I've been studying free blacks in the Valley & closely examined all the registers I can find for that region. The monthly pattern you describe prompts me to think that the trigger was the Christmas 1856 fear of a slave uprising experienced in many parts of the South. The registers I've looked at suggest that only about 1/3 of those free blacks who were required to register did so. But at times of crisis--after Nat Turner or John Brown, there was usually a temporary surge. Whether this was the result of greater vigilence by the authorities or black fear is unclear. Ellen Eslinger DePaul University [log in to unmask] >>> [log in to unmask] 07/17/01 16:05 PM >>> As an archivist in local records at The Library of Virginia, recently I have been sorting through the loose court records of Cumberland County. In the decade of the 1850s, Free Negro Registration "passes" routinely number one or two a month. Today while sorting through the records for 1857, suddenly there are 13 for January, 52 for February, 15 for March and 10 for April. Then it's back to 1 for May, none for June, 2 for July. I checked Acts of Assembly for 1856 to see if some new statute would explain the sudden, dramatic rise in registrations, but there was nothing that logically would provide a reason. Several colleagues consulted here at LVA are just as baffled as I about the increase. (By way of explanation, the law of 1794 required all Free Negroes to register regularly (usually every five years in rural areas) with the Clerk of the Court, be entered in the Register and be issued a pass describing the individual to be carried on his/her person. Usually when the person registered, the old pass was turned in and a ne one issued. The clerk often put the old pass into the loose records where they were retained to the present day. These old passes are the ones that suddenly increase in numbers.) So, I put it to the folks out there in Historyland: does anyone have an answer to the question why so many in such a short span of time? It may be a local thing that ever will defy explanation (e.g. mean sheriff, panicky rumors, etc.) or there may be some other cause I have overlooked. Many thanks. John Hopewell, LVA To subscribe, change options, or unsubscribe, please see the instructions at http://listlva.lib.va.us/archives/va-hist.html To subscribe, change options, or unsubscribe, please see the instructions at http://listlva.lib.va.us/archives/va-hist.html