Hello,

Barbara makes a good point. Ted Maris-Wolf's fine book (Family Bonds: Free Blacks and Re-enslavement Law in Antebellum Virginia [Chapel Hill, 2015]) explicates many of those dynamics.

Best,

John


John McClure

Director of Research & Publications



VIRGINIA MUSEUM OF HISTORY & CULTURE

Virginia Historical Society

428 N Arthur Ashe Boulevard, Richmond, Virginia 23220

804.342.9686 | VirginiaHistory.org<http://virginiahistory.org/>


________________________________
From: Discussion of research and writing about Virginia history <[log in to unmask]> on behalf of Barbara Vines Little <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Monday, August 24, 2020 9:34 AM
To: [log in to unmask] <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: [VA-HIST] a well to do enslaved man?

When dealing with the enslavement by free Blacks you need to include
Virginia law in the equation. While in the beginning there was no such
requirement, eventually the law required that when an enslaved person
was freed, they had to leave the state. Thus free Blacks who bought
their spouses or children out of slavery often would not free them for
this reason. There are even cases of individuals selling themselves into
slavery or refusing freedom for this reason.

Barbara Vines Little, CG, FNGS, FUGA, FVGS
PO Box 1273
Orange, VA 22960

540-832-3473
[log in to unmask]

CG, Certified Genealogist, is a service mark of the Board for Certification of Genealogists, used
under license by board-certified genealogists after periodic evaluation; the board name is
registered in the US Patent & Trademark Office.

On 8/24/2020 8:49 AM, Meyers, Terry L wrote:
> My thanks to Mr.Brooks and Ms. Little.
>
> The enslaved at the College did have, apparently, some economic independence.   Lemon sold produce to the College and was famous for his oyster dinners; and the Bursar’s books show payments for beef, mutton, hops, etc. from the College's Nottoway Plantation, presumably to the the enslaved there for what they raised on their own time.    So, yes, I think an enslaved man could have money to loan.
>
> I’m sure the man I’m interested in was enslaved by the College.   And it did occur to me that perhaps he was hiring out his wife or a daughter.   But then I wondered…..  wouldn’t his daughter have been enslaved by the College too as his child as a matter of course?   And his wife—if enslaved by someone else, she wouldn’t be available….   perhaps, though, she was a free Black?
>
> Lacking any evidence at all of an enslaved person enslaving others, I now think that is out of the question.
>
> Partly my query was driven by some free Blacks enslaving other Blacks, including one local example I recalled from some years ago (there must be a story here, of a Black woman leaving France to move to Virginia, but what it is I don’t know):
> I
> Parsons, Zizzy, 158<https://linkprotect.cudasvc.com/url?a=https%3a%2f%2flibraries.wm.edu%2fum%2farchive%2fbucktrout%2fcf.swem.wm.edu%2fexhibits%2fbucktrout%2fdisplay.cfm_target%3d0169.html&c=E,1,b0M4bt1-PeB2178ZIQa_tkSfVv_L3fsG67an7BxFq7H7q0fA9TrZ5C8o-XOHPMGUBoYw8P695Lh9wO6wBSgoMbnv5czEg21QqHEra7jrH8KF4l0_VnPjoCo3&typo=1>; born c1748, France; free black; came to Williamsburg c1770; Roman Catholic Church member in France; owned Richard Crump House 1822-47; owned several slaves, 2 horses & a gig; died Nov. 24, 1859, Williamsburg
>
> https://linkprotect.cudasvc.com/url?a=https%3a%2f%2flibraries.wm.edu%2fum%2farchive%2fbucktrout%2fcf.swem.wm.edu%2fexhibits%2fbucktrout%2fname-index.cfm.html&c=E,1,VmNebTPcccBQFLmZpGwpr06SYb-rBT7pvV3l9wJE16BieMDotn-YEfNYHTTpybXD7d4Gqa1e3jh5ZF3AaruTOj9WZtZgGv_6FqR6EisKGdqr8DiB2p9crtjjO38s&typo=1
>
> As always, I am grateful for the wisdom and knowledge of the List.
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> Terry L.. Meyers, Chancellor Professor of English, Emeritus<https://linkprotect.cudasvc.com/url?a=http%3a%2f%2fwmpeople.wm.edu%2fsite%2fpage%2ftlmeye%2f&c=E,1,AB4hLEU4vCZTbQGXTeTnbu-ak01sd68TBXxTC3Wxco2p9A3KhFx05jS4tCnCXjBoJTXPmHv_YgsHOXPz4bNuIp47MGQaBMbB3MOISOupoycCAxcu1vg-1pXihQ,,&typo=1>, The College of William and Mary, in Virginia, Williamsburg  23187
>
> Plant 8 trees for $<https://linkprotect.cudasvc.com/url?a=https%3a%2f%2fedenprojects.org&c=E,1,zwSLebF6TbJZyzZz6CJ0Agf7Y900CLDKc83F4M_BEukjU0eNV4o3QhNENwXL8vlO7wH-cvX3lumLTsOpihtbrM4BHOENIA__EG3HZS8bHyeWqI0,&typo=1>1       Or save several trees for free<https://linkprotect.cudasvc.com/url?a=http%3a%2f%2fwww.ecologyfund.com%2fecology%2f_ecology.html&c=E,1,KYQtCqdKFrOKSbd20iSdFLcT2GLtyMhft7PO0YWAulwUnUtBW3kOwiuBIrVKbPZdPdg17LM5mO57XxqrkEUT2dInqvY1Aiq5e1aFqtkLvgOf7eyaNrDM&typo=1>       Or use the browser Ecosia<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ecosia>
> ————————————————————————————————————————————————————
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>
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