This was a request to the court for a certificate concerning and response by that court as to whether or not the woman (and the man, also) should be classified as a Negro or as Caucasian.  The court determined that she was "white" under the statute then prevailing, and thus you know that she was not greater than 1/32nd Black. That means that her most recent ancestor who could have been African was one of her triple-Great Gparents. 

In those times in VA, "part Black" meant "all Black" in the eyes of the law.  If I had to guess, I would say that someone had stated that she was "Black" when she applied for or did some act that a Black was not then permitted to do.  It might be, of course, that she was so declared White by reason of a desire that she marry a white man or that she maintain a standing in the community as a "white" woman.       
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Henry Wiencek 
  To: [log in to unmask] 
  Sent: Saturday, June 11, 2005 9:52 AM
  Subject: Fosters, Randolphs, and race laws


  This is the query I posted to VA-HIST:

  Can the list aid me in understanding the intricacies of
  Virginia race laws in the 1850s?  The following entries
  (unearthed by researcher Sam Towler) appear in the
  Albemarle County Minute Book 1856-1859:

  6 Oct 1857 (pg 190): Application of . . . Susan Catharine
  Foster for a certification that [she is ] of mixed blood.

  same date (Pg 203):  ...upon evidence of Thomas J.
  Randolph that Susan Catharine Foster and Clayton Randolph
  Foster, children of Ann Foster, are not negroes in the
  meaning of the act of assembly.

  The involvement of Thomas Jefferson Randolph is, of
  course, intriguing, as is the fact that Clayton?s middle
  name is Randolph.

  In connection  with this, today?s Charlottesville Daily
  Progress carries an article about the excavation of Foster
  family graves near UVA.

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