Message #159854

[Whitney]

Nat Turner's rebellion was suppressed within 48 hours, but Turner eluded capture until October 30, when he was discovered hiding in a hole covered with fence rails and then taken to court. On November 5, 1831, he was tried, convicted, and sentenced to death. Turner was hanged on November 11 in Jerusalem, Virginia, now known as Courtland, Virginia. His body was flayed, beheaded and quartered.

After his execution, his lawyer, Thomas Ruffin Gray, who had access to the jail in which Turner had been held, took it upon himself to publish The Confessions of Nat Turner, derived partly from research done while Turner was in hiding and partly from conversations with Turner before his trial. This document is the primary historical document regarding Nat Turner.