Administrative Information
Access Restrictions
Grayson County Petition to Remain in the Commonwealth is 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
Grayson County (Va.) Petition to Remain in the Commonwealth, undated. Local government records collection, Grayson County Court Records. The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia
Acquisition Information
These records came to the Library of Virginia in a transfer of court papers from Grayson County under an undated accession.
Processing Information
Petition to remain in the Commonwealth was originally described in the Grayson County Free and Enslaved Records descriptive record and was moved to this record in July 2026.
These records were processed and indexed by LVA staff for the purposes of digitizing them for the digital project Virginia Untold: The African American Narrative.
Encoded by M. Mason, July 2026
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: Grayson County was named for William Grayson, a delegate to the Continental Congress from 1784 to 1787 and one of the first two United States senators from Virginia. It was formed from Wythe County in 1792, and a part of Patrick County was added in 1810.