Paul is right. Not many masters freed their slaves and after the provision which went into effect on 1 May 1806 that required any person freed after that date to leave the state, the number who emancipated declined, but did not disappear. Nor did masters always free all of their slaves. One can see from the petitions submitted to the legislature of those freed after 1806 to be able to remain in the state that manumissions continued after 1806. In 1816 the legislature shifted the burden of determining whether an individual freed after the 1806 deadline to the county or corporation courts, but the fact that individuals continued to petition the legislature after that date indicates petitioners still turned to the General Assembly, perhaps as a measure of last resort. Eva Wolf's, Almost Free is the story of one man's attempts to secure residency for himself and his family through this petition process. For testators after the 1806 law who free some or all of their slaves, some made provision for freedom dependent on a successful effort to secure residency. If the effort failed, some provided that those they intended to be free be given some support for leaving the state, or to have the privilege of choosing a master of their choice if they remained, but obviously still enslaved. From the skeletal description of the will, I would guess that the testator in this case was already allowing the enslaved individuals to live somewhat independently--the reference to being able to stay in the houses until the structures were sold by the estate is a possible clue to that. This was probably more common in urban than in rural areas. Some masters did provide for emancipations contingent on going to Liberia, but I would doubt that would be the case in 1818 since there was no Liberia yet established, and the Colonization Society was just getting organized. As these wills go, the provisions seem generous. As to the women who received such large bequests, one would need to know names, positions, relationships etc. Gregg Kimball may well be able to help with that. Whose will is this? Is 1818 the date of the writing of the will or of its recording?
Michael L. Nicholls
Professor of History, Emeritus
Dept. of History
Utah State University
Logan, UT 84322-0710
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On Sep 3, 2014, at 3:44 PM, Rita Goldberg wrote:
> This is a request for help understanding two aspects of a will that was filed in Richmond in 1818.
>
> 1. The gentleman in question frees several slaves and allows them to stay in the homes where they were living until these homes are sold as part of his estate. He also provides for a yearly amount ranging from $40-$150 to be paid to each of these individuals. In addition, he provides assistance if, because of the law, these freed slaves were not allowed to live in Virginia. My question is: Was it normal at the time for slave owners to free some or all of their slaves when they died? Are the provisions in the will normal or do they seem especially generous?
>
> 2. The gentleman leaves amounts ranging from $2000 to $8000 to a series of women, most of them married but some not. Since several of these woman were well known in Richmond society, it's hard to imagine that they had all been lovers of the gentleman and that he would speak of them so openly in his will. Does anything you know about Richmond society of the time provide a clue as to the significance of these generous clauses?
>
> I'd be very appreciative of any ideas that could help explain these two points in the 1818 will.
>
> Rita Goldberg
>
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