Administrative Information

Access Restrictions

"Free Negro" Tax Records, 1834, 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

Lynchburg (Va.) Free and Enslaved Records, 1834-1837, undated. Local government records collection, Lynchburg Court Records. The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Va. 23219.

Acquisition Information

These records came to the Library of Virginia in a transfer of court papers from Lynchburg (Va.) in an undated accession.

Processing Information

Starting in 2023, Library of Virginia archival staff in partnership with the Virginia Untold Project Manager began efforts to describe records related to free and enslaved Black and multiracial people in a manner that improved the historical context of the records. In doing so, in some cases material once described within the "Free and Enslaved" record group for a locality may no longer be described within this record. When this has occurred, please see the Processing Information and Related Materials section for records that have been described separately.

Deeds of Emancipation were removed from this record in October 2024 and are now described in Lynchburg (Va.) Deeds of Emancipation,

Petitions to Remain were removed from this in October 2024 and are now described in Lynchburg (Va.) Petitions to Remain in the Commonwealth,

"Free Negro" Registrations, affidavits and certificates were removed from this record in October 2024 and are now described in Lynchburg (Va.) Records related to the Registration of Free Persons, 1801-1864.

Encoded by C. OBrion, May 2011; updated by M. Mason, October 2024.

Historical Information

Context for Record Type:

Free and Enslaved Records

The Free and Enslaved Records collection is comprised of miscellaneous records related to the regulation and policing of both enslaved and free Black and Multiracial people in Orange County. The localities/local government authorities were largely responsible for enforcing laws that restricted the movement of enslaved and free Black and multiracial people and the resulting documentation was often filed in the circuit courts. The ways in which local authorities enacted legal measures against or on behalf of enslaved and free Black and multiracial people varied from locality to locality; therefore, records were not necessarily standardized or filed and retained in a consistent manner. This collection is topical and a means by which to compile miscellaneous documents related to free and enslaved people that are not established local government record types.

See: The Virginia Untold Record Types on the Library of Virginia website for additional context concerning "Free Negro" Tax Records.

Locality History: Lynchburg, in Campbell County, was named for John Lynch, the owner of the original town site. It was established in 1786, was incorporated as a town in 1805, and became a city in 1852. Parts of Campbell and Bedford Counties were annexed to the city in 1976.

Scope and Content

Lynchburg (Va.) Free and Enslaved Records, 1834-1837, undated, consist of:

"Free Negro" tax Records, 1834, which includes a "list of free person of colour returned insolvent for the corporation of Lynchburg" includes the name of the individual and the amount owed.

An order, 1837, of Henry M. Didlake, justice of the peace for Lynchburg, to hold in the jail Ned Fountain and Melly, enslaved by Henry Christian and levied by Robert Morris, who have been going at large and hiring themselves out.

A list of names, undated, noting James, Elizabeth, Lucretia Mary, Eliza, James, and Richard. List may be related to a free registrations.

Arrangement

This collection is arranged

Related Material

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

Additional Lynchburg Land 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