The Incredible Mystery of the Most Extraordinary Enslaved Man Ever Auctioned in Richmond – 1855 | HO
In the Virginia State Archives, there is a daguerreotype carrying a plain label:
“Lot 77 — Richmond, 1855.”
For years, researchers passed it by without special attention.
The image shows a single man—barefoot, bare-chested, wrists bound—standing on an auction platform.
Yet something about the picture did not fit the expected pattern.
His bearing was upright, almost noble.
His expression was calm.
And even through the blurred, early photographic process, his appearance stood out—remarkably striking, in a way that seemed completely at odds with the harsh system surrounding him.
In 1972, when the daguerreotype was enlarged during a statewide archive review, staff noticed an additional detail:
a thin vertical line running along his ribcage.
Not a wound.
Not an obvious scar.
Not a trick of exposure.
Something about his body itself.
Something that did not belong to any known medical description.
That observation brought back into focus a case that had quietly disappeared from memory for more than a hundred years.
A case involving:
the highest recorded sale price for an enslaved man in Richmond
the sudden death of the purchaser
the unexplained removal of key witnesses
a wave of fear that swept through Richmond in the autumn of 1855
and rumors of an enslaved man whose origin might not have been entirely ordinary
What follows is a reconstruction of that investigation, based on:
19th-century court records
plantation account books
reports from coroners
private letters
preserved witness statements
and the final testimonies of those who claimed to have seen him
The story begins on a warm, heavy morning in Richmond, Virginia, in the summer of 1855.
I. THE ARRIVAL OF LOT 77
Testimony of Auction Clerk Benjamin Grant
Recorded 1884, Richmond Historical Society
“He came in with the last group from Georgia.
But he didn’t move like the others.
He seemed to glide. That’s the word people whispered—glide.
No irons on his ankles. No marks from the whip. No slump to his shoulders.
We had never seen anyone like him.”
The transport ledger confirms the arrival of Thirty-Eight Enslaved Persons on August 2, 1855. Only one entry has no age, no parent names, and no place of origin listed.
In the margin appears this note:
“JO. — exceptional specimen. Handle with great care.”
Traders generally reserved the word “specimen” for individuals with:
unusual height
unusual physical development
unusual physical differences
or unusually high expected sale value
In this case, the word was associated with appearance.
Multiple recorded accounts describe Lot 77 (later referred to as Josiah) as:
approximately 6’7” tall
strikingly symmetrical in features and build
“impossibly well-proportioned”
“without a single visible mark, which seemed unlikely for a man of his years”
“skin smooth, like polished bronze after rain”
The most unsettling comments, however, came from the physician hired to perform pre-sale examinations.
From the notes of Dr. Tobias Cray:
“Pulse unusually slow.
Eyes amber in color—rare.
No indication of previous illness, injury, or hard labor.
Torso musculature exceeds typical patterns.
Abdomen examined: no umbilicus present.”
No navel.
He underlined this twice.
The original page containing this examination entry went missing from the ledger sometime between 1856 and 1871.
II. THE AUCTION: A RECORD-BREAKING SALE
Site: Lumpkin’s Jail Yard
Date: August 9, 1855
Temperature: 96°F
Attendance: 312 men, 2 white women, multiple enslaved onlookers
Auctioneer Horace Middleton recorded his impressions in a personal journal:
“The crowd grew restless. Rumors had traveled quickly.
The tallest, most handsome Negro man ever brought to the block.”
When Lot 77 stepped onto the platform, an unusual hush fell over the yard.
Then the tension broke.
One planter from Alabama lost consciousness.
A tobacco merchant crossed himself.
A woman was heard to murmur:
“He looks more like a sculpture than a man.”
Bidding opened at $800.
Within moments it leapt to $1,200, then $1,600, then $2,400.
The final hammer price:
$4,300 — the highest documented sale price for an enslaved man in Richmond up to that date.
The buyer: Colonel Nathaniel Barrow of Henrico County, owner of Barrow Hill Plantation.
In a letter to his brother, Barrow wrote:
“I have acquired the most remarkable man I have ever laid eyes upon.
