Burton Chronicles p229
An Article regarding a trial in Goochland Co. in 1733
(Tylers Quarterly VIII.61):
Two slaves belonging to Hutchins Burton in Goochland Co. and 3 slaves of William Randolph, Esq., and 1 slave of Bowler Cocke, Gent. were convicted of the murder of Robert Allen of Goochland.
The slaves of Hutchins Burton were hanged beheaded and their heads raised on posts; their bodies were quartered and limbs set up at various places in the county.
This story of ferocity reads like the vengence of a Tudor monarch.
The truth was that, freed at last from the dread of an Indian massacre, the Virginians lived in apprehension of a servile insurrection. The murdered man, Robert Allen was probably a relative of Mrs Hutchins Burton, but this did not deter Hutchins from petitioning the legislature for reimbursement: 40 pounds for one slave and 30 pounds for the other.“