Whispers of Rebellion: Narrating Gabriel's Conspiracy

5. Putting a Period

With Gabriel in custody, a new phase in the public’s response to the intended insurrection emerged. As the editor of the Argus expressed it from his vantage point in Richmond, “A period is put to the anxiety and perturbation which for several weeks past has convulsed the public mind by the capture and safe commitment of gabriel.” The Virginia Gazette gave a brief description of the presentation of Gabriel to the governor, and reported that the captive “denied the charge of being first in exciting the insurrection” but admitted that “he was to have had the chief command.” The paper also claimed that Gabriel had stated “that there were four or five persons more materially concerned in the conspiracy ; and said he could mention several in Norfolk,” but confessed nothing else. This paper, which had first published the news of the alleged Frenchmen, then relayed, “We have heard it slightly rumoured, that he has letters in his possession from white people, but do not pretend to set it forth as a report deserving of credit.” But if any whites were involved in the plot, the editor hoped “that they may be bro’t to justice.”1 For the executive, however, the end of the affair seemed more distant. Men still awaited trial, Jack Bowler remained at large, and the forces of the state still patrolled the neighborhood of the Brook and guarded the public places in Richmond and the arsenal at Point of Fork. Pressures to reduce the associated costs and release militiamen were likely to increase, while the need to maintain vigilance remained. On the Saturday Gabriel stood before Monroe, 27 September, the governor gave notice to the council to meet in an extraordinary Sunday session. When they assembled, Monroe 5 } Putting a Period 94 } whispers of rebellion remained home with his anxious family, but sent them a letter describing Gabriel’s arrival and listing a number of matters they should attend to, including those related to Gabriel’s imprisonment. The council sent three of its members—Alexander McRae, William Foushee, and former governor James Wood—“to take his confession should he be inclined to make any.” They soon returned to chambers, reporting that “Gabriel did not seem disposed at present to make any confession worth notice.” With that, the council dismissed the men Monroe had appointed to guard him and ordered that the prisoner be kept in isolation, watched by a single sentinel drawn from the general guard at the penitentiary.2 The councilors reconvened the next day, again without Monroe, whose son Spence had died the night before, and allotted the $300 reward to the two Norfolk constables who physically seized Gabriel and were delegated to take him to Richmond. They were also reimbursed for the five dollars spent on the irons Gabriel wore, but the council did not yet reward Billy, whose information had triggered Gabriel’s capture. They authorized the reenlistment of the permanent guard at Point of Fork, and agreed to allow some guns shipped to Richmond from Philadelphia under a contract with the state that sat at Rocketts to be placed in the penitentiary for safekeeping. They also ordered an examination of the weapons before formally accepting them as state property, but expressed “great anxiety that the law authorizing the executive to procure a supply of arms . . . should be carried into effect.”3 When Monroe returned to meet with the council on Thursday, 2 October , the executive faced more cases of men condemned to death than had already been executed. The question of when to stop the executions, if one could, was more than an abstract consideration affecting the body politic. Just before Gabriel arrived in Richmond on Saturday, 27 September, the Henrico justices of the Court of Oyer and Terminer tried and found three more men guilty and condemned them to die on 3 October. Clarke’s Sam Byrd Jr., Goode’s Michael, and Young’s William were crowded into the jail with Ned, Isaac, Laddis, George, Gilbert, Tom, and King, each awaiting their adjudicated fate at the gallows. On Monday, the court had acquitted Jim Allen and Moses, both slaves of James Price. But it had found guilty Sam Graham, the slave of Paul Graham of Hanover, and Abraham, a slave of Thomas Burton of Henrico, thus adding two more to the executioner ’s list. On Tuesday, they resumed with the trials of Jacob, a slave of Thomas Woodfin; Dick, belonging to Jesse Smith; James, the property of [3...