Administrative Information

Access Restrictions

Orange County (Va.) Certificates of importation, 1812-1815, 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

Orange County (Va.) Certificates of importation, 1812-1815. Local government records collection, Orange County 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 Orange County in an undated accession.

Processing Information

Orange County (Va.) Certificates of Importation were previously described with the Orange County (Va.) Free and Enslaved Records but were removed to the present Orange County (Va.) Certificates of Importation, 1812-1815 for discoverability purposes.

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

It is believed the ceritificates of importations currently in this collection were removed from the Orange County (Va.) Judgments and processed by Jim Watkins around 2009.

Encoded by M. Mason: March 2024

Historical Information

Context of Record Type: In 1778, Governor Patrick Henry enacted legislation preventing importation of enslaved people into the commonwealth. Those that did bring their enslaved people were required to register them with the county court and sign a certificate of importation agreeing that they were not bringing enslaved people into the commonwealth with the intent to sell. The enslaved person is sometimes named, but not always, and occasionally information is given as to age, birthdate, and the state from which the individuals were moving. According to Section 3 of the act "every slave imported into this commonwealth contrary to the true intent and meaning of this act, shall upon such importation become free." By this clause, those enslaved people who were brought into Virginia illegally could pursue their freedom in the local courts.

Locality History Note: Orange County, according to most accounts, was named for William of Orange, the Dutch prince who became King William III of England in 1688. It is more probable, however, that it was named for William IV, prince of Orange-Nassau, who married Anne, eldest daughter of King George II, in 1734-the year that Orange County was formed from Spotsylvania County.

Scope and Content

Orange County (Va.) Certificates of Importation,1812-1815, consists of four certificates containing information whereby an enslaver swears that they have not imported the recorded enslaved individual(s) from Africa and that the enslaver has not brought the enslaved individual(s) into Virginia for the purpose of selling them.

Enslaved individuals referenced in these certificates includes: Mary, Patrick, Wilson (brought to Virginia by William Woolfork of Kentucky in 1812); Randol, Louisa, and James (brought by Thacker Webb of Kentucky in 1813); Durandy, Hanover, Melvine, and Amandy (brought by William W. Johnson in 1806 documented in 1813); and Martha and Henry (brought by Nelly C. Willis of the District of Columbia in 1815)

Arrangement

This collection is arranged

Related Material

See also: Orange County (Va.) Free and Enslaved Records, 1738-1865

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

Additional Orange County (Va.) 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