If his offspring share his qualities, I will become the wealthiest planter in the state.”
This sentence would later appear in a homicide inquiry.
III. THE FIRST DEATH
Colonel Barrow Dies Eleven Days After Acquiring Lot 77
The coroner’s report dated August 20, 1855 states:
Cause of death: “Severe compression of the chest cavity.
Injury pattern resembles crushing by mechanical force.”
No such machinery existed at Barrow Hill capable of producing that kind of pressure.
A statement from the only enslaved witness present:
“I heard the colonel shouting.
When I came in, the tall man—Josiah—was in the room.
Or… not quite standing. It seemed like he was above the floor.
His feet weren’t touching down.”
The witness was punished, then jailed, and later sold farther south.
His account was officially dismissed as “disturbed imagination caused by stress.”
Yet two details from the scene conflict with that conclusion:
Barrow’s ribs were pressed inward rather than outward—
suggesting extreme force applied from inside, not from outside the body.
Barrow’s pocket watch was stuck to his skin, partially fused.
There was no visible fire.
No recorded heat source.
No mechanical explanation.
Following Barrow’s death, Lot 77 was confiscated by the city and returned to Lumpkin’s Jail “pending legal determination.”
He never went back to Barrow Hill.
IV. THE FIRE AT LUMPKIN’S JAIL
August 23, 1855
Records show that a fire broke out in the northern wing of Lumpkin’s Jail.
Several imprisoned people lost their lives.
Lot 77 survived without harm, even though he was reportedly at the center of the affected area.
Sheriff Matthias Cray wrote:
“The others perished.
He did not.
Not even a hair appears to be singed.”
Three survivors reported the same observation:
“He walked through the flames.”
After the incident, rumors moved rapidly through Richmond:
that he could not be killed
that projectiles would not pierce his skin
that metal bent or softened in his hands
that he never slept
that he did not bleed like other men
Fearing unrest or widespread fear, the sheriff arranged to have him quietly moved to a private cell in the courthouse basement.
He stayed there four days.
Then the city’s brief wave of disorder began.
V. THE RICHMOND PANIC OF SEPTEMBER 1855
From September 1–4, 1855, Richmond experienced:
six unexplained deaths
eleven missing animals
two house fires
the collapse of a tobacco warehouse
hundreds of residents leaving the city
Authorities publicly blamed:
fevers from nearby swamps
potential unrest among enslaved people
careless handling of lanterns
and “unusually intense heat”
But personal letters—never intended for official scrutiny—suggest another interpretation.
Letter from Judge Horatio Bell to his wife (Sept. 3, 1855):
“It is the man from the sale.
I swear he is unlike any person I have ever seen.
He seems to move in places where light is thin.
Some claim to see him in different locations at nearly the same time.
At night, I feel his presence outside my window.”
Letter from Mayor Alcott to the Governor (Sept. 4, 1855):
“We must remove Lot 77 from Richmond.
Whispers of unnatural forces are thronging through the streets.
I fear serious disturbance if we do not act.”
Diary of Annabelle Price, age 14:
“Mother says not to look at the tall man.
She says if you do, he will take away your name.”
The governor ordered that the man be immediately sold to an out-of-state buyer.
None stepped forward.
Stories about him had spread.
Plantation owners were wary.
Traders declined to handle him.
Some suspected a hidden illness.
Others feared a curse.
Only one buyer appeared:
Colonel Richard Whitmore of Albemarle County.
Why he agreed to purchase Lot 77 is still not fully known.
Historians point to a brief note in Whitmore’s private journal as a clue:
“If the reports are correct, he may be the most valuable man in the South.
Not for farm work.
For defense.”
Defense against whom—or what—remains undocumented.
VI. THE TRANSFER TO THE WHITMORE ESTATE
September 10, 1855
Josiah arrived at the Whitmore property under tight security.
Whitmore wrote:
“He does not appear to require regular rest.
He shows little interest in food.
He seldom speaks without being addressed directly.”
Once on the estate, his behavior changed in ways that surprised observers.
Multiple enslaved workers later testified:
“He was kind.
He cared for those who were unwell.
