Deeds of Manumission

Notes on the Transcription of the Bourbon County Deeds of Manumission

Deeds of manumission were filed with the Bourbon County Clerk's Office so that freed African-Americans could have a document that verified their free status. In a slave state, where the vast majority of African-Americans were enslaved, this document was essential to a free black person to maintain their ability to travel or otherwise be "at large" in a society that viewed any black person in unsupervised circumstances with suspicion. Also, included in the book but not in this transcription are oaths that were taken by white persons moving into Kentucky with slaves in their possession, in which they promised that the slaves were not being brought into the state for the purpose of selling them. This did not prevent them from selling their slaves if they decided to in the future but was supposed to adhere to Kentucky law that prevented slave importation for the express purpose of sale.

The deeds are filed in the book roughly by date of filing with the clerk. The date of filing was not always the same as the date the emancipation was considered to be effective. I have arranged the listing by the owner(s) name(s) since the slave being freed was not always listed with a surname. Emancipation of slaves by the owner in his or her will was common; some of the deeds indicate motives of "benevolence and humanity". Deeds of emancipation were also filed by husbands for their wives after they had purchased them from their masters, or parents for their children. Physical descriptions were often given so that, if a free person was challenged, identifying characteristics such skin color, perceptible scars or marks, and height and/or weight could be checked to make sure that the person in question was the same one as indicated on the deed.

Slave emancipation was made much more difficult in Kentucky after 1850 when the new constitution instituted more stringent conditions for manumission. The most difficult one was the requirement that freed slaves leave the state. Owners freeing their slaves also were required to see that the freed slave did not become a charge on the county, a requirement that predated 1850. Some owners took out a security bond to meet this condition; others required a surviving relative to see that the freed person was taken care of. Still others required that the freed person move to Liberia, or, to a free state.

The transcriptions were made by Nancy O'Malley, Dept. Of Anthropology, University of Kentucky. She can be reached for questions or corrections at 859-257-8208, Monday through Friday, 8:30 to 4:30. She also has transcribed all of the free black persons listed in the federal census records for Bourbon County for the census years prior to the Civil War.