Administrative Information

Access Restrictions

Lynchburg (Va.) Deeds of Emancipation, 1784-1860, 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

Lynchburg (Va.) Deeds of Emancipation, 1784-1860. Local Government Records Collection, city of Richmond 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 Lynchburg circuit court in an undated accession.

Processing Information

Some of the Deeds of Emancipation, 1784-1860, were removed from the larger Lynchburg (Va.) deeds record set and then processed and indexed as a distinct unit by Ed Jordan and Lydia Neuroth in 2024 for the purposes of digitizing them for the digital project Virginia Untold: The African American Narrative.

Other Deeds of Emancipation were previously described as part of the Lynchburg Free and Enslaved records but were removed to the Deeds of Emancipation record in October 2024 for discoverability purposes.

Encoded by M. Mason, October 2024

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: Lynchburg, in Campbell County, was named for John Lynch, the owner of the original town site. It was established in 1786, was incorporated as a town in 1805, and became a city in 1852.

Scope and Content

Lynchburg (Va.) Deeds of Emancipation, 1784-1860, includes deeds of emancipation and manumission record the name of enslaver, the name of the enslaved person to be freed, the date the enslaved person shall achieve freedom, the date the manumission was proved or certified, and sometimes a reason why the enslaver decided to emancipate the enslaved person. The two methods of relinquishing ownership of an individual differ only in that enslavers directly freed their enslaved property by manumission. Deeds of emancipation could be generated after the enslaver's death by those executing a last will and testament.

These records include deeds of manumission from Campbell, Charlotte, and Prince George Counties.

Arrangement

This collection is arranged

Related Material

See also: Lynchburg (Va.) Deeds, 1805-1936 (bulk 1817-1906)

See also: Lynchburg (Va.) Free and Enslaved Records, 1834-1837, undated

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

Additional Lynchburg Land 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