Dangerfield and Harriet Newby

Dangerfield Newby (ca. 1820-1859), born enslaved, grew up about nine miles southwest of here. He became free in 1858 when his white father and enslaved mother took their children to Ohio. Working as a blacksmith, Newby saved money to buy his wife, Harriet (d. 1884), and their children, who remained enslaved in Virginia and were in danger of being sold to the Deep South. When negotiations for the purchase failed, he joined the abolitionist John Brown in planning an attack designed to incite a slave revolt. During the raid on Harpers Ferry in Oct. 1859, Newby was the first of the raiders to be killed. Harriet and the children were sold to Louisiana but returned to Virginia after the Civil War.

Department of Historic Resources, 2021