African American Resources for Virginia: Difference between revisions

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| link2=[[African American Genealogy|African American Research]]

| link5=[[Virginia African Americans|African American Resources]]

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|[[Image:{{Virginiaslavesale}}|Slaves Awaiting Sale]]  

=== Online Resources ===

 

 

 

 

== Strategies  ==

This Wiki page describes research strategies, and major sources of information about African American families from [[Virginia Genealogy|Virginia]]. As you read this Wiki page, also study the [[African American Research]] Wiki pages, which will help you understand more strategies, and the contents and uses of other African American genealogical records.<br><br>  

| Help yourself and others find their African American ancestors by participating in the [http://www.discoverfreedmen.org/ Discover Freedmen Indexing Project]. [http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865631024/LDS-Church-FamilySearch-launch-project-to-index-Freedmen7s-Bureau-records-of-4-million-former.html?pg=all June 19th Press Conference]

=== Genetic Testing ===

| bgcolor="#cc99ff" colspan="4" | <center>'''Number of Slaves in Virginia'''<ref name="no">Includes modern-day West Virginia and part of the District of Columbia. ''Ninth Census of the United States: Statistics of Population, Tables I to VIII Inclusive'' (Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1872), 70, 72. Digital version at [http://archive.org/stream/ninthcensusunit00offigoog#page/n72/mode/1up Internet Archive]; {{FHL|281281|item|disp=FHL Book 973 X2pcu}}; William O. Lynch, "The Westward Flow of Southern Colonists before 1861," ''The Journal of Southern History,'' Vol. 9, No. 3 (Aug. 1943):325. Digital version at [http://www.jstor.org/stable/2191319 JSTOR] ($).</ref></center>

{| width="50%" cellspacing="1" cellpadding="1" border="1" class="wikitable sortable"

| '''Year'''  

| '''Virginia'''  

| '''(now) West Virginia'''  

| '''Total'''

| '''1790'''  

| 287,959  

| 4668  

| 292,627

| '''1800'''  

| 338,624  

| 7172  

| 345,796

| '''1810'''  

| 381,680  

| 10,836  

| 392,516

| '''1820'''  

| 410,029  

| 15,119  

| 425,148

| '''1830'''  

| 452,084  

| 17,673  

| 469,757

| '''1840'''  

| 430,499  

| 18,488  

| 449,087

| '''1850'''  

| 452,028  

| 20,500  

| 472,528

| '''1860'''  

| 472,494  

| 18,371  

| 490,865

| style="padding-right:0px"|

In '''1790''', counties with more than '''10,000''' slaves were [[Amelia County, Virginia|Amelia]] and [[Caroline County, Virginia|Caroline]]. Counties with more than '''7500''' slaves were [[Culpeper County, Virginia|Culpeper]] and [[Hanover County, Virginia|Hanover]]. Counties with more than '''5000''' slaves were: [[Albemarle County, Virginia|Albemarle]], [[Amherst County, Virginia|Amherst]], [[Brunswick County, Virginia|Brunswick]], [[Chesterfield County, Virginia|Chesterfield]], [[Dinwiddie County, Virginia|Dinwiddie]], [[Essex County, Virginia|Essex]], [[Fauquier County, Virginia|Fauquier]], [[Gloucester County, Virginia|Gloucester]], [[Halifax County, Virginia|Halifax]], [[Henrico County, Virginia|Henrico]], [[King and Queen County, Virginia|King and Queen]], [[King William County, Virginia|King William]], [[Norfolk County, Virginia|Norfolk]], [[Southampton County, Virginia|Southampton]], [[Spotsylvania County, Virginia|Spotsylvania]], and [[Sussex County, Virginia|Sussex]].<ref name="no" />  

By '''1860''', when there were nearly twice as many slaves in the state as there had been 70 years earlier, counties with more than '''10,000''' slaves were [[Albemarle County, Virginia|Albemarle]], [[Bedford County, Virginia|Bedford]], [[Campbell County, Virginia|Campbell]], [[Caroline County, Virginia|Caroline]], [[Dinwiddie County, Virginia|Dinwiddie]], [[Fauquier County, Virginia|Fauquier]], [[Halifax County, Virginia|Halifax]], [[Henrico County, Virginia|Henrico]], [[Louisa County, Virginia|Louisa]], [[Mecklenburg County, Virginia|Mecklenburg]], and [[Pittsylvania County, Virginia|Pittsylvania]]. Counties with more than '''7500''' slaves were: [[Amelia County, Virginia|Amelia]], [[Brunswick County, Virginia|Brunswick]], [[Buckingham County, Virginia|Buckingham]], [[Charlotte County, Virginia|Charlotte]], [[Chesterfield County, Virginia|Chesterfield]], [[Hanover County, Virginia|Hanover]], [[Norfolk County, Virginia|Norfolk]], and [[Spotsylvania County, Virginia|Spotsylvania]].<ref name="no" />

Edmund S. Morgan's ''American Slavery, American Freedom: The Ordeal of Colonial Virginia'' (1975) ({{FHL|488327|item|disp=FHL Book 975.5 H6m}}) is considered one of the best histories of enslaved blacks in Virginia.

