SLAVE PAPERS
Virtually every county existing in 1860 has a body of documents
referred to by the State Archives as "Slave Papers." These papers may include civil and
criminal actions papers relating to slaves, bills of sale for slaves, petitions to sell
slaves, bonds for slaves permitted to carry arms, petitions for emancipation and emancipation
bonds, patrol records, depositions and other records concerning runaway slaves, permits for
slaves to works, inquests into the death of slaves, etc. These records are designated for
some counties as records of slaves and free persons of color and containing records dating
through the Reconstruction period.
