Free Negro Labor and Property Holding in Virginia, 1830-1860.

By: Luther Porter Jackson, Pub. 1942, Reprinted 2020, 290 pages, ISBN #0-89308-859-5.

Despite being a person of color and facing countless abuses, many of these free persons stayed in Virginia and made it their home. One must turn past the political reasons and look at the economic side as to why a free person of color would stay. This book is 3 decade study into the lives of these persons and the advancements they made in spite of the laws of the land. The author has included two appendix’s that list these free persons who owned property valued over $1000 in Petersburg and Free persons of color who owned more than 100 acres of land throughout the state. The reader will also discover numerious amounts of detailed data concerning these free persons within the footnotes throughout this book. This book will deliver great insight into the lives of these person. Even if you don’t have afro-american genealogy in your family, this book should be a MUST read for anyone intersted in Virginia History and Genealogy as a whole.