Taken from Black Laws of VA - June Purcell Guild 1833 "A court upon satisfactory proof, by a white person of fact, may grant to any free person of mixed blood a certificate that he is not a Negro, which certificate shall protect such person against the penalities and disabilities to which free Negroes are subject." 1833. Chapter 243 Certain parties named WHARTON, of the County of Stafford, who heretofore were held in slavery and acquired their freedom, since 1806 are not Negroes or mulattoes but white persons, although remotely descended from a colored woman, and are hereby released from all penalities whatsoever, by reason of their failure to remove from the Commonwealth. Selma Stewart To subscribe, change options, or unsubscribe, please see the instructions at http://listlva.lib.va.us/archives/va-hist.html