ANON0007
by J Munro
JUEL ID/KEY: P44805
ANON0007, a "small negro girl," is mentioned in the Faculty Minutes of April 24, 1850.
"The Chairman informed the Faculty that from sources entitled to full credit, he had gathered that on Monday night last between the hours of 11 & 12 o' Clock three students committed a violent outrage (a rape) on a small negro girl (P44805), a slave about [12/17] years old in the field adjoining the lots of Col. Johnson (P43992) & Mr. Leake (P44128), their names are Geo. H. Hardy (P27971), Armistead C. Eliason (P40739) & James E. Montandon (P26370). They were found in the act of perpetrating the crime by several other students, who interferred to prevent it, three of these students are Messrs. Conrad (P29427), Eastham (P29826), & R. V. Gaines (P27909). Hardy & Eliason were represented as being intoxicated, this alone prevented them from being chastised by the students so indignant were they at the outrage. The Chairman immediately on being informed of the above facts communicated them to the Civil Authority (CB0201) in Charlottesville (PL4204), but the offenders had absconded. On Motion, Resolved, Unanimously, that George H. Hardy, Armistead C. Eliason, & James E. Montandon be expelled from the University."
The only other information about the three offenders is found in the June 28, 1850 Board of Visitors Minutes: "Resolved the sentence of expulsion against George H. Hardy, Armistead C. Eliason, and James E. Montandon be approved and confirmed."
Further Details
- The three students who intervened were: Daniel B. Conrad (Winchester, VA), John B. Eastham (Louisa Co., VA), and Richard Venable Gaines (Charlotte Co., VA).
- Other records suggest that both Conrad and Gaines resided at Col. Johnson's at the time of the attack. Prior to the attack, the Faculty Minutes note Conrad requested and received permission to "reside out of precincts with Col. Johnson, with a view to have a single room both with reference to his studies, and for comfort in the case of a local affection" (March 7, 1850, session 26). In regard to Richard Gaines, the Faculty Minutes of January 1850 note that fellow student R. C. Bouldin (P29427) requested to move to Col. Johnson's "in order that he may be with Mr. R. V. Gaines, who is the son of his guardian" (session 26).
- The only subsequent information provided is the following (from the Board of Visitors Minutes of June 28, 1850): "Resolved the sentence of expulsion against George H. Hardy, Armistead C. Eliason, and James E. Montandon be approved and confirmed."
- As described above, the location of the rape occurred between "the lots of Col. Johnson & Mr. Leake". Col. Michael Johnson was an off-precincts hotelkeeper associated with the University of Virginia from 1840. Although not much is yet known about the identity of "Mr. Leake," Col. Johnson was known to be the uncle of the UVA student, Virginius Leake (P40072) of Tennessee, which suggests there may be a familial relationship between Johnson and Leake. The precise location of their residences is not yet known.
- The Albemarle County Census provides invaluable detail about the individuals associated with the University of Virginia. In this instance, the 1850 Census recorded Michael Johnson, 57 (male) of Dwelling House No. 541, as head of household with a total of twelve slaves associated with his residence. The United States Census (Slave Schedule), 1850 registers that of the twelve, there were two young female slaves aged sixteen and thirteen; it is possible that one of the two may have been the victim of the reported rape.
PRIMARY SOURCE INFORMATION
1. References to the Individual in the JUEL Digitized Transcripts
(Links below are to JUEL's full-text digital transcripts of primary sources that refer to the individual. If no links display, this indicates that either the JUEL digitized texts have not yet been tagged with the individual's ID/Key, or, that no reference is made to the individual in any JUEL digitized texts, or, that the primary source has not yet been digitized).
- Faculty Minutes, April 24, 1850, session 26
- Board of Visitor Minutes, June 28, 1850
2. Library Call Numbers/Bibliographic Records
Board of Visitors Minutes, 1850. University of Virginia Library (online transcript)
Return to the List of African American Individuals