“Certainly, this fragile fragment holds enormous emotional value for me, for my family. “The legacy of Nat Turner has had enduring impact, not simply upon our family, but upon American history,” Aguirre said. But deep inside he felt that Turner’s remains should be reunited with his descendants.Īguirre and Wood, the guests of honor at the ceremony, shed “tears of joy” when they were handed what they believe are their ancestor’s remains. Hatcher added the relic to his collection of historical artifacts, including a pair of sunglasses from musician Stevie Wonder, and a shirt worn by performer Sammy Davis, Jr. Eventually Franklin entrusted the skull to the Breckinridges, who in turn donated it to Hatcher’s Civil Rights Hall of Fame project. The museum declined the donation on the grounds that it doesn’t display human remains. The letter states that the skull was given to Franklin’s grandfather, Albert Gallatin Franklin, a physician in Richmond, Virginia, around 1900 by a female patient who inherited it from her father-one of the doctors who handled Turner’s body after he was executed.īob Franklin made many attempts to find a fitting home for the heirloom, including offering it to the Smithsonian Institution. Several had heard reports or read newspaper articles stating that the skull had been donated to Hatcher at a 2002 charity gala for the Civil Rights Hall of Fame, a museum project Hatcher has long championed.Īguirre, the Turner descendant from Washington, expressed strong interest in contacting Hatcher to see if he’d be amenable to returning the skull to Virginia for a proper burial. His skull and brain were then sent away for study.ĭuring the recent filming of the National Geographic Studios documentary Rise Up: The Legacy of Nat Turner, there were frequent discussions with descendants and historians about the fate of Turner’s remains. Several versions claim that he was flayed, quartered, and decapitated before his torso was finally buried in the local pauper’s cemetery. Many stories have circulated about the fate of Turner’s remains after his hanging. ( Read about Turner's complex legacy.) Mystery of Turner's Remains It is here that the facts surrounding Turner end and speculation and lore begin. After two months he was captured and tried, and on November 11 he was hanged from a tree in the town of Jerusalem, now Courtland, Virginia. The local militia quelled the uprising within 48 hours, but Turner managed to elude his pursuers. When the bloodletting ended, 55 whites lay dead. Accompanied by a small army of his brethren, the group fought their way through the countryside of Southampton County, Virginia, with hopes of ending the scourge of slavery. In 1831, after receiving what he believed to be prophecies from God, Nat Turner led the bloodiest slave revolt in American history.

The guests of honor, Shanna Batten Aguirre and Shelly Lucas Wood, both descendants of Turner, flew in from Washington, D.C., to accept the remains. The gathering’s 83-year-old host, Richard Gordon Hatcher, who served as Gary’s mayor from 1968 to 1987, planned the event at which a skull alleged to be Turner’s was turned over to his descendants.

“Eternal God, we are gathered here today to honor you, and to honor the legendary liberator, emancipator of the enslaved, and revolutionary of righteous, the Reverend Nathaniel Turner.” Reverend John Jackson of Trinity United Church of Christ started the prayer. The nine formally dressed guests joined hands while standing around a table holding only a white box. If the tests confirm it to be his, it will be buried next to his descendants.Ī small group gathered last week in a hotel suite on the outskirts of Gary, Indiana. The family has temporarily given the skull to the Smithsonian Institution, which will conduct a DNA test to determine if it is, in fact, Turner's.

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