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III. Enslaved/ Slavery

Online -Slavery Inventory Database, LLC (SID) by Maddy McCoy  

• Includes research that helps to establish the identities of enslaved African Americans neglected or forgotten by history. Research is focused on the early African American experience in the Mid-Atlantic region.  
• Example:  Aaron Davis born about 1760 Listed in the estate inventory of William Fitzhugh of Ravensworth on April 16, 1810  Aaron Clarke, age 30, Blacksmith, Sally Holly age 80  
• Repository: https://slaveryinventorydatabase.com/team/  

Slavery in Braddock District   

• The website was created to honor Black History Month.  Included are lists of the enslaved and the slave holders and descriptions of families and communities.  
• Repository: https://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/braddock/braddock-district-black-history-month  

“Outrage Near Spring Bank - Slave Resistance in Fairfax County” Yearbook: Historical Society of Fairfax County, Virginia, Volume 18: 1982 p. 9.  

• The story of the assault of a slave patrol by a group of escaped slaves.  
• Repository: Virginia Room, City of Fairfax Regional Library    

The Story of Ravensworth: A history of the Ravensworth  

• Land-grant in Fairfax County, Virginia website and book by John Browne 
• Includes numbers of enslaved before 1860; Enslaved at Oak Hill 1821-1856, and persons enslaved in 1830  
• Repository: www.ravensworthstory.org  

Buried Lives: The Enslaved People of George Washington’s Mount Vernon        

• by Carla K. McClafferty, 2018  
• Repository:  Fairfax County Public Libraries, Children’s Nonfiction      

Bound to the Fire: How Virginia’s Enslaved Cooks Helped Invent American Cuisine, by Kelley F. Deetz, 2017   

• This book tells the story of enslaved plantation cooks at Virginia plantations, including at George Washington’s Mount Vernon. 
• Repository:  Fairfax County Public Libraries    

“Two Women Researched Slavery In Their Family. They Didn’t See the Same Story”   

• by Amy Docksler Marcus, Wall Street Journal    April 16, 2021  
•  Repository: https://www.wsj.com/articles/two-women-researched-slavery-in-their-family-            -didnt-see-the-same-story-11618584883 

“The Day Slavery Bowed to Conscience,” by Ken Ringle. July 21, 1991  The Washington Post. 

• Robert Carter III, who owned 16 plantations in Virginia, freed his 500 slaves 70 years before the Civil War began. 
• Repository: https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1991/07/21/the-day-slavery-bowed-to-conscience/bcbf164c-9972-41e5-b1e4-55c47d1b62e6/ 

Among His Slaves: George Mason, at Gunston Hall, and the Idealism of the American Revolution, by Terry K. Dunn   

• The author used primary sources to learn about those enslaved by George Mason including Mason’s actions and reactions toward them.   
• Repository:  Fairfax County Public Libraries        
• Sully Plantation - The Sully Slave Quarter! From the Ground Up  
• online video 
• Repository: www.discoveryvirginia.org   
• Search Sully   

Mount Vernon online videos about the enslaved people  

• William Lee,  William (Billy) Lee  
• West Ford               
• People Enslaved at Mount Vernon   
• Biographies of slaves   
• Life in Slavery, Lives Bonded Together - Oral Histories of Descendants of the Enslaved 
• Repository: www.mountvernon.org     
• Search by the title  

Underground Railroad   

Underground by Shane W. Evans   

• An introduction to the Underground Railroad, narrated by a group of slaves. The Underground Railroad was a secret path to freedom used by the enslaved. Readers experience the fugitives' escape, their long nighttime journey punctuated by meetings with friends and enemies, and their final arrival in a place of freedom  
• Repository:  Fairfax County Public Libraries   

Dawn of Day: Stories from the Underground Railroad -   

• Repository: YouTube   

Conn’s Ferry - the story of the escape of enslaved Ellick, by Debbie Robison  

• Repository: http://www.novahistory.org/Conns_Ferry/Conns_Ferry.htm   

A Sunset Escape to Freedom Along the Potomac  

• Fairfax County Park Authority, Our Stories and Perspectives  
• The story of Conn’s Ferry and the escape of the enslaved man Ellick and its connection to Riverbend Park.  
• Repository: https://ourstoriesandperspectives.com/2018/02/24/a-sunset-escape-to-freedom-along-thepotomac/   

