A Guide to the Staunton County (Va.) Register of Free Negroes and Mulattoes, 1810-1864 Staunton (Va.) Register of Free Negroes and Mulattoes, 1810-1864
Staunton (Va.) Reel 15
A Collection in the Library of Virginia
Microfilm reel number: Staunton (Va.) Reel 15
Library of Virginia
The Library of Virginia 800 East Broad Street Richmond, Virginia 23219-8000 USA Phone: (804) 692-3888 (Archives Reference) Fax: (804) 692-3556 (Archives Reference) Email: archdesk@lva.virginia.gov(Archives) URL: http://www.lva.virginia.gov/
Staunton (Va.) Register of Free Negroes and Mulattoes, 1810-1864. Local government records collection, Staunton (City) Court
Records. The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Va. 23219.
Acquisition Information
This item was microfilmed by the Library of Virginia.
Staunton, in Augusta County, was named, according to most authorities, for Rebecca Staunton, wife of Sir William Gooch, lieutenant
governor of Virginia from 1727 to 1749. Staunton was laid out in 1748 at the site of the Augusta County courthouse and was
established as a town in 1761. It was incorporated as a town in 1801 and as a city in 1871.
An act passed by the Virginia legislature in 1803 required every free negro or mulatto to be registered and numbered in a
book to be kept by the county clerk.
Staunton (Va.) Register of Free Negroes and Mulattoes, 1810-1864. The register documents the identities of free persons of
color living in Staunton during the antebellum period. Each entry includes name, date registered, a brief physical description,
and documentation of the person's free status, such as the date and circumstances of emancipation or birth.