How do I determine if the person born is born in slavery?

moralesrichardanthony1

I am working on the following files: US, Virginia—Vital Records, 1715–1901 [Part B][M3RG-G4V]. It requires indexing both the parents and the owners if born in slavery. If the person named under "Father" or "Owner" is the same person is listed as the person providing the information, do I list them only as father and not owner? But if the person providing the information is not listed as father, do I assume the person listed here is the owner?

erutherford

These births are from 1868 and 1869. Slavery was abolished in 1863 and ended in 1865. You would mark the Owner's information as blank (Ctrl+B). Do not index the source of information. The source could be the father, but could also be an aunt or friend. We just don't know, that's why it's not part of the project.

Any colored person born before 1865 could have an owner's name. If they do, it is sometimes accompanied by words such as "owner" or a variation of "slave". They could also not have a last name (ie: Mary or John) or the mother is not listed, since slaves were property and were often listed only by sex and age on a census. There are also birth registers on enslaved people in this project.

Melissa S Himes

I would index these EXACTLY like the example How To Index A Birth Register, Enslaved Person. They do use the informant column to determine relationship.

A van Helsdingen

1863 was the year of the Emancipation Proclamation, which applied only in Confederate states occupied by the Union. It did not apply to the states on the Union side which permitted slavery, or in areas that remained under Confederate Control. It was not until 1865 when the 13th Amendment was ratified and the Union army defeated the Confederates that slavery was completely abolished throughout the United States