Rotunda Bricks: Willis, Sam, John, Ben, Reubin, Nelson, Sharper, Bob, Tom, Lewis, and Barrett
Little is known about the enslaved individuals who formed the bricks for the Rotunda other than their names- Willis, Sam, John, Ben, Reubin, Nelson, Sharper, Bob, Tom, Lewis, and Barrett. These enslaved masons were hired in 1824 by proctor Arthur Brockenbrough to fire bricks, and they were likely named in his records because brick-making required skill that not all “hands” would possess. A month’s worth of enslaved labor making bricks, which involved using a wooden mold to shape the clay, extracting the bricks to sun-dry for several days, and then firing them in a kiln, earned a slave owner eight dollars.
