Dinwiddie County (Va.) Free and Enslaved Records, 1859-1860

Access and use

Location of collection:
Library of Virginia
The Library of Virginia
800 East Broad Street
Richmond, VA 23219
Contact for questions and access:
POC: Archives Reference Services
Phone: (804) 692-3888
Restrictions:

This collection is open for research.

Terms of access:

There are no restrictions.

Preferred citation:

Dinwiddie County (Va.) Free and Enslaved Records, 1859-1860. Local government records collection, Dinwiddie County Court Records. The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia.

Summary

Creator:
Dinwiddie County (Va.) Circuit Court.
Language:
English
Preferred citation:

Dinwiddie County (Va.) Free and Enslaved Records, 1859-1860. Local government records collection, Dinwiddie County Court Records. The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia.

Background

Scope and content:

Dinwiddie County (Va.) Free and Enslaved Records, 1859-1860, consist of "Free Negro" Tax Records, 1859-1860. These records include three lists, which document the names of 34 “free negroes” delinquent in the payment of their taxes. To varying extents, the lists record the name of each person, the amount of tax they owed, and the value of their property.

Biographical / historical:

Context for Record Type:

Free and Enslaved Records

The Free and Enslaved Records collection is comprised of miscellaneous records related to the regulation and policing of both enslaved and free Black and Multiracial people in Dinwiddie County. The localities/local government authorities were largely responsible for enforcing laws that restricted the movement of enslaved and free Black and Multiracial people and the resulting documentation was often filed in the circuit courts. The ways in which local authorities enacted legal measures against or on behalf of enslaved and free Black and Multiracial people varied from locality to locality; therefore, records were not necessarily standardized or filed and retained in a consistent manner. This collection is topical and a means by which to compile miscellaneous documents related to free and enslaved people that are not established local government record types.

See: the Virginia Untold Record Types on the Library of Virginia website for additional context concerning "Free Negro" Tax Records.

Locality History: Dinwiddie County was named for Robert Dinwiddie, lieutenant governor of Virginia from 1751 to 1758, and was formed from Prince George County in 1752. The county seat is Dinwiddie.

Lost Locality Note: The bulk of court records prior to 1865 were stolen, mutilated, and/or destroyed by Union troops who ransacked the courthouse during the last months of the Civil War. Post-1830 volumes such as deed books, will books, chancery order books, and marriage registers exist.

Acquisition information:
These records came to the Library of Virginia in a transfer of court papers from Dinwiddie County (Va.) as part of an undated accession.
Processing information:

Starting in 2023, Library of Virginia archival staff in partnership with the Virginia Untold Project Manager began efforts to describe records related to free and enslaved Black and Multiracial people in a manner that improved the historical context of the records. In doing so, in some cases material once described within the "Free and Enslaved" record group for a locality may no longer be described within this record. When this has occurred, please see the Processing Information and Related Materials section for records that have been described separately.

These records have been processed and indexed by S. Nerney and L. Neuroth for the purposes of digitizing them for the digital project Virginia Untold: The African American Narrative.

Encoded by S. Nerney: November 2011; updated by C. Collins: May 2026.

Arrangement:

This collection is arranged

  • Series I: Free and Enslaved Records, 1859-1860, arranged loosely by record type then chronologically.

Arranged loosely by record type then chronologically

Physical location:
Library of Virginia
Physical description:
4 items