Register of Free Negroes and also of Dower Slaves, Brunswick County, Virginia, 1803-1850

The legislature of Virginia made a decision in December of 1800 to direct the Commissioner of Revenue in every county to turn in a complete list of free African Americans by name, sex, place of abode, and occupation. Although they were said to be free, these African Americans were still subject to being captured and sold into slavery as a consequence of not registering. This volume offers a transcribed copy of over 500 registrations made during the years 1803–1850.

The author also includes several appendices, with the first four providing free African American heads of households for the decennial years 1810–1840. Appendix E gives a list of Clerks of the Court, including the years in which they held the position, as well as a list of the Justices of the Peace, followed by Appendix F which visually demonstrates the number of registrations in five-year intervals. The final appendix illustrates the evolution of surrounding counties and the dates of their formation. A full-name index is used to conclude this work.

Frances Holloway Wynne

(1983), 2026, 5.5" x 8.5", paper, index, 234 pp.

ISBN: 9780788427633

101-W2763