Nansemond-Southampton County Virginia USGenWeb Archives Obituaries.....Alford, Francis M., 1901 

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Francis Marion ALFORD 

   NAT TURNER INSURRECTION.

Death of a Citizen Who Possessed the Negro's Sword - Other Incidents. 
    (Special Dispatch to The Times.)

  SUFFOLK, VA., May 27. - Francis Marion Alford, whose father, Captain 
Benjaman [sic; Benjamin] Alford, of the Portsmouth Light Dragoons, was sent 
by the then Governor of Virginia to suppress Nat Turner's insurrection in 
Southampton county in 1831, died here Sunday, aged seventy-three years. 
Despite large money offers the deceased retained till death the sword alleged 
to have been owned and used by the noted negro insurrectionist.  It is a crude 
looking weapon, but the steel is finely tempered. 

  Nat Turner, it will remembered, was a fanatical leader, who believed he had 
been chosen to exterminate the whites.  He passed word among his followers, 
and for several days there was fearful slaughter.  The Portsmouth Dragoons, 
with Captain Alford, are said to have been the first military organization on 
the scene, and the "rising"' was soon suppressed. 

  Nat Turner, who had taken refuge in a cave, was betrayed by the smell of 
meat he was frying for dinner.  Turner was hanged and Captain Alford got his 
sword.  That's what Captain Alford's son always told his closest friends. 

  There is a legend revived by F.M. Alford's death that Nat Turner's ears 
were cut off by a doctor who drove across the county thirty miles to see the 
execution, and that they are still in existence, having been preserved in 
alchohol.  A well known citizen, now living in Suffolk, says he has seen the 
ears.  The family in whose possession they are supposed to be has never sought 
to give publicity to their possession, nor the details of the reason for their 
ancestor's action. 

  F.M. Alford was a unique person, whom near neighbors sometimes saw only once 
or twice a year.  He was educated for a lawyer, but never practiced, having an 
income which made him independent.  The funeral will occur Tuesday. 



"Frank" Francis Marion ALFORD, Confederate veteran, 
Eastern Shore native, d. 27 May 1901, Suffolk, age circa 70, 
buried in Cedar Hill Cemetery (Block O, Lot 95*), Suffolk, 29 May 1901, 
"The Times" (Richmond, VA), May 28, 1901, p. 4 

*Cedar Hill list, an extension of the 
   Southampton County Historical Society {SCHS} Cemetery Project: 
   http://files.usgwarchives.net/va/nansemond/cemeteries/cedar_a.txt 

His parents are buried in Elmwood Cemetery, Norfolk - 4AW-L5. 
   Norfolk City Virginia USGenWeb Archives, Elmwood list: 
http://www.usgwarchives.net/va/norfolkcity/cemeteries/elmwood/elm-ab-al.html 

The SCHS has a sword, which is claimed to be Nat TURNER's. 
   There are several photos of it online at Google Images. 
   There is also an interesting discussion on it, at: 
   http://myarmoury.com/talk/viewtopic.22392.html

It seems to be the same sword pictured in William Sidney Drewry's 
   "The Southampton Insurrection" (Neale Co., Washington, DC, 1900). 
   A footnote states it was in the possession of Mr. James D. WESTBROOK 
   of Drewryville, a relative of TURNER's captor Benjamin PHIPPS; that 
   Mr. Frank ALFORD of Suffolk claimed to have TURNER's musket & sword; 
   that TURNER was armed only with the sword; that ALFORD's father's 
   militia unit - commanded by Capt. DAY - had returned to Portsmouth 2 
   months before TURNER's capture; and that ALFORD's claims were disputed 
   by Capt. J.J. DARDEN in a letter to "The Suffolk Herald," replying to 
   an article published July 24, 1899.  (pp. 91-92) 

That book & text are available online at: 
   https://archive.org/details/southamptoninsur00drew 
   https://books.google.com/books?id=Eg55AAAAMAAJ&hl=en 


Contributed for use in the USGenWeb Archives by 
File Manager Matt Harris (zoobug64@aol.com). 

file at: 
http://files.usgwarchives.net/va/nansemond/obits/a416f1ob.txt