Administrative Information

Access Restrictions

There are no restrictions.

Use Restrictions

There are no restrictions.

Preferred Citation

Campbell County (Va.) Judgments (Freedom Suits), 1852, 1861. Local government records collection, Campbell County Court Records. The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia 23219.

Acquisition Information

These items came to the Library of Virginia in transfers of court papers from Campbell County.

Historical Information

Slaves sued for emancipation in freedom suits based on the following: they were descendant(s) of a free female ancestor, typically a Native American (Hening Statutes, volume 2, p.170); failure of slaveowner(s) to abide by the 1778 slave nonimportation act (Henings Statutes, volume 9, pp. 471-472); or claimed to have been freed by slaveowner(s) by deed of emancipation or last will and testament (Henings Statutes volume 11, pp. 39-40)

Campbell County was named for William Campbell, a general in the militia during the Revolutionary War and one of the heroes of the Battle of Kings Mountain in 1780. The county was formed from Bedford County by an act passed on 15 December 1781. The county court first met on 7 February 1782. The county seat is Rustburg.

Scope and Content

Campbell County (Va.) Judgments (Freedom Suits), 1852, 1861, consist of two suits for freedom initiated by slaves.

Milly and her son Harvey and Anna and her children Malinda, Eliza, Randal, and Franklin who sought to gain their freedom from Alley Draper on the law side of the court. The slaves' argument for freedom was based on the fact that they were descendants of a Native American named India.

Caledonia, Toby, and Helen Salmons who sought to gain their freedom from William M. Jenks on the law side of the court. The slaves' argument for freedom was based on the fact that they were emancipated by the will of Judith Salmon.

Judgments (Freedom Suits) are useful when researching local history and genealogical information, particularly for African Americans. They are a valuable source of local, state, social, and legal history and serve as a primary source for understanding a locality's history.

Arrangement

Arranged chronologically.

Related Material

Additional Campbell County Court Records are found at the Library of Virginia.

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

Additional freedom suits may be found in the Campbell County Chancery Causes. Search the the Chancery Records Index found on the Library of Virginia web site. Enter the tilde symbol in the plaintiff surname field.

Index Terms

Corporate Names:

• Campbell County (Va.) Circuit Court.

Subjects:

• African Americans -- Virginia.
• Free African Americans -- Virginia -- Campbell County.
• Slaveholders -- Virginia -- Campbell County.
• Slavery -- Virginia -- Campbell County.

Geographical Names:

• Campbell County (Va.) -- Genealogy
• Campbell County (Va.) -- History.

Genre and Form Terms:

• Civil actions -- Virginia -- Campbell County.
• Freedom suits -- Virginia -- Campbell County.
• Judicial records -- Virginia -- Campbell County.
• Local government records -- Virginia -- Campbell County.
• Petitions -- Virginia -- Campbell County.
• Wills -- Virginia -- Campbell County.

Adjunct Descriptive Data