SPECIMENS OF DEEDS AND WILLS, 1833-1860 121

"Third: I desire that the servants formerly the property of Col. George Love, whose names and number have been sent on to the Colonization Society (The number thus designated were forty-eight, two have since been born) shall be sent to Liberia, so as to carry out the arrangements made with that society for their liberation, and I further wish that their expenses shall be paid to Baltimore, Md., and that my wife shall give them such an amount of money as she may think advisable."

Extract from the will of Arthur B. Davies, of Amherst County, admitted to probate March 21st, 1853:

"It is my will and desire that all my slaves, fifteen in number and named as follows,-" (Here follow their names) "together with their future increase, shall be liberated and become invested with their freedom at my death, and for the purpose of removing them to some free state if that be lawful, or to Liberia if that shall become necessary, it is my will and desire that the debt now due to me by Charles S. Brown be collected and be used as a fund to effect that object. It is my further wish that in case any of my said slaves shall of their own free will and accord prefer remaining in slavery rather than accepting freedom under the provisions of this clause, then it is my desire that they shall be permitted to choose masters amongst any of my legatees hereinafter mentioned, and thereafter to become their slaves for life-the parents in such case to choose also for such of their infant children as may not be capable of making their own election."

Extract from the will of Philip Lightfoot, of Culpeper County, admitted to probate May 21st, 1855:

"I hereby emancipate and set free all the slaves I may possess or be entitled to at the time of my decease, who

Will Book No. 25, p. 274, Clerk's Office, Fauquier County, Virginia.

"Will Book No. 13, p. 51, Clerk's Office, Amherst County, Virginia,

122 SPECIMENS OF DEEDS AND WILLS, 1833-1860

are to enjoy their freedom as fully as if they had been born free. I give to each of my said slaves, without distinction of age or sex, the sum of one hundred dollars, to be paid to them respectively when my executor shall deliver to them their discharge from service. Moreover my executor is required to clothe each of them well, furnishing to each the necessary quantity of blankets and cause them to be moved to some place, or site, where they can enjoy their freedom, and I desire the clothing and expenses attending their removal to be paid out of my estate with the money on hand or money that can be first collected.

"My old and infirm negroes (if any) are to be supported in a suitable manner by my estate."

Extract from the will of William Smith, of Orange County, admitted to probate September 28th, 1857:

"It is my will and desire that my house servant, Maria, my man, Paul, and my woman, Celia, be allowed to choose their masters or mistresses or either, and when they have made such selection, I hereby give and bequeath them to such person or persons as they may respectively select, provided the person or persons, so selected by them, will take them as their property, but if they cannot be thus disposed of, then my executors are to select suitable places for them where they will be well clothed and taken care of upon the most reasonable and best terms they can, paying out of my estate such sums of money as may be necessary for this purpose.'

112

Extract from the will of George Washington Parke Custis, of Fairfax County, admitted to probate December 7th, 1857:

"And upon the legacies of my four granddaughters

'Will Book F., p. 222, Clerk's Office, Culpeper County, Virginia. "Will Book No. 12, p. 267, Clerk's Office, Orange County, Virginia,

SPECIMENS OF DEEDS AND WILLS, 1833-1860 123

being paid, and my estates that are required to pay the said legacies being free of debt, I give freedom to my slaves, the said slaves to be emancipated by my executors in such manner as to my executors may seem most expedient and proper, the said emancipation to be accomplished in not exceeding five years from the time of my decease.

"I do constitute and appoint as my executors, Lieut.Col. Robert Edward Lee, Robert Lee Randolph, of 'Eastern View', Right Rev. Bishop Meade and George Washington Peter."

Extract from deed of Eliza W. Cocke, of Smithfield, dated January 5th, 1857:

"Know all men by these presents that I, Eliza W. Cocke, of the Town of Smithfield, in the County of Isle of Wight, in the State of Virginia, from motives of benevolence have manumitted and set free from slavery, &c."

Extract from the will of Louisa Muschett, of Prince William County, dated 19th March, 1856, and admitted to probate on the 12th February, 1858:

"I will and desire all my servants to be hired out for three years, and at the end of that time, to be free, each grown servant to have fifty dollars, and each child to have twenty-five dollars."

Extract from the will of Robert Tinsley, of Amherst County, dated March 12, 1859, and admitted to probate January 20, 1862:

'Will Book No. 7, p. 267, Clerk's Office, Fairfax County, Virginia. Note: Robert E. Lee qualified as executor under this will and executed in 1862 the necessary papers emancipating the testator's slaves of whom there were one hundred and ninety-six.

'Deed Book No. 39, p. 344, Clerk's Office, Isle of Wight County, Virginia.

See Will Book Q., p. 433, Clerk's Office, Prince William County, Virginia.

124 SPECIMENS OF DEEDS AND WILLS, 1833-1860

"It is my will and desire that the residue of my slaves and future increase be emancipated and removed at the expense of my estate to one of the free states of this Union. Although there are some legal impediments, I suppose with the provisions I intend for them they can be settled in Ohio, or some other of the Western States. I wish them settled in families upon tracts of land to be purchased and secured to them to the amount of one hundred dollars a head, and furnished with a substantial suit of clothes suitable to the season and plain provisions sufficient for a year's supply, and this is to be done as soon as sufficient funds can be raised from collection of debts in aid of any money I may leave on hand...

"If the slaves cannot be settled in Ohio, or some other free state of this Union, I wish them properly equipped and sent to Liberia at the expense of my estate."

No attempt has been made to present extracts from all the great number of deeds and wills which are to be found of record in the various clerks' offices throughout Virginia but the foregoing have been selected as fairly representative, both with respect to the time of their execution, the different sections of the state in which they are to be found, and the social position of the emancipators. They are also illustrative of the great number of emancipations and of the difficulties and expenses incurred by Virginia slaveholders in effectuating that result.

Will Book No. 16, p. 106, Clerk's Office, Amherst County, Virginia.

THE SMALL NUMBER OF SLAVEHOLDERS IN VIRGINIA AS COMPARED WITH HER WHOLE WHITE POPULATION

AMONG the many widespread misconceptions which existed with respect to slavery in Virginia, was the impression that the great majority of her citizens were slaveholders; that the slaves were scattered throughout the state, enriching by their labors every community, and that thus their emancipation was opposed from purely pecuniary motives. A presentation of the actual conditions will suffice to demonstrate that this impression was erroneous. The facts show that the slaveholders constituted a small minority of the population, and that, with comparatively few exceptions, the great body of the slaves were to be found within certain well defined sections of the state.

The United States census for 1860 fixes the white population of Virginia at 1,047,299 and the number of slaveholders at 52,128.1 Admiral Chadwick, in his work, Causes of the Civil War, says: "Of the 52,128 slaveholders in Virginia, one-third held but one or two slaves; half held one to four; there were but one hundred and fourteen persons in the whole state who owned as many as a hundred each, and this out of a population of over a million whites."

Thus, out of a population of over one million, only some

18th Census, 1860, Vol. on Agriculture, p. 245.

'Causes of the Civil War, American Nation Series, Chadwick,

p. 33.