He lifted fallen beams with one arm.
He stopped a runaway cart with his body and was not harmed.”
He stayed away from adult men whenever possible.
He stayed away from groups.
And he avoided looking into mirrors.
VII. THE ELELLANAR WHITMORE CONNECTION
The Colonel’s Daughter
Elellanar Whitmore, age 22.
Using a wheelchair since childhood.
Well-read.
Intelligent and observant.
Socially isolated on the estate.
The first written link between her and Josiah appears in a letter from a housemaid:
“Miss Elellanar says the tall man doesn’t frighten her.
She says he seems sad.”
Another record reads:
“He carries her as though she weighs nothing at all.”
From Colonel Whitmore’s own journal:
“She shows no fear of him.
I confess I cannot understand why.”
Another detail soon emerged:
The man could read.
He told Elellanar he had studied:
Shakespeare
Milton
several versions of the Bible
a Latin primer
a Greek lexicon
No enslaved blacksmith in Virginia in 1855 would typically have had access to this combination of works—certainly not with such fluency, and not legally.
Elellanar recorded in her notes:
“He possesses knowledge he should have no means to acquire.”
VIII. THE FIRST MAJOR INCIDENT AT THE WHITMORE ESTATE
October 2, 1855
A barn collapsed during a storm.
Two enslaved workers were trapped beneath the rubble.
Witnesses stated that Josiah:
lifted a beam estimated at 600 pounds
moved it by himself
showed no visible exertion
and left no clear footprints in the soft mud beneath him
Whitmore questioned him.
Josiah allegedly answered:
“I do not understand the source of my strength.
I know only that I am meant to guard.”
Guard whom?
Guard what?
No record ever provides a clear answer.
IX. THE SECRET MEDICAL EXAMINATION
In November 1855, Whitmore privately summoned Dr. Elias Hart to examine Josiah.
Hart’s surviving notes contain only three brief observations:
“Ribcage appears unusually flexible.
Heartbeat pattern irregular—pauses for as long as 18 seconds.
Abdominal structure contains features inconsistent with typical human development.”
Asked if the man was healthy, Hart responded:
“Healthy is not the correct term.
He is something entirely different.”
When Hart tried to examine the seam along the ribcage—the same feature visible in the daguerreotype—he reportedly jerked his hand away the instant he touched it.
His skin blistered.
By the next day, the blister had swollen to the size of a small plum.
Hart left the estate the following morning without accepting payment.
X. THE DISAPPEARANCE OF ELELLANAR AND THE THREE DAYS OF SILENCE
December 1855
Elellanar vanished from the estate for three days.
Whitmore wrote:
“The tall man has gone as well.
Everyone here is afraid.”
On the fourth day, both returned.
Whitmore’s note:
“She is not harmed.
He is composed.
She refuses to say where they were.”
One enslaved woman later claimed she saw them:
“They walked into the woods.
Then there was a glow among the trees.
Like lightning, only golden.”
No further documentation explains what happened.
XI. THE FINAL MAJOR EVENT
January 4, 1856
Officials in Richmond received an urgent letter from Colonel Whitmore:
“I wish to petition the court to declare the man called Josiah a ward of the Whitmore estate, for reasons related to the safety of the state.”
Before the petition could be heard, an unexplained event ended the matter.
Witnesses on the Whitmore estate described:
a powerful shockwave
a sudden flash of intense light
windows shattering at the same instant
No lives were lost.
Yet the central hall of the main house was heavily damaged.
At the center of the affected area, observers noted:
no visible source of ignition
no typical blast pattern
only scorched floorboards.
Josiah was found unconscious nearby.
When he finally woke, he reportedly said:
“It has begun.”
He would not explain further.
Three days later, Whitmore quietly sent a sealed letter to the governor and withdrew all legal petitions involving Josiah.
That letter has never been recovered.
XII. THE DISAPPEARANCE
February 1856
Josiah disappeared.
No witnesses.
No tracks.
No confirmed sightings.
One worker later said:
“He stepped into a patch of mist and never came back out.”
Elellanar remained in bed for weeks afterward, reportedly repeating his name.