== Records  ==

=== 1619-1865: Period of slavery  ===

Information about slaves can be found in '''slavemasters' deeds''' (see [[Virginia Land and Property]]),'''slave schedules''' (see [[Virginia Census#Online_indexes_and_images|Virginia Census]]), '''wills''' (see [[Virginia Probate Records]]), '''tax lists''' (see [[Virginia Taxation]]), '''family Bibles''' and '''diaries''' (see [[Virginia Bible Records|Virginia Bible Records]]), '''plantation records''', '''interviews with former slaves''', and in '''court order books''' (see [[Virginia Court Records]]). A few '''parish registers''' (see [[Virginia Church Records#Church_of_England_.28Anglican.2C_Protestant_Episcopal.29|Virginia Church Records]]) list slaves who attended church with their masters. In Virginia the births of slave children should be listed in '''county birth registers''' starting in 1853 (see [[Virginia Vital Records]]).  

Most black slaves were imported into Virginia in the 100 year period between '''1676 and 1776''', though they were present as early as 1619. Slaves began to outnumber the white indentured servant workforce in the late 1600s. The majority were brought into the colony from Africa and the Caribbean. In particular, the African regions of the '''Bight of Biafra''' (modern [[Nigeria Genealogy|Nigeria]]), '''Senegambia '''(modern [[Senegal Genealogy|Senegal]] and [[Gambia Genealogy|Gambia]]), '''West Central Africa''' (modern [[Angola Genealogy|Angola]] and [[Democratic Republic of the Congo|Congo]]), and the '''Gold Coast''' (modern [[Ghana Genealogy|Ghana]]) were hotspots for Virginia slave traders. Smaller numbers came from the '''Windward Coast''' (modern [[Cote d'Ivoire Genealogy|Cote d'Ivoire]]), [[Sierra Leone|'''Sierra Leone''']], '''Bight of Benin''' (modern [[Togo Genealogy|Togo]] and [[Benin Genealogy|Benin]]), and '''Southeast Africa''' (modern [[Madagascar Genealogy|Madagascar]] and [[Mozambique Genealogy|Mozambique]]) according to surviving shipping registers.<ref name="ison">James Ison, AG, CG, [[Migration_Patterns_-_An_Alternative_for_Locating_African_Origins|"Migration Patterns: An Alternative for Locating African Origins."]] Lecture given at the National Genealogical Society Conference, Salt Lake City, Utah (2010) and the Federation of Genealogical Societies Conference, Knoxville, Tennessee (2010). Free version available online at FamilySearch Wiki.</ref>

There was a strong Muslim presence in Senegambia during the period of the slave trade. Many Tidewater Virginia slaves must have been influenced by Islam before their arrival in America.<ref>"Senegambia, The Gold Coast, and the Bight of Benin," ''The Abolition of the Slave Trade: The Schomberg Center for Research in Black Culture (The New York Public Library),'' http://abolition.nypl.org/essays/us_slave_trade/6/, accessed 16 June 2012.</ref> Slaves were usually renamed once they arrived in English-speaking colonies. They were given English Christian names to replace names from their native languages (some of which were Muslim names like Mohammad).<ref>Allan Austin, ''African Muslims in Antebellum America, A Sourcebook'' (New York: Garland Press, 1984).</ref>

The [http://www.slavevoyages.org/ Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade Database] Internet site contains references to 35,000 slave voyages, including over 67,000 Africans aboard slave ships, using first name, age, gender, origin, and place of embarkation. The database documents the slave trade between Africa, Europe, Brazil, the Caribbean, and what is now the United States.

[http://slaveryimages.org/ The Atlantic Slave Trade and Slave ]

Virginia headright grants identify some slave importations into the colony, see Appendix C: Africans in Virginia, 1619-1650 in [http://c.mfcreative.com/offer/us/obama_bunch/PDF/main_article_final.pdf Documenting President Barack Obama's Maternal African-American Ancestry: Tracing His Mother's Bunch Ancestry to the First Slave in America].<ref>Anastasia Harman, Natalie D. Cottrill, Paul C. Reed, and Joseph Shumway, "Documenting President Barack Obama’s Maternal African American Ancestry: Tracing His Mother’s Bunch Ancestry to the First Slave in America," Ancestry.com, 15 July 2012,  http://c.mfcreative.com/offer/us/obama_bunch/PDF/main_article_final.pdf.</ref>

See also&nbsp;[[Virginia Emigration and Immigration|Virginia Immigration]] for further information about this source.

==== Records of Slaves  ====

The '''1850''' and '''1860 slave schedules''' are available on [http://search.ancestry.com/search/group/usfedcen Ancestry.com] ($) and [https://familysearch.org/search/collection/list#page=1&region=UNITED_STATES FamilySearch.org] (free). They identify genders and ages of slaves owned by each master. '''Earlier census records''' statistically identify slaves in their masters' households (and free people of color) by approximate age and gender. For a breakdown of the content of the records, see articles on the [[United States Census 1840|1840]], [[United States Census 1830|1830]], [[United States Census 1820|1820]], [[United States Census 1810|1810]], [[United States Census 1800|1800]], and [[United States Census 1790|1790]] censuses.  

*Tom Blake's [http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~ajac/ '''Large Slaveholders of 1860 and African American Surname Matches from 1870'''] can help researchers theorize the identities of the owners of their slave ancestors. The site includes material for Amelia, Essex, Halifax, Henry, King William, Mecklenburg, Nelson, Nottoway, Powhatan, and Prince George counties in Virginia.

