TOWER HILL

A window into an evil institution.

In this gem of a book, two-time Pulitzer Prize winning historian Taylor recounts in vivid detail the history of Tower Hill, a 2,000-acre slave plantation in Virginia. He draws on the correspondence of the Blow family, which owned the plantation, to unearth the story of the place. An illustrated book by William Nivison Blow Jr. also serves as a source. In 1809, young George Blow and his new wife moved to Tower Hill. He was, Taylor writes, “attentive to every detail and driven to maximum labor efficiency.” George’s father, Richard, eventually gave him full ownership. “George’s financial records depict a plantation that sustained a genteel way of life but at an immense labor cost” due to the large number of enslaved people. At one point, he owned 123 enslaved people. Taylor recounts the fascinating story of a slave “possessing charm and pathos” whose defiant exploits inspired other enslaved people, like the Blows’ “charismatic, resolute and strong” Simon, also known as General Sampson. His legend grew as he dodged evening slave patrols—“paddyrollers”—but he was eventually caught. The author also explores the considerable role of fugitive gangs, or “maroons,” who found refuge in the Great Dismal Swamp. He movingly describes the plight of enslaved children growing up with the master’s children. In the fall of 1831, Richard Blow’s writings record that significant information about preacher Nat Turner’s bloody revolt—just before a meteor that Taylor believes Turner saw in nearby Southhampton County—was inspired by Revelations. Turner was caught, tried and hanged, and “minimizing Turner’s revolt helped to preserve slavery, which increased the prospects of an eventual civil war within the Union.” Richard died in 1833, with his property going to George. “At some deep pyschological level,” writes Taylor, “George regretted his addiction to a slave system that was ruining him and the land. But for this he blamed enslaved people rather than himself and fellow masters.”

An astute account of plantation life before the Civil War.