A path to your enslaved ancestors
Research before 1865 requires a different approach. Begin with the state where your ancestors were held (from the first arrivals of the 1600s to Emancipation), then work backward from the 1870 census — the first to name formerly enslaved people.
Virginia
Statehood 1788 · Upper South
In 1619 the first recorded Africans in English North America arrived at Point Comfort, Virginia. Virginia had the largest enslaved population of any state, and from 1800 to 1860 it was the largest source of the domestic slave trade. Richmond and Alexandria traders shipped people south by land and sea.
Slavery Research Institutions
Where to Search Virginia Records
Open a pre-filled Virginia search on each repository. You don't need an account to start.
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Key Records
- County will books, inventories, deeds and order books (some from the 1600s)
- Free Negro registers and chancery court causes (which name enslaved people in estate disputes)
- 1850 & 1860 Slave Schedules
- Personal property tax lists counting enslaved people by enslaver
- Outward manifests from Richmond, Norfolk and Alexandria
Research Tips
- Chancery records at the Library of Virginia are searchable and often describe whole families.
- 'Burned record counties' lost records in wartime fires, so check deed reconstructions.
- Search Virginia Untold and Unknown No Longer for named individuals.
National Resources, 1600s to Emancipation
Databases that cover every state, from the Atlantic crossings to the search for family after freedom.