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Library of Virginia
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Processed by: Catherine G. OBrion; L. Neuroth
Tax Records 1836-1861, are digitized and available through Virginia Untold: The African American Narrative Digital Collection on the Library of Virginia website. Please use digital images.
There are no restrictions.
Warren County (Va.) Free and Enslaved Records, 1836-1861. Local government records collection, Warren County Court Records. The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Va. 23219.
These items came to the Library of Virginia in transfers of court papers from Warren County in 2000 under accession numbers 37582.
Starting in 2023, Library of Virginia archival staff in partnership with the Virginia Untold Project Manager began efforts to describe records related to free and enslaved Black and multiracial people in a manner that improved the historical context of the records. In doing so, in some cases material once described within the "Free and Enslaved" record group for a locality may no longer be described within this record. When this has occurred, please see the Processing Information and Related Materials section for records that have been described separately.
Certificates of Registration were removed from this record in December 2023 and are now described in the Warren County (Va.) Records Related to the Registration of Free Persons, 1836-1861.
Petitions to Remain were removed from this record in December 2023 and are now described in the Warren County (Va.) Petitions to Remain in teh Commonwealth, 1847.
A Context for Record Type:
Free and Enslaved Records
The Free and Enslaved Records collection is comprised of miscellaneous records related to the regulation and policing of both enslaved and free Black and Multiracial people in Warren County. The localities/local government authorities were largely responsible for enforcing laws that restricted the movement of enslaved and free Black and multiracial people and the resulting documentation was often filed in the circuit courts. The ways in which local authorities enacted legal measures against or on behalf of enslaved and free Black and multiracial people varied from locality to locality; therefore records were not necessarily standardized or filed and retained in a consistent manner. This collection is topical and a means by which to compile miscellaneous documents related to free and enslaved people that are not established local government record types.
"Free Negro Tax" Records
In 1801, the Virginia Legislature passed an act requiring commissioners of the revenue to annually return a complete list of all free Black Virginians within their districts, with their names, sex, place of abode, and trades.
Delinquent tax lists include names of free Black individuals returned delinquent and sometimes why they were returned, such as "no property," "removed," or "not found." In 1853, the General Assembly passed a law allowing the taxes raised on free Black men and women to be collected in a fund to be applied to the removal of these individuals as a part of the recolonization effort.
Locality Note: Warren County was named for Joseph Warren, the revolutionary patriot who sent Paul Revere and William Dawes on their famous rides and who was killed at the Battle of Bunker Hill. The county was formed from Shenandoah and Frederick Counties in 1836.
Warren County (Va.) Free and Enslaved Records, 1836-1861, is comprised largely of "Free Negro" tax records and additionally includes a memorandum, and order.
"Free Negro" Tax records which include "A List of Free Negroes with the District of Daniel Stickley," 1836 compiled of Daniel Stickley a Commissioner of Revenue for Warren County (includes the names, sex, ages, and familial relations of free Black and multiracial individuals within the district); "A List of Free Negroes and Mulattoes in the County of Warren," 1837 compiled by Wm. Bray [? illegible] a Commissioner of Revenue for Warren County (includes the names, sex, ages, and distance from court house of free Black and multiracial individuals within the county); "A List of Free Negroes," 1855 (includes the names, sex, ages, and occupation of free Black and multiracial individuals within the county); "A List of Free Negroes over the age of 12 year," 1859 compiled by W. G. Settle a Commissioner of Revenue for Warren County (includes the names, sex, ages, and occupation of free Black and multiracial individuals within the county); "A List of Free Negroes," 1861 compiled by W. G. Settle a Commissioner of Revenue for Warren County (includes the names, sex, ages, and occupation of free Black and multiracial individuals within the county).
These tax records also include nine "Lists of Delinquent Free Negroes", 1837, 1840 [photocopy, from levy book], 1850-1854 and 1857, compiled by various sheriffs and deputy sheriffs for the county noting free Black and multiracial residents who are delinquent on their state tax/ revenue tax (generally in the amount is $1). The lists include the names of free Black and multiracial individuals, the amount due, and usually the reason the funds were not returned (such as "no property," "removed," or "not found").
Also, includes a memorandum, 1856, listing the names and ages of persons enslaved by and then emancipated by Lucy Hansbrough (includes Mariah, Sharlott, Rachel, Ann, Henry, Katharine, Attulinda, Mary, and Louisa)
Lastly, includes an order, 1855, to transfer the apprenticeship indenture of James Franklin Lupton, a "free boy of color," from Charles D. Shambaugh, of Warren County, to Mary Lannick of Frederick County, Va.
See also: Warren County (Va.) Records Related to the Registration of Free Persons, 1836-1861
See also: Warren County (Va.) Petitions to Remain in the Commonwealth, 1847
Records related to free and enslaved people of Warren County (Va.) and other localities are available through the Virginia Untold: The African American Narrative Digital Collection on the Library of Virginia website.
Additional Warren County (Va.) court records can be found on microfilm at the Library of Virginia.Consult "A Guide to Virginia County and City Records on Microfilm."