Southampton County Virginia USGenWeb Archives Newpapers.....Review, 1900 ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/va/vafiles.htm ************************************************ A VIRGINIA WRITER. FINE PIECE OF HISTORICAL WORK BY MR. W. S. DREWRY. THE SOUTHAMPTON INSURRECTION. The Young Author Has Revived Interest in the Nat Tyler [sic] Rebellion - May Be Chosen Professor of History in Cincinnati University. The Southampton Insurrection is the title of a book of 200 pages by Mr. William Sidney Drewry, of Southampton county. The work is attracting great attention, and promises to bring much reputation to the young author. Mr. Drewry is the brother of Mr. John C. Drewry, of this city, and is at present honorary scholar in history in the Johns Hopkins University. The book, which is from the press of the Neale Company, Washington, is well printed, profusely illustrated, and handsomely bound. It is by far the most complete and accurate [engraved portrait, captioned MR. W. S. DREWRY.] account yet written of the terrible episode in Virginia history, in which more than sixty persons, many of them defenceless women and children, were savagely butchered by Nat. Turner, the negro fanatic, and his brutal and deluded followers. A PHILOSOPHIC WORK. But the book is far more than a recital of theso revolting and tragic scenes. It is a careful and philosophic historical study of the social and economic conditions prevailing in Eastern Virginia at the time of the Southampton insurrection. Mr. Drewry is a native of Southampton, and has enjoyed unusual advantages and opportunities for investigating this subject. He has not only travelled over the region through which the murderous band made its raid, but he has conversed with every person in the county who remembers anything about the event, and he has made a careful study of the court records of the time and all other documents that throw any light on the subject. He has done his work well, and in the performance of his task has set an example that writers of Virginia history may emulate with advantage. A DISTINGUISHED YOUNG STUDENT. Mr. Drewry, the author of this book, is a Master of Arts of the University of Virginia, and has dedicated the volume to Dr. Richard Heath Dabney, the Professor of History in that institution. He is at present an honorary scholar in history at the Johns Hopkins University, from which he will receive the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at the close of the present session. He is known to be a candidate for the vacant Chair of American History in the University of Cincinnati, and his election to that high and responsible position is said to be very probable. The honorable achievement of this talented and scholarly young Virginian in the field of original investigation and historical composition would seem to give added weight to the argument of those who have been contending for the establishment of a distinct Chair of American History in the State University and the selection of a man of the first order ot intellect and scholarly attainments to fill it. It is pointed out, that until this is done young men of this State who desire to obtain the best training in history will have to go to such institutions as the Hopkins, Harvard, and Chicago, where ample provision is made for the most thorough instruction in this as well as in other branches of human knowledge. Until Virginia makes such provision for historical study and investigation she must be content to have her history written by men from other States or by men educated in the schools of other States. Fortunate, indeed, will she be if the work is always done with such skill and justice as Mr. Drewry has displayed in the task he has undertaken. ****************************************************************************** BOOKS AND AUTHORS. [...] THE SOUTHAMPTON INSURRECTION. by William Sidney Drewry. The Neale Company, Washington, D.C., publishers. The author of this scholarly and entertaining book is a native of Virginia, a graduate of the University of Virginia, and now honorary scholar in history, Johns Hopkins University. He is brother of Mr. John C. Drewry. of Richmond. In the book under review Mr. Drewry has given the most complete and, we doubt not, the most accurate account ever printed of Nat Turner's famous insurrection, for the author tells us that, in order to "separate truth from fiction," he visited the scenes of the insurrection in company with pesons [sic; persons] thoroughly acquainted with the country and with the facts and conditions under which they occurred. Among those interviewed were members of every family that suffered at the hands of the insurgents. From its very inception Mr. Drewry traces the insurrection, faithfully portraying social and political conditions in Southhampton at the time, following the insurgents over every inch of their bloody march, and giving every detail of the outrages which they committed. The whole story is told clearly, and with thrilling circumstance; yet the book is something more than a narrative. It is a scientific treatise, as well, of the slavery question, and it pictures the home life of the slave in such a way as to refute the slanderous charges of the Abolitionists against the Southern whites. Mr. Drewry points out that slavery in Southampton was "simply domestic servitude, under practically efficient garantees [sic] against ill treatment;" that the system was "more on the order of that in the Mosaic law, where the slave was a member of the family, and to insult or maltreat a slave was an insult which had to be atoned for on the field of honor." He notes, also, an incident which The Times printed at the time, and employed as the ext [sic; text] for an editorialthat of the old negro down South who was acquitted of an infamous crime, the evidence against him being circumstantial, on the good character he proved in court. The Judge congratulated him, and the old man declared that he owed his character to the training which his master had given him. Mr. Drewry's book makes plain the fact that Nat Turner had a kind and generous master, and could not plead bad treatment as an excuse for his rebellion. The fact is, that Nat was the son of a woman who had heen imported directly from Africa, and was, it is said, so wild at the time of Nat's birth that she had to be tied to prevent her from murdering him. Nat was a fanatic, but he was also a savage, and the murderous acts of his insurgent band were the acts of savages, who grew more and more ferocious with every murder committed. Those who have read Dr. Barringer's paper on the negro, which was recently reviewed by The Times, will study with keen interest this phase of the Southampton insurrection. But we are trespassing upon space, and must close, not, however, without emphasizing the fact that Nat Turner and his gang were all fairly tried in a court of justice, and an able lawyer was assigned to defend them. No attempt whatever was made to lynch the negroes after they had been caught. Lynching is a thing of our modern civilization. The fact should also be emphasized that many of the Southampton slaves were faithful to their owners, and, in some instances, risked their own lives to protect the lives of their owners. From whatever point of view, Mr. Drewry's book is a valuable contribution to southern literature, and should be read by all who are desirous of learning the truth about slavery in Virginia, and the relationship between master and servant. "Richmond (VA) Dispatch," Vol. 1900, No. 15314, May 6, 1900, p. 18, col. 3; "The Times" (Richmond, VA), May 13, 1900, p. 8, col. 2 The book & text are available online at: https://archive.org/details/southamptoninsur00drew https://books.google.com/books?id=Eg55AAAAMAAJ&hl=en While an important resource, especially for its photos of the sites of the massacre, the work is distorted by the Lost Cause myth - as are the reviews. A recent history has been published: Breen, Patrick H. "The Land Shall Be Deluged with Blood: A New History of the Nat Turner Revolt." New York: Oxford University Press, 2015. Breen also contributed the article on the revolt in Encyclopedia Virginia: https://www.encyclopediavirginia.org/Revolt_Nat_Turner_s_1831 Court proceedings on the Southampton Insurrection, Aug-Nov 1831, are posted at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/va/southampton/court/ol_nat.txt Contributed for use in the USGenWeb Archives by File Manager Matt Harris (zoobug64@aol.com). file at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/va/southampton/news/19000506rd.txt