The Gallows, Resurrection Men . . . and Dancing

A special Halloween reposting from 2 years ago. For the background of this piece start here.

                                         

THE GALLOWS BALL.

"The negroes came in immense numbers. It was a gala day for them, and they were all in a holiday attire. The field in which the men were hanged looked like a country fair. Booths were erected. An enterprising Yankee had a side show and educated pig, and itinerant musicians enlivened the occasion. After the hanging the crowds of whites went away, but the negroes hung about the field and around the shallow graves of the felons until dark. They had determined to have a ball, but according to some superstition among them it could not begin until after the midnight hour. A large barn in the field was swept clean by hundreds of willing hands. At 12 o'clock it was crowded. 

On a small stage in a corner the stand for the musicians was placed, which was occupied by four banjo players and one fiddle. In the middle of the room was another stand, upon which the man who called out the figures stood. It was a weird scene. Boys stood in the corners of the room with pine knot torches, which filled the place with smoke, and made a murky light.

At 12:15 the festivities began. Peter Johnson, a burly tobacco hand, occupied the stand in the middle of the room, and sang out in stentorian voice: "Choose your partners." The strangely made up orchestra struck up "The Mississippi Sawyer," a wild Ethiopian air, and the dancing began. As the music went on, the musicians and dances grew wild and wilder, until they shouted and sang as though possessed by the devil. Such exclamations as "I could die dis moment" "Oh, Lord, how happy I is" and the like were heard, especially from the women. At about two o'clock Lucinda Macon, an old voudou(sic) negress, suddenly made her appearance in the barn. The musicians and dancers stopped in terror. The old hag slipped into the middle of the room, and then began a series of strange incantation scenes. The "trick" doctress* was dressed in an old blue and white checkered dress, and had in. her hand a large bundle, tied up in a red handkerchief. She opened it, and after muttering a lot of gibberish, in what the negroes say here was an African dialect, she said she had the rope with which the man were banged, and that after she had touched any bit of it that piece would secure the possessor against the evil designs of any person who tricked them or poisoned them. She cut it up in small bits, and over each bit she muttered and sprinkled something from an old jog, and then she sold it for fifty cents. The rush for these pieces of rope was great. The men fought for them.

This ceremony was kept up until 2:30 a.m. The rope did not go around, and when this became known those who did not get a piece acted like fiends, and begged the hag for a thread only. She told them that nothing else would effect the charm except small particles of the clothing in which the men were buried. A large party then started off to. the grave underneath the gallows, for the purpose of disinterring the bodies and bringing back the garments. They soon returned in horror to the ball room, swearing that they had seen the two men who were hanged walking around the grave. The hag added to the excitement by declaring at the top of her voice, singing cut the words, that Smith and Christian had not died, because she had given them a charm. The secret is, that the visit of the dancers to the grave frightened off two resurrectionists who were after the bodies for the doctors. The dancing and singing were kept up until 5 o'clock. It was announced by the voudou doctress that all who danced at the gallows ball would be able to dance as long as they lived, no matter if they lived to be ninety one"

-Shepherdstown Register (West Virginia), April 05, 1879

* hoodoo man or conjurer

For more information on the believed magical properties of the accoutrements of the gallows I suggest,  Executing Magic in the Modern Era: Criminal Bodies and the Gallows in Popular Medicine by Owen Davies and Francesca Matteoni.

As for the carnival nature of the public execution, there is The Hanging Tree: Execution and the English People 1770-1868 by V. A. C. Gatrell and "The Execution Spectacle and State Legitimacy: The Changing Nature of the American Execution Audience, 1833-1937" by Annulla Linders in Law & Society Review.

Educational Connections- Roxbury 1860

 BOARDING SCHOOL AT ROXBURY, NEW KENT CO., Va.—

I will open this school at my mother’s (Mrs. C.N. Pollard) residence, on the 1st of September, 1860, for the limited number of 12 boys. 

Boys of this school will enjoy all the advantages of a private family and will receive the same attention as at home The course of instruction will embrace all the English, Classical and Mathematical branches. 

Terms— $200 including everything. For further particulars see circular which can be obtained by addressing Thos. E. Ballard, Exchange Hotel, Richmond, or myself at Hubbard’s P.O.. New Kent county. 

                        THOS A POLLARD, A.M.                  

References.— C. Martin, Prof. Ancient Languages, H.S. College; M. D. Hoge, D.D., Richmond; B.B. Douglas, King William; Wm. B. Newton, Hanover; John P. Pierce*, New Kent, Hugh Nelson. Petersburg; T. Taylor, New Kent. 

jy2—d&c8m 

-Richmond Whig, August 22, 1860

The Mrs. C. N. Pollard mentioned would be Caroline Nelson Pollard, widow of James Camm Pollard, owner of Warsaw plantation in Roxbury. She was also the mother of James Pollard, later Lieutenant of the Ninth Virginia Cavalry, mentioned here.

It seem then that the young man here is Thomas Atkinson Pollard  (Feb 17, 1836-Oct 16 1884) and so twenty four in 1860.  A graduate of Hampden-Sydney, Pollard later rose to the position of principal in the Richmond Public Schools. He was the first principal of the historic Springfield School on Church Hill.

Thomas A. Pollard's obituary from October 17, 1884 edition of the Richmond Dispatch.

Death of T. A. Pollard

Mr. Thomas A. Pollard, principal of Springfield and East-End public schools, died yesterday morning at 10 o'clock. In the forty-seventh year of his age, Mr. Pollard had bean sick since last Sunday week: and though his case was severe it was hoped, until within a day of his death, that he would recover, As a man he was amiable, modest, and true; as a Christian, earnest, conscientious and deeply pious; as a school officer, faithful, popular, and efficient.

He was greatly endeared to those who were brought into intimate contact with him, whether socially or officially. Mr. Pollard was the youngest son of the late John Camm Pollard, of King William county. After his father's death be removed to Henrico county, near the new reservoir, and subsequently to the place now occupied by John C. Shafer. Esq. He was in this city, and attended the schools of Rev. Alexander Martin and Dr. Socrates Maupin.  Later he was a student at Hampden-Sydney College, at which institution he graduated. His life has been spent in teaching in South Carolina, Mississippi, and Virginia.

For the past five years he has been engaged in the public schools of this city. During the war he was in the Confederate army in the Valley of Virginia. Mr. Pollard was twice married. His first wife was a Miss Christian of New Kent. His second wife a Miss Lipscomb, daughter of N. C. Lipscomb of this city, survives him. He leaves three children. The funeral will take place to-day at 3 o'clock P. M. from Dr. Hoge's church, of which he had been a number since early manhood.

The exercises of Springfield and East-End Schools will be suspended to-day, and the other schools will close at 1:30 P.M. The School Board will attend the funeral in a body

* New Kent's Commonwealth Attorney

UPDATE: "Roxbury" was approximately 500 acres bounded on the north by Rt. 60(now), on the south by the Chickahominy, the west by "South Garden" and the east by Schiminoe Creek.