On August 5th, 1678, at the gallows on Westover, in Charles City, in the Country of Virginia, “neer the Plantation called Hard Labour,” according to the Law established by the House of Burgesses at Jamestown, and in no way contradictory to the Law of England, was executed a servant, named Thomas Hellier, for the brutal killings of his “Master, Mistress and Maid.”

On the night before his torment, Thomas confessed his sins and regrets to a shipmate, whom, like he, had been kidnapped and sold as a slave on the pretext of being hired as a school teacher in the rapidly rebuilding Plantations of Virginia, lately rescued from the clutches of vile vagabonds and rogues intent on feloniously forming an absurdly free Country in “that naked land,” [1]; they were bought to toil in a post-apocalyptic 1678, at the edge of God's very world.

This is their cautionary tale.

1. As spoken by Charles II, regarding the conclusion of the recent war in his colony of Virginia.