Roanoke County Archives

The goal of the Genealogy of Slavery database is to help make public and accessible the hundreds of records located in the Roanoke County Archives. These records can be hard to access due the limited hours the archives are open and sources that are difficult to read due to the often illegible cursive handwriting. The CSSR team has gone through the 26 books in the archives with information ranging from the late 1700s to the early 1900s, specifically looking for all information relating to enslaved and free African Americans in the Roanoke Valley.  You can search this database by these collections and use our search function to search for the names of enslaved and free African Americans, as well as enslavers and their family members. We hope this will help expand the geneological resources those researching in the Roanoke area can access.

The transcribed collections contain a variety of information. The Common Law Orders vary significantly in the records they hold, but they largely include records of court cases including trials of enslaved people and indictments, records of payments for those involved in these court proceedings, the petitions of free people of color proving to the court their free status, as well as other eclectic information such as correspondences between Roanoke County officials and officials of other jurisdictions. Wills and settlements of estates were occasionally also included in the Common Law books. Free people of color had to petition to the Roanoke County court to be able to live in the jurisdiction, have proof of their free status, and had to be examined before the court and their physical appearance recorded into record, including height, skin color, age, and any noticeable scars or disabilities. Court cases ranged from criminal indictments to tax exemptions. In some cases, an enslaver would not be taxed for an enslaved person who was ill, elderly, or disabled, and the record for this exemption would be included. Some court indictments include the charging of white people for selling enslaved people liquor or gathering in groups with enslaved people, which was illegal. In other rare but notable cases, enslaved people were charged with crimes including theft, arson, and assault. Witnesses may have been called, including other enslaved people. In such court cases, the bulk of the court, including both prosecutors and those assigned as defense counsel for the enslaved people, were enslavers themselves. In some cases, the convicted enslaved people would be punished with whippings or death by lynching, while in a few others cases, in place of punishment the enslaved person would be “transported outside the limits of the United States,” presumably to Liberia.

The Death Registers contain contents from 1853 to 1881, and recorded the deaths of every individual in the greater Roanoke area during this time frame, whether white, enslaved African American, or free African American. This would include the individual’s age at the time of their death and the manner in which they died. For enslaved people, their place of birth often was not listed or lacked specificity, and parents' names and occupations are not commonly listed. Nonetheless these records can be helpful for establishing an enslaved person’s date of birth and date of death, as well as where they lived.

The Settlement of Estates includes information from the early 1860s to the late 1880s, and most of the information given is from after the Civil War. It largely includes the accounts of white landowners recording transactions, including enslavers hiring out enslaved people to other enslavers. The money from such hires would go to the enslaver and not the enslaved person doing the labor. However, the language of such hires is sometimes vague, and could include the hiring of free workers or sharecroppers. Even after the Civil War and emancipation, white plantation owners' settlement records include such ambiguity, specifying the hiring of freedmen while the hiring of other individuals is not specified as “freedmen” or otherwise.

The county Birth Registers altogether range from 1853 to 1885, and record the birth of every individual in the greater Roanoke area during this time frame, whether white, enslaved African American, or free African American. Typically, less information for enslaved people was recorded. Only first names were recorded and place of birth was recorded with much less specificity. Moreover, the birth registers had a category for “Father’s Name or Owner if Enslaved,” meaning in the case of most enslaved people, the enslaver’s information would be given instead of the child’s father. Nonetheless these records are an important source for connecting enslaved children to their mothers, and providing information about their births that is otherwise not found in other records.
 

The Inventory, Appraisements, and Settlements books consist of a wide variety of record types. They include wills formatted similar to the will books, in which an enslaver would divide and bequeath enslaved people amongst their heirs, general relations, and friends. These wills were typically written when an enslaver was older but while they were still of “a sound mind and body,” according to their own language. Inheritors were not always specified, but may have been referenced implicitly, such as simply saying “[the enslaver’s] wife” rather than giving the wife’s name. The books also include estate appraisements and settlement of estates, in which a deceased enslaver’s whole estate and “possessions” would be cataloged and priced. This would include all household items, livestock, and in the case of enslavers, enslaved people would be listed as well, priced and at times sold to other enslavers. Settlement of estates were also recorded in which someone would list all of their trades, payments, and transactions with other people, including the hiring out of enslaved people to other enslavers. The money from such hires would go to the enslaver and not the enslaved person doing the labor. The information provided on enslaved people was largely dehumanizing and transactional, and the records provided herein are limited by this. It is also important to note that for every valuation of an enslaved person, there were white people who may or may not have been enslavers themselves but were actively involved in this aspect of the slave trade.

The Will Books contain wills from 1839 to 1885. In these wills, people would specify where their property and savings would be inherited to. In the case of enslavers, they would specify enslaved people or a certain number of enslaved people that were to be inherited by named individuals. At times, enslaved people would be priced and when divided amongst heirs, money would be paid between inheritors in order to insure the value being inherited was equal. Many wills also describe the "future increases" of female slaves, referring to future unborn children as potential property. These wills also sometimes specify familial relations between enslaved people, but usually just between spouses and parents and children. Family relationships such as siblings, parents of adult children, grandparents, aunts or uncles, etc., are rarely if ever specified. In these wills, people would specify where their property and savings would be inherited to. In the case of enslavers, they would specify enslaved people or a certain number of enslaved people that were to be inherited by named individuals. At times, enslaved people would be priced and when divided amongst heirs, money would be paid between inheritors in order to insure the value being inherited was equal. Many wills also describe the "future increases" of female slaves, referring to future unborn children as potential property. These wills also sometimes specify familial relations between enslaved people, but usually just between spouses and parents and children. Family relationships such as siblings, parents of adult children, grandparents, aunts or uncles, etc., are rarely if ever specified.