Administrative Information

Access Restrictions

There are no restrictions.

Use Restrictions

There are no restrictions.

Preferred Citation

Richmond County (Va.) Free Negro and Slave Records, 1806-1856. Local government records collection, Richmond County Court Records. The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Va. 23219.

Acquisition Information

These items came to the Library of Virginia in a transfer of court papers from Richmond County.

Historical Information

Richmond County may have been named for Richmond borough in Surrey, England, or for Charles Lennox, first duke of Richmond and a son of King Charles II. It was formed from Old Rappahannock County in 1692. The county seat is Warsaw.

Some volumes were burned and mutilated through unknown causes; in addition, the will books prior to 1699 were missing as early as 1793, and order books for the period 1794-1816 are also missing. Numerous loose records prior to 1781 are missing as well.

Scope and Content

Richmond County (Va.) Free Negro and Slave Records, 1806-1856. The records are comprised of Lists of Free Negroes and Mulattoes, 1816-1818, 1821, 1824-1827, and 1855-1856; Free Negro Delinquent Tax Lists, 1832 and 1852-1853; a list of negroes in possession of Samuel Pleasants who are free, circa 1806; and a list of slaves (photocopy) belonging to the Estate of Landon Carter at Clifton in Northumberland County taken 1822 July 1 and recorded in Richmond County 1831 March 7.

Free Negro Lists were compiled by the Commissioner of the Revenue for tax purposes. They include name, place of abode, and occupation, and sometimes gender and a designation of negro or mulatto. Free Negro Delinquent Tax Lists identify free blacks who did not pay taxes and had no property. These records are fragile and should be used with care.

The list of slaves belonging to the estate of Landon Carter contains the first name of each slave, age in years and sometimes months, and estimated value. The enslaved people are listed in family groups.

Related Material

Additional Richmond County Court Records can be found on microfilm at The Library of Virginia. Consult "A Guide to Virginia County and City Records on Microfilm."

Richmond County is one of Virginia's Lost Records Localities. Additional Richmond County Records may be found in the Virginia Lost Records Localities Collection at the Library of Virginia. Search the Lost Records Localities Digital Collection available at Virginia Memory.

For more information and a listing of lost records localities see Lost Records research note .

Index Terms

Corporate Names:

• Richmond County (Va.) Circuit Court

Subjects:

• African American families--Virginia-Northumberland County.
• African Americans--Employment--Virginia--Richmond County.
• Free African Americans--Virginia--Richmond County.
• Racially mixed people--Virginia--Richmond County.
• Slave records--Virginia--Northumberland County.

Geographical Names:

• Richmond County (Va.)--History--19th century

Genre and Form Terms:

• Estate inventories--Virginia--Richmond County.
• Free negro and slave records--Virginia--Richmond County.
• Free negro lists--Virginia--Richmond County.
• Free negro registers--Virginia--Richmond County.
• Local government records--Virginia--Richmond County.
• Tax and fiscal records--Virginia--Richmond County.

Adjunct Descriptive Data