The signature registers for these branches are listed in:

Freedman's Savings and Trust Company (Washington, D.C.) 1865-1874. Registers of Signatures of Depositors in Branches of the Freedman's Savings and Trust Company, 1865-1874. Washington, D.C.: National Archives, 1969. (FHL film 928591; computer number 136687.) In each city, depositors' names are arranged by account number.

Two valuable sources for the period after the Civil War are:

United States. Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands. Records of the Superintendent of Education for the State of Virginia, Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lords, 1865-1870. Washington, D.C.: National Archives, 1977. (FHL films 1549578-97; computer number 467528.) Most volumes are indexed.

United States. Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands. Records of the Assistant Commissioner for the State of Virginia, Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands, 1865-1869. Washington, D.C.: National Archives, 1988. (FHL films 1601562-628; computer number 467359.) There are several indexes.

Prior to the Civil War, each Virginia county court kept a “register of free negroes.” These registers may give the person's name, age, color, stature, marks and scars, and name the court of emancipation. Several of these registers are found at the Library of Virginia. The Family History Library has copies of some of these registers. They are usually found in the Family History Library Locality Search under VIRGINIA, [COUNTY] - COURT RECORDS.

Slave families freed prior to the Civil War are found in:

Heinegg, Paul. Free African Americans of North Carolina and Virginia: Including the Family Histories of More Than 80% of Those Counted as “All Other Free Persons” in the 1790 and 1800 Censuses. Reprint. Baltimore: Genealogical Pub. Co., 1993. (FHL book 973 F2hp; computer number 26953.)

For an index of Slaves and Free Men of Color, listed in Index to Sons of the Revolution . . . , see the “Periodicals” section of this outline.

Slaves are sometimes mentioned in deeds (see the “Land and Property” section of this outline), in wills (see “Probate Records”), and in court order books (see “Court Records”). A few parish registers (see “Church Records”) list slaves who attended church with their masters. In Virginia the births of slave children should be listed in the County birth records after 1853.

Names of hundreds of runaway slaves, their descriptions, owners, and ages can be found in:

Windley, Lathan A., comp. Runaway Slave Advertisements. 4 vols. (Virginia and North Carolina) Wesport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 1983. (FHL book 975 F2wl; computer number 516197.) For Virginia, see volume one.

Virginia Plantation Records

Occasionally slaves are mentioned in plantation records. The Family History Library has several series of plantation records from the periods before and after the Civil War. These are listed in the Author/Title Search of the Family History Library Catalog under the STAMPP, KENNETH M. or in the Subject Search under PLANTATION LIFE - VIRGINIA or PLANTATION LIFE - SOUTHERN STATES. Records are available at:

Library of Congress: inventory, FHL book 975 H2sm Ser. C; computer number 572736; original records, FHL films beginning with 1534247; computer number 570339.

University of Virginia Library: inventory, FHL book 975 H2sm Ser. E; computer number 572742; original records, FHL films beginning with 1534274; computer number 570340.

Duke University Library: inventory, FHL book 975 H2sm Ser. F; computer number 572743; original records, FHL films beginning with 1549774; computer number 571554.

University of North Carolina Library at Chapel Hill: inventory, FHL book 975 H2sm Ser. J; computer number 605984; original records, FHL films beginning with 1672791; computer number 603306.

Colonial Williamsburg Foundation Library: inventory, FHL book 975 H2sm Ser. K; computer number 755988; original records, FHL films beginning with 1844005; computer number 756105. These records are from the Shirley plantation of the Carter family.

College of William and Mary, Earl Gregg Swem Library: inventory, FHL book 975 H2sm Ser. L; computer number 762370; original records, FHL films beginning with 1844318; computer number 762458.

Virginia Historical Society: inventory, FHL book 975 H2sm Ser. M; computer number 763966; original records, FHL films beginning with 1985945; computer number 762522.

The Family History Library has microfilms of most of the records described in the guide booklets. Virginia plantation records are scattered throughout.

To learn about the laws that affected Virginia slaves, see:

Finkelman, Paul. State Slavery Statutes: Guide to the Microfiche Collection. Frederick, Md.: University Publications of America, 1989. (FHL 975 F23s; computer number 754449.) Pages 317-56 pertain to Virginia and cover the years 1789-1865. The advertisements are indexed. The records list the names of many slaves and slave owners.

American Indians

Dozens of articles about the history of American Indians in Virginia can be found by using the PERiodical Source Index (PERSI) described in the United States Research Outline (30972) ”Periodicals“ sections.

American Indians in Virginia are sometimes listed in the court order books.

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