Administrative Information

Access Restrictions

There are no restrictions.

Use Restrictions

There are no restrictions.

Preferred Citation

Lancaster County (Va.) Free   Negro and Slave   Records  , 1751-1861. Local government records   collection, Lancaster County Court Records  . The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia 23219.

Acquisition Information

These items came to the Library of Virginia in transfers of court papers from Lancaster County.

Historical Information

Lancaster County was named probably for the English county. It was formed from Northumberland and York Counties sometime between 26 March and 16 September 1651. The county court first met on 1 January 1652. The county seat is Lancaster.

An act passed by the Virginia legislature in 1856 allowed freed slaves   who desired to remain in Virginia to petition for reenslavement   and choose a master or owner and remain in the state.

Scope and Content

Lancaster County (Va.) Free   Negro and Slave   Records   include lists of free   negroes (1813-1814, 1832, 1837-1841, 1851, 1853, 1857-1861, n.d.); patrol accounts (1785-1861); petitions, affidavits and certificates (1818, 1826, 1837, 1840, 1843-1844, 1851-1853, 1855); slave   bills of sale (1789, 1802-1803, 1808, 1811, 1818, 1821, 1832-1834, 1840, 1853); and miscellaneous records   (1751-1854).

Lists of free   negroes were compiled by the commissioner of the revenue for tax purposes. They record   the full name of each individual, whether male or female, place of residence, and trade, occupation or calling for each person on the list. On some lists, family groupings are clearly delineated. The 1814 list is a photocopy.

Patrol accounts give the district patrolled by a particular company of slave   patrol and the names and number of hours for each participant. On most lists, the captain of the company is noted and a total amount of payment is given.

Petitions, affidavits and certificates consist of several kinds of records  . The certificates or registrations (1840, 1851-1853, 1855) are copies of an individual's free   negro registration kept by the clerk of court and contain the registration number, name, age, physical description, and circumstances of free   status (i.e. born free   or emancipated). The 1840 certificate is a copy of an 1817 registration from Baltimore County, Maryland, for Richard Johnson and was probably used to prove free   status as a notation on the reverse of the document instructs the jailor to release him. There are petitions and summons relating to petitions to remain in the county of Lancaster (1826, 1837, 1843, 1844). The petitions state the name of the petitioner, the circumstances of free   status, and a request to remain in the county often with accompanying names of citizens who can testify to the free   status or who support the request of the petitioner to remain. The summonses give the names of witnesses, name of the petitioner(s), and the court date that the petition will be considered. There are two affidavits (1855) from Baltimore, Maryland, concerning the free   status of a boy named John Ellis.

Slave   bills of sale are deeds transferring ownership of slaves   and include the name of the seller, the name of the purchaser, the price, and usually the names of the slaves   being sold. Occasionally the ages of the slaves   are given. Several of the deeds are more like fiduciary records   in that they are reports of slaves   sold from a particular estate. Some deeds include other goods being sold in addition to slaves   such as livestock or furniture.

Petition for Reenslavement  , 1857, consists of the petition of Armistead Currie to give up his freedom in order to remain in Virginia. He asked the court to assign Addison Hull as his owner.

Miscellanous records   include commonwealth causes against slaves   for assorted crimes (1824-1828, 1854); deeds of emancipation (1751, 1790-1796, 1827); a photocopy of a guardian's bond for free   persons of color Robert and Jane Lowe (1832); a petition from Caroline Sherman for tax relief on an infirm and elderly slave   named Jacob (1822); a photocopy of the petition of Anna Laws to be freed from her indenture (1779); a letter from David Boyd requesting that a search of the clerk's records   be made to determine whether Susanna Jones and her children, mulattoes, were ever bound out by the court (1754); and a photocopy of a notice of judgment from the Overseers of the Poor to Elizabeth A. and Sarah Lattimer for the maintenance of a slave   named Shadrach (1826).

Related Material

Additional Lancaster Free   Negro and Slave   Records   can be found on microfilm at the Library of Virginia. Consult "A Guide to Virginia County and City Records on Microfilm."

Index Terms

Corporate Names:

• Lancaster County (Va.) Circuit Court.

Subjects:

• African Americans--Employment--Virginia--Lancaster County.
• African Americans--Virginia--Lancaster County.
• Free   African Americans--Virginia--Lancaster County.
• Freedmen--Virginia--Lancaster County.
• Slave   records  --Virginia--Lancaster County.
• Slaveholders  --Virginia--Lancaster County.
• Slaves  --Virginia--Lancaster County.
• Tax collection--Virginia--Lancaster County.

Geographical Names:

• Lancaster County (Va.)--History.

Genre and Form Terms:

• Accounts--Virginia--Lancaster County.
• Affidavits--Virginia--Lancaster County.
• Bills of sale--Virginia--Lancaster County.
• Bonds (legal records  )--Virginia--Lancaster County.
• Certificates--Virginia--Lancaster County.
• Criminal court records  --Virginia--Lancaster County.
• Deeds of manumission--Virginia--Lancaster County.
• Free   negro and slave   records  --Virginia--Lancaster County.
• Free   negro lists--Virginia--Lancaster County.
• Free   negro registrations--Virginia--Lancaster County.
• Free   papers--Virginia--Lancaster County.
• Letters (correspondence)--Virginia--Lancaster County.
• Local government records  --Virginia--Lancaster County.
• Summons--Virginia--Lancaster County.

Added Entry - Corporate Name:

• Baltimore County (Md.) Circuit Court.

Adjunct Descriptive Data