Black slaves are often listed as property in their masters' deeds, wills, and probate inventories. The Virginia Historical Society's [http://www.vahistorical.org/aamcvhs/guide_search.htm Guide to African American Manuscripts] identifies many records that document slave's names and owners within their large collection.  

*Wynne, Frances Holloway. ''Register of Free Negroes and Also of Dower Slaves, Brunswick County, Virginia, 1803-1850''. Fairfax, Va.: F.H. Wynne, 1983. FHL '''975.5575 F2w'''

White slave masters who belonged to the Quaker and Methodist faiths often set their slaves free in the 1700s and 1800s.<ref>John Henderson Russell, ''The Free Negro in Virginia, 1619-1865'' (Baltimore, Md.: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1913), 57-58. Digital version at [http://archive.org/details/freenegro00russrich Internet Archive].</ref> Paul Heinegg prepared a detailed list of [http://www.freeafricanamericans.com/virginiafreeafter1782.htm '''Virginia slaves manumitted'''] (freed) between 1782 and the 1820s.

[http://unknownnolonger.vahistorical.org/ '''Unknown No Longer: A Database of Virginia Slave Names'''] is a free online database created by the [[Virginia Historical Society]]. Information on many Virginia slaves is available in this work in progress.<ref>Dick Eastman, "Virginia Historical Society Slave Database Online," ''Eastman's Online Genealogy Newsletter,'' 24 February 2012, [https://blog.eogn.com/?s=virginia+slave+database].</ref>

Morales and Valaitis indexed slaves in '''birth registers''' across the state for the period 1853 to 1865:  

*Morales, Leslie Anderson and Ada Valaitis. ''Virginia Slave Births Index, 1853-1865.'' 5 vols. Westminster, Md.: Heritage Books, 2007. {{FHL|1408659|item|disp=FHL Book 975.5 V22v v. 1-5}}.

The Library of Virginia has a collection titled '''Public claims, slaves and free blacks, 1781-1865'''. The collection contains tax records for free blacks and slaves, records of condemned blacks who were executed or transported out of state, and records of runaway slaves who were caught and whose owners could not be found. The runaway slaves became the property of the state and were sold to new owners. Copies are available on microfilm at the Family History Library: {{FHL|783095|item|disp=FHL Films 2027937-2027942}}.<br>

'''African American Families Database online''' The Central Virginia History Researchers (CVHR) has now released the [http://www.centralvirginiahistory.org/index.shtml ''African-American Families Database''] online. The first stage of this website provides a template for researchers trying to locate specific African- Americans who lived between circa 1850 and 1880. This period is particularly challenging for African-American family research because of the difficulty in relating ante-bellum and post-bellum records. The two plantations on which the website currently focuses are Hydraulic Plantation (5 miles north of Charlottesville, Va.), and the Bleak House Plantation (9 miles northwest of Charlottesville Va.).The site contains information on the plantations and information on the enslaved people living on these two plantations. The site also contains a blog focusing on the activities of the CVHR group, and details about the Database project.

==== Runaway Slaves ====

[[Image:Runaway slave ad.jpg|right|300px|Runaway slave ad.jpg]] Names of hundreds of runaway slaves, their descriptions, owners, and ages appeared in '''newspapers'''. They have been published and can be found in: <br><br>  

*Windley, Lathan A., comp. ''Runaway Slave Advertisements''. 4 vols. (Virginia and North Carolina) Wesport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 1983. {{FHL|419052|item|disp=FHL Book 975 F2wL}}. For Virginia, see volume one.  

Many eighteenth-century runaway slave advertisements were published in the ''Virginia Gazette.'' Indexed images of the [http://research.history.org/DigitalLibrary/BrowseVG.cfm ''Virginia Gazette'' ](1736-1780) are available online through the [http://www.colonialwilliamsburg.org/ Colonial Williamsburg ]website. (Browse for terms such as "slaves.") Professor Tom Costa and The Rector and Visitors of the University of Virginia have indexed all the runaway advertisements for slaves mentioned in this publication and other Virginia newspapers (1736-1803), see: [http://www2.vcdh.virginia.edu/gos/ The Geography of Slavery in Virginia]. These newspapers are valuable resources for all Virginia regions.  

==== Plantation Records  ====

'''Virginia Plantation Records''' Occasionally, slaves are mentioned in plantation records. The [[Family History Library]] has several series of plantation records from the periods before and after the Civil War. These are listed in the Author/Title Search of the FamilySearch Catalog under the STAMPP, KENNETH M. or in the Subject Search under PLANTATION LIFE - VIRGINIA or PLANTATION LIFE - SOUTHERN STATES. Records are available at: {{Wikipedia|List of plantations in Virginia}}

*'''Library of Congress''': inventory, {{FHL|566380|item|disp=FHL Book 975 H2sm Ser. C}}; original records, films beginning with {{FHL|560814|item|disp=FHL Film 1534247}}.

*'''College of William and Mary, Earl Gregg Swem Library''': inventory, {{FHL|752557|item|disp=FHL Book 975 H2sm Ser. L}}; original records, films beginning with {{FHL|752644|item|disp=FHL Film 1844318}}.

*'''Virginia Historical Society''': inventory, {{FHL|754137|item|disp=FHL Book 975 H2sm Ser. M}}; original records, films beginning with {{FHL|752708|item|disp=FHL Film 1985945}}.

