PUBLIC "-//Library of Virginia//TEXT (US::Vi::vi06656::A Guide to the Louisa County (Va.) Certificates of Importation, 1792, 1813)//EN" "vi06656.xml" A Guide to the Louisa County (Va.) Certificates of Importation, 1792, 1813 Louisa County (Va.) Certificates of Importation, 1792, 1813 Mary Ann Mason Library of Virginia © 2026 By The Library of Virginia. All Rights Reserved. Machine-readable finding aid derived from MS Word, created by Mary Ann Mason, 03 February 2026 Description is in English A Guide to the Louisa County (Va.) Certificates of Importation, 1792, 1813 A Collection in the Library of Virginia

Library of Virginia 2026 C. Freed; M. Mason Library of Virginia Descriptive Summary Library of Virginia Louisa County (Va.) Certificates of Importation, 1792, 1813 Library of Virginia 2 items. English Louisa County (Va.) Circuit Court. Administrative Information Access Restrictions

Louisa County (Va.) Certificates of Importation, 1792, 1813, 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

Louisa County (Va.) Certificates of Importation, 1792, 1813. Local government records collection, Louisa County Court Records. The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Va.

Acquisition Information

These records came to the Library of Virginia in transfers of court papers from Louisa County under an undated accession

Processing Information

Louisa County (Va.) Certificates of Importation were previously described with the Louisa County (Va.) Free and Enslaved records, but were removed to this record in January 2026 to increase discoverability.

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

Encoded by M. Mason: January 2026

Historical Information

Context of Record Type: In 1778, Governor Patrick Henry enacted legislation preventing importation of enslaved people into the commonwealth. Those that did bring their enslaved people were required to register them with the county court and sign a certificate of importation agreeing that they were not bringing enslaved people into the commonwealth with the intent to sell. The enslaved person is sometimes named, but not always, and occasionally information is given as to age, birthdate, and the state from which the individuals were moving. According to Section 3 of the act "every slave imported into this commonwealth contrary to the true intent and meaning of this act, shall upon such importation become free." By this clause, those enslaved people who were brought into Virginia illegally could pursue their freedom in the local courts.

Locality History: Louisa County was formed in 1742 from Hanover County.

Scope and Content

Louisa County (Va.) certificates of Importation, 1792,1813, consists of certificate, 1792, of Benjamin Litchworth (enslaved individuals not named); and certificate, 1813, of Thomas Turner moving from Tennessee to Virginia with Mary, Rachel D. Aggy, Venus

Arrangement

This collection is arrangedSeries I:Certificates of Importation, 1792,1813

Adjunct Descriptive Data Related Material

See also: Louisa County (Va.) Free and Enslaved Records

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

Additional Louisa County (Va.) court records can be found on microfilm at the Library of Virginia.Consult "A Guide to Virginia County and City Records on Microfilm."

 Contents List Certificates of Importation, 1792,1813 Library of Virginia 2 items [use digital images] Free and Enslaved Records, 1770-1865