Thomas Ruffin Gray

Thomas Ruffin Gray (1800–1845) was an American attorney who represented several enslaved people during the trials in the wake of Nat Turner's Rebellion. Although Gray did not represent Nat Turner for his trial, Gray interviewed several enslaved people charged in the rebellion, including Nat Turner, and was the author of ''The Confessions of Nat Turner''. He worked as a lawyer in Jerusalem and Norfolk in Virginia.

Biography

Thomas Ruffin Gray was born in Southampton County, Virginia, in 1800. He was the youngest of six children born to Thomas Gray, a slaveholder and a planter, and Anne (''née'' Cocke) Brewer Gray. The Gray family was a prominent political family descended from planters from Surry County, Virginia. Thomas Ruffin Gray was a grandson of Edwin Gray and a great-grandson of Joseph Gray.

In 1834, Gray stated that he had studied law in his youth; however, there is no record of his attending college or law school. Despite this, Gray had had passing experiences with the law that may have included an apprenticeship alongside his cousin in the county clerk's office as well as a run-in with the law due to a public fight with one of his brothers.

At the age of 21, Gray inherited 400 acres of land at the Round Hill plantation and fourteen enslaved people over age twelve, which began his tentative career as a planter. Several years later, Gray had built a house on the property, bringing his property worth up to about $500. Gray became a justice of the peace and served as a magistrate in Southampton County in 1828. In 1829, he bought his recently deceased brother's property as well as a house on the main street in Jerusalem, which supplied him with 800 acres of real property. Soon after, he married Mary A. Gray.

In September 1830, Gray received a license to practice law. In the following month, the magistrates certified his qualifications as an attorney. In December 1830, Gray was admitted to practice in court and resigned as justice of the peace.

As a planter, Gray's status in society began to rise; however, simultaneously, his family's fortunes began to disintegrate. His father and brother fell deeply into debt, and Gray attempted to provide financial assistance to his family, but, in doing so, he brought himself into debt along with them. He was hounded by creditors, eventually arrested for his debt, and spent time in a debtors' prison. He was forced to sell off his plantation, horses, and the enslaved people he owned. Gray continued to work as a lawyer in Jerusalem. Gray did not own any enslaved people at the outbreak of Nat Turner's rebellion, but over the prior decade he had lost his land, horses, and the enslaved people he owned due to debt.

Gray was one of the leaders in the Southampton County inquiry of the rebellion that was conducted from late August to September 1831 under the leadership of former congressman James Trezvant. Before Gray had the opportunity to interview Nat Turner, he had extensively researched the rebellion and interviewed several captured enslaved people who took part in the uprising. By the middle of September, Gray had composed a list of fourty participants of the rebellion. Gray was the attorney for five enslaved people, all of whom were convicted. One of the five was a young boy named Moses who was impressed into joining the rebellion. Moses was the only one who received a commutation to being sold out of the state. Gray's father died during the trials, and Gray became sick with malaria.

''The Confessions of Nat Turner'' may not have been a financial success, as Gray was arrested for his debt in 1835 and lost his home and land. Gray later received an appointment as U.S. Consul to Tabasco, Mexico, but never assumed office and worked as a lawyer in and around Norfolk, Virginia. He died in 1845.

''The Confessions of Nat Turner''

On October 31, 1831, Gray visited Nat Turner in jail in Jerusalem, Virginia. Gray recorded Nat's recollections of his life leading up to the rebellion, and most particularly Nat's experiences with reading and writing, scientific experiments, prophecies, and his spiritual influence on the neighborhood enslaved people. Gray transcribed Nat's confession as well as an account of Nat's motives and actions during the rebellion. On the day Nat was condemned, November 5, 1831, Gray left for Richmond and applied for a copyright on November 10, 1831. He worked with printers in Baltimore and self-published the pamphlet ''The Confessions of Nat Turner, the Leader of the Late Insurrection in Southampton, VA.'' on November 22, 1831. It was available in Norfolk the next day.

Gray attributes the cause of the rebellion to "coloured preachers" and white pastors "who fill up their discourses with a ''ranting cant'' about equality," and to Nat's religious fanaticism.

Although the pamphlet is a primary source, some historians and literary scholars have noted biases in Gray's writing, indicating that Gray may not have portrayed Nat's voice as accurately as he claimed to have done. Kenneth S. Greenberg, professor and chair of the History Department at Suffolk University, wrote that Gray's pamphlet is not as reliable as one may think, cautioning readers to analyze the source with great care. In contrast, other scholars have analyzed Gray's confession and have deemed it to be an overall reliable source. Christopher Tomlins, a professor at UC Berkeley School of Law, says that despite Gray's indirect transcription of Nat's words, ''The Confessions'' is a largely accurate narrative based on an extensive interview with the rebellion's leader. Like Greenberg, Tomlins stresses the importance of caution regarding using the ''The Confessions'' as historical evidence.  

Legacy

His daughter Ellen Douglas Gray married Richard Wilson.

In the 1960s, William Styron published ''The Confessions of Nat Turner'', a Pulitzer Prize-winning novel and controversial account of Nat Turner's Rebellion using the same title as Gray's pamphlet. Gray's pamphlet, ''The Confessions of Nat Turner'', was the first document claiming to present Nat Turner's own words regarding the rebellion and his life.

Today, in large measure because of ''The Confessions'', Gray is widely considered to have been a slavery apologist.

References

Bibliography

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Gray, Thomas Ruffin
1800 births
1845 deaths
19th-century American lawyers
19th-century American male writers
Nat Turner
19th-century American biographers
People from Southampton County, Virginia
American male biographers
Virginia lawyers