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The old adage, “crime doesn’t pay,” was never truer than when punishment was meted out to criminals by the “gentlemen justices” of Rappahannock County.
As recorded in the first minute book of the county court, the penalties they handed down seem harsh when measured against today’s standards.
The first capital sentence imposed by the “gentlemen justices”, or magistrates, was in the March court session of 1834 against Lucy, a female slave who was the property of Elizabeth Berkley. Lucy was charged with arson for burning the house, kitchen, stable and meat house of Elijah Anderson. She was tried, found guilty and sentenced to be hanged by the neck until dead.
But the commonwealth's attorney asked for clemency for the 20-year-old slave whose value was fixed at S250. Her sentence was instead commuted to “sale and transportation beyond the limits of the United States.”
In the May session of 1835, Stephen, a slave who belonged to the heirs of
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