In 1791, Rachel Veney’s mother Sarah won a case in the district court of Northumberland County for her freedom and the freedom of her descendants.…
Greg CrawfordJune 9, 2021
The Virginia Museum of History & Culture (VMHC) and the Library of Virginia are cooperating to provide greater access to African American history and genealogy…
Greg CrawfordFebruary 21, 2019
Sometimes a will is not worth the paper it’s written on. Too often, people go through the trouble of creating a formal last will and…
Sherri BagleyJune 20, 2018
Often, researchers will utilize several collections or sources housed at the Library in order to get to the truth of a matter, or to gain…
Tracy HarterApril 11, 2018
As told in an earlier blog, James Dunlop of Petersburg emancipated his slave, John Brown, in April 1822 through a deed of manumission. One would imagine…
Greg CrawfordFebruary 15, 2017
In 1856, the General Assembly decided that free African Americans could petition their county or city court to be enslaved. These individuals had to be…
Cara GriggsJanuary 11, 2017
In 1820, Rachel Findley won freedom for herself and more than 35 of her descendants in a Powhatan County court in a law suit dating…
Greg CrawfordFebruary 3, 2016
This is the fourth in a series of blog posts on the record types found in the forthcoming Library of Virginia research database: Virginia Untold: The…
Ed JordanJanuary 27, 2016
What does it mean to be free? Some might define freedom as having no obligations to a particular thing or person. A free person cannot…
Sherri BagleyDecember 2, 2015
Cohabitation registers are among the most important genealogical resources for African-Americans attempting to connect their family lines back through the murky past to their enslaved…
Sarah NerneyJuly 29, 2015
This is the first in a series of four blog posts concerning post-Civil War Virginia and the lives of freedpeople after Emancipation. The posts precede…
Gregg KimballJune 10, 2015
This is part two of a two part post on a fascinating freedom suit discovered during the Montgomery County Circuit Court Records Project. Part one of the…
Regan SheltonApril 29, 2015
With its roots in 19th-century Texas, Juneteenth has grown into a popular event across the country to commemorate emancipation from slavery and celebrate African American…
John DealJune 19, 2014
