Michael Plunkett, Editor
University of Virginia Press
© 1995 by the Rector and Visitors of the University of
Virginia
Conditions of Use
Michael Plunkett, Editor
University of Virginia Press
© 1995 by the Rector and Visitors of the University of
Virginia
Conditions of Use
The Library of
Virginia
800 East Broad Street
Richmond, VA 23219
804-692-3500
See A Guide to State Records in the Archives Branch, Virginia State Library (Richmond: Virginia State Library, 1985), compiled by John Salmon. The following list surveys both the state records and the personal papers in the archives. For newly accessioned material, consult the Annual Reports of Archival Accessions.
Included as part of the minutes of Quarterly Conferences of the
Monumental Methodist Church of Portsmouth are reports from this
Portsmouth church formed in 1843 when black members separated from
the Dinwiddie Street Methodist Church.
(Acc. 29799f)
Vouchers of the board that was created on April 6, 1853, to supervise
the transportation of free blacks to Liberia on a voluntary
basis.
(RG 48.110)
Lists of male and female blacks over twelve years of age in Amherst
County.
(RG 48.409)
Alphabetical lists by locality of free blacks who were delinquent in
payment.
(RG 48.413)
A list of free blacks of Westmoreland County delinquent in
payment.
(RG 48.414)
A list of free blacks of Page County delinquent in payment.
(RG 48.417)
These volumes list those who were assessed a penalty for nonpayment
of the capitation or poll tax. The lists denote race.
(RG 48.415 & 416)
A list of free blacks in Williamsburg.
(RG 48.614)
The Richmond City lists contain the names of delinquent free blacks
for hire.
(RG 48.629)
Lists of deeds for the partition and conveyance of land. The records
contain names of grantors and grantees and their race.
(RG 48.571)
Consists of apprentices' indentures and vouchers. Included among the
vouchers are those for pay due the Afro-American workers.
(RG 48.173)
Accounts and receipts of the lead mines. Of particular interest are
references to slaves employed at the Oxford Iron Works in Bedford
County.
(RG 48.661)
Accounts of the public foundry at Westham. Included are references to
black workers.
(RG 48.662)
Correspondence, accounts, and receipts of the ropewalk at Norfolk and
then Warwick. Included are records that refer to Afro-American
workers. ( RG 48.663)
Tax books listing those who paid taxes on personal property, which
included slaves until 1865.
(RG 48.633)
Included in these materials are the annual reports of the
superintendent of the poor for the various counties. Arranged
chronologically, the reports identify individuals by name and
race.
(RG 48.739)
Reports on the numbers of free blacks and slaves subject to taxation
in each locality.
(RG 48.755)
General records of slaves and free blacks condemned, executed, and
transported. If a slave was condemned, the value to the owner was
estimated and certified to the auditor.
(RG 48.756)
Reports on free blacks, including acts for removal, assessments,
capitation taxes, and voluntary enslavements.
(RG 48.757)
Records, consisting mainly of militia payrolls and accounts of other
expenses involved in the official reaction to two slave revolts,
Gabriel's Insurrection and Nat Turner's Rebellion.
(RG 48.758)
Receipts and reports, including reports of runaways, reports of the
sales of runaways, and receipts of the sales of runaways.
(RG 48.759)
Capitation and property tax lists from different localities, divided
by race.
(RG 48.335)
A return that lists free blacks in Norfolk.
(RG 48.339)
Records of the operation of this factory, including pay vouchers for
Afro-American workers.
(RG 48.175)
Business accounts of these King William County residents. Included
are entries on the purchase of slaves.
(Acc. 29438)
Church record kept by this rector of the Winchester Episcopal Church.
Included are entries for slave births.
(Acc. 20562)
Accounts of this Augusta County farmer, including an 1852-53 account
of the hiring of slaves belonging to the estate.
(Acc. 25459)
Copies of records from family Bibles, some including vital statistics. The Guide to Bible Records (Richmond: Virginia State Library, 1985), compiled by Lyndon H. Hart III, is available.
A ledger primarily concerned with the collection of the parish levy
of Gloucester and Mathews counties. Later entries of 1803-38 include
records of births, deaths, or sales of slaves.
(Acc. 20998)
Included in these estate papers of New Kent County is a listing of
slaves with their surnames added later.
(Acc. 20543)
Business account of this Portsmouth judge, president of the Dismal
Swamp Canal Company, and president of the Farmer's Bank of Norfolk.
