Hardy in Franklin County, Virginia — The American South (Mid-Atlantic)
Slavery in the Tobacco Kingdom
Booker T. Washington National Monument
| | National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior | |
The Burroughs' farm was one of many tobacco plantations that dominated the 1800s landscape of Southside Virginia. Cash or credit from a few acres of tobacco financed the purchase of necessities and some luxuries. Subsistence crops of corn, wheat, and potatoes provided food for the family, slaves, and farm animals. Washington was one of 6,351 individuals enslaved in Franklin county just before the Civil War who toiled on plantations like this, which held fewer than ten slaves on average.
The Burroughs would have been considered hardscrabble farmers compared to their white counterparts in eastern Virginia. Men of the family and hired hands worked in the fields alongside the enslaved. As enslavers, the Burroughs were viewed as well-to-do by poorer local whites, with most of the family's personal wealth bound up in their human chattel. When James Burroughs died in 1861, the value of his human property exceeded the combined value of everything else he owned. This included the valuation of a five-year-old child, Booker, at $400.
[Captions:]
Booker T. Washington was one of six children and four adults enslaved by the Burroughs family in 1861. Names: Monroe, Sophia, Jane, Lee, Green, Mary Jane, Sally, John, Booker, and Amanda.
Chattel: Portable and personal property.
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Erected by National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior.
Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: African Americans • Agriculture • Industry & Commerce. A significant historical year for this entry is 1861.
Location. 37° 7.166′ N, 79° 43.877′ W. Marker is in Hardy, Virginia, in Franklin County. It can be reached from Booker T Washington Highway (Virginia Route 122) east of Lost Mountain Road ( Route 636), on the right when traveling east. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 12130 Booker T Washington Hwy, Hardy VA 24101, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Regionally, this marker is in Southern Virginia. It is also in the American South and specifically in the Upper South. Globally, it is in the North Atlantic Region, North America, the Western Hemisphere, the Western World, and the Anglosphere. Historically, it finds itself in what was once the territory of the Mississippian Culture, one of the original Thirteen Colonies, one of the Confederate States of America, and the Antebellum South.
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker: Plantation Trail (within shouting distance of this marker); "On behalf of the United States" (within shouting distance of this marker); Booker T. Washington National Monument (within shouting distance of this marker); Booker T. Washington's Birthplace (within shouting distance of this marker); The Day of Freedom (about 400 feet away, measured in a direct line); Animals for Food and Farm Work
Other markers no longer nearby. How Tobacco Farms Used Slavery (was here, next to this marker but has been replaced with another marker now near it); Freed Here, At Last (was here, next to this marker but has been replaced with another marker now near it); The Landscape of Slavery (was within shouting distance of this marker but has been replaced with another marker now near it); Slavery on the Plantation (was within shouting distance of this marker but has been replaced with another marker now near it).
Credits. This page was last revised on April 30, 2026. It was originally submitted on April 30, 2026, by Devry Becker Jones of Washington, District of Columbia. This page has been viewed 5 times since then. Photos: 1, 2. submitted on April 30, 2026, by Devry Becker Jones of Washington, District of Columbia.
