Virginia Vital Records-1715-1901 Birth Registry

Deborah Anne McParland

I am working on the batch US, Virginia—Vital Records, 1715–1901[M395-FDJ]. I am currently indexing a birth register from 1860.

There are several entries in the "Name of Child if Named" column with "Slave" listed as the name. Furthermore, their owners are listed in the place where the father's name would be recorded. I cannot find anything in the instructions that specifically addresses this.

I know that "Slave" is not a proper name; however, there is nothing else to put in that field. The place of birth is blank as well. Should I put the word "Slave," what is actually written on the document, into the first name field and then leave the surname field blank or should I leave both fields blank?

The name in the father's field is identified as the owner. While it is possible the owner might have been the father, that is not specified. So do I leave the fields for the parents' names blank or do I put the owner's name even though that is likely not the child's parent?

I have read the instructions a few times but I'm worried that I am not reading it correctly. Thank you so much for any help!

Susan Ann Mullen

Slave would be a descriptive term, not a name. Similar to infant or stillborn. You would mark this blank. Field help, Given name, bullet point 4: "Do not include titles, terms, prefixes, or suffixes with the name."

Thanks for asking!

Deborah Anne McParland

I understand what you are saying about that. I just feel bad that most of those children will have blank spaces other than gender and month of birth. 😥

I included two questions above. I probably shouldn't have but they are connected. Would I leave the parents' fields blank because it is the owner listed in the Father's column? I really don't want to mess anything up. Thank you for helping me.

ElaineRigby

We see that you are working on Virginia births and agree with you about sympathizing with the children who have no name given to them. Thank you for caring and for the work that you do.

As far as what to put in the Father’s field, the instructions say to put what is given on the document into the Father’s name fields. So putting in the owner’s name is the only option we have in this situation. We hope this helps you with this batch. If you have other questions, do not hesitate to contact us again.

Deborah Anne McParland

Thank you so much for your help!!