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John and Rosa Cabell – Please contact Jeff Bennett (jeffbennett@gmail.com) if you have any information about John and Rosa Cabell (born c1800)  who lived in the Danville/Pittsylvania County area in the 1800’s. It is possible they were associated at one time with the Bridgewater plantation of Gen. Benjamin W. S. Cabell.

Henry (ID 649) was enslaved at Montezuma in Nelson County, Va by Thomas Stanhope McClelland and sold in 1835 to Seth Woodroof, a known slave trader based out of Lynchburg, Va.. For more information or to connect with others on this Henry, contact Ty’Leik Chambers at Tyleikcc@gmail.com.

Contact the webmaster at info@cabell.com to post a request here.

Identifying the Enslaved Persons of Union Hill

From the time Dr. Cabell settled in Nelson County through the first half of the 19th century, the Cabell descendants built homes that reflected their prosperity and positions in the community. The prosperity enjoyed by the Cabell’s on their plantations was in large part due to enslaved persons performing the manual labor associated with running the farm, mills, blacksmiths, boats, and plantation house. By 1780, William Cabell Sr. of Union Hill counted 100 enslaved persons working on his plantation. As the land was divided with each generation and marriage, so was the population of enslaved persons. In 1864, Mayo Cabell of Union Hill counted 31 enslaved persons working on his plantation.

The Union Hill Plantation remained in the Cabell family for 200 years. William Cabell, Sr. built and moved into the original home (Colleton) in 1769. He built Union Hill on the same site in 1778 and relocated to the newer home. William Cabell’s descendants continued to live in the home until the death of his great granddaughter, Lucy Gilmer Cabell in 1939. Diaries of the previous Cabell family owners that were found in the home were donated to the The University of Virginia library, SWEM Library at William & Mary College, the Virginia Museum of History and Culture, and The Library of Virginia. The ‘Union Hill Slave Cemetery’ is located behind the home with an estimated 150 graves. A few markers are still visible. See more about the site on Find-A-Grave here.

To view presentations on the progress to identify the enslaved of Union Hill Plantations please see the presentations on YouTube here.

The final publication in The Journal of Slavery and Data Preservation can be found here.

The Ancestry.com family tree for the Union Hill enslaved can be found here.

Names of 277 Enslaved Persons of Union Hill or Colleton that could be buried at the Union Hill Slave Cemetery – see list here.

Compiled Biographies of some Enslaved Families of Union Hill

If you would like to be the point of contact for a family group below, please send an email to info@cabell.com and we will post your contact information for the family group.

Archer Bolling and Family

Archer Bolling and his wife Sucky were found referenced in the journals of enslavers from Union Hill, Norwood, Colleton and Soldier’s Joy. Archer performed duties as a dentist and Sucky was the cook at Union Hill. Family members identified through the journals are shown here.

  • Archer Bolling (1795-?)
  • Sucky (Bef. 1796-14 May 1869)
  • Henry Bolling (Abt. 1825-1886)
  • Harriet Ann (Abt. 1825-?)
  • Sophy Bolling (Abt. 1830-?)
  • James (Abt. 1828-?)
  • Catherine Bolling (20 Aug 1839-?)
  • Tarlton Fleming (1829-?)
  • Emeline Bolling (1841-?)
  • Albert Woodson (Abt. 1833-?)
  • Moses Bolling (1842-?)
  • Elvira Bolling (1847-?)
  • 2 unnamed children
Harry and FAnny

Harry (born abt 1755 – died after 1823) and Fanny (1754- died after 1823) were found referenced as a couple in the journals of enslavers of Colleton and Union Hill. It is believed they were transferred from William Cabell, Sr. to his son Samuel Jordan Cabell of Soldier’s Joy upon the death of William Cabell, Sr.. Harry traveled extensively apparently on his own on errands for William Cabell, Sr. or as a traveling servant to William Cabell when he served as a delegate in the Virginia Legislature. They had at least one son, Jefferon (abt. 1768-).

Jane, Stephen, Bluford, Lizzie Turner

Jane and her first two children (Stephen, Bluford) were enslaved by Mayo Cabell in 1853 and transferred to his daughter (Margaret Cabell) who was married to Robert L. Brown at the time and living at the Benvenue plantation, slightly west of Union Hill.

Stephen Turner was identified as “a colored man” by Mayo Cabell in his journal in 1855. Mayo, and his two sons, William D. Cabell and Joseph C. Cabell, Jr. all documented buying produce/chickens/turkeys from Stephen Turner who “came down from the mountains”. In Nov 1857, the Benvenue plantation is in financial ruin and Robert L. Brown (wife of Margaret Cabell) deeds all of his property to Joseph C. Cabell, Jr. (brother of Margaret) for auction.

On 4 Dec 1857, Joseph C. Cabell, Jr. writes “Stephen Turner brings me down a barrel of apples and a basket of chestnuts. He has a wife and 3 children at sister’s who are to be sold on 8th of February. He seems much distressed and begs me to buy them. I never saw a negro show such feeling.”

Frederick G. Peters (1802-1883) purchases Lizzie and her 3 children and the auction. His mother was Cynthia Turner (1740-1860), a potential relation to Stephen Turner. The last documented sighting of Stephen Turner or Jane and her children in the Union Hill neighborhood was on the 1st of Feb, 1859.

The lives of this family in Nelson County, Virginia were linked to their later lives in Portage Wisconsin with the help of Jill Van Buren. Jane (Eliza Jane Hill) married Stephen Turner in 1849 at “Union Hill” and they had three children, Lizzie, Stephen and Bluford. For more information see the poster here or contact Jill Van Buren at mjvb47@gmail.com.

Huldy Hatcher FAmily

Huldy Hatcher and her children and their families were enslaved by Mayo Cabell and his children, William D. Cabell and Joseph C. Cabell, Jr. The names identified as related by birth or marriage are shown here.

Huldy Hatcher (1800-1854)
John Hatcher (1820-)
Nancy Banks (1827-)
Martha Hatcher (1846-)
Efford Hatcher (1848-)
Fanny Hatcher (1851-)
Matilda Hatcher (18 Nov 1853)
Tom Hatcher (1854-)
Infant Hatcher (Apr 1861-Jul 1861)
Lucy Hatcher (1863-)
Sam Hatcher (1825-)
Clarissa Rose (1827-)
Margaret Hatcher (1827-)
Gustavus Hatcher (bef. 1835-)
Mayo Hatcher (Bef. 1835-8 June 1854)

Venus and Pompey

Pompey and Venus lived at Union Hill and their children were enslaved at Montezuma by Hector Cabell until his death in 1807. The estate of Hector Cabell was sold at auction and it is not known what happened to these persons.

Pompey (1705-20 Sept 1795)
Venus (1745-)
George (Bef. 1762-)
Hannah (Bef. 1785-)
Joshua (Bef. 1765)
Guy (1795-)
Nancy (Abt. 1798-)
Hannah (Bef. 1806)