William was an enslaved worker at Tuckahoe during the Wight and Allen period. He is thought to have been born sometime between 1802-1804. His name first appears on the inventory list of Edwin Wight’s estate in April 1850 where he was valued at $350. Shortly thereafter, he is listed in Joseph Allen’s account after he acquired Tuckahoe in July of that year. William was listed as a field hand in the Allen records and was perhaps the oldest enslaved worker on the property at the time (being 48 in 1850).
William Spurlock is believed to have remained in the area after the Civil War and very possibly continued to live at Tuckahoe. By 1870, he was living in the Tuckahoe township of Henrico County and had married within the year to a woman named Eliza. Living in their household were two others: George Johnson and Edmund Turner. While neither of these names appear on any Allen records, there were some enslaved workers with the last names of Johnson and Turner at Tuckahoe by 1859. It is possible that these were some of their children and for unknown reasons they were living with the Spurlocks.