==== Personal Narratives ====

[http://manybooks.net/titles/wpa2897328973.html ''Slave Narratives: A Folk History of Slavery in the United States, From Interviews with Former Slaves''], recorded after the Civil War, recounts memories of life as a slave.  

[http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/collections/voices/ Voices from the Days of Slavery], made possible by the Library of Congress, includes free audio files of interviews with former slaves from Albemarle, Essex, Westmoreland counties and the cities of Norfolk and Petersburg.  

Volume 16 of ''The American Slave: A Composite Autobiography'' (1941) includes Virginia narratives:{{FHL|61226|item|disp=FHL Book 973 F2aa series 2 v. 16}}.<br>

==== Revolutionary War, 1776-1783 ====

African Americans from Virginia served on both sides of the '''Revolutionary War'''. Many Virginia slaves ran away from their masters and joined British forces after a proclamation issued by Lord Dunmore in 1775. He promised freedom for this act, and 500 slaves promptly joined him, whom he organized into the Ethiopian Regiment.<ref>Wikipedia contributors, "Ethiopian Regiment," in ''Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia,'' http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethiopian_Regiment, accessed 14 June 2012.</ref> Free people of color commonly served their companies as drummers, fifers, and pioneers.<ref>''The Free Negro in Virginia,'' 109-110.</ref> Black "pioneers" would "Assist in Cleaning the Streets &amp; Removing all Nuisances being thrown into the Streets."<ref>Wikipedia contributors, "Black Pioneers," in ''Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia,'' http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Pioneers, accessed 14 June 2012.</ref> {{Wikipedia|American_Revolutionary_War#Black_Americans|Black Americans in the Revolutionary War}}  

<br>An index of slaves and free men of color appears in the ''Index to Sons of the American Revolution'' applications. For a discussion, see the [[Virginia Periodicals|Virginia Periodicals]] article.  

<br>[http://www.archives.com/Patriots '''Patriots of Color'''] is a free database at Archives.com. Includes details about 700+ black Virginians in the Revolutionary War.<ref>Dick Eastman, "Archives.com to Publish the Patriots of Color Database," ''Eastman's Online Genealogy Newsletter,'' 24 February 2012, http://blog.eogn.com/eastmans_online_genealogy/2012/02/archivescom-to-publish-the-patriots-of-color-database.html.</ref>  

[http://www.blackloyalist.info/ '''Black Loyalist'''], created by The University of Sydney, includes biographical information about approximately 1,000 black loyalists from the Norfolk, Virginia area.<ref>Dick Eastman, "Black Loyalist Web Site," ''Eastman's Online Genealogy Newsletter,'' 1 May 2011, http://blog.eogn.com/eastmans_online_genealogy/2011/05/black-loyalist-web-site.html.</ref>

==== Early Migrations Out of Virginia ====

In the colonial period, slaves were taken by Virginia slave masters into areas where white settlements appeared, such as [[North Carolina Genealogy|North Carolina]], [[Georgia Genealogy (state)|Georgia]], [[Kentucky Genealogy|Kentucky]], and [[Tennessee Genealogy|Tennessee]].  

In the early 1800s, approximately 500,000 Virginia slaves were forcibly moved to the Deep South.<ref name="ison" /> The firm of Franklin &amp; Armfield in [[Alexandria, Virginia|Alexandria, Va.]] was responsible for transporting many of Virginias slaves to the Deep South in what has been dubbed "Slavery's Trail of Tears."<ref>Edward Ball, "Slavery's Trail of Tears," ''Smithsonian'' (Nov 2015):58-82.</ref>Dorothy Williams Potter in ''Passports of Southeastern Pioneers 1770-1823'' ({{FHL|265121|item|disp=FHL Book 975 W4p}}) identifies some white families that took slaves with them from Virginia to the territories that are now [[Alabama Genealogy|Alabama]], [[Florida Genealogy|Florida]], [[Louisiana Genealogy|Louisiana]], [[Mississippi Genealogy|Mississippi]], and [[Missouri Genealogy|Missouri]].

==== Legislation ====

'''Slavery Legislation.''' To learn about the laws that affected Virginia slaves, see:  

*Finkelman, Paul. ''State Slavery Statutes: Guide to the Microfiche Collection.'' Frederick, Md.: University Publications of America, 1989. {{FHL|744709|item|disp=FHL Book 975 F23s}}. Pages 317-56 pertain to Virginia and cover the years 1789-1865. The advertisements are indexed. The records list the names of many slaves and slave owners.

[http://www2.vcdh.virginia.edu/gos/laws.html The Geography of Slavery in Virginia] includes a list of Virginia slave laws, references to slaves in the House of Burgesses Journals, and other documents.  

