While the audience of this blog is typically from well beyond the boundaries of my home county (and, I’m happy to say, even beyond the confines of this continent), I frequently look back to that place, as I have spent a considerable number of years writing about its history. No doubt, it’s fascinating to me because of my family connections, going back to the early 1700s. Even my remote, non-familial connections to the story of blacks in the county are of interest to me, and take no back seat in my examinations of historical events or personalities.
Currently, the Page News and Courier (Luray, Virginia) has a column running, focused on the Sesquicentennial of the American Civil War… and yet, every time I read it, I get visions of the Centennial… in which case, the story of African-Americans have been forgotten, or minimized. Sorry to say, but I can’t link to the column, because it isn’t online, but… the column spends time focusing on the broader story of events leading-up to the war (and mostly, it appears to be a deeper South-centric story… I suppose to suggest that the upper South was not so different than the lower South… and we know the error of such suggestions), with no real consideration of people and events in the county. While it may seem that there is incredibly little to write about at this time in relation to the county’s history… no stories of local Confederates being formed in defense of the Southland, no stories of depredations at the hands of the Yankees, no stories about the Peter B. Borst’s glorious stand for the rights of Page County’s citizens in the secession convention… I submit that there are some difficult details to be considered that are being conveniently forgotten… and those details are found in the pre-war stories of slaves and free blacks in the county.
So, what made me pull out this soapbox today? It started with this video…
A moving reenactment indeed, and though this is a reenactment in St. Louis, the story it tells rings true, even for my home county.
Page County’s history, as related to slavery, is a peculiar one, but its a story that needs to be told, all the same… and it only makes sense to tell it in conjunction with the Sesquicentennial… especially as it coincides with the 50th anniversary of the Civil Rights Movement.
If you go to Page County today, you will find but two mentions of slavery in the history of the county, in her historical markers… one being at Catharine’s Furnace, and the other being on a supposed slave block that sets near the restored railroad depot in Luray. Oh, and that link that you see on this page, to the essay… “Is there a slave auction block in Luray, Page County, Virginia… or not”… that’s no longer active, because Geocities closed shop more than a year back. I wrote the essay, because, honestly, from my perspective as a historian, it isn’t a slave auction block, but, I think that may be worth a post by itself. Despite my objections to the stone receiving attention as a slave auction block, that doesn’t mean I don’t believe that slave auctions took place in the county. In fact, in the course of my research, I uncovered an account that had been lost for years, of an auction at Marksville, near what is now the town of Stanley. To date, the 1856 slave auction at Marksville is the only slave auction that I know of to have been documented as having taken place in Page County. The author, Jacob R. Seekford, wrote:
In 1856, when the southern slave buyers would come into this county and would buy slaves and would take them to the south in large droves of colored men and women. In 1856, just in front of the door of the house where ‘Skeet’ Good lives at Marksville, was the place where they sold slaves. Mary Williams, then the mother of two little girls belonging to Paschal Graves, was with her little baby girl put on the block and sold to a man who took them away down south, then the other little girl was sold to Daniel Koontz for $400, and Mr. Koontz gave the little girl to Mrs. John P. Foltz, who lived at Newport. Mrs. Foltz being his daughter. This little negro girl grew to womanhood and married William Winston, she is still living in Martinsburg, West Virginia. Her name was Martha. Many years ago she asked me if I could find her mother and sister. I told her that it would be impossible, then she broke down and cried. I do not know how it will be in the great beyond, but I would like to be there when Martha meets and clasps hands with her mother and sister. Those were terrible days, and I have often wondered what it might some day bring upon this country.
If that doesn’t tug on the heartstrings, I don’t know what will… and it ties back to the beginning of this post, with that video.
My point today is that, yes… my home county had slaves, and as we are now in the midst of the Sesquicentennial, with local media taking advantage of the opportunity to present the story of the war in a column… why are we still hearing the same story that was so commonly told in the 1960s? Where are the stories… of this auction… of Bethany Veney… of slave resistance (yes, Page County has a few examples of this as well)… of inhumane treatment of slaves… of the critical role slaves played in the stories of some families… and even of free blacks and their hopes for the freedom of their family members? It can all be found in Page County. I know, because I’ve found much of it… and most in the old editions of the very newspaper where that column about the Sesquicentennial now runs.
And, as for the coming war and Page’s white population… well, at least those who wore gray (saying nothing yet of those who were Southern Unionists)…
Was slavery the motivation for the common soldier serving in the war? Or… was it the motivation for those slave-holding elites who carried the county into war… taking along with them, the common man, convinced by the elites that it was more a matter of states’ rights? Was states’ rights a “masking device” for the deeper cause of slavery? Was the common man ignorant or unaware that, though he owned no slaves, he was still fighting for the preservation of the institution? Or, was he well aware of this, but the institution being something he had been in the midst of, all his life (call it, the status quo), it was only a secondary concern? Granted, motivations for service are complicated enough, but we still can’t deny the fact that slavery is at the core of the discussion.
So, tell us the story of the slaves AND free blacks there, and how all of that plays into what is important for us to consider during the Sesquicentennial… if we don’t tell the story now… then when will it be convenient to do so in our reflections of history?
*For some reflections on the early history of African-Americans in Page County, I encourage you to see one of my info compilation blogs… Too Long Forgotten: Searching for the History of Slaves and Free Blacks in Page County, Virginia.