The Transatlantic Slave Trade Encyclopedia Virginia

• The transatlantic slave trade involved the purchase by Europeans of enslaved men, women, and children from Africa and their transportation to the Americas, where they were sold for profit. Between 1517 and 1867, about 12.5 million Africans began the Middle Passage across the Atlantic, enduring cruel treatment, disease, and paralyzing fear.
• Includes: Summary, Origins, Map, Time line, etc. Repository: https://encyclopediavirginia.org/entries/transatlantic-slave-trade-the/

Slave Ships Encyclopedia Virginia

• The slave ship was the means by which nearly 12.5 million enslaved Africans were transported from Africa to the Americas between 1500 and 1866 as part of the transatlantic slave trade. Slave ships ranged in size from the ten-ton Hesketh, which could carry a crew plus thirty captive Africans, to the 566-ton Parr, which carried a crew of 100 and could hold a cargo of as many as 700 enslaved people.
• Includes: Background, Ships and Voyage, Captains and Crews, Captive Africans
• Repository: https://encyclopediavirginia.org/spotlight-slave-ships-and-the-middle-passage/

Slavery in Fairfax County, Virginia 1750-1860: a research report prepared by Donald M. Sweig

• Repository: FCPL 975.529 S

New W &OD , cemetery signs explain county’s history of segregation

• by Brandi Bottalino
• NOVA Parks unveiled two signs along the W&OD Trail about how Jim Crow laws affected passengers taking the Washington & Old Dominion (W&OD) train line in the 1900s.
• https://www.novaparks.com/parks/washington-and-old-dominion-railroad-regional-park/updates/wod-trail-interpretive-signs

Underground Railroad Map     

• National Geographic Survey
• Repository:https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/undergroundrailroad

 Underground Railroad Journey to Freedom >Experiences

• National Park Service  
• Repository: https://www.nps.gov/subjects/undergroundrailroad/index.htm

Underground Railroad in Virginia

• Topics covered include Background, Origins and Development, Participants, Map, and Time Line
• Repository: "Underground Railroad in Virginia" Encyclopedia Virginia. Virginia Humanitie By Cassandra Newby-Alexander January 26, 2022 https://encyclopediavirginia.org/entries/underground-railroad-in-virginia/ 

George Washington’s Forgotten Slaves

• The story of uncovering the graves of the forgotten enslaved at Mount Vernon.
• Popular Archaeology
• Repository: https://popular-archaeology.com/article/george-washingtons-forgotten-slaves1/

Virginia Slave Trade  Statistics  1698- 1775

• Subjects Covered:  Virginia Slave Trade  and Slave Population Statistics
• Repository: Walter E. Minchinton     FCPL 326 M

The Negro in Virginia A planned study completed for the WPA by the Federal Writer’s Program. African American staff of the Writer’s Program interviewed @300 once enslaved from Virginia to tell the “story of the Negro” from the African American point of view. Using the interviews and factual research, their writing describes “Negro” life  in Virginia from Jamestown.The book was recognized as a Book of the Month club in 1940.

• Repository: FCPL 305.396.W
• Online version VCU Libraries: https://socialwelfare.library.vcu.edu/issues/discrimination/negro-virginia-1940/

The Origins of Slavery in Virginia

• The site documents the research with illustration and maps. The research was completed by a George Mason University geography class
• Repository:  www.virginia places.org   

Freedom is Not Enough: African Americans in Antebellum in Fairfax County

• 1801- 1908   describes social conditions, customs, Supreme Court Cases
• Repository:  Author Curtis L. Vaughn   FCPL 975.529 V

Give Me Liberty African Americans in the Revolutionary War

• Three different stories of Black Americans William Lee, James Lafayette, and Harry Washington during the American Revolution are told.
• Repository: https://www.mountvernon.org/george-washington/the-revolutionary-war/african-americans-in-the-revolutionary-war/

Runaway Slave Advertisements

• A selection of runaway slave advertisements from the Virginia Gazette and the Maryland Gazette between the years 1745 -1775 are included on line. Advertisements usually include a description of the enslaved, the reward offered, and the name of the person who placed the advertisement.
• Repository: National Humanities Center Toolbox The Making of African American Identity Vol. 1:https://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/pds/maai/enslavement/text8/text8read.htm

The Enslaved at Green Spring Farm

• Freedom at Green Spring . . . Sooner or Later Our Stories and Perspectives
• Sixty-six years prior to the Civil War in1795, John Moss wrote a deed of manumission (a release from slavery) for 14 enslaved men and women at Green Spring Farm. Each person’s year of freedom was delayed by several years on dates as chosen by Moss.
• Repository: https://ourstoriesandperspectives.com/2022/06/17/freedom-at-green-spring-sooner-or-later/

