Administrative Information

Access Restrictions

There are no restrictions.

Use Restrictions

There are no restrictions.

Preferred Citation

Rockbridge County (Va.) Free   Negro and Slave   Records  , 1836-1864. Local government records   collection, Rockbridge County Court Records  . The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Va. 23219.

Acquisition Information

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

Historical Information

Rockbridge County was formed in 1778 from Augusta and Botetourt Counties. An additional part of Botetourt County was added in 1785.

An act passed by the Virginia legislature in 1803 required every free   negro or mulatto to be registered and numbered in a book to be kept by the county clerk. The register listed the age, name, color, stature, marks or scars, in what court the person was emancipated or whether the person was born free  . Some clerks recorded additional information not required by the law.

In 1806, the General Assembly moved to remove the free   Negro population from Virginia with a law that stated that all emancipated slaves  , freed after May 1, 1806, who remained in the Commonwealth more than a year, would forfeit their right to freedom and be sold by the Overseers of the Poor for the benefit of the parish. Families wishing to stay were to petition the legislature through the local county court. Beginning in 1837, freed slaves   could petition the local courts for permission to remain.

Scope and Content

Rockbridge County (Va.) Free   Negro and Slave   Records  , 1836-1864. The collection is comprised of free   negro registrations, 1836-1860; applications and petitions to remain in the state, 1841-1855; petitions for voluntary reduction to slavery  , 1859-1862; a photocopy of the index to register of free   negroes, 1831-1860; and various free   negro and slave   records  , 1849-1864.

Free   negro registrations document the name, age, physical appearance, and circumstances of free   birth or emancipation of free   African Americans living in Rockbridge County between 1836 and 1860.

Applications and petitions to remain in the state contain the petition, sometimes supporting lists of names from citizens, and other paperwork related to various requests by emancipated slaves   to remain in Virginia. One petition from 1855 is a list of citizens requesting that no emancipated slaves   be allowed to remain due to the effect it may have on their slaves  .

Petitions for voluntary reduction to slavery   are requests from free   persons of color to be enslaved   and names the person they choose to be their master. Accompanying paperwork sometimes includes a copy of their free   negro registration papers.

Index to the register of free   negroes is a photocopy of the index found with the volume of Register of Free   Negroes, 1831-1860.

Various free   negro and slave   records   include: records   documenting the emigration of the Othello Richards family and others from Rockbridge County to Liberia in 1850. These records   are comprised of a letter requesting documentation of the free   status of the emigrants (Othello Richards, his wife Mary and her child, Fanny Alexander, and her two young children), and a court record   certifying their free   status. Also included are a power of attorney and bills of sale documenting Othello Richards' purchase of his wife Mary and her child and four other individuals in 1849 and 1850. The letter is from R.W. Bailey, an agent who accompanied the emigrants to Liberia.

Also included are a letter to the jailor of Carroll County requesting the return of slave   Hiram who has run away from Messrs. Lowe and Simmons of Georgia, 1851; a receipt for the sale of a woman and child from William H. Williams to E.C. Corbett, 1851; contracts for slave   hires, 1862-1864; and two letters and a petition, 1864, pertaining to the requisition of slaves   for work on the fortifications near Richmond, 1863-1864. The petition questions the free   status of William Howard and requests that he be requisitioned as a slave   to work on fortifications in Richmond.

Related Material

Additional Rockbridge County 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

Persons:

• Richards, Othello.

Corporate Names:

• Rockbridge County (Va.) Circuit Court.

Subjects:

• African Americans--Employment--Rockbridge County (Va.)--Civil War, 1861-1865.
• Free   African Americans--Virginia--Rockbridge County.
• Liberian American families--Virginia--Rockbridge County.
• Requisitions, Military--Virginia--Rockbridge County.
• Slaveholders  --Virginia--Rockbridge County.
• Slaves  --Emancipation--Virginia--Rockbridge County.

Geographical Names:

• Rockbridge County (Va.)--History--19th century.

Genre and Form Terms:

• Bills of sale for slaves  --Virginia--Rockbridge County.
• Contracts--Virginia--Rockbridge County.
• Free   negro and slave   records  --Virginia--Rockbridge County.
• Free   negro registrations--Virginia--Rockbridge County.
• Fugitive slaves  --Virginia--Rockbridge County.
• Letters (correspondence)--Virginia--Rockbridge County.
• Local government records  --Virginia--Rockbridge County.
• Petitions--Virginia--Rockbridge County.
• Receipts (financial records  )--Virginia--Rockbridge County.

Adjunct Descriptive Data