US, Virginia—Birth Records, 1853–1900 [M3QZ-B6X] Free person has father listed as owner

CScott278

https://www.familysearch.org/indexing/batch/d9ab0fb4-5da2-426c-aee1-fa266ffb7505

Entry 4 lists the father then in the source of information the father's name is listed again, with owner after it. The child is listed as free. Any advice?

Melissa S Himes

I think that you have to follow the instructions and only index the name once in the father's fields.

When the mark or letter appear in the Free column, index the name from the Father's Name (or Name of Owner) column in the Father's Name fields.

The instructions go on to tell us: when the mark or letter appear in the Slave column, index the name from the Father's Name (or Name of Owner) column in the Slave Owner's name fields. If there is no mark or letter in either column, leave the Father's Name fields and the Slave Owner's name fields blank.

CScott278

Thank you, Melissa. Whenever I read your comments about instructions they seem to make sense. You have the gift of making things clearer!