Gabriel's Conspiracy
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Description
This is a tour depicting the background, events, and consequences/results of Gabriel's Conspiracy in Henrico County, Virginia.
1. Meadow Farm
This was the home of two key slaves, named Tom and Pharaoh. On the year 1800, they were part of a rebellious plan known as Gabriel's Conspiracy. However, they fled to Meadow Farm shortly before the rebellion would take place to inform their owner named Mosby Sheppard. Sheppard was able to notify government officials about the planned rebellion in order to quickly shut it down.
2. Richmond African Burial Ground
This ground, formerly known as 'the Gallows', was the site for several convicts were hung, mainly slaves, during the 1800s. Notably, Gabriel, one slave of the owner Thomas Henry Prosser, was hung here on October 10, 1800, after planning a secret rebellion to raid Richmond government officials with the help of several slaves.
3. Mayo's Bridge
This Bridge, now seen as '14th Street' in Henrico County, was the place where the slaves teamed together for the renowned Gabriel's Conspiracy would go and set fire to the Rocketts, a warehouse district in Richmond. You should be able to see both the bridge and the warehouse with the given coordinates.
4. William Young Fields
At this location in the late 1700s to early 1800s, members of Gabriel's Conspiracy met to recruit and select their officers, along with discussing their plans for the revolt. Sam Byrd Jr., a man enslaved by widow Jane Clarke, made the plan to attack Richmond government officials at nighttime. A party of fifty or so people to set fire to wooden structures at the lower part of town, causing citizens to draw to that area and provide an opening to attack upper Richmond, where the Capitol presides.
5. Brookfield Plantation and Gabriel's Rebellion
This is roughly the location of the Thomas Henry Prosser Plantation where enslaved persons like Gabriel, Solomon, Ben, Martin, and others lived. Prosser worked in this area, the city now covering it, in order to extend his property to a peak of about 2,000 acres. Brookfield is where Gabriel and many of the other slaves grew up and got to know one another, leading to them coming together later in their revolt which is known as Gabriel's Rebellion.
