Administrative Information

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Use Restrictions

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Preferred Citation

Washington County (Va.) Free Negro and Slave Records, 1863. Local government records collection, Washington County Court Records. The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia 23219.

Acquisition Information

This item came to the Library of Virginia in a transfer of court papers from Washington County under the accession number 44413. The original has since been returned to the clerk of court's office in Washington County.

Historical Information

Washington County is the first locality in the United States known to have been named for George Washington. It was formed from Fincastle County in 1776, and a part of Montgomery County was added in 1777.

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. Certificates and registrations of free negroes usually include the name of the free person, sometimes their age and a brief physical description, and a statement based either on another person's knowledge or on other official documentary evidence seen by the certifier that this person was either born free or was emancipated. If born free, reference is sometimes made to parents. If emancipated, emancipating owner, place and date of emancipation, and prior registration as a free negro are usually mentioned. Occasionally the register number is given; this number corresponds to the entry number in the register of free negroes that would have been kept by the clerk of court at the courthouse.

Created by an act of 1776. Court first met on January 18, 1777. Minute books for the periods 1787–1819 and 1821–1837 and many loose papers were lost on December 15, 1864, when the courthouse was burned during Stoneman’s Raid. The fire was set by Union captain James B. Wyatt of the 13th Tennessee Cavalry. Wyatt, who was raised in Washington County, sought revenge for what he claimed was a wrong done against him by a county court judge before the war.

Scope and Content

Washington County (Va.) Free Negro and Slave Records consists of a photocpy of the 1863 registration of Robert R. Evans as a free negro. Evans stated that he was thirty eight years old and was born free in Ashe County, North Carolina.

Related Material

Washington County is one of Virginia's Lost Records Localities. Additional Washington County Court Records may be found in the Virginia Lost Records Localities Collection at the Library of Virginia. Search the "Lost Records Localities Database" found at the Library of Virginia web site.

Index Terms

Corporate Names:

• Washington County (Va.). Circuit Court.

Subjects:

• African Americans -- Virginia -- Washington County.
• Free African Americans -- Virginia -- Washington County.

Geographical Names:

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

Genre and Form Terms:

• Free negro and slave records -- Virginia -- Washington County.
• Free negro registrations -- Virginia -- Washington County.
• Local government records -- Virginia -- Washington County.

Adjunct Descriptive Data