Chesterfield County (Va.) Judgments (Freedom Suits), 1847

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:

There are no restrictions.

Terms of access:

There are no restrictions.

Preferred citation:

Chesterfield County (Va.) Judgments (Freedom Suits), 1847. Local government records collection, Chesterfield County Court Records. The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia 23219.

Summary

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

Chesterfield County (Va.) Judgments (Freedom Suits), 1847. Local government records collection, Chesterfield County Court Records. The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia 23219.

Background

Scope and content:

Chesterfield County (Va.) Judgments (Freedom Suits), 1847, consist of one suit for freedom initiated by Baker Parham. He filed a writ of habeas corpus claiming to be a free person of color unlawfully detained in the county jail. He wasa native of Sussex County who had lost his free papers

Judgments (Freedom Suits) are useful when researching local history and genealogical information, particularly for African Americans. They are a valuable source of local, state, social, and legal history and serve as a primary source for understanding a locality's history.

Biographical / historical:

Slaves sued for emancipation in freedom suits based on the following: they were descendant(s) of a free female ancestor, typically a Native American (Hening Statutes, volume 2, p.170); failure of slaveowner(s) to abide by the 1778 slave nonimportation act (Henings Statutes, volume 9, pp. 471-472); or claimed to have been freed by slaveowner(s) by deed of emancipation or last will and testament (Henings Statutes volume 11, pp. 39-40)

Chesterfield County was named for Philip Dormer Stanhope, fourth earl of Chesterfield, British statesman and diplomat, and was formed from Henrico County in 1749. The county seat is Chesterfield Court House. Part of Henrico County was added to Chesterfield in 1922.

Acquisition information:
These items came to the Library of Virginia in transfers of court papers from Chesterfield County.
Arrangement:

Arranged chronologically.

Physical location:
Library of Virginia
Physical description:
.05 cu. ft.