago.


awful Nat Turner negro insurrection
of August, 1881, a copy of the confess
sion made by Turner has been OBJ
tanned. This Instruction was the
most horrible of it's kind in the history
of the country. Fifty-five whites, half
of them children, and many babes,
were hacked to pieces with axes, While
they slept, by the murderous negroes,
who went from farmhouse to farm
house on their mission OF death.
Turner was a religious fanatic. He
was an intelligent negro, and although
a slave. dabbled in scientific expert
ments. He imagined that he had fire.
Ouent communicat tons with God, and
translated one of these myths OF his
mind as meaning that he should Dand
the negroes together and Kill the
whites The ignorance of the farm
| negroes gave him great power over
them, and although they feared him,
they did as he ordered.
The confession which tells the story
| of the awful midnight murders, was
made by Turner to Z. r. Gray, of
Jerusalem, Southampton county, Nlr-
| ginia, shortly before the execution of
the murderer Only eighteen negroes
! out of siXty-odd who participated In
the murders were punished, and some
of these escaped the gallOws. This is
the confession:
! 'Since the commencement OF 1880 L
had been living with Mr.. Joseph
! Travis. who was to me a kind master,
and placed the greatest confidence IN
me; in fact l had no cause to complain
of his treatment to me. On Saturday
evening, the Goth of August, it was
agreed between Henry, Hank and my
self. to prepare a dinner the next day
i for the men we expected, and then to
! concert a plan, as we had not yet de-
termined on any. Hank, on the fol
i lowing morning, brought pig, and
Henry brandy, and being Joined by
Sam, Nelson, Will and Jack they pre-
Il pared in the woods a dinner where
about 3 O'Clock, / Joined them.
saluted them on coming up, and asked
i Will how he came there. He answered
!, his life was worth no more than
!, others, and his liberty as dear to him
I asked him if he thought to obtain it:
He said he would or lose his life
This was enough to put him in full
confidence. Jack, l knew, was only q
tool in the hands of Hark. It was
quickly agreed we should commence at
home (NIr J. Travis's) on that night
and until we had armed and equipped
ourselves, and gathered sufficient
force, neither age nor sex was to be
spared. We remained at the feast un-
til about two hours in the night, when
we went to the house and found
Austin. They all went to the cider
press and drank, except myself.
"On returning to the house Hark
went to the door with an axe, for the
purpose of breaking it open, as we
knew we were strong enough to muir
der the family if they were awakened
by the noise; but, rejecting that it
might create an alarm in the neighbor-
hood, we determined to enter the house
secretly, and murder them whilst
sleeping. Hank got a ladder and set
it against the chimney, on which
assembled, and, hoisting a window, en-
tered and came downstairs, unbarred
the door, and removed the guns from
that | must spill the first blood. On
| which, armed with a Ratchet and ac-
cOmpanied by VIII. / entered my mas
| ter's chamber. 1t being dark, 1 could
| not give a death blow; the hatchet
| glanced from his head He sprang
from his bed and called his wife. II
was his last word; Will laid him dead
with a blow of his axe, and Mrs.
Travis shared the same fate, as she
lay in bed. The murder of this fam
i lily, five in number, was the work OF
a moment; not one of them awoke
There was little infant sleeping in a
cradle that was forgotten until we had
left the house and gone some distance
) when Henry and Will returned and
killed it. We got here four guns that
would shoot, and several old muskets
with pound or two of powder.
we iSuidlucu SOuS llLhS at tho
barn, where we paraded; 1 formed
them in a line as soldiers, and after
carrying them through ali the ma
noeuvres l was master of, marched
them off to Mr.. Sa1athul Francis's S,
about six hundred yards distant. Sam
and Will went to the door and
: knocked. Mr.. Francis asked who was
there. Sam replied it was him, and
he had a letter for him, on which he
got up and came to the door; they i'm
mediately seized him, and, dragging
him out a little from the door, he was
dispatched by repeated blows on the
head. There was no other white per-
son in the family.
1--WE started from there to Mrs.
Reese's. maintaining the most perfect
silence on the march, where, finding
the door unlocked, we entered and
murdered Mrs. Reese in her bed while
sleeping. Her son awoke, but it was
only to sleep the sleep Of death. He
had only time TO say, who is that?'
and he was no more. From Mrs.
Reese'S we went to Mrs. Turner's. a
mile distant, which we reached about
sunrise, on Monday morning. Henry.
Austin and Sam went to the still,
where, finding Mr.. PEBBLES, Austin
shot him, and the rest of us went 70
the house; as we approached, the fam
i ily discovered lis and shut the door