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Pittsylvania County (Va.) Fee Book, 1779. Local Government Records Collection, The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia.
This volume came to the Library of Virginia in a transfer of court papers from Pittsylvania County.
Pittsylvania County was formed in 1766 from Halifax County.
A fee book shows the date of a duty performed by the clerk of court, the name of the person paying the fees, and the amount. It includes fees charged attorneys, cash accounts, and the clerk's fees in common law and chancery suits. This particular fee book is from the county court.
A 1778 Virginia law forbade slaveowners from bringing slaves into the commonwealth from Africa or the West Indies or to bring the slaves into Virginia for the purpose of selling them. Any owner bringing slaves into the state had to swear and certify that they were not trying to circumvent this law. See Hening's Statues at Large, 5 October 1778, Chapter I.
Pittsylvania County (Va.) Fee book, 1779, for the county court contains the date of the charge, the person to whom charged, the reason, the style of suit, and the cost of the service to be paid to the clerk of court. There is an alphabetical index by surname at the beginning of the volume.
At the very back of this volume are five lists of negroes removed from the states of South Carolina or Georgia to Virginia. All are dated 1780. Lists or certificates of importation contain information whereby a slaveowner swears that (s)he has not imported the slave from Africa and that (s)he has not brought the slave into Virginia for the purpose of selling it. The owner and slaves are named and ages of the slaves are listed.