Samuel J. Cabell | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1802 U.S. |
| Died | July 18, 1865 |
| Nationality | American |
| Occupation | plantation owner |
| Known for | murder victim, possibly because of interracial marriage; plantation became West Virginia State University |
Samuel I. Cabell (1802 - July 18, 1865) was a wealthy Virginia plantation owner in the Kanawha River valley who may have been murdered for marrying one of his former slaves and providing for their descendants. Although seven white men were acquitted of crime, his will was honored and his descendants went on to lead productive lives. Part of his former plantation approximately nine miles west of what soon became the new state capital at Charleston, West Virginia became West Virginia State University, a historically black college.[1]