Some more background information would help. If you think your ancestor was 
sold south from Virginia, have you looked at the New Orleans slave shipping 
manifests? They're available at ancestry.com and also at least some are at 
afrigeneas. They list lots of slaves' last names, but of course only include 
slaves sent by boat, not overland. The last names rarely match the Virginia 
owner's last name.

Short answer: there wasn't a central location for the sale of slaves further 
south, though as others have mentioned, Richmond as well as Alexandria (when 
it was part of Virginia) were big trading areas. Traders' agents would scour 
country auctions also, buy up slaves, and either resell them in the city or 
ship them south themselves. Unfortunately not a lot of records from such 
sales survive.

If you can share more context--what era, what clues you already have--it 
would be very helpful.

Hank Trent
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-----Original Message----- 
From: Kelli Yates
I am in search of some information and I am not sure how to find it.  I am
in search of an Ancestor in Virginia.  I am not sure if the last name is
Stephens or Tyler (leaning more toward Stephens).  Since I am African
American I am looking for a Slave owner in Virginia with either the name
Tyler or Stephens.  Also for some basic history of Virginia was there a
central location for the sale of slaves especially if they were sold
further South.

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