Hardy in Franklin County, Virginia — The American South (Mid-Atlantic)
Carry Me Home
National Park Service, Thomas Stone National Historic Site, August 18, 2018
1. Carry Me Home Marker text
Viewing marker from the north.
Background image shows an African American burial.
As in Africa, mourners keep all-night vigil, chanting loudly and praying. When the next day's work is done, friends of the dead slave gather from surrounding farms. Then the long procession marches out—songs and shouts, drums and torches in the dusk.
The pageantry strikes owners as raucous, pagan, and dangerous—a chance slave conspiracy. But the human need to deal with death prevails most owners to let slaves mourn as they wish.
Friends bear the rough coffin into the forest, long a place of secret meetings, of sanctuary, of paths only known to slaves. A respected slave preaches briefly and mourners throw dirt on the grave. A hymn rises to the hope of reaching in death, if not life, the place "where bondage is never known."
Erected by Booker T. Washington National Monument, National Park Service.
Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: African Americans • Cemeteries & Burial Sites.
Location. Marker has been permanently removed. It was located near 37° 6.946′ N, 79° 43.817′ W. Marker was in Hardy, Virginia, in Franklin County. Marker could be reached from Booker T Washington Highway
this page online
We have been informed that this sign or monument is no longer there and will not be replaced. This page is an archival view of what was.
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this location. Jack-O-Lantern Branch Trail (within shouting distance of this marker); Freed Here, At Last (approx. ¼ mile away); How Tobacco Farms Used Slavery (approx. ¼ mile away); Slavery on the Plantation (approx. ¼ mile away); Booker T. Washington National Monument (approx. ¼ mile away); Booker T. Washington's Birthplace (approx. 0.3 miles away); Booker T. Washington Birthplace (approx. 0.4 miles away); I think that I owe a great deal of my present strength and ability to work to my love of... (approx. 0.4 miles away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Hardy.
Also see . . .
1. Booker T. Washington National Monument, National Park Service. (Submitted on August 16, 2019.)
2. Dr. Booker Taliaferro Washington, Tuskegee University. (Submitted on August 16, 2019.)
3. Booker T. Washington National Monument, National Register of Historic Places
National Park Service, Thomas Stone National Historic Site, August 18, 2018
2. Carry Me Home Marker
Viewing marker from the north.
Background image shows an African American burial.
National Park Service, Thomas Stone National Historic Site, August 18, 2018
3. Carry Me Home Marker
Viewing marker from the north.
Background image shows an African American burial.
November 2, 2022
4. Marker has been removed from this location.
National Park Service, Thomas Stone National Historic Site, August 18, 2018
5. Plantation Today map
Located behind the Visitor Center. Viewing from the north.
National Park Service, Thomas Stone National Historic Site, August 18, 2018
6. This bridge is crossed in approach to marker.
Viewing from the north.
National Park Service, Thomas Stone National Historic Site, August 18, 2018
7. Booker Taliaferro Washington Memorial and exterior of Visitor Center
Viewing from the north.
Credits. This page was last revised on November 7, 2022. It was originally submitted on August 16, 2019. This page has been viewed 227 times since then and 15 times this year. Last updated on November 5, 2022. Photos: 1, 2, 3. submitted on August 16, 2019. 4. submitted on November 5, 2022. 5, 6, 7. submitted on August 16, 2019. • Bernard Fisher was the editor who published this page.
