Search

Benjamin Turner will, inventory, and appraisement, 1810-1812. The will lists Nat Turner as part of the estate of Benjamin Turner, whose will was proven 1810 Dec 17. Benjamin Turner bequeathed Nat Turner, "Natt," and eight other slaves to his son Samuel Turner, who already had possession of them when the will was written. The estate records include a detailed inventory and appraisement of Benjamin Turner's household goods, farming implements, livestock, and slaves.

Southampton County (Va.) Judgments (Freedom Suits), 1828, consist of suits initiated by slaves seeking to gain their freedom on the law side of the court. Cases are identified by style of suit consisting of plaintiff and defendant names. Surnames of others involved in a suit, including secondary plaintiffs and defendants, witnesses, deponents and affiants, and family members with surnames different from the plaintiff or defendant are indexed. Also identified are names of slaves and slaveowners found in suit as well as whether slave(s) won their freedom. Predominant documents found in freedom suits include petitions, records of suits, depositions, affidavits, wills, among other items. Information found in documents include slave's argument for freedom, acquisition of slaves by slaveowners, slave ancestry, and relationship between slaves and slaveowners.

Southampton County (Va.) Unrecorded Deeds, 1759-1839, consist of deeds of bargain and sale, deeds of gift, mortgages, deeds of trust, and deeds of emancipation. Unrecorded deeds were never proved and recorded in deed books. A few of the deeds include plats. Except for a few years early in the eighteenth century, slaves in Virginia were considered personal property and consequently were not usually sold by deed. However, they were often transferred in deeds of gift or were the property listed in mortgages and deeds of trust.