== Free People of Color ==

Not all blacks were slaves in Virginia before the Civil War. Virginia had the largest free black population in the United States.<ref>''The Free Negro in Virginia,'' 9.</ref> Many black families had been free there since the 1600s. For each eight slaves in the state, there was one free person of color.<ref>''The Free Negro in Virginia,'' 10.</ref> Some of the largest families had the surnames Cumbo, Driggers, and Goins. Many free people of color descended from black slave men who had children by white indentured servant women.<ref name="drig">The previous school of thought had the colors and genders swapped - it was believed that they descended from illegitimate offspring of white slave masters and black slave women. A 1662 law stated that the offspring of such relations would take the legal status of the mother. Most children resulting from illicit relations between white slave masters and black slave women remained in slavery. See Paul Heinegg, ''Free African Americans of Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Maryland and Delaware,'' http://freeafricanamericans.com/, accessed 25 May 2012; and ''The Free Negro in Virginia,'' 19.</ref> Others were manumitted.<br>  

| bgcolor="#cc99ff" colspan="4" | <center>'''Number of Free People of Color in Virginia'''<ref name="no">Includes modern-day West Virginia and part of the District of Columbia. ''Ninth Census of the United States: Statistics of Population, Tables I to VIII Inclusive'' (Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1872), 70, 72. Digital version at [http://archive.org/stream/ninthcensusunit00offigoog#page/n72/mode/1up Internet Archive]; {{FHL|281281|item|disp=FHL Book 973 X2pcu}}; William O. Lynch, "The Westward Flow of Southern Colonists before 1861," ''The Journal of Southern History,'' Vol. 9, No. 3 (Aug. 1943):325. Digital version at [http://www.jstor.org/stable/2191319 JSTOR] ($).</ref></center>

{| width="100%" cellspacing="1" cellpadding="1" border="1" class="wikitable sortable"

| '''Year'''  

| '''Virginia'''  

| '''(now) West Virginia'''  

| '''Total'''

| '''1790'''  

| 12,254  

| 612  

| 12,866

| '''1800'''  

| 19,598  

| 526  

| 20,124

| '''1810'''  

| 29,292  

| 1278  

| 30,570

| '''1820'''  

| 35,470  

| 1413  

| 36,883

| '''1830'''  

| 45,181  

| 2167  

| 47,348

| '''1840'''  

| 46,809  

| 3033  

| 49,842

| '''1850'''  

| 51,251  

| 3082  

| 54,333

| '''1860'''  

| 55,269  

| 2773  

| 58,042

Half of the Virginia free black population lived in the Tidewater region during the nineteenth century. In 1860, one-third lived in towns and cities.<ref>''The Free Negro in Virginia,'' 14-15.</ref> Counties with the largest populations of free African Americans in '''1790 '''(more than 450) were [[Accomack County, Virginia|Accomack]], [[Dinwiddie County, Virginia|Dinwiddie]], [[Henrico County, Virginia|Henrico]], [[Nansemond County, Virginia|Nansemond]], [[Northampton County, Virginia|Northampton]], and [[Southampton County, Virginia|Southampton]]. Counties with more than 250 free blacks were [[Campbell County, Virginia|Campbell]], [[Charles City County, Virginia|Charles City]], [[Chesterfield County, Virginia|Chesterfield]], [[Goochland County, Virginia|Goochland]], [[Isle of Wight County, Virginia|Isle of Wight]], [[Mecklenburg County, Virginia|Mecklenburg]], [[Norfolk County, Virginia|Norfolk]], [[Prince George County, Virginia|Prince George]], [[Surry County, Virginia|Surry]], [[Sussex County, Virginia|Sussex]], and [[York County, Virginia|York]].  

70 years later, in '''1860''', many of these people's descendants appear to have continued to live in the same areas. Counties with more than '''1500''' free colored people were [[Accomack County, Virginia|Accomack]], [[Dinwiddie County, Virginia|Dinwiddie]], [[Henrico County, Virginia|Henrico]], [[Nansemond County, Virginia|Nansemond]], [[Norfolk County, Virginia|Norfolk]], and [[Southampton County, Virginia|Southampton]].<ref name="no" /> The town of [[Petersburg, Virginia|Petersburg]] in 1830 (Dinwiddie County) had 3440 white inhabitants, 2850 slaves, and 2032 free blacks, making the black population the majority.<ref>''The Free Negro in Virginia,'' 14.</ref><br>  

=== Records ===

Free people of color appear in the same Virginia sources as the white population. They had surnames, interacted with whites, Indians, slaves, and free blacks; bought and sold land, took out marriage licenses, left wills, baptized their children in the Church of England, owned slaves, paid taxes, and sued others in court.<ref>''The Free Negro in Virginia,'' 89-90.</ref> Sometimes clerks specified their race, other times, they did not.  

In the nineteenth century, it was not uncommon for free blacks to purchase their enslaved relatives (husbands, wives, children, parents) and maintain their status as slaves in efforts to keep the family intact (newly freed blacks in Virginia faced a discriminatory law (starting in 1806) requiring them to leave the state).<ref>''The Free Negro in Virginia,'' 92-93.</ref>  

Jackson, Luther Porter, ''Negro Office Holders in Virginia, 1865-1895''. Ann Arbor, Michigan: University Microfilms International, [1980] FHL '''1303161 item 5 '''  

'''Tax assessors''' often recorded more information about free blacks in Virginia than census enumerators. Pre-1850 censuses list only the head of household by name, whereas tax lists sometimes list all males over the age of 16 by name. In 1813, according to Paul Heinegg, "many counties(or divisions of a county) mistakenly counted free women of color over 16 as taxables." In addition, "some counties had either a separate list of 'Free Persons of Color' or 'Free Negroes and Mulattos' or a notation after the person's name to indicate their race. Generally these tax lists provide a better source of information than either the registers of free Negroes or the census records."<ref>Email from Paul Heinegg to Nathan W. Murphy, 8 July 2012.</ref> Heinegg abstracted free blacks identified in each Virginia county. His abstracts are available [http://www.freeafricanamericans.com/virginiatax.htm online].<br>  

'''Census takers''' between 1790 and 1860 distinguished between free blacks and black slaves. Heinegg prepared lists of "Other Free" Heads of Household in the 1810 Virginia Census ([http://freeafricanamericans.com/1810VAc.htm arranged by county]) ([http://freeafricanamericans.com/1810VAa.htm arranged by name]).  

