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Ohio Court of Common Pleas (Jackson County) Manumission Documents and Register of Justices of the Peace, 1816-1854

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Summary

Creator:
Ohio. Court of Common Pleas (Jackson County)
Abstract:
The first portion of this volume dates from 1816 to 1854 and contains records on African Americans registering with the Jackson County, Ohio, Court of Common Pleas, in accordance with the state's restrictive Black Laws. The bulk of the entries are copies of evidence used to prove free status with brief notes about the officials who attested to the information in the originating state and recorded the information in Ohio. Occasionally the entries provide physical descriptions of the registrants, including general age, skin tone, height, hair, and scars or marks on their bodies. The second portion of the volume primarily contains copies of the commissions for Jackson County justices of the peace from 1816 to 1842. Occasional justices' resignations appear as well as documentation of ministers authorized to solemnize marriages.
Extent:
1 volume
Language:
English
Authors:
Collection processed and finding aid created by Jayne Ptolemy, April 2022

Background

Scope and Content:

The first portion of this volume dates from 1816 to 1854 and records information on African Americans registering with the Jackson County, Ohio, Court of Common Pleas, in accordance with the state's restrictive Black Laws. The first entry is apparently a copy of an 1816 document (Wm Sterett was county clerk in Mason, West Virginia) that was recorded by the Jackson clerk in 1818. The bulk of the entries are copies of evidence used to prove free status, with brief notes about the officials who attested to the information in the originating state and recorded the information in Ohio. Evidence provided includes manumission deeds, brief notes about manumission papers, portions of wills, oaths, court certificates, registration records from other states, and statements made in open court. Occasionally entries also provide physical descriptions of the registrants. Such descriptions often include the registrants' general age, skin tone, height, hair, and scars or marks on their bodies. Registrants in the volume appear to have migrated from Virginia, Kentucky, and North Carolina or have already been residents of Ohio.

Names of African American residents whose proof of free status was copied into the volume include:
  • Benjamin Johnston, enslaved and manumitted by Lawrence Augustine Washington "because of the solemn and entire conviction that I feel of the justice and propriety of the act"
  • Lewis and Jinsey Burchett, enslaved and manumitted by John Burchett
  • A number people enslaved and manumitted by John Poindexter, including Charles; Edy and her son Tarlton; and Jack
  • Charles, husband to Edy named above, manumitted by her "in consideration of the natural love and affection which I bear to my husband Charles whom I purchased of David Shepherd"
  • Walter, enslaved by Alexander Catlett and manumitted by his children Alexander Catlett, Jr., and Horatio Catlett
  • Children of Lucy Morris (alias Yancy), born free: William Henry Yancy, Martha Jane Yancy, Charles Alexander Yancy, Lucy Ann Yancy
  • Ann Carter, daughter of Hannah Grant, "a free woman of colour"
  • Sam Cale, son of Sam Cale, "a free man of Colour"
  • William Mitchel, "a Coulered man about to travel to the northwestern Country . . . born of free parents"
  • Various men, women, and children enslaved by John Skurry and emancipated by his will, including Mack Skurry; the children of Eliza Skurry (William, Giles, Richard, Jane, Betsy Ann, Nancy); and Sally Ann
  • Various men, women, and children enslaved by Joseph Perkins and emancipated by his will, including Isham; Milly, mother of five children, Ann, Martha, Jacob, John, and Isham; and Polly and her child Dick. Notably Polly appears to have registered in Jackson four years after Isham and Milly.
  • Charles Roberts, born free
  • Various men, women, and children enslaved by William Morrow and emancipated by his wife Elizabeth Morrow: Samuel Cale, his children Sam and Ester, and his grandchild Susan; Hannah Grant and her children Ann Carter, Jonathan, Reuben, Sam and Mary, and her grandchildren Frances or Sally; Sina and her child Fayette; Rachel and her five children, Betty, Sam, Agnes, Patton, and James
  • Milly, enslaved by Richard Hawks and emancipated by his will
  • Julius, enslaved by Thomas Whittington and emancipated by his will. Over fifty other additional men, women, and children were also named as being manumitted in the will.
  • Richard Grant (alias Dick), enslaved and manumitted by James Withrow
  • Ison McGhee, enslaved and manumitted by James Stephenson
  • Jesse Artist, "of free Parentage"

The second portion of the volume primarily contains copies of the commissions for Jackson County justices of the peace from 1816 to 1842, while occasional justices' resignations also appear as well as documentation of ministers authorized to solemnize marriages. Denominations represented include Lutherans, Baptists, Methodists, Presbyterians, and the United Brethren in Christ.

The collection also includes a single disbound page of financial accounts relating to court fees, ca. 1841.

Biographical / Historical:

While ambiguous and unevenly applied, the Ordnance of 1787 included provisions that prohibited slavery in the Northwest Territory. When Ohio gained statehood in 1803, it was as a free state with a constitution that barred slavery but restricted suffrage to white men. An act of 1803 limited militia enrolment to white men, and in 1804 and 1807 the state passed a series of laws, colloquially known as "Black Laws," to restrict African Americans' rights further, including limits on their ability to provide testimony in court and serve on juries. Among other proscriptions, the laws required that African Americans register upon entering the state, pay a registration fee, post surety bonds, provide proof of their free status, and have that proof certified by local county clerks. African Americans were required to show their certificate of freedom upon demand and were prohibited from being employed without one.

County clerks played a key role in enforcing the residency and migration laws. Appointed for seven-year terms by the Court of Common Pleas, county clerks controlled the process by which African American migrants to the state could gain legal residency, file their documentation, and gain certificates of freedom. Enforcement of the laws appears to have been inconsistent across counties and clerks, and evaluating whether documentation of free status was valid depended on individual clerks' assessments.

Ohio experienced significant migration from Kentucky, Virginia, and North Carolina, particularly in the southern region in which Jackson County is located. Bordering a number of slave states, free African Americans moved to Ohio and those fleeing from enslavement did as well. The United States census recorded 337 African American residents in 1800; 1,899 in 1810; 4,723 in 1820; 9,568 in 1830; 17,342 in 1840; and 25,279 in 1850.

Acquisition Information:
2020. M-7167 .
Arrangement:

The collection is a single bound volume.

Rules or Conventions:
Finding aid prepared using Describing Archives: A Content Standard (DACS)

Contents

Using These Materials

Info for Visitors

How to Request

Ordering Reproductions

Download PDF Finding Aid
RESTRICTIONS:

The collection is open for research.

USE & PERMISSIONS:

Copyright status is unknown

PREFERRED CITATION:

Ohio Court of Common Pleas (Jackson County) Manumission Documents and Register of Justices of the Peace, William L. Clements Library, The University of Michigan