Near Bland in Bland County, Virginia — The American South (Mid-Atlantic)

One of the “Big Four”

Photographed By Mike Wintermantel, May 7, 2021

1. One of the “Big Four” Marker

Inscription. Samuel H. Newberry, a captain in the Confederate army who represented Bland and Pulaski Counties in the Virginia House of Delegates from 1865 to 1867, lived here at Eagle Oak. Newberry served in the Senate of Virginia during the 1870s and 1880s and joined the Readjuster Party, a biracial coalition that sought to repudiate a portion of Virginia's antebellum debt. In 1882 he and three other senators, known as the "Big Four," broke with party leader William Mahone. The Readjusters nevertheless passed their legislative agenda, but the party dissolved in 1885. Newberry left office in 1884, published a book of poetry later in life, and died in 1916.

Erected 2016 by Department of Historic Resources. (Marker Number KC-3.)

Topics and series. This historical marker is listed in this topic list: Government & Politics. In addition, it is included in the Virginia Department of Historic Resources (DHR) series list. A significant historical year for this entry is 1865.

Location. 37° 3.048′ N, 81° 11.295′ W. Marker is near Bland, Virginia, in Bland County. Marker is on Stony Fork Road (U.S. 52) near West Blue Grass Trail (Virginia Route 42), on the right when traveling south. Previous marker has been updated. Touch for map. Marker is in this post office area: Bland VA 24315, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are

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within 6 miles of this marker, measured as the crow flies. Toland’s Raid (approx. 2.2 miles away); Wythe County / Bland County (approx. 2.2 miles away); Battle of Wytheville (approx. 2.2 miles away); a different marker also named Battle of Wytheville (approx. 2.8 miles away); Homesteader's Legacy (approx. 3.4 miles away); Bland (approx. 5 miles away); Bland County Confederate Monument (approx. 5.3 miles away); World War Memorial Bridge (approx. 5.3 miles away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Bland.

Regarding One of the “Big Four”. The Big Four were post Civil War state senators A. M. Lybrook, P. G. Hale, S. H. Newberry, B. F. William. While these four do not appear to have caused the dissolution of the Readjuster Party, they early on disrupted the party’s legislative agenda. The Readjuster Party disappeared into the Republican Party after 1883 and Virginia’s Democratic Party returned to power. The Democratic-controlled legislature passed constitutional changes and legislation that effectively disfranchised all blacks and some poor whites and created ‘Jim Crow’ legalized segregation.

In 1931 a portrait of the Big Four and John Massey, unsucessful Readjuster Party candidate for Governor, was unveiled in the old Senate Chamber at the Capitol in Richmond.

Related marker.

Photographed By Mike Wintermantel, May 7, 2021

2. One of the “Big Four” Marker

Click here for another marker that is related to this marker. This marker has replaced the linked marker.

Also see . . .
1. Readjuster Party – Wikipedia Entry. The Readjuster Party was a political coalition formed in Virginia in the late 1870s during the turbulent period following the American Civil War. Readjusters aspired "to break the power of wealth and established privilege" and to promote public education, a program which attracted biracial support. ... The Readjuster Party promised to “readjust” the state debt, repeal the poll tax (which had suppressed voting by blacks and poor whites) and increase funding for schools and other public facilities. (Submitted on June 5, 2011.)

2. The Readjuster Movement in Virginia. 1917 book by Charles Chilton Pearson, Professor of Political Science in Wake Forest College. “[Party leader General William Mahone] quietly obtained from the candidates for the legislature a written ‘pledge,’ ‘under seal,’ to ‘stand by the Readjuster party’ and to go into the [1879] party caucus and abide by its results. After the elections, in a preliminary conference of leaders selected by himself, the work of the legislature was mapped out; and, when the legislature assembled, this program was gradually unfolded for adoption in the caucus under rules of procedure which its members

Home of S. H. Newberry image. Click for full size.

Photographed By J. J. Prats, May 30, 2011

3. Home of S. H. Newberry

were bluffed into accepting, and which, some of them asserted, they were not allowed even to read. The revolt followed of the ‘Big Four,’ as four members of the caucus who had not given the pledge came to be called, and as a result of this revolt most of the measures objectionable to even a few Readjuster legislators failed of passage. But the ‘Big Four’ and their backers were quickly ‘read out of the party’.” (Submitted on June 5, 2011.)

Credits. This page was last revised on July 3, 2021. It was originally submitted on June 5, 2011, by J. J. Prats of Powell, Ohio. This page has been viewed 1,722 times since then and 130 times this year. Photos: 1, 2. submitted on May 12, 2021, by Mike Wintermantel of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. 3. submitted on June 5, 2011, by J. J. Prats of Powell, Ohio.