Starting in 1793, each Virginia county court kept a '''register of free Negroes'''.<ref>''The Free Negro in Virginia,'' 101.</ref> Documentation of a black person's freedom status protected them from being forced into slavery. On the other hand, it also restricted their ability to migrate within the state, requiring them to stay in the county where he or she was registered.<ref>''The Free Negro in Virginia,'' 106-108.</ref> These registers may give the person's name, age, color, stature, marks and scars, and name the court of emancipation. Several of these registers are found at the Library of Virginia. The Family History Library has copies of some of these registers. They are usually found in the Family History Library Place Search under VIRGINIA, [COUNTY] - COURT RECORDS.  

*Boyd-Rush, Dorothy A. ''Free Negroes Registered in the Clerk's Office, '''Botetourt County, Virginia''', 1802-1836''. Athens, Georgia: Iberian Pub. Co., 1993. {{FHL|636067|item|disp=FHL Book 975.5 A1 no. 305}}.  

*Ford, Benjamin. ''Free Black Registers, '''''<i>Albemarle County</i>''' (1807-1865). Available [http://www2.vcdh.virginia.edu/fbr/About.shtml online].  

*Hudgins, Dennis. '''''Surry County, Virginia'''''<i>Register of Free Negroes</i>. Richmond, Va.: Viginia Genealogical Society, 1995. {{FHL|704453|item|disp=FHL Book 975.5562 F2h}}.<br>  

*Kegley, Mary B. ''Free People of Colour: Free Negroes, Indians, Portuguese and Freed Slaves''. Wytheville, Virginia: Kegley Books, 2003. {{FHL|1234067|item|disp=FHL Book 975.5 F2kf}}; digital version at [https://dcms.lds.org/delivery/DeliveryManagerServlet?dps_pid=IE69756 Family History Archives]. ('''Augusta, Carroll, Giles, Lee, Montgomery, Pulaski, Russell, Washington, '''and '''Wythe counties'''.)<br>

*Paul Heinegg, ''Free African Americans of Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Maryland and Delaware'' at [http://freeafricanamericans.com/ http://freeafricanamericans.com/]&nbsp;(accessed 25 May 2012). About 2,000 pages of family histories based on colonial court order and minute books 1790-1810 census records, tax lists, wills, deeds, free Negro registers, marriage bonds, parish registers, and Revolutionary War pension files.

*Russell, John Henderson. ''The Free Negro in Virginia, 1619-1865''. Baltimore, Md.: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1913. Digital version at [http://archive.org/details/freenegro00russrich Internet Archive]. 1969 reprint: {{FHL|233767|item|disp=FHL Book 975.5 F2r}}.<br>

=== Migrations Out of Virginia ===

Many free African American families migrated from Virginia to [[Robeson County, North Carolina|Robeson County, North Carolina]] in the 1700s.<ref name="drig" /> Virginia's free people of color are also now believed to have been the ancestors of Appalachia's [[Melungeons|Melungeon]] population.<ref>Travis Loller, "DNA study seeks origin of Appalachia's Melungeons," ''Yahoo! News,'' 24 May 2012, http://news.yahoo.com/dna-study-seeks-origin-appalachias-melungeons-201144041.html.</ref> An 1806 law required freed slaves to leave the state within twelve months of gaining their freedom. This stiff law was softened by subsequent laws in the 1820s and 30s.<ref>''The Free Negro in Virginia,'' 90.</ref> Many free blacks from Virginia had resettled in [[Indiana Genealogy|Indiana]], [[Illinois Genealogy|Illinois]], [[Ohio Genealogy|Ohio]], and [[Michigan Genealogy|Michigan]] between the 1840s and 1860s.<ref name="drig" />  

During the period of segregation, African Americans appear in the same sources as white people, such as '''censuses''' (beginning in 1870), '''marriage registers''' (though there was often a separate register for "colored marriages"), <span style="font-weight: bold">birth certificates, death certificates, </span>'''deeds''', '''wills''', '''military records''', '''cemeteries''' and '''church records''' (though they were usually segregated churches and cemeteries), '''tax records,''' '''voter registrations,''' '''city directories''' (though they might appear at the back of the book) and '''newspapers '''(including ethnic African American newspapers). Unique records relating specifically to black Virginians include '''cohabitation records''', '''Freedmen's Bank''' records, and African American '''biographies'''.<br>  

In '''1870''', five years after slaves were freed, '''counties '''with the '''largest black populations''' (more than 10,000) were [[Albemarle County, Virginia|Albemarle]], [[Bedford County, Virginia|Bedford]], [[Campbell County, Virginia|Campbell]], [[Dinwiddie County, Virginia|Dinwiddie]], [[Halifax County, Virginia|Halifax]], [[Henrico County, Virginia|Henrico]], [[Louisa County, Virginia|Louisa]], [[Mecklenburg County, Virginia|Mecklenburg]], [[Norfolk County, Virginia|Norfolk]], and [[Pittsylvania County, Virginia|Pittsylvania]]. '''Towns '''with the '''largest black populations''' (more than 5000) were [[Alexandria, Virginia|Alexandria]], [[Charlottesville, Virginia|Charlottesville]], [[Danville, Virginia|Danville]] (Dan River), [[Lynchburg, Virginia|Lynchburg]], [[Norfolk, Virginia|Norfolk]], [[Petersburg, Virginia|Petersburg]], [[Portsmouth, Virginia|Portsmouth]], and [[Richmond, Virginia|Richmond]].<ref name="no" />  

