Description
Record of slave owners with their residence (township or town) and names of "Negro and Mullato" slaves with their age and birth date. Date of registration, slave owners occupation, and name of a slave's mother sometimes mentioned as well as length or condition of slavery. PA 1780 Act regarding slave registration is copied in the front of Volume I.
Arrangement: Chronological by entry date. Each registration of a slave owner's Return was assigned a number in sequential order. The 1779-1780 volume, compiled to meet the March 1780 State law for the registration of slaves by 1 November 1780, has registration numbers 1-314.The Registration # should not to be confused with the separate sequential numbering given to individual slaves to compile a total number of slaves.
The Returns in Volume II (1788-1841), "Record of Negros & Mullatos Born after 1 NOV 1780," are in two sections. The first section is for births registered from 1788-1789 with registration numbers 1-70. The second section, reflecting a new administration, is for births from 1790 to 1841 with registration numbers 1-300.
Note 1: Two or three Returns are sometimes combined on one Return.
Index: Only for Section 1 (#1-70: 1788-1789). Alphabetical by surname of slave owner with a registration number.
Related Records: Clerk of Courts Papers 1. SLAVE RETURNS 1780…1840 .