It is my understanding that Surry County has a number of these papers;
you may wish to contact the historical society there for more specific
information. In addition, John Hopewell, in footnote in "Free Negroes in
Cumberland county, 1837--9" _Magazine of Virginia Genealogy_ 40(2002:249
notes that there are a number of these certificates in the Free Negro
and slave Papers of Cumberland County court records at LVA.
Barbara Vines Little, CG
PO Box 1273
Orange, VA 22960
[log in to unmask]
540-832-3473 (evenings)
CG and Certified Genealogist are service marks of the Board for
Certification of Genealogists,® used under license by the
board-certified associates who meet genealogical competency standards
prescribed for those programs.
-----Original Message-----
From: Discussion of research and writing about Virginia history
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Brent Tarter
Sent: Tuesday, March 09, 2004 8:00 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [VA-HIST] manumission papers
Anita,
I have concluded, unfortunately, that a large proportion of manumission
documents were not publicly recorded, and in many instances the only
documentation would be the actual paper that the freed person received.
The law required that free blacks register annually with the county or
city court and that the clerks keep accurate and up-to-date records, but
the clerks often did not do so, and many of the lists that they kept
being no longer of any practical value after 1865, have disappeared.
Nevertheless, the Library of Virginia has some "Free Negro Registers,"
as they were called.
Freed people were also supposed to petition for and obtain permission to
remain in Virginia, and that should have generated good lists, but that
law was rather haphazardly followed, too, and for many jurisdictions few
or no documents survive. If they do, they will be in the court order
books, of which the Library of Virginia has pretty full copies on
microfilm.
If records survive for the registration of free blacks or for
applications to remain in Virginia, they are most likely to be part of
the corpus of county or city government records, some of which are
preserved in the Library of Virginia in Richmond and some in the
localities. Some have been microfilmed, but some may not have been.
Many, alas, may be lost.
There is a list maintained at the archives and manuscripts reading room
in the Library of Virginia, where such documents that survive may be
consulted, of which lists we have here.
It is necessary to know the name of the manumitted person; it is
sometimes helpful to know the name of the person who manumitted him or
her (in case a deed of manumission was recorded in the local deed books,
which sometimes happened but often didn't), and most importantly the
county or city in which the freed person then undertook to reside. That
last information is often discoverable through the 1850 or 1860 census.
I am sorry that I cannot give a shorter or more encouraging response,
but the documentary is not complete, nor is it preserved in any one
place.
Brent Tarter
The Library of Virginia
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Visit the Library of Virginia's web site at http://www.lva.lib.va.us
-----Original Message-----
From: Anita L. Henderson [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: Monday, March 08, 2004 11:38 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: manumission papers
Dear List:
Where can I find copies of manumission papers that were given to newly
freed slaves as proof of their new free status? I am looking for
examples of documents written right before the Civil War.
Thanks!
Anita L. Henderson
4th US Cavalry-bugler
Atlantic Guard Soldiers' Aid Society <A
HREF="http://www.agsas.org/">Atlantic
Guard Soldiers Aid Society</A>
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