Hi Brent,
May I ask how early are we speaking (for early judicial records in Virginia)? I haven't had a chance to review the origins of this e-mail chain, but this caught my attention because of a previous project I worked on. I used to assist a professor through typing transcriptions of early court cases from English legal history, and I think that there were some from early cases in Virginia. The project was a bit monotonous to me at times, so I did not read all of the cases I typed, but perhaps I can suggest a few sources that can help, depending on the desired time period.
Sincerely,
LaToya
LaToya S. Gray
User Support Specialist
Boatwright Memorial Library
University of Richmond, VA 23173
804.287.8884
[log in to unmask]
-----Original Message-----
From: Discussion of research and writing about Virginia history <[log in to unmask]> On Behalf Of Tarter, Brent
Sent: Friday, May 10, 2019 9:28 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [VA-HIST] John Casor
I don't know enough about the surviving judicial records of other colonies know whether an earlier such record exists. Earlier records may have once upon a time existed in Virginia, but we can't say for sure.
Brent
On Thu, May 9, 2019 at 4:25 PM Johnson, Kirk N. <[log in to unmask]>
wrote:
> Boris,
>
> I don't understand your tone here. Brent was making a very particular
> observation about the archival realities when researching early
> Virginia history. Maybe your question should be to ask is it the first KNOWN case.
>
> Kirk Johnson
> Serials Manager
>
> Prince William Public Library System
> 13083 Chinn Park Drive
> Prince William, VA 22192-5073
>
> (703) 792-4883
>
> [log in to unmask]
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Discussion of research and writing about Virginia history <
> [log in to unmask]> On Behalf Of Boris Sokolovsky
> Sent: Thursday, May 9, 2019 2:20 PM
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Re: [VA-HIST] John Casor
>
> Historical research is not based on what is "missing". The challenge
> facing you in using archival data is to find materials from the
> multitude of materials available in various archives and collections,
> which are both reasonable and suitable for the research topic. The
> treatment of very old materials is a particularly difficult challenge to overcome.
> So, I am asking again, based on what material is available, was Was
> "Johnson vs Parker" a first case in the colonies that recognized a
> person as a "property' of another person?
> As you know British Laws did not have any Law that mentioned "Slavery".
>
> On Thu, May 9, 2019 at 10:54 AM Tarter, Brent <
> [log in to unmask]>
> wrote:
>
> > Early court records are very, very incomplete and scattered, so it
> > is not wise to state that that or any other one case was definitely
> > the first. The best we can do is to state that one might be the
> > earliest identified case and hedge even that by reference to the
> > loss of a vast abundance of county and General Court records from Virginia.
> >
> > Brent Tarter
> > [log in to unmask]
> >
> >
> > On Thu, May 9, 2019 at 1:08 PM Boris Sokolovsky <[log in to unmask]>
> wrote:
> >
> > > Can you formulate a concise answer to this question?
> > > Was Johnson vs Parker a first case in the colonies that recognized
> > > a
> > person
> > > as a "property' of another person?
> > > The case of Punch was a punishment for violating an Indenture Contract.
> > >
> > > On Tue, May 7, 2019 at 6:23 AM Kimball, Gregg <
> > > [log in to unmask]> wrote:
> > >
> > > > There are a few premises in the initial post that I would
> > > > consider
> > > suspect,
> > > > but I'm sure better scholars on the list will weigh in. I hope
> > > > they
> > will,
> > > > because a few of these assumptions have troubled me for some time.
> > > >
> > > > How can we consider the "20 and odd" Africans who arrived in
> > > > Virginia
> > in
> > > > 1619 as "indentured servants with time restricted contracts" if
> > > > they
> > were
> > > > taken from a Spanish slave ship by English raiders and traded in
> > > > the colony?
> > > >
> > > > Do we know that there were "no laws regarding slavery for life"
> > anywhere
> > > in
> > > > Britain and its colonies? I ask that because we seem to assume
> > > > that a
> > > lack
> > > > of statutes means "no law," but British law, as I understand it,
> > > > was largely based on the common law.
> > > >
> > > > Can we EVER assume a "first" in terms of the law of slavery in
> > > > Virginia given the massive loss of early records?
> > > >
> > > > Gregg
> > > >
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > On Tue, May 7, 2019 at 7:58 AM Boris Sokolovsky
> > > > <[log in to unmask]>
> > > wrote:
> > > >
> > > > > Since there were no laws regarding slavery for life(all "slaves"
> > > > > were brought in as indentured servants with time restricted
> > > > > contracts)
> > what
> > > > was
> > > > > the first established by law case of slavery?
> > > > > Many resources point at the Johnson vs Parker case.
> > > > > Can you clarify the issue?
> > > > >
> > > > > On Mon, May 6, 2019 at 1:11 PM Paul Heinegg
> > > > > <[log in to unmask]>
> > > > wrote:
> > > > >
> > > > > > No, but he may have been the first slave owned by a former slave.
> > > > > >
> > > > > > Casor sued for his freedom from former slave Anthony Johnson
> > > > > > in Northampton County, Virginia, in 1653, but Johnson
> > > > > > insisted that "hee had ye
> > > Negro
> > > > > for
> > > > > > his life" [Orders, Deeds, Wills, 1651-54, 226].
> > > > > > John Casor/ Cazara travelled with the Johnson family to
> > > > > > Somerset
> > > > County,
> > > > > > Maryland, where he recorded his livestock mark in court,
> > > > > > with the
> > > > consent
> > > > > > of
> > > > > > Anthony's widow Mary Johnson [Archives of Maryland, 54:760-1].
> > > > > > He was a witness (signing) to her power of attorney by which
> > > > > > she
> > > > assigned
> > > > > > her son John Johnson authority over her property in Virginia
> > > [Somerset
> > > > > > County Judicial Record, 1671-75, 159-62].
> > > > > > Paul
> > > > > >
> > > > > > -----Original Message-----
> > > > > > From: Boris Sokolovsky
> > > > > > Sent: Saturday, May 04, 2019 3:14 PM
> > > > > > To: [log in to unmask]
> > > > > > Subject: [VA-HIST] John Casor
> > > > > >
> > > > > > Was John Casor one of the first legal black slave?
> > > > > >
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