This site contains data about free and enslaved Black people contained in the public records of Rockbridge County, Virginia. Each dataset linked below and via the menu is searchable, sortable, and downloadable. A guide to the fields, abbreviations, and data gathering practices can be found on each page. Original documents may be consulted in the Rockbridge County Courthouse or through FamilySearch.

The datasets on this site were compiled by Larry Spurgeon and other collaborators as listed. The datasets have been transferred to Special Collections and Archives at Washington and Lee University and are made available with a Creative Commons BY-NC-SA license. For questions about the research, contact Larry Spurgeon at lspurgeon333 [at] gmail.com. To cite this project, use the citation below.

Rockbridge County (Va) African-American research files, Coll. 0793, Special Collections and Archives, James G. Leyburn Library, Washington and Lee University

The website was created by Mackenzie Brooks (Digital Humanities Librarian) and is maintained by Leyburn Library, Washington and Lee University. For technical issues, contact her at brooksm [at] wlu.edu.

Enslaved People Identified in Rockbridge County Will Books, 1778-1865 Larry Spurgeon, Cinder Stanton, Lori Wood (2024)	The names of enslaved people were rarely mentioned in public records – not even censuses included names. One of the few exceptions is found in the will books for the Rockbridge County Circuit Court. Wills often mentioned enslaved people by name, and estates of all deceased persons were to be appraised for the values of personal property – and enslaved people were personal property. This project involved the review of Rockbridge will books from the county’s formation in 1778 through the end of the Civil War in 1865. The spreadsheet lists all the references to enslaved people, the names of the people who own them, and other pertinent information. About 4,750 enslaved names are included.
Free Black People in Rockbridge, 1778-1865 Larry Spurgeon (2020)	This spreadsheet lists the names of all the free Black people in Rockbridge County records during the time of slavery. More than 1,100 people are included. A separate "key" to the spreadsheet, including the sources used, is provided.
Emancipations of Enslaved People in Rockbridge County, 1778-1865 Larry Spurgeon, Adam Lewis, Andy Langeland (2024)	This spreadsheet identifies the names of enslaved people in Rockbridge County who were emancipated from the county's formation in 1778 to the end of the Civil War in 1865. The information comes from deed books, will books, the registers of "Free Negroes" in the circuit court records, and other sources.
Freedmen's Co-Habitation Records - Rockbridge County Larry Spurgeon (2020)	Enslaved people could not marry under Virginia law, though they often were married through custom and ceremonies. After emancipation in 1865, the United States Freedmen's Bureau encouraged formerly enslaved people to register their relationships, to formalize their marriages. The Rockbridge registrations were in 1866 and 1867, and the entries identify both spouses, their ages and places of birth, how long they had been a couple, and the names and ages of their children.
Qualified Colored Electors - Rockbridge County, 1867 Larry Spurgeon (2020)	After the Civil War, federal law set out a procedure for Confederate states to be readmitted - and that included adopting a new constitution that outlawed slavery, among other things. In 1867, an election was held in Virginia to select delegates to a state constitutional convention. Black men age 21 and older, who had been residents of a county for at least one year, were qualified to vote. In Rockbridge County, nearly 1,000 Black men registered to vote. This spreadsheet lists them by name and district.
Register of Free Negroes - Rockbridge County, 1803-1865 Larry Spurgeon (2020)	Virginia law required "free Negroes" to register with the county court clerk every five years, and each registration was then submitted to a judge for approval. If approved, the free person was given a certificate to verify free status. The original registration records for Rockbridge County are at the Library of Virginia, and Bob Vernon provided images of them to researchers in Rockbridge. This spreadsheet compiles the key information for each individual registration. It should be noted that the registration requirement was often ignored in Rockbridge - so that some free people never registered, and others registered once or twice.
Rockbridge Birth Register, 1853-1862 Larry Spurgeon (2021)	Virginia began requiring the registration of births and deaths at the county level in 1853. While citizens did not always comply with the requirement, many births and deaths were recorded in Rockbridge County, including the births and deaths of enslaved people. This spreadsheet compiles the reported births for Black people in Rockbridge from 1853 through 1862.
Rockbridge Death Register, 1853-1862 Rockbridge Death Register, 1864-1886 Larry Spurgeon (2021)	The first spreadsheet lists the deaths of Black people reported in Rockbridge County from 1853 to 1862, and the second spreadsheet covers the years 1864 to 1886. The year 1863 is missing from the court records.