Administrative Information

Access Restrictions

IN PROGRESS: Northampton County (Va.) Records related to the Registration of Free Persons, 1728, 1853-1861, 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

Northampton County (Va.) Records related to the Registration of Free Persons, 1728, 1853-1861. Local government records collection, Northampton County Court Records. The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia.

Acquisition Information

These records were transferred to the Library of Virginia from Northampton County (Va.) in 2024 under accession number 54199 and as part of an undated accession.

Digital images of the register were produced by the Library of Virginia Imaging Services in 2024 and accessioned under accession number 54202.

Alternative Form Available

The Northampton County (Va.) “Register of Free Negroes,” 1853-1861, is available on microfilm, Northampton County (Va.) Reel No. 81.

Custodial History

The Northampton County (Va.) “Register of Free Negroes,” 1853-1861, was transferred to the Library of Virginia from the Circuit Court of Northampton County in 2024 under accession number 54199 for digitization. The register was returned to the locality in 2024 by request of the clerk of the Circuit Court.

Processing Information

The microfilm of the “Register of Free Negroes” was originally described as Northampton County (Va.) “Register of Free Negroes,” 1840-1847, but was removed to the present Northampton County (Va.) Records Related to the Registration of Free Persons, 1728, 1853-1861, to enhance the context between record types in July 2024.

"Free Negro" Registration Records, 1728, 1859, were originally described as part of the Northampton County (Va.) Free and Enslaved Records, 1728-1866, but were removed to the present Northampton County (Va.) Records Related to the Registration of Free Persons, 1728, 1853-1861, to enhance the context between record types in July 2024.

These records have been processed, scanned, and indexed by L. Neuroth and other LVA staff for the purposes of digitizing them for the digital project Virginia Untold: The African American Narrative.

Encoded by E. Woodward, September 2006; updated by C. Collins, July 2024.

Historical Information

Context for Record Type:

"Free Negro" Registers

In 1793, the Virginia General Assembly specified that "free Negroes or mulattoes" were required to be registered and numbered in a book to be kept by the town clerk, which shall specify "age, name, colour, and stature, by whom, and in what court the said negro or mulatto was emancipated; or that such negro or mulatto was born free." The process was extended to counties in 1803. Although some clerks were already recording such features, an 1834 Act of Assembly made it a uniform requirement to record identifying marks and scars and the instrument of emancipation, whether by deed or will. This bound register often coincided with a loose certificate containing largely the same identifying information. Both the registration system and the process of renewal was enforced differently in the various Virginia localities. Thus, the information found in these registers may differ from year to year and across localities.

The register books resulting from the administration of the 1793 and 1803 Act of Assembly are evidence of Virginia legislators' reaction to a quickly growing free Black and multiracial population in Virginia in the post Revolutionary War period. Acts such as these allowed white officials to police the activities and movement of free Black community members throughout the state thereby restricting their autonomy.

"Free Negro" Registrations

In 1793, the Virginia General Assembly specified that "free Negroes or mulattoes" were required to "be registered and numbered in a book to be kept by the town clerk, which shall specify age, name, color, status and by whom, and in what court emancipated." These entries often coincided with the creation of a loose certificate containing largely the same identifying information.

Documents in this record group differ from the bound volumes referred to as "registers." These registration records typically appear in the form of certificates or handwritten statements recording the free status of a Black or multiracial person. They can include the free person's name, sometimes age, a brief physical description, and the circumstances of the person's freedom or emancipation, parents, former enslaver, place or date of emancipation. There are also affidavits that were given by individuals affirming a free person's status, as well as written descriptions of free people. In some cases, a person would not have a registration to submit to the court. Instead they produced some other form of identification proving their free status, for example, a deed of emancipation, a will, an apprenticeship indenture, or an affidavit of someone testifying to their character and status.

Locality History: Northampton County was named probably for the English county, of which Obedience Robins, a prominent early resident of the Eastern Shore, was a native. The county, which originally included all of the peninsula south of Maryland and which was one of the eight shires, or counties, first enumerated in 1634, was first called Accomack. The General Assembly changed the name to Northampton County in 1643. Accomack County was created from Northampton County about 1663, but in October 1670, the General Assembly temporarily reunited the two counties as Northampton County. In November 1673, Accomack County was again separated from Northampton. The county seat is Eastville.

Scope and Content

Northampton County (Va.) Records related to the Registration of Free Persons, 1728, 1853-1861, consist of one “Register of Free Negroes,” 1853-1861; a freedom certificate, 1728; and a list of “free negroes” ordered to be registered, 1859.

The Northampton County (Va.) “Register of Free Negroes,” 1853-1861, kept by the clerk of the circuit court records the Registration number; Age [records birth date]; Names; Color; Stature [in feet and inches]; Apparent marks or scars on face, head, or hands; By what instrument emancipated and where recorded; In what county or place born free; and If emancipated since May 1st 1806, whether permission has been granted to reside in this state, and by what court and when. Some clerks recorded additional information not required by the law. There is no index or pagination for the volume.

The date registered is not recorded by the clerk, only the individuals date of birth and sometimes age at registration. [Library of Virginia staff cross-referenced the register with the Northampton County Order Books No. 43 and No. 44 to determine the date range of the book to be 1853-1861].

The freedom certificate, 1728, documents the status of Will, who, according to writing on the back of the certificate, was considered a “runaway negro.” Purportedly written by a justice of the peace in New York, the certificate asserts that Will was "free born."

The   records   are also comprised of a list of   “free negroes” ordered to be registered, 1859. The list includes the names - listed alphabetically - of about 90   free Black and multiracial individuals residing in Northampton County. The latter pages of the list document familial relationships between several   of those named and include additional names not present in the foremost list.

Arrangement

This   collection   is arranged

Related Material

See also: Northampton County (Va.) Free and Enslaved Records, 1737-1860

Records related to free and enslaved people of Northampton County and other localities are available through the Virginia Untold: The African American Digital Collection on the Library of Virginia website.

Additional Northampton County court records can be found on microfilm at the Library of Virginia. Consult "A Guide to Virginia County and City Records on Microfilm."

Adjunct Descriptive Data