The Jones holds materials in the collection that name and enumerate enslaved persons who lived in Lynchburg and surrounding areas.
In 2023, the Library began a systematic effort to make these materials more accessible through digitization, transcription, and publication. Listed here are resources from our collection that relate to enslavement and enslaved persons in the area.
Researchers are encouraged to check with other area organizations for additional materials.
Seth Woodroof Account Book
Seth Woodroof was a Lynchburg slave trader. Jones Memorial Library holds an account book which belonged to Woodroof.
The Seth Woodroof Account Book (Manuscript 1047) names and enumerates more than 200 enslaved persons in the city for the period 1834-1840. The book has been fully digitized and a dataset is published with Enslaved.org.
In 2024, the Seth Woodroof Account Book was named a Virginia Top Ten Endangered Artifact by the Virginia Association of Museums.
Link to Seth Woodroof Account Book
Link to Enslaved.org dataset and article
Potter Estate Papers
Jones Memorial Library holds a collection of documents known as The Potter Estate Papers (Manuscript 1140).
John Potter was a plantation owner who consolidated multiple parcels of rice farming land along the Savannah River in Chatham County, Georgia in the early 1800s to form the Colerain and Tweedside Plantations. Several hundred people were enslaved on the Potter plantations, including Thomas Sims and his mother Minda Campbell.
In 2024, the Library digitized, transcribing, and enumerating the enslaved persons named in this collection. A dataset and article was published in 2025 with Enslaved.org.
Link to Manuscript Collection 1140: The Potter Estate Papers
Link to Enslaved.org dataset and article
Projects in Progress
In 2025 and 2026, the Library has been digitizing, transcribing, and creating datasets for three manuscript collections and one unpublished work. We anticipate publication of these datasets in 2026 and 2027.
Submitted to the Journal of Slavery & Data Preservation (August 2026):
A Compilation of Slave Notices by William A. Worley, Jr. names 2,811 enslaved persons and 186 runaway persons listed in the Lynchburg, Virginia newspaper between 1814 – 1823. Worley compiled the index in the 1980s. The Jones has converted the index into a searchable dataset and added additional biographical details and names from the selected advertisements.
Submitting to the Journal of Slavery & Data Preservation (September 2026):
The John C. Noell Papers include receipts for transactions involving the 1862 transfer of 50 enslaved persons who lived and worked on the Lone Pine Farm in Bedford County, Virginia.
In Progress:
The Blackford Family Collection Item Set includes lists individuals enslaved in Lynchburg in the 1800s.
In Progress:
The Garland Family Collection Item Set includes the will of Samuel Garland, which names enslaved individuals living in Virginia as well as papers and lists of persons transferred from Virginia to three of Garland’s plantations in Hinds County and Coahoma County, Mississippi.
Manuscript Collections under Review
Jones Memorial Library holds additional materials that name and enumerate enslaved persons. Use our catalog to search for items in print format.
We are in the process of evaluating our manuscript collections for resources to digitize, transcribe, and extract biographical information.
Researchers can use the top search functions on our Omeka-S digital collections site to locate materials and Finding Aids to collections that are keyword tagged as including information on enslaved persons and enslavement. Resources include inventories, lists, bills of sale, and plantation & farm records.
Manuscripts that have not been digitized yet are open to researchers for in-person use in our Reading Room.
Jones Memorial Library preferences use of the keyword terms “enslavement” and “enslaved person”. However, many materials are described using terms “slavery” and “slave”, particularly with printed and published materials written in the 1900s. We suggest that researchers employ a variety of keyword terms when searching for materials. Researchers are encouraged to contact the Library with concerns about terminology as relates to specific materials or collections so that we may more quickly repair these descriptions.
Recommended Links
The following cultural heritage institutions are also engaged with research on enslavement in the city and state:
Silent Witnesses (collaborative public history project of the Legacy Museum of African American History and the Lynchburg Museum System)
Legacy Museum of African American History
Library of Virginia guide to Lynchburg Free Negro and Slave Records
Point of Honor (former plantation)
Old City Cemetery (burial place)
Thomas Jefferson’s Poplar Forest (former plantation)
Patrick Henry’s Red Hill (former plantation)
Avoca Museum manumission project (former plantation)
Sweet Briar College community cabin (former plantation)
Burroughs tobacco plantation (former plantation)
Virginia Slave Housing Project
The Geography of Slavery in Virginia
The Lemon Project at William & Mary
Genealogy of Slavery Project at Roanoke College
Freedom House Museum (Alexandria)
Project Gabriel at Virginia Commonwealth University
Virginia Emigrants to Liberia (UVA)