Spragins, Mel (fl. 1802-1819) [Writ of summons for the sheriff of Halifax County to summon county justices for a trial of slaves involved in the Easter Plot]
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Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC06338.08 Author/Creator: Spragins, Mel (fl. 1802-1819) Place Written: Halifax County, Virginia Type: Document signed Date: 17 April 1802 Pagination: 1 p. : docket ; 19.9 x 16.4 cm. Order a Copy
Writ of summons signed by Spragins and Dejurnatt (some ancestral records cite "Dejarnett," among various other spellings). Ordering the county sheriff to summon justices for a 23 April trial of "Sanco [Sancho] a Negro Man Slave now in possession of Richard Booker, Frank the property of Archer Robertson[,] Jim the property of James Booker and Phebey a Negro Woman Slave the property of Daniel Price." Notes that these four slaves were committed to county jail that day as per warrant.
Related to the Easter Plot, also known as Sancho's Rebellion. Sancho, an earlier participant in Gabriel's Rebellion of 1800, instigated the Easter Plot, intended to take place on or around Good Friday 1802. The ferment spread through southern Virginia (including Halifax County), and northeastern North Carolina, resulting in the hanging of Sancho and four other participants.
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