Ona (Oney) Judge, runaway slave

• Ona Judge escaped enslavement by President George Washington. Washington was not successful in trying to regain ownership of Judge.
• Repository: https://www.whitehousehistory.org/the-remarkable-story-of-ona-judge

State of Virginia – Historical Marker location near Mount Vernon

• Ona Judge (circa 1773-1848)
• Text: Ona (or Oney) Judge, born into slavery at Mount Vernon, became Martha Washington's personal attendant as a child. After George Washington was elected president in 1789, Judge was brought to New York City and later to Philadelphia to serve his household. Washington periodically sent her back to Virginia to skirt a Pennsylvania law that might have granted her freedom based on long-term residency. In 1796, after learning that she was to become a gift to Martha Washington's granddaughter, Judge escaped from Philadelphia to New Hampshire. There she married, had three children, taught herself to read and write, and lived for more than 50 years, having resisted Washington's attempts to recover her.
• Repository: https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=182596

Slave History Near Little River United Church of Christ

• William Gooding operated a tavern on Little River Turnpike just west of the Little River United Church of Christ. He enslaved over twenty people. Some of the enslaved are believed to be buried near the church property.
• Repository: https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5a4c0633914e6b17448f8f17/t/5aeb6622562fa7a9b2481c07/1525376547915/slaveHistoryNearLRUCC.pdf

Historic Overview of the Woodlawn Quaker Meetinghouse

• Throughout these years, the (Quaker) settlers befriended and supported economic independence and land ownership by free African Americans in the Woodlawn neighborhood and at Gum Springs,     the nearby free black community established by West Ford.
• Repository: https://woodlawnfriends.org/home/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/Historical-Overview-of-the-Woodlawn-Quaker-Meeting.pdf

 Virginia Slave Laws

• Digital History ID 71
• Starting as early as 1662, English colonists made laws that distinguished the black enslaved from the white servants.
• Repository: https://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/disp_textbook.cfm?smtID=3&psid=71

Nat Turner’s Revolt (1831) 

• On the evening of August 21–22, 1831, an enslaved preacher and self-styled prophet named Nat Turner launched the deadliest slave revolt in the history of the United States.
• Repository: Encyclopedia Virginia. https://encyclopediavirginia.org/entries/turners-revolt-nat-1831/

Virginia’s slave birth index 1853- 1865

• Alexandria Library (Alexandria, Va.)
• Heritage Books, 2007 - Biography & Autobiography - 714 pages
• In 1853, the Commonwealth of Virginia began an annual registration of births and deaths. The Birth Index of Slaves, 1853-1865 was later transcribed by the Works Project Administration (WPA) and recorded on microfilm. While the information-name of slave owner, infant's name, mother's name, birth date, place of birth-is of immense value to genealogists, working with the microfilm can be problematic. Hence, the creation of this multi-volume reference work, Virginia Slave Births Index, 1853-1865. In 2003, staff and volunteers with Local History/Special Collections, Alexandria Library began to transcribe the WPA microfilm, enter data into spreadsheets, and sort the information by slave owner's surname and given name.
• Entries include single births, multiple births, and stillbirths
• Repository: Alexandria Library Local History/ Special Collections 929.3755 VIRG 2007

Enslaved Population in Virginia  in 1860

• The number of enslaved people in Virginia on the eve of the Civil War is detailed in this map based on the U.S. Census figures of 1860, which was the last official count of enslaved African Americans in the United States. The map, created by the United States Coast Survey, made use of shading to indicate the density of the slave population in each county—the darker the county, the more enslaved people it contained. A breakdown of the precise numbers of whites and enslaved people in each county, as well as the percentage of the population that was enslaved, is shown in the table.
• Repository: https://encyclopediavirginia.org/658hpr-0c6b93ad73bfff7/

George Mason’s Views Regarding Slavery

• George Mason held men, women, and children in bondage until the end of his life. . . And yet,      Mason’s writings reveal his intense dislike of the institution of slavery. He was outspoken and   consistent in his disapproval.
• Repository: https://gunstonhall.org/learn/george-mason/mason-slavery/george-masons-views-regarding-slavery/

Stolen: five free boys kidnapped into slavery and their astonishing odyssey home

• “A gripping and true story about five boys who were kidnapped in the North and smuggled into slavery in the Deep South- and their daring attempt to escape and bring their captors to justice.”
• Provided by Publisher 
• Repository: Author-Richard Bell Fairfax County Public Libraries   326 B 2019