Administrative Information

Access Restrictions

Campbell County (Va.) Certificates of Importation, 1812-1813, are digitized and available through Virginia Untold: The African American Narrative Digital Collection on the Library of Virginia website. Please use digital images.

Use Restrictions

There are no restrictions.

Preferred Citation

Campbell County (Va.) Certificates of Importation, 1812-1813. Local government records collection, Campbell County Court Records. The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia.

Acquisition Information

These records came to the Library of Virginia in a transfer of court papers from Campbell County (Va.) in 2004 under accession number 41336.

Processing Information

Campbell County Certificates of Importation were originally described as part of the Campbell County (Va.) Deeds, 1783-1862, record, but were removed to the present Campbell County (Va.) Certificates of Importation, 1812-1813, record to enhance discoverability in August 2025.

These records, originally filed among Campbell County deeds, were processed, scanned, and indexed by E. Jordan and L. Neuroth for the purposes of digitizing them for the digital project Virginia Untold: The African American Narrative circa 2019.

Encoded by C. Collins: August 2025.

Historical Information

Context for Record Type: In 1778, Governor Patrick Henry enacted legislation preventing importation of enslaved people into the commonwealth. Those that did bring their enslaved people were required to register them with the county court and sign a certificate of importation agreeing that they were not bringing enslaved people into the commonwealth with the intent to sell. The enslaved person is sometimes named, but not always, and occasionally information is given as to age, birthdate, and the state from which the individuals were moving. According to Section 3 of the act "every slave imported into this commonwealth contrary to the true intent and meaning of this act, shall upon such importation become free." By this clause, those enslaved people who were brought into Virginia illegally could pursue their freedom in the local courts.

Locality History: Campbell County was named for William Campbell, a general in the militia during the Revolutionary War and one of the heroes of the Battle of Kings Mountain in 1780. The county was formed from Bedford County by an act passed on 15 December 1781. The county court first met on 7 February 1782. The county seat is Rustburg.

Scope and Content

Campbell County (Va.) Certificates of Importation, 1812-1813, sometimes entitled certificates of nonimportation, contain information whereby an enslaver swears that they have not imported the enslaved person from Africa and that the enslaver has not brought the enslaved person into Virginia with the purpose of selling the enslaved person. The enslaved person is sometimes named, but not always, and occasionally information is given as to age, birthdate, and the state the individuals are moving from.

These records include a certificate, 1812, in which James Scott swore he did not bring Will into Virginia "for the purpose of sale or to evade the laws of this state against the importation of slaves," and a certificate, 1813, which verifies that Hagar and Collin were brought into Virginia from North Carolina by John W. Bradley under similar circumstances.

Arrangement

This collection is arranged

Related Material

See also: Campbell County (Va.) Free and Enslaved Records, 1854-1867

See also: Campbell County (Va.) Deeds, 1783-1862

Records related to free and enslaved people of Campbell County (Va.) and other localities are available through the Virginia Untold: The African American Narrative Digital Collection on the Library of Virginia website.

Additional Campbell County (Va.) Court Records can be found on microfilm at The Library of Virginia web site. Consult "A Guide to Virginia County and City Records on Microfilm."

Adjunct Descriptive Data