To the Editor:
I am writing in reference to the April 22 column my kinsman John Railey wrote in reference to the Nat Turner bus tour led by other kinfolks, Rick Francis and his wife, Inga. I was saddened to hear that someone shotgunned the sign on the farmland owned by Mr. Turner’s descendants on Cabin Pond Road.

Southampton County has been in the local, national and international spotlight recently and has received much media coverage related to Mr. Turner, his Southampton Insurrection and the significance of this event that happened in August 1831.

My ancestors owned the land at the old Persons Millpond where Mr. Turner baptized a white man by the name of Mr. Brantley and then himself in 1828.

The Rev. Turner was a very charismatic minister and spread the Gospel throughout Southampton to persons of all backgrounds and color.

In 2016, I attended the dedication of the new African-American Museum of History and Culture in D.C. after receiving an invitation in recognition of the Person family’s donation of Mr. Turner’s Bible to the museum. Then-President [Barack] Obama spoke and President George W. Bush mentioned freedom fighter Nat Turner along with Frederick Douglas. It was a very unifying experience.

The sign should be restored. I will be happy to start the effort off with my personal $50 donation.

To quote the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.: “The time is always right to do what is right.”

Mark Person
Richmond