Included are receipts for the hire of slaves.
(Acc. 27744)
Written to Mrs. Rebecca B. Colquhoun of Petersburg concerning the
division of the slaves of her mother's estate.
(Acc. 23709f)
Included in this Caroline County document are pages noting the births
of slaves.
(Acc. 27162)
Session books and the treasurer's book of this Prince Edward County
Ledger for 1688-90 and letterbook for 1705-37 and 1746-50 of this
London merchant relating to Virginia activities including tobacco
production and plantation management. Some of the letters concern
clothing for slaves.
(Acc. 22953)
This Afton resident's recollection of relations with his slaves
before and during the Civil War.
(Acc. 92)
Business, legal, personal, and genealogical correspondence and
accounts of this Virginia family. Included is material on
slavery.
(Acc. 24882)
An agreement of terms of employment with former slaves. Bullock
resided in Spotsylvania County.
(Acc. 22133)
Dinwiddie County records including a slave deed.
(Acc. 21509)
Business, legal, and plantation correspondence and accounts of this
family of Shirley, Charles City County. The records contain many
documents concerning slave labor, such as an 1835-64 slave record
book and a list of provisions supplied to the slaves.
(Acc. 28429)
A certificate noting that America Wood of Albemarle County was a free
black.
(Acc. 21096)
Business ledgers of this Amelia County sheriff. Included are 1792-
1803 lists slave births with dates of sale and death.
(Acc. 25114d-f)
A division of the slaves of an estate which may have been Refuge
Plantation, Georgia.
(Acc. 26902)
Minute book for 1804-51 and the membership book for 1805-1923 of this
Northumberland County church. Entries in the minute book for 1814
note that some black members were influenced by the British to run
away.
(Acc. 20555 & 29808)
Correspondence, financial records, minutes, and reports of the
commission created to oppose school desegregation and to support the
"massive resistance" movement.
(RG 70)
Attendance books, committee reports, constitution, and minutes of the
convention called with the explicit purpose of disfranchising the
black voter.
(RG 97)
Included is a June 12, 1855, letter from Samuel F. McGill in
Monrovia, Liberia, writing about the settlement of immigrants from
America.
(Acc. 23715)
Included in these voluminous records, in addition to wills, deeds,
loose papers, etc., are documents such as free black certificates. A
Records Management Manual for State and Local Government Agencies
(Richmond: Virginia State Library, 1985) by William Grady Ray
contains a good description of the records as well as a list of
records by county available on microfilm in Appendix K, p. 77.
A ledger of this Accomack County resident which includes accounts for
free blacks and charges placed against runaway slaves.
(Acc. 32062)
Included is a 1751 deed of gift for two slaves.
(Acc. 24722)
Business account of an unidentified tailor of New Kent County.
Included are entries on the hire of slaves.
(Acc. 21386)
Business account of an unidentified merchant of Alexandria. Included
is a March 1828 record of slaves purchased.
(Acc. 20608)
Minutes of the board of trustees of the association, also called the
Virginia Industrial Schools for Colored Children.
(RG 42)
Minute book of the executive committee.
(RG 42)
Files concerning the desegregation of Virginia public schools.
(RG 27)
Virginia jurisdictions began keeping vital records in 1853. The birth
Business records of these Chesterfield County planters and merchants.
An 1830-31 memorandum and account book concerns the hire of
slaves.
(Acc. 23873)
Included in this Buckingham County document are entries concerning
the distribution of clothing and blankets to slaves.
(Acc. 20856)
Military and personal correspondence and accounts of this Fauquier
County farmer and soldier. Included are agreements to hire
slaves.
(Acc. 31718)
Business accounts of this Essex County merchant. Included are 1773-
1861 records on the births of slaves, at times noting parentage.
(Acc. 30056)
Includes documents such as sound recordings of Commission on
Public Education, a public hearing on school desegregation, November
15, 1954 (Acc. 32117; copies in Acc. 32403 and RG 122), and the
transcript of a public hearing on July 27, 1959, on the integration
of public schools in Floyd County
(Acc. 32749).
Legal, business, and personal correspondence and accounts of this
Richmond businessman. Included are 1729-74 slave deeds.
(Acc. 24642)
This Cumberland and Roanoke County document includes births of
slaves.
(Acc. 27882)
Of special interest in this voluminous amount of correspondence
directed to Virginia governors are the administrations of the
governors during the period when Virginia struggled to desegregate
the public school system, Thomas B. Stanley, J. Lindsay Almond, and
Albertis S. Harrison.