Perdue Charles, Jr., Thomas E. Barden, and Robert K. Phillips. ''Weevils in the Wheat'': Interviews with Virginia Ex-Slaves. Charlottesville&nbsp;: university Press of Virginia, 1976. FHL '''975.5 F2w '''  

=== Records ===

'''Cohabitation Records''' are registers created when the former slaves legalized their marriages (they were not allowed to marry until 1866). The tradition during the period of slavery had been to "jump over the broomstick" as as a marriage ceremony.<ref>Christopher A. Nordmann, Ph.D., CGRS, "Jumping Over the Broomstick: Resources for Documenting Slave Marriages," ''National Genealogical Society Quarterly,'' Vol. 91, No. 3 (September 2003):196-216. Digital version at [http://www.ngsgenealogy.org/cs/ngs_quarterly_archives NGS website] ($).</ref> This valuable genealogical data is being made available online through the Library of Virginia's [http://www.virginiamemory.com/collections/collections_a_to_z Virginia Memory Collection] (scroll to "Cohabitation Registers"). More about this source is also found on the [[Cohabitation Records]] Wiki page, and the [[Virginia Cohabitation Records|Virginia Cohabitation Records]] Wiki page.  

'''Freedman's Savings and Trust Company''' signature cards or registers may list the slave's former masters, birth date, birthplace, occupation, residences, death information, parents, children, spouse, or siblings. [[Virginia Genealogy|Virginia]] had three branches of this bank:  

*Lynchburg 1871  

*Norfolk 1871-1874  

*Freedman's Savings and Trust Company (Washington, DC) 1865-1874. ''Registers of Signatures of Depositors in Branches of the Freedman's Savings and Trust Company, 1865-1874''. Washington, DC: National Archives, 1969. Digital version {{RecordSearch|1417695|online}}; also on film: {{FHL|133425|item|disp=FHL Film 928591}}. In each city, depositors' names are arranged by account number.

#United States. Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands. ''Records of the Superintendent of Education for the State of Virginia,'' Bureau of Refugees, ''Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands, 1865-1870.'' Washington, DC: National Archives, 1977. {{FHL|589352|item|disp=FHL Films 1549578-97}}. Most volumes are indexed.  

#United States. Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands. ''Records of the Assistant Commissioner for the State of Virginia,'' Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands, 1865-1869. Washington, DC: National Archives, 1988. {{FHL|588804|item|disp=FHL Films 1601562-628}}. There are several indexes.

'''Freedmen's Bureau Virginia Marriages ca. 1815-1866'''--Names of thousands of former slaves are included in these records. A free index can be viewed at {{RecordSearch|1414908|FamilySearch Record Search}}. Records may include the name of the bride and groom, date of marriage registration, residence, previous marriages, names and ages of children.  

Virginia, [https://www.familysearch.org/search/collection/show#uri=http://www.familysearch.org/searchapi/search/collection/1596147 Freedmen's Bureau Letters or Correspondence, 1865-1872]. (NARA microfilm publication M752) Field office reports, letters received and sent, contracts, certificates, registers, censuses, affidavits and other documents.  

Some additional transcribed records are available at [http://freedmensbureau.com/ Freedmen's Bureau.com].  

 

=== Cemeteries ===

*[https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-African-American-Historic-Cemeteries-of-Portsmouth-VA/209707012436379?sk=wall '''The African American Historic Cemeteries of Portsmouth VA'''] on Facebook: A friend's group of descendants and volunteers of the African American Cemeteries of Portsmouth: The Mt. Calvary Cemetery Complex (est 1879), Lincoln Memorial Cemetery (est 1912), Grove Baptist Church cemetery (est 1840), and Olive Branch Baptist Church cemetery.  

*[http://blackcemeteriesportsmouthva.org '''The African American Historic Cemeteries of Portsmouth Virginia'''] (web): A group of concerned citizens,descendants, and volunteers of the African American Cemeteries of Portsmouth: The Mt. Calvary Cemetery Complex (est. 1879), Lincoln Memorial Cemetery (est 1912), Grove Baptist Church Cemetery (est. 1840), and Olive Branch Baptist Church cemetery. <br>  

*[https://www.facebook.com/pages/African-American-Cemeteries-of-Hampton-Roads/126726900775531 '''African American Cemeteries of Tidewater Virginia and North Carolina'''] on Facebook. A community forum for the African American cemeteries of Tidewater Virginia and North Carolina. Included are burial sites located in the counties and independent cities in the Tidewater regions of Virginia and North Carolina. Also includes cemetery news from around the United States, and listings in Maryland, New Jersey, and Georgia.<br>  

