In 1831, Southampton County was the location of the most serious slave rebellion in United States history. On August 21-22, the infamous Southampton Insurrection, led by the slave Nat Turner, resulted in the deaths of 58 whites and an unknown number of blacks. Turner and his followers were captured, tried and 20 were hanged.
Another significant event was the arrival of the railroad in 1835. The Portsmouth and Roanoke Railroad bridged the Blackwater and Nottoway Rivers and extended its line across the county. The railroad brought with it people and commerce, leading to the development of the town of Franklin in the early 1840s. Franklin was chartered as an independent city in 1960. In 1857 the Petersburg-Norfolk Railroad (now the Norfolk & Western Railway) was completed bringing about the founding of the town of Ivor.
The Civil War brought development to a halt. The early capture of Norfolk and Suffolk left the Blackwater River as the demarcation line between Federal and Confederate territory. A number of skirmishes occurred on either side of the river and Federal gunboats bombarded Franklin, but Southampton County was spared from any major battles. Southampton County contributed four companies of infantry, one company of cavalry and one artillery battery to the Confederate cause. The county is perhaps most noted for being the birthplace of two leading figures of the war; Union Major General George H. Thomas, nicknamed the "Rock of Chickamauga" and Confederate Major General William Mahone, the "Hero of the Crater." Southampton was also the home of Confederate naval hero James Henry Rochelle, and leader of the Southampton calvary unit, Major Joseph E. Gillette.