PUBLIC "-//Library of Virginia//TEXT (US::Vi::vi06161::A Guide to the Amelia County (Va.) Petitions to Remain in the Commonwealth, 1816 )//EN" "vi06161.xml" A Guide to the Amelia County (Va.) Petitions to Remain in the Commonwealth, 1816 Amelia County (Va.) Petitions to Remain in the Commonwealth Caroline Collins Library of Virginia © 2024 By The Library of Virginia. All Rights Reserved. Machine-readable finding aid derived from MS Word, created by Caroline Collins, 31 December 2024 Description is in English A Guide to the Amelia County (Va.) Petitions to Remain in the Commonwealth, 1816 A Collection in the Library of Virginia

Library of Virginia 2024 C. Freed Library of Virginia Descriptive Summary Library of Virginia Amelia County (Va.) Petitions to Remain in the Commonwealth, 1816 Library of Virginia 1 item. English Amelia County (Va.) Circuit Court. Administrative Information Access Restrictions

Amelia County (Va.) Petitions to Remain in the Commonwealth, 1816, 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

Amelia County (Va.) Petitions to Remain in the Commonwealth, 1816. Local government records collection, Amelia County Court Records. The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia.

Acquisition Information

These records were transferred to the Library of Virginia from Amelia County (Va.) in 2003 under accession number 40724.

Processing Information

Amelia County (Va.) Petitions to Remain in the Commonwealth were originally described as part of the Amelia County (Va.) Free and Enslaved Records, 1801-1866, but were removed to the present Amelia County (Va.) Petitions to Remain in the Commonwealth, 1816, record to enhance discoverability in December 2024.

These records are believed to have been removed from Amelia County (Va.) Judgments, among other Amelia County records, by C. Freed circa 2005.

These records have been processed, scanned, and indexed by C. Freed, L. Neuroth, and LVA staff for the purposes of digitizing them for the digital project Virginia Untold: The African American Narrative.

Encoded by C. Collins: December 2024.

 Historical Information

Context for Record Type: Sometimes referred to as "Applications to Remain," these records are applications that formerly enslaved individuals submitted to state and local courts for permission to remain in Virginia with their free status. The Virginia General Assembly passed a law stating that all formerly enslaved people freed after 1 May 1806 who remained in Virginia more than twelve months could be put on trial by the state. Individuals who wished to remain in the commonwealth were to petition the state legislature. In 1816, a new Act of Assembly gave the local courts power to grant permission to remain. The documents in these cases will include: the name(s) of the petitioner(s), the circumstances of free status, and a request to remain in the county. Individuals needed to prove that they had in fact been emancipated. Therefore, application packets might also include supporting documents such as the formerly enslaved person's register, a copy of a will or deed of emancipation, or witness statements known as affidavits.

Locality History: Amelia County was named for Amelia Sophia Eleanora, daughter of King George II. It was formed from Prince George and Brunswick Counties by an act passed in 1734 to take effect on 25 March 1735. The county court first met on 9 May 1735. The county seat is Amelia.

 Scope and Content

Amelia County (Va.) Petitions to Remain in the Commonwealth, 1816, consist of one petition submitted on behalf of 24 people. Petitions to remain are applications that formerly enslaved individuals submitted to state and local courts for permission to remain in Virginia with their free status. The petitions often include the formerly enslaved individual's name, their method of emancipation, name of their former enslaver, and whether the application/petition was successful or not. Petitions may also include affidavits signed mainly by white residents or witness statements again provided by white residents. Additional names of enslaved or free Black and multiracial individuals can be found in these records.

These records include a petition to remain, 1816, filed by Tinsley, Adam, Samuel, Thomas, Old Samuel, Joice and her eight children, Henry, Ben, Woodson, Richard, Nancy, Martha, Jeremy, Haskins, Polly, Armistead, Jack, and Tom, "people of colour" emancipated by the will of Ann Hughes. Their request to remain in Amelia County was denied by the Court.

 Arrangement

This collection is arranged Series I: Petitions to Remain in the Commonwealth, 1816, arranged chronologically.

Adjunct Descriptive Data Related Material

See also: Amelia County (Va.) Free and Enslaved Records, 1801-1866

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

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

 Contents List Petitions to Remain in the Commonwealth, 1816 Library of Virginia 1 item

Arranged chronologically

Free and Enslaved Records, 1781-1866, undated