Administrative Information

Access Restrictions

Campbell County (Va.) Deeds of Emancipation, 1782-1857, 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.) Deeds of Emancipation, 1782-1857. 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 numbers 41133 and 41336, and in 2012 under accession number 50580.

Processing Information

Four Campbell County Deeds of Emancipation were originally described as part of the Campbell County (Va.) Records, 1763-1868, record, but were removed to the present Campbell County (Va.) Deeds of Emancipation, 1782-1857, record to enhance discoverability in August 2025.

Six Campbell County Deeds of Emancipation were originally described as part of the Campbell County (Va.) Deeds, 1783-1862, record, but were removed to the present Campbell County (Va.) Deeds of Emancipation, 1782-1857, record to enhance discoverability in August 2025.

Additional Campbell County Deeds of Emancipation were originally described as part of the Campbell County (Va.) Free and Enslaved Records, 1854-1867, but were removed to the present Campbell County (Va.) Deeds of Emancipation, 1782-1857, record to enhance discoverability in August 2025.

These records were processed, scanned, and indexed by J. Robinson, E. Jordan, L. Neuroth, and LVA staff for the purposes of digitizing them for the digital project Virginia Untold: The African American Narrative circa 2005, circa 2014, and circa 2019.

Encoded by C. Collins: August 2025.

Historical Information

Context of Record Type: Deeds of emancipation and manumission record an enslavers' intent to emancipate enslaved people from bondage. Some of the earliest legal manumissions in Virginia occurred in the early 1770s. However, there was a sharp rise following the 1782 manumission act that allowed enslavers to privately emancipate enslaved people "by last will and testament or other instrument in writing sealed." They were no longer required to seek a special act from the General Assembly. These documents sometimes include an enslavers' intent for emancipation ranging from religious and moral motivations to binding legal agreements.

Deeds of emancipation and manumission essentially provide the same information and there is little difference between the two. Both include the name of the enslaver, the name of the enslaved person to be freed, the date of anticipated freedom, the date the manumission was proved or certified, and as mentioned, sometimes a reason why the enslaver decided to emancipate the enslaved person. In a deed of manumission, an enslaver directly freed an enslaved person by manumission. In a deed of emancipation, an enslaved person could be freed after the enslaver's death by those executing a last will and testament. This collection also includes court orders that record the date or age when enslaved individuals were to be emancipated by deed as stipulated in an enslaver's will.

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.) Deeds of Emancipation, 1782-1857, include 24 deeds. The deeds typically record the name of the enslaver, the name of the enslaved person or persons to be freed, the date the enslaved person or persons achieved freedom, and the date the manumission was proved or certified. Sometimes, the deeds describe the reason for emancipation or manumission. Deeds of emancipation could be generated after the enslaver's death by those executing a last will and testament.

In freeing the enslaved persons mentioned in the deeds, many enslavers cited a belief "that freedom is the natural Right of all mankind," or their conviction related to the "sacred Injunctions of doing unto others as I would they should do unto me." The deeds frequently stipulate that any children named therein were to be freed when they reached their majority (21 years old for males and 18 years old for females). The Campbell County free registers contain corresponding entries for a number of individuals emancipated by deed. For example, Peter Hachett (or Hackett) was emancipated by John Lynch in 1782 and registered as a "free negro" in 1802, and Polly James registered in 1804 after having been manumitted by John Schoolfield (or Scholfield) in the same year.

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

See also: Campbell County (Va.) Records, 1763-1868

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