slaves in Botetourt Co., Virginia (1)
Following are excerpts from the will of Joseph Snodgrass Jr., dated 20 Jul 1809; probated Sep 1809 in Botetourt Co., VA:
"I lend unto my beloved wife Mary Snodgrass... my negro woman Lidda"
"I also lend unto my s'd wife my two negro girls Whitty and Aggy until my s'd daughters Polly and Caroline shall marry or come of age & when my s'd daughter Polly shall marry or come of age I give her my negro girl Whitty till she the s'd Whitty comes to the age of thirty five years"
" I further give to my daughter Caroline, when she comes of age or marries, my negro girl Aggy until she, the sd. Aggy, comes to the age of thrity five years"
"I also give to my sons Robert & John my negro woman Matilda til she comes to age of thirty nine years and my two negro boys Ben & Peter, Ben until my son George comes of age & Peter until Bartley comes of age."
"I give to my son George...when he comes of age I give him my negro boy named Ben untill the said Ben comes to the age of thirty five years and in ... compensation for the use of sd. Ben I require that my son Robert shall give to my sd. son George when he comes of age a horse worth sixty dollars"
"I give to my son Bartley...my negro Peter when my sd. son shall come of age untill the sd. Peter comes to the age of thirty five years."
"I further will that if my negro woman Liddy have a child, it shall go to my son Henry untill the sd. child shall come to the years of thirty, and if Liddy has a second child, it shall go to my son Joseph untill the sd. child shall arrive at the age of thirty five years, and if she has any more, they shall all go to my son Henry until they severally come to the age of thirty five years."
"And if my wife should die before my negro woman Liddy comes to the age of thirty five years, that the ballance of the term shall serve my son Henry and as I am persuaded that it is contrary to the spirit of the Gospel to keep our fellow creatures in bondage, I do hereby manumet and set absolutely free all my said negroes, to-wit:Matilda aged twenty nine years, when she comes of the age of thirty nine years, my negro woman Lidda aged 24 years when she comes to the age of thirty five, my negro boy Ben aged 6 years, my boy Peter aged 5 years, my negro girl Whitty aged 4 years, Aggy aged 2 years, when they severally come to the age of thirty five years and their increase provided a law should exist in the State to free them.And if no such law should then exist, I will that they and their increase shall be free as soon as such a law is made.And in order to prevent any pause in their obtaining their freedom, I do hereby authorize and require my executors or the Guardians of the children as the case may be to take Bonds with sufficient security from each of my said children when they receive any of the negros to produce sd. negroes as they the sd. negroes come of the age above mentioned.Providing never-the-less and my will is that if my said sons Robert and John do not pay my debts that the whole of my personal property be sold (except so much furniture and stock as my wife shall need and my negro woman Liddy) the negroes till they come to the ages above mentioned under the restriction above..."
Botetourt Co., Virginia, Register of Free Negroes, No. 24:Matilda, 39 years of age; black; 5 feet; emancipated by the Will of Joseph Snodgrass; registered Feb 1820.
Matilda appears on the 1820 census, Botetourt Co., Virginia, page 500 (page 72) [image 48 of 57]:
Matilda Snodgrass = 1 free negro female 45+
Lydia appears on the 1830 census in Botetourt Co., VA, page 318, line 11 [name is on image 125 or 146; tic marks are on image 126 of 146]:Lydia Snodgrass, 3 free colored males under 10; 1 free colored female 10-23; 1 feee colored female 24-35; 1 free colored female 36-54.
1840 census, Fincastle, Botetourt Co., VA, page 304 [image 3 of 6]:
Lydia Snodgrass = 1 free colored female 36-54.