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52 Weeks

Week 21: Jacob's Case

4/1/2023

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During the early part of our county's formation, court cases were recorded in our county's minute books. Sometimes, such cases required further investigation, continuing to Winchester; other times, the county officials determined the case and punishment, if there was one. July 12th, 1779, was just such an example for an enslaved African American named Jacob.

"At a Call Court held for Shanando County... for the Examination of Jacob a Negro Fellow the property of J...P... who stands committed to the common Goal of this County. Charged on suspicion of attempting to commit a Rape on the Body of S...B... widow... at night" (Minute Book 1774-1780, p.105).

Jacob, an enslaved African American, was brought to court because of suspicion, not because of an actual crime. The four men of European descent that were present to try the case (one of whom is the person taking the minutes) examined Jacob, the widowed woman, and three other men. Jacob "declares he is not Guilty of the charge" and then "charge" is crossed out with "crime he" replacing it before continuing: "stands charged with." So, Jacob is brought to court due to suspicion, which is elevated to a crime in this county. But it doesn't stop there. If Jacob were actually guilty, they most likely would have killed him by hanging. The fact that he was not means there was insufficient evidence to convict him.

"Tis the Opinion of the Court that the Fact is not fully proved but that he receive 39 lashes on his bear back well laid on and Discharged and that he receive 39 lashes on his bare Back every time he shall be seen off his masters Plantation from Twelve month and one day from this date without a pass from his said Master" (Minute Book 1774-1780, p.105).

This case teaches us: if you are suspected of a crime in Shenandoah County and African American, even if you claim you are not guilty, you are still guilty. A surmise that also occurred for a different matter in 2020, when an African American minister, who defended himself from a white mob that had tried to illegally dump an appliance on his property by pulling his registered gun in order to keep them from committing the injuries to himself that they were verbalizing, was arrested by the police that he called. Why? They didn't see an angry white mob. They saw a black man with a gun. It took time in prison and a court case for this African American man to prove his innocence in the situation. But the harm was already done. 

When we allow our biased preferences to lead our decisions, it doesn't end well - especially when a community has a history of mistreating people based on skin color. We might not mean to, we will say, but that is when we must remember Jacob, who was punished even though he wasn't guilty of a crime, and remember this African American minister. It is easier to make laws, school names, and infrastructure decisions based on the rights of all people, rather than put ourselves in a situation of apology. 

As we will continue to see, in terms of the school names, when our southern campus secondary school - a school, along with the county's two other high schools, made for only white children - was named Stonewall Jackson High School on January 12, 1959, the harm was done. Let's not repeat that mistake.
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    SENK is an artist and writer in the Shenandoah Valley. The blog, 52 Weeks, is an ethical contemplation on the importance of choosing public school names that are not divisive within a community. Each post is based on over eight years of research by the author. 52 Weeks is a compassionate appeal to community and school board members to not revert to the names of Confederate leaders for Shenandoah County, Va, public schools.

    SENK is the 2023 Judah, Sarah, Grace, & Tom Memorial poetry award winner from Poetry Society of Virginia and the 2022 Kingdoms in the Wild Poetry Award recipient for her chapbook, Chameleon Sky. In 2016, she received Preservation Virginia's George W. G. Stoner and Melville Jennings Research and Education Award for her work with Sam Moore Slave Cemetery in Shenandoah County, Va. Her research has been published by Shenandoah County Historical Society in 2022, in Slavery's Descendants (2019), and in various articles priorly.

    Posts

    47 / Maintaining Public Peace
    ​46 / Brown v. Board
    ​45 / Rebuilding a Pro-Confederate South
    44 / An Out-of-area Education
    43 / Where's the 'Common Sense Consideration'?
    ​42 / Education Without Heart
    ​41 / Self-Preservation
    ​40 / Free Public Schools
    ​39 / The Mask of Defiance

    38 / The Golden Door of Freedom
    37 / Prejudicial to our Race
    36 / Are We Compassionate?
    35 / Community
    34 / Need for Radical Change
    33 / Bitter Prejudice
    32 / Fear of 'Negro Equality'
    31 / Rachel, Lashed to Death
    30 / The Whim of the Court: A Look at Jacob, Stacy, Lett; March & Peter; Jeffrey & Peter
    29 / Ben, Tom, Ned, Clary, & two men from the furnace
    28 / The Loss of Fortune
    27 / James Scott, A Free Man
    26 / The Unremembered, The Unheard
    25 / The American Cause
    24 / Tithables for the County & Parish
    23 / Satisfactory Proof of Being Free
    22 / Building Community Takes Trust
    21 / Jacob's Case
    20 / Whose Control?
    19 / Racial Classifications
    18 / The Cost of Freedom in 1840
    17 / Sale of Children
    16 / Bequeathal of Future Increase
    15 / The First Annual
    14 / From a Descendant of a CSA Soldier
    13 / True Americanism
    12 / Slavery. A Hot Topic.
    11 / Real Character
    10 / Real Apologies
    ​9 / Freedom from Fear
    8 / 250 Years
    7 / The Courage of Christ
    6 / Whose Narratives?
    5 / The 13th Amendment
    ​4 / Symbolic Act of Justice
    3 / Giving Thanks
    2 / Confederate Congress
    ​1 /
     Veteran's Day
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  • About
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