A Guide to the Louisa County (Va.) Judgments (Freedom Suits), 1795-1825
A Collection in
the Library of Virginia
Barcode number: 0007532871
Library of Virginia
The Library of Virginia800 East Broad Street
Richmond, Virginia 23219-8000
USA
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Email: archdesk@lva.virginia.gov(Archives)
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© 2014 By The Library of Virginia. All Rights Reserved.
Processed by: Chris Smith
Administrative Information
Access Restrictions
There are no restrictions.
Use Restrictions
There are no restrictions.
Preferred Citation
Louisa County (Va.) Judgments (Freedom Suits), 1795-1825. Local government records collection, Louisa 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 Louisa County.
Historical Information
Slaves sued for emancipation in freedom suits based on the following: they were descendant(s) of a free female ancestor, typically a Native American (Hening Statutes, volume 2, p.170); failure of slaveowner(s) to abide by the 1778 slave nonimportation act (Henings Statutes, volume 9, pp. 471-472); or claimed to have been freed by slaveowner(s) by deed of emancipation or last will and testament (Henings Statutes volume 11, pp. 39-40)
Louisa County was named for Louisa, a daughter of King George II and wife of King Frederick V of Denmark. It was formed from Hanover County in 1742. The county seat is Louisa.
Scope and Content
Louisa County (Va.) Judgments (Freedom Suits), 1795-1825, consist of suits initiated by slaves seeking to gain their freedom on the law side of the court. Cases are identified by style of suit consisting of plaintiff and defendant names. Surnames of others involved in a suit, including secondary plaintiffs and defendants, witnesses, deponents and affiants, and family members with surnames different from the plaintiff or defendant are indexed. Also identified are names of slaves and slaveowners found in suit as well as whether slave(s) won their freedom. Predominant documents found in freedom suits include petitions, records of suits, depositions, affidavits, wills, among other items. Information found in documents include slave's argument for freedom, acquisition of slaves by slaveowners, slave ancestry, and relationship between slaves and slaveowners.
Judgments (Freedom Suits) are useful when researching local history and genealogical information, particularly for African Americans. They are a valuable source of local, state, social, and legal history and serve as a primary source for understanding a locality's history.
Arrangement
Arranged chronologically.
Related Material
Additional Louisa County Court Records are found at the Library of Virginia.
Additional Louisa County Court Records can be found on microfilm at The Library of Virginia. Consult "A Guide to Virginia County and City Records on Microfilm."
Additional freedom suits may be found in the Louisa County Chancery Causes. Search the the Chancery Records Index found on the Library of Virginia web site. Enter the tilde symbol in the plaintiff surname field.
Index Terms
- Louisa County (Va.) Circuit Court.
- African Americans -- Virginia.
- Free African Americans -- Virginia -- Louisa County.
- Slaveholders -- Virginia -- Louisa County.
- Slavery -- Virginia -- Louisa County.
- Louisa County (Va.) -- Genealogy
- Louisa County (Va.) -- History.
- Civil actions -- Virginia -- Louisa County.
- Freedom suits -- Virginia -- Louisa County.
- Judicial records -- Virginia -- Louisa County.
- Local government records -- Virginia -- Louisa County.
- Petitions -- Virginia -- Louisa County.
- Wills -- Virginia -- Louisa County.
Corporate Names:
Subjects:
Geographical Names:
Genre and Form Terms:
Significant Places Associated With the Collection
- Louisa County (Va.) -- Genealogy
- Louisa County (Va.) -- History.