Administrative Information

Access Restrictions

There are no restrictions.

Use Restrictions

There are no restrictions.

Preferred Citation

Clarke County (Va.) Free Registrations, 1840-1860, Local Government Records Collection, Clarke County Court Records, The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia.

Acquisition Information

These items came to the Library of Virginia in transfers of court papers from Clarke County under accession number 53404.

Historical Information

Clarke County was named for Lieutenant Colonel George Rogers Clark, who commanded the Virginia forces that secured control of the Northwest Territory for Virginia during the Revolution. He spelled his name without the terminal e. The county was formed from Frederick County in 1836. The county seat is Berryville.

Pre-Civil War court records were badly damaged or lost during the war. After the Civil War ended, court papers were found scattered all over the courthouse grounds. Efforts were made to organize the surviving records, but many were discovered to be missing.

Acts passed by the Virginia legislature in 1793 and 1803 required every free Black or multiracial person with Black ancestry to be registered and numbered in a book to be kept by the county clerk.

Scope and Content

Clarke County (Va.) Free Registrations, 1840-1860, includes certificates that recorded the free person's name, date of registraion, age, a brief physical description and the circumstances of the person's freedom or emancipation. If born free, a reference is sometimes made to the parents. If emancipated, the emancipating enslaver, place and date may be mentioned. Also found are affidavits that were given by individuals affirming a free person's status.

Originals were retuned to Clarke County Circuit Court. Facsmiles are available at the Library of Virginia.

Arrangement

Chronological by record type.