Still, he refused the offer of a horse and chose to walk 5 miles to the execution site at what was then called Middle Plantation (now Williamsburg). Walking 5 miles in chains was no fun... but it took longer. His supporters faked dropping the body into the James River and instead buried it secretly at Swanns Point in Surry County.
William Drummond had chosen the wrong side in Bacon's Rebellion in 1676, one of Virginia's civil wars. Virginia has always though of North Carolina as a backward, low-life region... but hanging the old governor was a one-time event. (Well, so far. If Charlotte banks buy up any more financial institutions in Virginia, perhaps Virginia should escalate its response...)
Geologically, Lake Drummond is an unusually large open body of water in a region with little relief. There's no obvious reason for one big lake to be there. Perhaps the lake was formed when a natural fire burned a "hole" in the peat that covers the surface of the area. Other speculations include a meteorite strike, perhaps similar to those thought to have peppered the surface of eastern North Carolina and created numerous elliptical "bays" or small lakes.
Draining the Swamps of Virginia
Links
- Army Corps of Engineers - Norfolk District
- US Fish and Wildlife Service - Great Dismal Swamp National Wildlife Refuge
- Virginia's Birding and Wildlife Trail
