1783 at RockinghamBlack Refugees and the Crisis of American Freedom Search

Archive · The claimants write to the governor, 1782 to 1784

May 23, 1783

Hugh Walker to the governor, with a blank certificate

The letter quoted on Board 2: “I was not allowed to take any Slaves without their own consent.” Filed with it is a blank printed certificate “By Order of the Commandant,” New York, 1783, the form of certificate the register records as “GBC,” General Birch’s certificate of freedom.

Where it is kept
Library of Virginia, Harrison Executive Papers, GLR04619 (reel 19, frames 435 to 437).
Frame 1
Frame 2
Frame 3
Detail: the printed certificate