(RG 3)
Personal, business, and legal correspondence and accounts of this
family of Madison County. Included are a number of slave appraisals
for estate purposes.
(Acc. 20563)
Financial and legal correspondence and documents of this family of
Elsing Green, King William County. Included are estate records
listing slaves.
(Acc. 25325)
Papers relating to the emancipation of this woman in Louisa County
and her registration in Halifax County as a free black.
(Acc. 30892)
An inventory and appraisement of slaves of the Gwathmey estate in
King William County.
(Acc. 26315)
A Washington County runaway time account by a slave.
(Acc. 25201)
A letter from Todd County, Kentucky, to Benjamin Harris of Louisa
County. There is discussion of illness among the slaves.
(Acc. 23388)
Legal and business correspondence and accounts of this Surry and
Sussex County resident. Included is a note regarding the hire of
blacks in 1840.
(Acc. 32483)
Document concerning the estate of William Ludwell Lee, Green Spring,
James City County. Included are letters discussing the disposition of
the estate's slaves.
(Acc. 29067)
Business correspondence and accounts of a Mathews County general
store. An 1869-70 volume details the accounts with local black
residents.
(Acc. 24667)
Personal, business, and professional correspondence of this noted
jurist from Mecklenburg County. Included are materials relating to
the desegregation of public schools in Prince Edward County when he
was U.S. district judge for the Eastern District of Virginia.
(Acc. 32432)
Business accounts of this deputy sheriff of Fairfax County which
include the hire of slaves and the 1841 sale of slaves in Vicksburg,
Mississippi.
(Acc. 29377)
An "Age Book" of slaves of this Louisa County family.
(Acc. 20415)
Bill of sale for a slave sold by this Amelia County resident to
Pleasant Richards.
(Acc. 24846)
Business accounts of this family of Buckingham County, which include
physicians' accounts for the medical treatment of slaves.
(Acc. 21359)
Includes biographical information on Mrs. Jurix's brother, James A.
Bland, the Afro-American composer of various songs including the
state song "Carry Me Back to Old Virginny."
(Acc. 27469)
Business records of this Richmond general contracting company.
Included is a receipt of premiums from the Lynchburg Hose and Fire
Insurance Company for insurance on a slave.
(Acc. 23319)
Included in the volumes are deed and will books. Manumissions are
sometimes entered in the deed books. The will books specify race only
if the writer so chose. Some of the bounty warrant claims were filed
by black veterans.
(RG 4)
Letter from Mrs. Robert E. Lee at Arlington to [W. G.]
Webster discussing agitation among her slaves.
(Acc. 22404)
Business, legal, plantation, and personal correspondence and accounts
of this family of Charles City and Gloucester counties. Included is
material on slavery such as lists of taxable slaves and accounts for
their clothing. Originals are in the Regenstein Library, University
of Chicago.
(Restricted Acc. 29514)
Written from Washington, D.C., to "My Faithful Servant, Joseph"
granting him the right to work as he pleased.
(Acc. 22121e)
Book detailing slave ownership of this family of New Kent and Hanover
counties.
(Acc. 31564)
A "Slave record book" kept by this manager of Pharsalia and Level
Green, Nelson County. It contains detailed information on names,
births, deaths, acquisition, illness, and other pertinent data on
slaves.
(Acc. 20610)
Minute book of this Charlotte County church. The church had a large
slave membership, many of whom belonged to John Randolph. The black
members applied for and were granted permission to organize a
separate church in 1865.
(Acc. 28981)
Minute books of this Charlotte County church. This church had a large
black membership, and the minutes reflect debate about their
welfare.
(Acc. 24261a, b, c)
Minute book of this Albemarle County church known before 1858 as the
Escol Baptist Church. Some of the entries refer to slaves whose
owners are named in the membership lists.
(Acc. 29393)
Minute books of this Westmoreland County church. Of the 875 members
reported in 1809, a large number were slaves.
(Acc. 30051a, b)
Correspondence, certificates, lists, etc., for 1850-52 and the
minutes of the board for 1833-39 and 1850-52.
Business and legal correspondence and accounts of this Richmond- area
slave trader. Included in the records are accounts of boarding
charges for slaves, 1851-64 records of sales, entries for medical
expenses, and fees paid for newspaper advertisements of runaway
slaves.
(Acc. 29642)
A deed of emancipation issued to Marcia Smith and John Willis by this
resident of Hanover County.
