slaveryto
freedom
Bedford County, Pennsylvania
Images of Slave Registration Documents
The following items are taken from the "Bedford County Prothonotary and Clerk of Courts Miscellaneous Slave Records," on microfilm number 6586 (LR-278) at the Pennsylvania State Archives, Harrisburg. Due to their age at the time of being microfilmed, few of the images were suitable for reproduction. These images were first copied from microfilm with standard photocopy equipment at the archives and then scanned for inclusion on this page.
Letter of Registration of Henry
Lloyd, Huntingdon Township,
27 October 1780
Transcription: Sir I
desire you wold be pleasd--
To Enter my Negroes in your Doct acording to the act of asembly--
I have five gown Negroes and two young ones to wit molatoes No more to [word
unreadable] but remane yor Very humble svt.
Hen Lloyd
Huntingdon october 27 1780
Sambo about 50 James about 32 years
Jacob about 20 philis about 40
Leah a molatoe about 24
Briget about 2 years old
Cubit an infant 1 Day old
Letter of Registration of John
Bonnet,
Bedford Township, 30 March 1789
transcription: To
David Espy Esquire Clerk of the peace of the County of Bedford--
The Return of John Bonnet of the Township & County of Bedford Innholder Possessor
of one mullato Boy named Patrick aged six years the last day of september 1788.
also one other mullatto Boy named Peter aged Four years the twenty second day
of February 1789.
Please to Record the above described Boys for
(signature of Jean Bonnet)
30th March 1789.
Now Available to Read
The Year of Jubilee
Vol. 1: Men of God and Vol. 2: Men of Muscle
by George F. Nagle
Both volumes of the Afrolumens book are now
available to read on this site
The Year of Jubilee is the story of Harrisburg'g free African American community, from the era of colonialism and slavery to hard-won freedom.
Volume One, Men of God, covers the turbulent beginnings of this community, from Hercules and the first slaves, the growth of slavery in central Pennsylvania, the Harrisburg area slave plantations, early runaway slaves, to the birth of a free black community. Men of God is a detailed history of Harrisburg's first black entrepreneurs, the early black churches, the first black neighborhoods, and the maturing of the social institutions that supported this vibrant community.
It includes an extensive examination of state and federal laws governing slave ownership and the recovery of runaway slaves, the growth of the colonization movement, anti-colonization efforts, anti-slavery, abolitionism and radical abolitionism. It concludes with the complex relationship between Harrisburg's black and white abolitionists, and details the efforts and activities of each group as they worked separately at first, then learned to cooperate in fighting against slavery. More here
Non-fiction, history. 607 pages, softcover.
Volume
Two, Men of Muscle takes the story from 1850 and the Fugitive Slave
Law of 1850, through the explosive 1850s to the coming of Civil War
to central Pennsylvania. In this volume, Harrisburg's African American
community weathers kidnappings, raids, riots, plots, murders, intimidation,
and the coming of war. Caught between hostile Union soldiers and deadly
Confederate soldiers, they ultimately had to choose between fleeing
or fighting. This is the story of that choice.
Non-fiction, history. 630 pages, softcover.