RUFFIN AND MEADE FAMILY PAPERS, #642, 1796-1906
Correspondence, mostly of women, and miscellaneous papers of the Meade family of Prince
George County and the Ruffin family of Hanover County, Virginia. Letters express strong
opinions on the war and often mention local instances of slave resistance. Included are
descriptions of the British seizure of ships near Rossgill, Virginia, and the exodus of many
local slaves to the British (1814); the public whipping of slaves in Prince George County,
designed to deter an insurrection (1861); a Virginia African
American who supported his former mistress financially after her son was shot by another
African American (1866); and a fever which killed hundreds of
African Americans in Alabama (1866). Partial microfilm
available.