Administrative Information

Access Restrictions

Augusta County (Va.) Records related to the Registration of Free Persons, 1810-1864, 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

Augusta County (Va.) Records related to the Registration of Free Persons, 1810-1864. Local government records collection, Augusta County Court Records. The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia.

Acquisition Information

These records were transferred to the Library of Virginia from Augusta County (Va.) in 2019 under accession number 52674.

Augusta County (Va.) Reel No. 229 was generated by the Library of Virginia's Imaging Services Branch at an unknown date.

Alternative Form Available

The Augusta County (Va.) Register of “Free Negroes,” 1810-1864, is available on microfilm, Augusta County (Va.) Reel No. 229.

Processing Information

The microfilm of the Register of “Free Negroes,” 1810-1864, was originally described as Augusta County (Va.) Register of “Free Negroes,” 1810-1864, but was removed to the present Augusta County (Va.) Records related to the Registration of Free Persons, 1810-1864, record to enhance the context between record types in March 2025.

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

The register was conserved and digitized by Etherington Conservation Services circa 2019.

Encoded by S. Nerney: March 2006; updated by C. Collins: March 2025.

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.

Locality History: Augusta County was named for Augusta of Saxe-Gotha, who married Frederick Louis, Prince of Wales, and was the mother of King George III. It was formed from Orange County by a statute of 1738 that stipulated that when the population was large enough the new county government would begin to function. The county court first met on 9 December 1745. The county courthouse is in Staunton, and the county administrative offices are in Verona.

Scope and Content

Augusta County (Va.) Records related to the Registration of Free Persons, 1810-1864, consist of the Augusta County (Va.) Register of “Free Negroes,” 1810-1864.

Augusta County (Va.) Register of “Free Negroes,” 1810-1864, records the registration of free Black and multiracial people of Black descent in Augusta County and covers the years 1810 to 1864. The clerk recorded name, age, height, complexion, marks and scars, and in what court the person was emancipated or if the person was born free. There is no index. Includes page numbers. In some instances, the clerk recorded information not required by law such as the name of the former enslaver or previous place of registration.

Arrangement

This collection is arranged

Related Material

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

Additional Augusta County (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