A Guide to the Grayson County (Va.) Judgments (Freedom Suits), 1837
A Collection in
the Library of Virginia
Barcode number: 0007718508
Library of Virginia
The Library of Virginia800 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/
©2018 By The Library of Virginia. All Rights Reserved.
Processed by: Greg Crawford
Administrative Information
Access Restrictions
There are no restrictions.
Use Restrictions
There are no restrictions.
Preferred Citation
Grayson County (Va.) Judgments (Freedom Suits), 1837. Local government records collection, Grayson County (Va.) 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 Grayson County.
Historical Information
Grayson County was named for William Grayson, a delegate to the Continental Congress from 1784 to 1787 and one of the first two United States senators from Virginia. It was formed from Wythe County by a statute adopted on 7 November 1792. The county court first met on 21 May 1793. A portion of Patrick County was added in 1810. The county seat is Independence.
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)
Scope and Content
Grayson County (Va.) County Judgments (Freedom Suits), 1837, consist of one suit: Petition of Tom, a man of color. Suits initiated by enslaved people seeking to gain their freedom on the law side of the court. Cases are identified by style of suit consisting of plaintiff and defendant names. Surnames of others involved in a suit, including secondary plaintiffs and defendants, witnesses, deponents and affiants, and family members with surnames different from the plaintiff or defendant are indexed. Also identified are names of enslaved people and slaveowners found in suit as well as whether enslaved people won their freedom. Predominant documents found in freedom suits include petitions, records of suits, depositions, affidavits, wills, among other items. Information found in documents include enslaved person's argument for freedom, acquisition of enslaved people by slaveowners, slave ancestry, and relationship between enslaved people and slaveowners.
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.
Index Terms
- Grayson County (Va.) Circuit Court.
- African Americans -- History -- Virginia -- Grayson County.
- Slaveholders -- Virginia -- Grayson County.
- Slavery -- Virginia -- Grayson County.
- Grayson County (Va.) -- History.
- Civil actions -- Virginia -- Grayson County.
- Freedom suits -- Virginia -- Grayson County.
- Judicial records -- Virginia -- Grayson County.
- Local government records -- Virginia -- Grayson County.