Cenantua's Blog 
Commodore Perry
January 16, 2011
You ask about why non-slave-holding whites would fight for the CSA (at least if not by force), and I think you can look at the Federals who fought out of a sincere desire for emancipation. As a Northerner, why fight for the slaves if it doesn’t affect you or your family? Because you believe it’s the right thing to do. As a Southerner, why fight for the slave-holders if you’re a common farmer outside the gentry? Because you believe it’s their right to hold slaves.
Another way of thinking about it is in terms of modern voting- do you vote for candidates based solely on issues that immediately affect you or do you vote for candidates who you believe properly interpret the Constitution and laws and will do what’s “right” in your opinion for the county/state/country, even if much of it won’t change your or your family’s personal life? It’s putting the concept of something greater ahead of yourself. Personally, nothing bothers me more in modern politics, at the voter level at least, than those who vote or support candidates based on small self-affecting issues instead of the overall big picture.
Or, as more concisely and famously put, “I may not agree with what you say but will defend to the death your right to say it.”
Robert Moore
January 16, 2011
I agree, CP, but to a point. The complexities of motivation for service go far beyond this, and I’ve frequently tackled these issues. There’s nothing easy about trying to figure them out as there are multiple reasons for serving… ranging from enthusiastic voluntary service to conscripted, flat-out, “I don’t want to fight for your cause” service. Some want to make comparisons with modern wars, but I don’t buy that.
Essentially, I’m just putting forward some of the stuff that I think needs to be addressed, even in a simple weekly newspaper column. We’ve moved beyond the generalizations presented to us in the Centennial… and oftentimes incomplete and incorrect generalizations at that.
Robert King
February 11, 2011
Interesting stuff! As a black man living in Baltimore that grew up in Warren County I have a very extensive family relationship in Page County. Never knew there was any info out there about black slaves in Page County until I happened upon this blog. My mother ,Margaret Williams King, now 85 have been doing her best trying to convey to me what Luray was like in the early 1930’s and 40’s and she had relatives that talked about slavery that was passed down to her.
I am presently doing some research on the same topic for Front Royal and it is as if black slaves never existed in the town! Any suggestions on which way to go in order to get some feedback from the public on this topic?
I am relatively new at this type of research.
Robert Moore
February 11, 2011
Thanks for the comment, Robert. I’ll see what I can come up with this evening or tomorrow that may be of help. I’d also like to ask you some questions, if you don’t mind. Have you seen my “Too long forgotten” blog?
Keyona Shank
June 4, 2013
Hello, I found this very interesting. I’m in the process of trying to research my family history and recently found out my ancestors were from luray virginia . I don’t have much info after that except the fact that my family started from a white woman and black man. I wanted to know if anyone could be of any help to me regarding this matter? If so please email me anything thank you.
Robert Moore
June 4, 2013
Hi Keyona, Thanks for commenting. If you could send me the names I could check to see if there is anything that might be of help to you.
Lauren Acie
January 19, 2014
I traced my grandparents to Luray Virginia. Albert Willis was a slave owner and the father of my great great grandfather Albert Jr.if I visit Luray are there documents available that may give more information about the people who were traded and their names and who they belonged to like the name of their owners and or parents? I’m curious also to locate the family who enslaved my ancestors.
Robert Moore
January 21, 2014
Hi Lauren, I’m afraid the only records that might be of some help are death records. Slave deaths were recorded in these. Regretfully, I haven’t seen any record of slave sales, for Page County… though they’d likely be more helpful.
sharon d Outlaw
January 11, 2018
My cousin and I have been doing our family research. Luray is our mothers family birth place. Cyrus, Broadus, Veneys, Giles and etc. are our family names just to start, My cousin went to Richmond and found alot of papers at the Library Archives on Free People of Color. If you send my your email address I will send you what I have. It has the Last names and some of the first names. Sharon
Jerry C. Henry
June 22, 2014
I have been going through old papers of my great great grandfather Reuben Long of Page Co. Va. There are a couple of bills of sale for slaves. Interesting stuff since I never knew that existed in my family. Would love to know if this info would be needed by any ancestors.
Cullen Mack
May 1, 2017
Yes, it would be of interest to me since I’ve reached a stumbling block in gather information on my fraternal grandfather’s family. The hardest part is the surname is so common, not sure if their was slavery most likely it was. All my family are deceased. My maternal grandmother gave me some information years before she died as she knew I had a deep curiosity to know about my fraternal grandparents as he and my grandmother divorced in the mid 1920’s. My great-grandmother’s name was Betty Johnson, Elizabeth Johnson. Her father’s name was Joe Johnson and mother’s name was Eliza Good, I guess short for Elizabeth. I believe she was born around 1880. I have found little information on her. I do lnow she remarried in 1915 and have her husband’s obituary of a mining accident and a copy of their marriage license. I cannot locate her BC probably delivered at home or by a midwife and not recorded. If in a family bible???. If you have any information or can direct me in another path any assistance you have is greatly appreciated.
Cordially,
msfrap@yahoo.com
sharon d Outlaw
January 11, 2018
Does it have slave names on it and what year. Part of my Cyrus family were in-slaved and part were free people of color. If you could email me a copy to sharondoutlaw@hotmail.com, it would be apprecialted.
Cullen Mack
May 1, 2017
I’m trying to gather ancestral history on my maternal mother’s family but unable to find any records on my great grandmother and great grand parents. It’s very heartened and sad that many African Anericans hit a dead end on their ancestors. It horrible we we’re thought of as mere garbage being polite. America should be ashamed of itself.
sharon d Outlaw
January 11, 2018
Does it have slave names on it and what year. Part of my Cyrus family were in-slaved and part were free people of color. If you could email me a copy to sharondoutlaw@hotmail.com, it would be apprecialted.