Frank Padget: An Amherst County Hero

May 5 - Frank Padget Day at the Madison Heights Library from 1 to 4 p.m.. Co-sponsored by the museum and library, this family fun event will feature stories, music, refreshments, crafts, games and more! Who was Frank Padget? See below for details. (Free)

Frank Padget’s life was difficult from its very beginning. Padget was born an African-American slave, yet he later became a master bateauman along the James River. Even though there were many obstacles for him to face in life, he faced them with bravery and tenacity. The ultimate test of his character took place on January 21, 1854. The area had experienced heavy rains in the previous days, and the rivers were high and fast moving. The canal boat Clinton was carrying rail workers and several other gentlemen to their job sites farther west, and was crossing the North River (now the Maury River) to the branch of the canal going to Buchanan when disaster struck. On that fateful day, the towrope of the canal boat Clinton broke, and the boat drifted down the James River toward the old Mountain Dam. Many of the passengers and crew, both white and black, gradually abandoned the boat and climbed onto rock formations in the river to escape.

While those select passengers and crew were abandoning the canal boat, others were arranging a rescue mission. They found a bateau and sent out a call for a volunteer crew. Padget, along with four other black and white canal workers, volunteered to man the bateau. Through his skill, and that of his crew, Padget was able to rescue the captain and the men on one rock, and the remainder of the passengers still on the boat. In a second attempt to rescue the one remaining passenger, two more volunteers joined the crew. The bateau reached the man and rescued him from the rock, but it struck another rock in the river shortly afterward and broke up. The five crewmembers made it to the safety of a rock, but Padget and the man he was attempting to rescue drowned.

As darkness fell that evening, other crews made two more attempts to rescue the five remaining crewmen. In the first attempt, the boat was swept away before anyone could board to begin the search. An old ferryman named Sam Evans led the second, successful, rescue attempt with a crew of six volunteers. The five remaining crewmen on the rocks were all rescued, though several were badly frostbitten.

One of the witnesses to the event on January 21 was a man named Capt. Edward Echols, a planter and slaveholder himself. Echols was moved so much by Padget’s sacrifice that he personally paid for a granite monument to his memory at the site of locks number 16 and 17 of the canal. However, it is now on private property and not accessible to public view.

Recognizing the historic and cultural significance of Padget’s actions, on June 7, 2006, the Amherst County Board of Supervisors voted to sponsor the placement of a historical marker on State Route 130, in close proximity to the rescue site. This action was approved by Virginia's Department of Historic Resources in March 2007.