You know what I think this blog needs? Some more pictures of pre-Civil War courthouses! Ok -- so maybe I'm alone in that thinking. But I am back from a research trip and have collected another photograph of a pre-Civil War courthouse. (I didn't visit a single cemetery, which was a disappointment but also a sign of how focused I needed to be on this trip.)
Where is the courthouse? And once we get that figured out, I'm going to have a picture of the Civil War monument on its front lawn -- and an observation that compares the inscription on it to the inscription on a Confederate monument at the Appomattox.
These keep getting tougher, but...
I believe that's Virginia's historic Sussex County Courthouse?
Posted by: Owen | October 28, 2012 at 08:29 AM
Yes, this one is very tough -- but I think easier than the Brunswick County Courthouse in Lawrenceville that you identified a few weeks back, Owen. And you are, once again, correct! This is in Sussex Count, which is not too far off I-95 south of Petersburg. Several slaves were tried here in the wake of the Nat Turner rebellion. Even though the evidence seems to have disclosed absolutely no connection between them and the rebellion, a number were sentenced to death.
It's a beautiful courthouse, built from 1825-28 according to a plaque on the building -- and has a modern one just next to it. Like some other towns, basically all that's there is the courthouse square. Reminds me of Appomattox Courthouse. It's certainly worth a trip to see if you have time next time you're driving along I-95. I hope to stop by sometime when they're open and see what it looks like inside.
Now, I need to post on the Confederate Monument that's on the front lawn. I hope to get to that shortly.
Posted by: Alfred Brophy | October 28, 2012 at 10:34 AM