Orange County (Va.) Petitions for Re-Enslavement, 1861

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:

Orange County (Va.) Petitions for Re-Enslavement, 1861, are digitized and available through Virginia Untold: The African American Narrative Digital Collection on the Library of Virginia website. Please use digital images.

Terms of access:

There are no restrictions.

Preferred citation:

Orange County (Va.) Petitions for Re-Enslavement, 1861. Local government records collection, Orange County Court Records. The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Va. 23219.

Summary

Extent:
1 item
Creator:
Orange County (Va.) Circuit Court
Abstract:
Language:
English
Preferred citation:

Orange County (Va.) Petitions for Re-Enslavement, 1861. Local government records collection, Orange County Court Records. The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Va. 23219.

Background

Scope and content:

Orange County (Va.) Petitions for Re-Enslavement, 1861, contains one petition of Nicolas Poindexter requesting to be re-enslaved choosing Betty C. Towles as his enslaver. The reasons for Nicholas' petition are not documented.

Biographical / historical:

Context of Record Type: Petitions for Re-enslavement contain petitions of free Black individuals choosing to be re-enslaved. An act passed by the Virginia General Assembly in 1806 required formerly enslaved people to leave the commonwealth within twelve months of being granted their freedom. Individuals were forced to leave behind family, friends, and community that remained enslaved. In addition, many emancipated people did not have the financial means or social support to move to a free state. One option to preserve family and relationships was to return to slavery. In 1856, the Virginia legislature passed an act allowing free Black individuals who desired to remain in the commonwealth to petition for re-enslavement. Only a small number of free Black Virginians petitioned the courts to re-enslave themselves to an enslaver of choice, and an even smaller percentage succeeded. Many petitioners chose enslavers they knew well or who owned a spouse or family member. These petitions include the petitioner's name, previous enslaver, means of emancipation, and new desired enslaver.

Locality History Note: Orange County, according to most accounts, was named for William of Orange, the Dutch prince who became King William III of England in 1688. It is more probable, however, that it was named for William IV, prince of Orange-Nassau, who married Anne, eldest daughter of King George II, in 1734-the year that Orange County was formed from Spotsylvania County.

Acquisition information:
These records came to the Library of Virginia in a transfer of court papers from Orange County in an undated accession.
Processing information:

Orange County (Va.) Petitions for Re-Enslavement were previously described with the Orange County (Va.) Free and Enslaved Records but were removed to the present Orange County (Va.) Petitions for Re-enslavement for discoverability purposes.

These records have been scanned and indexed by LVA staff for the purposes of digitizing them for the digital project Virginia Untold: The African American Narrative.

It is believed the peitions for re-enslavement currently in this collection were removed from the Orange County (Va.) Judgments and processed by Jim Watkins around 2009.

Encoded by M. Mason: April 2024

Arrangement:

This collection is arranged

  • Series I: Petitions for Re-Enslavement, 1861, arranged chronologically

chronologically

Physical location:
Library of Virginia
Physical description:
.