Administrative Information

Access Restrictions

Lynchburg (Va.) Records Related to the Registration of Free Persons, 1797-1864, 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

Lynchburg (Va.) Records Related to the Registration of Free Persons, 1797-1864. Lynchburg (Va.) Court Records, Local Government Records Collection, The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia.

Acquisition Information

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

Alternative Form Available

Lynchburg (Va.) Register of Free Negroes, 1843-1865 available as microfilm City of Lynchburg, Reel 37.

Processing Information

The "Free Negro Registration" Records, 1797-1864, were originally described as part of the Lynchburg (Va.) Free and Enslaved Records, but were removed to the present Lynchburg (Va.) Records Related to the Registration of Free Persons, 1797-1864 to enhance the context between the record types.

The loose registrations were originally processed by Greg Crawford. The Register volume was processed by S. Nerney in 2005. These records have been scanned and indexed for the purposes of digitizing them for the digital project Virginia Untold: The African American Narrative.

Encoded by S. Nerney, 2005; Updated by M. Mason, October 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: The city of Lynchburg was established in 1786. It was incorporated as a town in 1805 and as a city in 1852. Parts of Campbell and Bedford counties were annexed in 1976.

Scope and Content

Materials in the Library of Virginia's collections contain historical terms, phrases, and images that are offensive to modern readers. These include demeaning and dehumanizing references to race, ethnicity, and nationality; enslaved or free status; physical and mental ability; religion; sex; and sexual orientation and gender identity.

Lynchburg (Va.) Records Related to the Registration of Free Persons, includes "Registers of Free Negroes", 1843-1865; and "Free Negro" Registration, affidavits and certificates, 1797-1864.

"Register of Free Negroes" of Lynchburg, 1843-1865, records the registration of free Black and Multiracial people of Black descent in the City of Lynchburg and covers the years 1843 to 1865. The clerk recorded name, age, height, complexion, marks or scars, and in what court the person was emancipated or whether the person was born free.

A separate index stored with the register records in alphabetical order the names of the registered free individuals and either the page or registration number where their information can be found in the corresponding register. It includes page numbers. In some instances, the clerk recorded information not required by law such as the name of the former enslaver, previous place of registration, or place of birth.

"Free Negro" Registrations, 1797-1864, consists of about half a box of loose registrations along certificates of registration, and affidavits verifying an individual's emancipation or birth to a free mother. These records largely contain the name of free Black and Multiracial persons; their sex; age; physical description/ complexion; and how they secured their freedom (born free or through a will or deed). These records contain a fair amount of genealogical information as individuals will particularly note matrilineal family lines to denote their free legal status.

In addition to the certificates of registration issued by the Lynchburg Court, there are certificates of registration, or registers, the records contain registrations issued by these localities: Albemarle, Amherst, Bedford, Botetourt, Brunswick, Buckingham, Campbell, Charlotte, Dinwiddie, Essex, Fluvanna, Goochland, Halifax, Isle of Wight, and York Counties and the Cities of Fredericksburg, Petersburg, and Richmond.

Arrangement

This collection is arranged

Related Material

See also: Lynchburg (Va.) Free and Enslaved Records, 1834-1837, undated

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