Administrative Information

Access Restrictions

Carroll County (Va.) Records related to the Registration of Free Persons, 1846-1860, 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

Carroll County (Va.) Records related to the Registration of Free Persons, 1846-1860. Local government records collection, Carroll County Court Records. The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia.

Acquisition Information

The volume was transferred to the Library of Virginia from Carroll County (Va.) in 2017 under accession number 52016.

Digital images of the volume were generated circa 2017.

Processing Information

The volume was originally described as Carroll County (Va.) “Register of Free Negroes,” 1846-1860, but was removed to the present Carroll County (Va.) Records related to the Registration of Free Persons, 1846-1860, record to enhance the context between record types in May 2025.

These records were processed, scanned, and indexed by L. Neuroth and LVA staff for the purposes of digitizing them for the digital project Virginia Untold: The African American Narrative circa 2017.

Encoded by G. Crawford: June 2017; updated by C. Collins: May 2025.

Historical Information

Context for Record Type:

"Free Negro" Registers

In 1793, the Virginia General Assembly specified that "free Negroes or mulattoes" were required to be registered and numbered in a book to be kept by the town clerk, which shall specify "age, name, colour, and stature, by whom, and in what court the said negro or mulatto was emancipated; or that such negro or mulatto was born free." The process was extended to counties in 1803. Although some clerks were already recording such features, an 1834 Act of Assembly made it a uniform requirement to record identifying marks and scars and the instrument of emancipation, whether by deed or will. This bound register often coincided with a loose certificate containing largely the same identifying information. Both the registration system and the process of renewal was enforced differently in the various Virginia localities. Thus, the information found in these registers may differ from year to year and across localities.

The register books resulting from the administration of the 1793 and 1803 Act of Assembly are evidence of Virginia legislators' reaction to a quickly growing free Black and Multiracial population in Virginia in the post Revolutionary War period. Acts such as these allowed white officials to police the activities and movement of free Black community members throughout the state thereby restricting their autonomy.

Locality History: Carroll County was named for Charles Carroll of Carrollton, a signer of the Declaration of Independence from Maryland. It was formed from Grayson County in 1842, and part of Patrick County was added in 1856. The county seat is Hillsville.

Scope and Content

Materials in the Library of Virginia’s collections contain historical terms, phrases, and images that are offensive to modern readers. These include demeaning and dehumanizing references to race, ethnicity, and nationality; enslaved or free status; physical and mental ability; religion; sex; and sexual orientation and gender identity.

Carroll County (Va.) Records related to the Registration of Free Persons, consist of the Carroll County (Va.) Register of “Free Negroes and Mulattoes,” 1846-1860. The register records the registration of free Black and Multiracial people of Black descent in Carroll County and covers the years 1846 to 1860. The clerk recorded name, age, height, complexion, mark and scars, and in what court the person was emancipated or if the person was born free. In some instances, the clerk recorded information not required by law such as a parent’s name, the name of the former enslaver, previous place of registration, or place of birth. The volume also includes Carroll County (Va.) Election Records, 1895, which record the names of individuals announced as candidates for county and district offices in the general election in 1895.

Arrangement

This collection is arranged

Related Material

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

Additional Carroll 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