(Acc. 26895)
Legal, business, and personal correspondence of this Buckingham
County family. Included are estate papers.
(Acc. 24295)
A deed of emancipation issued to Jenny and her daughter, Jenny, by
William Porter of Portsmouth and recorded in Norfolk County.
(Acc. 26898)
General records, applications, correspondence, financial records,
minutes, and public hearings of the board created by the General
Assembly in September 1956 as part of the Commonwealth's opposition
to school desegregation under the "massive resistance" program.
(RG 62)
Business and personal correspondence of this resident of Boydton.
Included is information on the hiring out of slaves.
(Acc. 27850)
Personal and business correspondence and accounts of this Nansemond
County family, including slave lists.
(Acc. 28524)
Minute book of the association which included Pittsylvania and
surrounding counties. Included is discussion of a plan to purchase a
slave and set him free so that he could "preach the Gospel."
(Acc. 23600)
Plantation journal for Marlbourne, Hanover County. Included are
entries concerning the work of the slaves in the marl fields.
(Acc. 14060)
Personal correspondence and manuscripts of this journalist who wrote
about race relations and the condition of blacks in Virginia in the
1880s.
(Acc. 28838)
Personal correspondence and notes of this Presbyterian minister and
educator. Of special interest is a folder of research notes on John
Chavis, a free black minister.
(Acc. 24814)
Included are character certificates for slaves seeking to join Bethel
Baptist Church, Clarke County.
(Acc. 22681)
Registration as a free black in Richmond.
(Acc. 31123)
Business and legal correspondence and accounts of this family of
Buckingham County. The records contain an 1819-55 list of slave
births and an April 24, 1865, document issued from Headquarters, U.S.
Forces, Petersburg, concerning recently freed slaves.
(Acc. 28053)
Maintained by William Selden as executor of estates in Henrico and
Prince George counties. Among the loose items is an 1827-32 account
for the medical treatment of slaves.
(Acc. 27812)
Minute book of this Charlotte County church. The minutes often refer
to church business related to black members.
(Acc. 27453)
Dinwiddie County records including a 1783 slave deed.
(Acc. 27289)
Four minute books and five deeds of this Chesterfield County church.
A notation was made in 1868 that the black members had withdrawn to
form their own church.
(Acc. 26297, 29968a, b, c, & 28288)
A letter from a slave, Sipe, to "Master" commenting on the foraging
of Union soldiers, possibly in Georgia.
(Acc. 26903)
Bill of sale for a slave sold by this Berkeley County resident to
James Graham.
(Acc. 20498)
Includes a letter to W. H. Tayloe permitting his slave to marry.
(Acc. 27154)
Legal, business, and genealogical correspondence and accounts of this
family of Wilkes County, Georgia. Included is an 1838 list of
slaves.
(Acc. 32226)
Business correspondence and accounts of this Richmond-area business.
Included in the voluminous records is a ledger entitled "Negroes and
Rations at Catawba, 1863."
(Acc. 23881a-g)
Minute book of this Louisa County church. The minutes refer to
Correspondence of this prominent New York Presbyterian minister who
included among his duties missionary work among slaves in
Virginia.
(Acc. 23002)
A business and plantation ledger kept by this family of King and
Queen County. Included are entries about slave labor.
(Acc. 22455)
A compilation entitled "Collection of Negro Melodies"
(Acc. 1)
Personal correspondence of this family of Prince Edward Court House.
Included are comments on the conditions of blacks during
Reconstruction.
(Acc. 29283)
Personal correspondence and accounts of this Hanover County family.
Included are a January 1, 1836, list of slaves and a July 31, 1863,
list of slaves "carried off by the Yankees."
(Acc. 27679)
An estate division of his slaves of unknown location.
(Acc. 21121)
Business, legal, plantation, and personal correspondence and accounts
of these families of Henry and Pittsylvania counties and of Davie,
Rockingham, and Stokes counties, North Carolina. The mercantile
business was primarily associated with tobacco, and there are records
of the purchase and hiring of slaves. Lists of slaves are included in
the plantation records. Original records are in the Southern
Historical Collection, University of North Carolina Library.
(Restricted Acc. 30805)
Diaries of this teacher in Lynchburg who taught under the auspices of
the Freedmen's Bureau.
(Acc. 27680)
Minute books of this Botetourt County church, which until 1840 was
known as Patterson's Creek Church.
(Acc. 2G598 & 26612)