Administrative Information

Access Restrictions

Richmond (Va.) Bills of Sale and Deeds, 1797-1865, involving enslaved and free Black and multiracial individuals 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

Richmond (Va.) Property Records, 1782-1977 (bulk 1920-1977). Local government records collection, Amherst County Court Records. The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Va. 23219.

Acquisition Information

These Records came to the Library of Virginia in shipments of court papers from Richmond City in an undated accession.

Bill of sale, 1837, of Dawson, Marinda, and Polley was purchased by the Library of Viriginia in May 2006 under accession number 42650.

Processing Information

Bills of Sale and Deeds, 1784-1864, pertaining to enslaved and free Black individuals were removed from the larger Richmond (Va.) deeds record set and then processed and indexed as a distinct unit by Ed Jordan and Lydia Neuroth for the purposes of digitizing them for the digital project Virginia Untold: The African American Narrative. All other Deeds,1782-1864, pertaining to white and non-Black individuals are still unprocessed and remain in Series II.

Bill of sale, 1837, of Dawson, Marinda, and Polley was previous described separately as "Richmond (Va.) Bill of Sale, November 1837" but was combined in December 2023 with the present descriptive record for improved context and accessibility.

Richmond (Va.) Deed Book, 1861-1865 [ Richmond (Va.) Reel 135] was previous described separately as "Richmond (Va.) Deed Book, 1861-1865" but was combined in December 2023 with the present descriptive record for improved context and accessibility.

Encoded by M. Mason: December 2023

Historical Information

Context for Record Type:

Bills of sale are written agreements which convey title of property, including enslaved people, from seller to buyer. Under the system of chattel slavery, laws permitted enslavers to treat enslaved people as personal possessions in the same manner as livestock, farm equipment, or household items. Enslaved people could be bought or sold without regard to their personal relationships or free will. Bills of sale record the name of the seller, the names of enslaved people being sold and their price, and the name of the buyer. Given that they involved a property transaction, bills of sale were commonly recorded and filed with deeds in the local court. However, there was no official requirement that the transfer of an enslaved person be recorded unless necessary for legal purposes such as a court case or an estate settlement. Enslaved people could also be transferred through a deed of gift, there was no money transaction involved in this case, which distinguishes this record from a bill of sale. Enslavers and their family members often transferred enslaved people between themselves in this manner.

Deeds are written agreements which convey title of property, such as an enslaved person, from one individual to another. These include the voluntary transfer of enslaved people between family members with no financial transaction involved. Deeds include the names of the grantors, grantees, and enslaved people. Clerks proved, acknowledged, and recorded deeds in the local court.

Types of Courts:

Richmond (Va.) Hustings court created by the General Assembly in 1782 at the time Richmond was granted it's charter. The court was created to handle all criminal cases, civil law cases, probate of wills, fiduciary accounts, deed recordings, all licenses (business, marriage, etc.), citizenship applications, etc. It also included the Mayor's Court.

Richmond (Va.) Hustings Court Part I was approved April 5, 1910 under agreement of consolidation between the City of Richmond and the City of Manchester and their corporation/ Hustings Court. It was created to handle all criminal cases, civil law cases, probate of wills, fiduciary accounts, deed recordings, all licenses (business, marriage, etc.), citizenship applications, etc.

Richmond (Va.) Hustings Court Part II was created in 1874 as the Corporation or Hustings Court of the City of Manchester, by act of 1906 the General Assembly provided that under terms of Richmond and Manchester Approved April 1910 that the corporation court should be retained and continued as the court of consolidated municipality and was designation Husting Court of the City of Richmond Part II. It was created to handle all criminal cases, civil law cases, probate of wills, fiduciary accounts, deed recordings, all licenses (business, marriage, etc.), etc. south of the James River.

Richmond (Va.) Chancery Court created by the General Assembly in 1870 with the first session held in June 1870. It was created to handle all probate of wills, fiduciary accounts, deed recordings and other chancery related matters. All records of deeds previously records in Hustings court transferred to this court. All wills probated and fiduciary accounts transferred from Hustings Court to this court. All wills, etc. probated in Circuit Court transferred to this court.

Husting Court part I, Husting Court Part II, Circuit Court, Chancery Court, and Law and Equity Court merged July 1, 1973 to become Circuit Court of the City of Richmond Division II ( now Circuit Court of the City of Richmond, Manchester Court House)

Locality History Note: The city of Richmond, located between Henrico and Chesterfield Counties, was named by William Byrd (1674-1744), who envisioned the development of a city at the falls of the James River and with the help of William Mayo laid out the town in 1737. The name probably came from the English borough of Richmond upon Thames, which Byrd visited on several occasions. Richmond was established in 1742 and in 1779 was designated the capital of Virginia effective 30 April 1780. It was incorporated as a town, although "stiled the city of Richmond," in 1782 and was incorporated as a city in 1842. It served as the capital of the Confederacy from mid-1861 to April 1865. Richmond was enlarged by the annexation of Manchester (or South Richmond) in 1910, and by the addition of Barton Heights, Fairmount, and Highland Park in 1914. Further annexations from Chesterfield County occurred in 1942 and 1970.

Lost Records Note: During the burning of Richmond on April 3, 1865, during the Civil War, Richmond circuit court judge John A. Meredith led efforts to save the circuit court records found at the State Court House. Rescuers successfully removed all the papers that were necessary to pending suits and many of the order books, but all of the wills and deed books were lost. Records of the superior court and circuit superior court of law and chancery were also destroyed. Most of the pre-Civil War Hustings Court records exist.

Scope and Content

Richmond (Va.) Property Records, 1782-1977, remain largely unprocessed but consist primarily of deeds which include deeds of bargain and sale, deeds of gift, mortgages, bills of sale, and deeds of trust. Included are three boxes of processed material consisting of bills of sale and deeds,1784-1964, involving free and enslaved Black individuals.

Deeds of bargain and sale are the most recorded deed in which one individual sells property, usually land, but occasionally personal property, to another individual. Such deeds show the names of the grantor and grantee, the residence of both parties, a description of what is being sold, the consideration (or price), the location of the tract of land, the tract's boundaries, and any limitations on the property being sold. The deed was signed by the grantor, and possibly his wife or anyone else having a claim to the property, and by at least two witnesses. Appended to the deed may be a memorandum of livery of seisin, stating that the property has changed hands and that peaceful possession has taken place.

Deeds of gift are often found transferring property, either real or personal including enslaved people, from one individual to another "for love and affection." The degree of kinship, if any, between the grantor and grantee is sometimes stated. Information recorded included name(s) of the grantor(s), grantee(s), and enslaved people. Deeds of gift were proved and recorded in the local court.

Mortgages and deeds of trust were deeds where one party is indebted to another and transfers or mortgages property to a third party to secure the debt.

Bills of sale are written agreements which convey title of property, such as an enslaved person, from seller to buyer. Bills of sale record the name of the seller, the names of enslaved persons being sold and their price, and the name of the buyer. Given that they involved a property transaction, bills of sale were commonly recorded and filed with deeds in the local court.

Arrangement

This collection is arranged into two series

Related Material

See also: Richmond (Va.) Deeds of Emancipation, 1792-1865

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

Additional Richmond (Va.) court records can be found on microfilm at the Library of Virginia.Consult "A Guide to Virginia County and City Records on Microfilm."

Richmond City is one of Virginia's Lost Records Localities. Additional Richmond City Court Records may be found in the Lost Records Localities Digital Collection on the Library of Virginia website.

Adjunct Descriptive Data