Whitmore closed off all records relating to him.
Richmond returned to its routines.
The panic faded into memory.
The man became a story told in fragments.
XIII. REOPENING THE FILE — 1894
Almost forty years later, a Richmond historian stumbled upon the original daguerreotype.
Under magnification, the faint line along Josiah’s torso was clear.
It was not a scar.
Not stitching.
Not a visible deformity.
It looked like something else entirely.
An additional note was added to the archive catalogue in 1894:
“Unexplained physical feature.
Possibly beyond known natural explanation.”
This comment was crossed out in 1901.
XIV. MODERN REVIEW OF THE CASE
Contemporary historians and forensic specialists have tried to categorize the irregularities in the record.
Physical Factors
Vertical seam along the torso
Absence of a navel
No visible aging across the short documented period
Apparent resistance to fire
Exceptional strength
Extended pauses in heartbeat without apparent harm
Tolerance of extreme heat
Behavioral Factors
Advanced literacy
Strong protective behavior toward others
Discomfort around large groups
Discomfort with mirrors
Very limited sleep or visible rest
Historical Effects
The “Richmond Panic of 1855” remains the only documented incident in which:
slave auctions in the city were temporarily halted
public markets closed
planters refused to buy enslaved laborers
militia patrols increased
churches held urgent gatherings for prayer
All centered around a single individual.
XV. INTERPRETATIONS AND HYPOTHESES
- The Polydominant Physiology Hypothesis
Some argue Josiah might have been born with a combination of rare biological variations—though no known medical condition explains all the anomalies recorded together.
- The Quilombist Hypothesis
One Afro-diasporic interpretation suggests he may have been connected to maroon or free communities rumored to practice advanced physical training or unknown body practices.
There is no solid documentation to support this.
- The “Beyond Standard Human” Hypothesis
Based on:
apparent resistance to intense heat
strength beyond usual human performance
absence of a navel
seam-like feature along the torso
Some researchers of folklore propose he may not have been entirely typical in origin.
Most academic historians reject this view.
Folklorists and oral historians are less inclined to dismiss it.
- The Early “Secret Experiment” Hypothesis
A modern fringe theory claims that Lot 77 was part of a hidden antebellum experiment in medicine or physiology.
No existing record from the period supports the existence of such a program.
- The “Guardian” Hypothesis
Drawn from private notes in Whitmore’s papers:
“He protects.
That is why he is here.”
Protect whom?
From what?
The surviving documents are silent.
XVI. THE FINAL WITNESS
In 1920, an elderly woman named Elizabeth Freeman, a writer, published a book about the hidden story of her family.
Her mother’s name:
Elellanar Whitmore.
Elizabeth claimed that her mother disappeared for three days in 1855 with the man later identified as Josiah.
She also claimed her mother kept a single object carefully wrapped in cloth for her entire life:
a piece of metal—curved, smooth, and unusually light.
Elizabeth wrote:
“My mother said it came from him.”
The fragment vanished after Elizabeth’s death.
Her work was dismissed at the time as an embellished family tale.
But too many of her details align with surviving historical documents to be easily ignored.
XVII. CONCLUSION: THE MAN THE RECORDS COULD NOT DEFINE
No official cause was ever assigned to the brief wave of fear that gripped Richmond in 1855.
No widely accepted scientific explanation accounts for the physical irregularities described in the remaining medical notes.
No clear record explains the mysterious deaths, the fires, or the shockwave that struck the Whitmore estate.
There is no documented trace of Lot 77—Josiah—after February 1856.
All that remains is a sequence of facts:
He existed.
He was sold in Richmond.
His presence coincided with widespread alarm.
He displayed abilities that witnesses could not explain.
He formed a bond with a woman who cared for him.
He vanished without leaving a verifiable trail.
A final, undated note found among the Whitmore papers, likely written by Elellanar, reads:
“He was not merely for labor.
He was not like other men.
He was something different.
And he chose to go so that we could stay.”
Exactly who—or what—Lot 77 was may never be resolved.
But his story remains one of the most puzzling and debated anomalies in the documentary history of the American slave trade.
