African American Resources for Virginia: Difference between revisions

== Strategies  ==

<br>This Wiki page describes research strategies, and major sources of information about African American families from [[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.  

== History  ==

The first slaves were imported into Virginia in 1619. Slaves were emancipated in 1865. The Official Tourism Website of the Commonwealth of Virginia has prepared a nice history of [http://www.virginia.org/africanamericansinvirginia/ African-Americans in Virginia].<br>  

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| 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>

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===== Runaway Slaves  =====

*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.

<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>  

===== Civil War, 1861-1865  =====

*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.

=== 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>  

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| 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>

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=== 1865 to the Present  ===

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" />  

Biographies of prominent Virginia African Americans have been published. For example, a list of blacks who held public office during Reconstruction is available in: {{FHL|206297|item|disp=''Negro Office Holders in Virginia, 1865-1895''}}, by Luther Porter Jackson. The Black History Committee of The Friends of the Thomas Balch Library prepared two volumes titled ''The Essence of a People: Portraits of African Americans Who Made a Difference in Loudoun County, Virginia'' (2001-2002). {{FHL|1851278|item|disp=FHL Book 975.528 F2f}}.  

*[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: &nbsp;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), and Grove Baptist Church cemetery (est 1840)  

*[http://blackcemeteriesportsmouthva.org The African American Historic Cemeteries of Portsmouth Virginia] (web):&nbsp; A friend's group of&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; descendants and volunteers of the African American Cemeteries of Portsmouth:&nbsp; The Mt. Calvary Cemetery Complex (est. 1879), Lincoln Memorial Cemetery (est 1912), and Grove Baptist Church Cemetery (est. 1840).  

*[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.