Administrative Information

Access Restrictions

Staunton (Va.) Bills of Sale, 1823, are digitized and available through Virginia Untold: The African American Narrative Digital Collection on the Library of Virginia website. Please use digital images.

Use Restrictions

There are no restrictions.

Preferred Citation

Staunton (Va.) Bills of Sale, 1823. Local government records collection, Staunton (Va.) Court Records. The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia.

Acquisition Information

These records came to the Library of Virginia in a transfer of court papers from Staunton (Va.) circa 1988 under accession number 33143.

Processing Information

Staunton (Va.) Bills of Sale were originally described as part of the Staunton (Va.) Free and Enslaved Records, 1845-1861, but were removed to the present Staunton (Va.) Bills of Sale, 1823, record to enhance discoverability in November 2024.

These records were processed, scanned, and indexed by C. OBrion, L. Neuroth, and LVA staff for the purposes of digitizing them for the digital project Virginia Untold: The African American Narrative at an unknown date.

Encoded by C. Collins: November 2024.

Historical Information

Context of Record Type: Bills of sale are written agreements which convey title of property, including enslaved people, from seller to buyer. Under the system of chattel slavery, laws permitted enslavers to treat enslaved people as personal possessions in the same manner as livestock, farm equipment, or household items. Enslaved people could be bought or sold without regard to their personal relationships or free will. Bills of sale record the name of the seller, the names of enslaved people being sold and their price, and the name of the buyer. Given that they involved a property transaction, bills of sale were commonly recorded and filed with deeds in the local court. However, there was no official requirement that the transfer of an enslaved person be recorded unless necessary for legal purposes such as a court case or an estate settlement.

Locality History: 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.

Scope and Content

Staunton (Va.) Bills of Sale, 1823, consist of one bill of sale. Bills of sale typically document the name of the name of the enslaved individual(s), the name of the former and future enslaver, and the price paid for the enslaved person(s).

These records include a bill of sale, 1823, in which Bartholomew Fuller sold Sarah Fuller, his daughter, a girl named Eliza.

Arrangement

This collection is arranged

Related Material

See also: Staunton (Va.) Free and Enslaved Records, 1845-1861

Records related to free and enslaved people of Staunton (Va.) and other localities are available through the Virginia Untold: The African American Narrative Digital Collection on the Library of Virginia website.

Additional Staunton (Va.) court records can be found on microfilm at The Library of Virginia web site. Consult "A Guide to Virginia County and City Records on Microfilm."

Adjunct Descriptive Data