*[http://www.aacemeteriesva.org/ '''African American Cemeteries of Tidewater Virginia'''] (web): A community forum for the African American and slave cemeteries in the Tidewater Region of Virginia. Counties include: Accomack, Arlington, Caroline, Charles City, Chesterfield, Essex, Fairfax, Gloucester, Hanover, Henrico, Isle of Wight, James City, King George, King and Queen, King William, Lancaster, Mathews, Middlesex, New Kent, Northampton, Northumberland, Prince George, Prince William, Richmond, Spotsylvania, Stafford, Surry, Westmoreland, and York. Cities include: Alexandria, Chesapeake, Colonial Heights, Fairfax, Falls Church, Fredericksburg, Hampton, Hopewell, Newport News, Norfolk, Petersburg, Poquoson, Portsmouth, Richmond, Suffolk, Virginia Beach, and Williamsburg. There are also listings for counties in North Carolina, Georgia, and Maryland.<br>  

*[http://www.africanamericancemeteries.com/va/ '''African American Cemeteries Online'''] includes transcribed records from Accomack, Albemarle, Amherst, Dinwiddie, Fairfax, Halifax, Henrico, Page, Prince William, Russell, and Sussex county cemeteries.  

*[http://www.freedmenscemetery.org/index.shtml '''The Friends of Freedmen's Cemetery'''] includes information about African Americans buried in Freedmen's Cemetery in Alexandria.  

PBS's interactive [http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/reconstruction/index.html Reconstruction: The Second Civil War] discusses what life was like for freed slaves and their descendants in the nineteenth century.  

=== Later Migrations Out of Virginia ===

There were several large migrations of Virginia African Americans into other parts of the country in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. In 1900, most Southern born blacks living in the North had been born in Virginia or Kentucky.<ref>1900 U.S. Federal Census. Study by James Ison.</ref>Around the time of World War I, many rural Virginians moved to urban [[Washington, D.C.|Washington, D.C.]], [[Baltimore, Maryland|Baltimore]], [[Philadelphia, Pennsylvania|Philadelphia]], [[Newark, New Jersey|Newark, New Jersey]], [[New York City, New York|New York City]], and [[Boston, Massachusetts|Boston]]. In the World War II era, many moved to [[Chicago, Illinois|Chicago]] and [[Wayne County, Michigan Genealogy|Detroit]].<ref name="ison" />  

== Societies ==

*[http://www2.vcdh.virginia.edu/fbr/About_GenealogyGroup.shtml '''African American Genealogy Group of Charlottesville and Albemarle County''']. Website includes register of free negroes, local African American cemeteries.  

*[https://sites.google.com/site/centralvirginiachapteraahgs/home '''Afro-American Historical and Genealogical Society (AAHGS), Chapter of Central Virginia''']  

*'''[http://www.aahgsrichmondva.com/ AAHGS, Chapter of Greater Richmond]''', P.O. Box 27833, Richmond, VA 23261  

*[http://aahgshr.blogspot.com/ '''AAHGS, Chapter of Hampton Roads''']  

*[https://sites.google.com/site/bbschapterofva/home '''AAHGS, Chapter of Burke Brown Steppe''']  

*[http://www.aahafauquier.org/ '''Afro-American Historical Association of Fauquier County''']

*[http://alexandriava.gov/historic/blackhistory/default.aspx?id=37386 '''The Alexandria Society for the Preservation of Black Heritage, Inc.''']  

*[http://mpaagenealogicalsociety.org/ '''Middle Peninsula African-American Genealogical &amp; Historical Society of Virginia'''] serves the counties of Essex, Middlesex, King and Queen, King William, Gloucester, Mathews and the Northern Neck (King George, Lancaster, Northumberland, Richmond and Westmoreland counties).

**The Virginia African-American Funeral Programs, 1935-2009. Project of over 10,000 funeral programs indexed and digitized. Middle Peninsula African-American Genealogical and Historical Society of Virginia (MPAAGHS) Data base at FamilySearch.org: https://familysearch.org/search/collection/1880968<br>

== Archives and Libraries  ==

*[http://digitalgallery.nypl.org/nypldigital/dgkeysearchresult.cfm?parent_id=592631&word= History of the American Negro, Virginia edition ]See page 728.  

*[http://lva1.hosted.exlibrisgroup.com/F/?func=file&file_name=find-b-clas13&local_base=CLAS13 World War I History Commission Questionnaires].[http://www.lva.virginia.gov/public/guides/opac/wwiqabout.htm Read more about the questionnaires.]  

*[http://www.examiner.com/examiner/x-8873-African-American-Genealogy-Examiner~y2009m6d8-State-online-resources-for-AfricanAmerican-genealogy--Virginia State online resources for African-American genealogy: Virginia]  

*[http://www.examiner.com/x-8873-African-American-Genealogy-Examiner~y2009m9d16-More-state-online-resources-for-AfricanAmerican-genealogy-Virginia More state online resources for African-American genealogy: Virginia]  

*Access Genealogy: [http://www.accessgenealogy.com/african/virginia/index.htm Virginia African American Genealogy]. Includes a large list of online resources.  

*[http://www.accomacroots.com/default.asp African American History of Accomac County, Virginia] at Accomac Roots. Includes genealogy, census data, tax lists, indentures, cemeteries, maps, pictures, documents, and sources.  

*[http://www.lva.virginia.gov/exhibits/mitchell/ Born in the Wake of Freedom: John Mitchell, Jr., and the Richmond Planet]  

== References ==

[[Category:Virginia, United States]]  [[Category:African_American_Records]]