In Ervin L. Jordon's book Black Confederates....., he noted that one
of the interesting aspects of the free black existence in Virginia was their
ownership of slaves, including the profiting in slave sales in the state.  A
few even went to the extreme of becoming slave breeders.  Jordon also notes
that as the Civil War approached, there was a significant black middle class
in Virginia who owned slaves.

       On the question of what constituted a slave, or person of color, the
studies I have seen rely upon US census data, and the characterization of the
person giving the information to the census taker.  Thus, there is some room
for error in the case of those blacks who could, and preferred to, pass as
white citizens and so informed the census takers.  I don't know to what
extent this was done even in Louisiana.

JDS

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