Adams County, Mississippi, U.S., Slave Certificates, 1858-1861

This small collection contains records of slave certificates from 1858-1871 and is part of a book labeled “Record Book Adams County” that was found in the basement of the Adams County Courthouse in Natchez, Mississippi, in 1999. These certificates where required by law for all the slaves that were brought to Mississippi from any other state for the purpose of being sold and cover the period from 1858 through 1861. It was to certify that no slave was guilty of any felony or crime and that they were lawfully possessed by the person offering them for sale.

The information for the slaves is minimal and can include the name, gender, color, age and weight. It can also contain the names of the slave trader, state and county in which the oath is being made, name of the justice receiving the oath, witnesses and the date it was received.

Updates:
29 Oct 2020: Changes were made to improve the performance of this collection. No new records were added.