Paul Bogle
It was believed that Paul Bogle was born free about 1822. He was a firm political adherent of George William Gordon who made him a Deacon. Bogle lived in Stony Gut but also had another house in Spring Garden. He was not a poor man; he also had 500 acres at Dunrobin.
In 1865, the economic situation in Jamaica began to worsen. There were increases in unemployment and taxes, but a reduction in wages. Gordon had appointed Bogle the leader of the group he had chosen to take their complaints to the Governor.
Bogle, with the support of his brother Moses, was holding private meetings without Gordon's knowledge. He and Moses, along with 200 men, marched to Morant Bay to watch a trial at the Court. A man shouted out to the Court and the police tried to arrest him. Bogle and his men saved the man from the police and they made good their escape. The following day in Stony Gut, they heard that a warrant was out for 28 of them. The police tried to arrest Paul Bogle but his followers fought them off.
On Wednesday, October 11, Bogle and about 300 men marched into Morant Bay and raided the police station and took some old guns. They then marched to the Court House where the Custos was having a meeting. They killed the Custos, Baron von Ketelhodt and fifteen vestrymen and set 51 prisoners free.
The parish was put under Martial Law on October 13, and General Forbes-Jackson was dispatched from Kingston with orders to crush the rebellion. The soldiers killed hundreds of innocent people. Others were beaten, shot and hanged. Stony Gut was burnt out. Bogle and his men, however, had already fled to the bushes. They were hunted throughout the day by the Maroons and the Soldiers as a $400 reward was out for Bogle's capture. He was captured by the Portland Maroons on the same day that George William Gordon was hanged.
Bogle's trial was short. He was found guilty and sentence to death. He and his brother Moses were hanged from the burnt out Court House on October 24, 1865.
