Montgomery County (Va.) Free and Enslaved Records, 1806-1813, are digitized and available through
There are no restrictions.
Montgomery County (Va.) Free and Enslaved Records, 1806-1813. Local Government Records Collection, Montgomery County Court Records. The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Va.
Digital images of "Free Negro" Tax records came to the Library of Virginia in December 2024 under accession 54389.
In December 2024, LVA staff traveled to Montgomery County to return "Free Negro Registers" from the clerk's office which had been loaned for scanning. While onsite, staff photographed four different records related to enslaved and free people that the clerk had stored in her office for safekeeping in two separate folders. The items never came to LVA; they remain in the locality and are presumably isolated from other records and held in the clerk's office.
Encoded by M. Mason, October 2025
The Free and Enslaved Records collection is comprised of miscellaneous records related to the regulation and policing of both enslaved and free Black and Multiracial people in Staunton. The localities/local government authorities were largely responsible for enforcing laws that restricted the movement of enslaved and free Black and multiracial people and the resulting documentation was often filed in the circuit courts. The ways in which local authorities enacted legal measures against or on behalf of enslaved and free Black and multiracial people varied from locality to locality; therefore, records were not necessarily standardized or filed and retained in a consistent manner. This collection is topical and a means by which to compile miscellaneous documents related to free and enslaved people that are not established local government record types.
In 1801, the Virginia Legislature passed an act requiring commissioners of the revenue to annually return a complete list of all free Black Virginians within their districts, with their names, sex, place of abode, and trades.
Fincastle County was created from Botetourt County in 1772, and the county court first met on 5 January 1773. Fincastle County became extinct on 31 December 1776 when it was divided to form Montgomery, Washington and Kentucky Counties. The county was named probably for George, Viscount Fincastle, Lord Dunmore's son; for John Murray, fourth earl of Dunmore, Viscount Fincastle; or for the town of Fincastle, Virginia, which was established in 1772 and named for George, Viscount Fincastle.
Montgomery County (Va.) Free and Enslaved Records, 1806-1813, consists of "Free Negro" Tax Records, 1806-1813.
"Free Negro" Tax Records, 1806-1813, consists of three "List of Free Negroes and Mulattoes," 1806, 1808, and 1813, in the county of Montgomery created by the Commissioner of Revenue for the county (lists record the name, occupation, and "abode" of the individual) [digital images].
This collection is arranged
"Free Negro" Taxes records, 1806-1813, housed at the Montgomery County Circuit Court.
Records related to free and enslaved people of Montgomery County (Va.) and other localities are available through the
Additional Montgomery County (Va.) court records can be found on microfilm at the Library of Virginia.Consult