In Jerusalem, taverns across from the Southampton County Courthouse served as the hub of social and business activity during court sessions, and during the 1831 Southampton Insurrection they drew crowds interested in the trials of Nat Turner and his followers. Built in the late 1790s, Vaughan's Tavern stood next door to Kello's Tavern, later known as Mahone's Tavern, and although only a few people could see Turner's execution, many stayed in these taverns and witnessed the climax of the revolt. The Petersburg Intelligencer reported that when Nat Turner was hanged, he "betrayed no emotion, he exhibited the utmost composure throughout the whole ceremony." By late November 1831, the insurrectionists' trials and executions were over, and Jerusalem returned to normal as a quiet, rural county seat. During the uprising, the town's taverns also sheltered frightened White families and served as headquarters for militias assembled to quell the rebellion. Henry Briggs Vaughan, owner of Vaughan's Tavern, was accused of profiting from militia use of the tavern even though his sister-in-law Rebecca Vaughan, his nephews George and Arthur Vaughan, and his niece Anne Eliza Vaughan were killed during the revolt. John Hampden Pleasants of the Richmond Dragoons and the Richmond Whig criticized Vaughan for submitting a bill of more than $800 for feeding and housing Richmond militia units, and Baltimore's Niles' Weekly Register denounced him as a publican who speculated on the bones of his kindred. In fact, Vaughan did not overcharge the Commonwealth because Southampton County had set the rates, and militia resentment toward him likely reflected their dislike of the coarse and sometimes stinking food he served.