AFRICAN AMERICANS in ANTEBELLUM FAIRFAX COUNTY By
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FREEDOM IS NOT ENOUGH: AFRICAN AMERICANS IN ANTEBELLUM FAIRFAX COUNTY by Curtis L. Vaughn A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of George Mason University in Partial Fulfillment of The Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy History Committee: Director Department Chairperson Program Director Dean, College of Humanities and Social Sciences Date: Fall Semester 2014 George Mason University Fairfax, VA Freedom Is Not Enough: African Americans in Antebellum Fairfax County A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at George Mason University by Curtis L. Vaughn Master of Arts George Mason University, 2008 Director: Jane Turner Censer, Professor Department of History Fall Semester 2014 George Mason University Fairfax, VA This work is licensed under a creative commons attribution-noderivs 3.0 unported license. ii DEDICATION This is dedicated to all those people who study the past as a guide to understanding our condition in the present and our possibilities in the future. iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to thank all those people who have made this happen. Katrina Krempasky of the Fairfax County Historic Records staff was invaluable in assisting me in my research. Dr. Censer and the other members of my committee provided insights that were essential to the clarity of this work. Also, special thanks go to fellow students and friends who encouraged me through the completion of this project. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS Page List of Tables .................................................................................................................... vii List of Figures .................................................................................................................. viii Abstract .............................................................................................................................. ix Introduction—A Land In Transition ................................................................................... 1 Chapter One--Opportunities And Boundaries .................................................................. 25 Changing Societies along the Border ............................................................................ 26 Applying the Law in the Borderland ............................................................................. 37 Moving across Borders.................................................................................................. 49 Rejecting Africa ............................................................................................................ 62 Chapter Two--African Americans And Local Implementation Of The Law ................... 75 Engaging the Judicial System ....................................................................................... 77 Implementing State Laws .............................................................................................. 94 Seeking Justice ............................................................................................................ 108 Chapter Three--Farms, Grit, And Economic Reward ..................................................... 122 Preserving a Legacy .................................................................................................... 127 Laboring for Ownership .............................................................................................. 139 Keeping Families Intact in the Face of Slavery .......................................................... 153 Challenging Racial Boundaries ................................................................................... 166 Accessing Land Without Ownership........................................................................... 171 Chapter Four--A Perilous Path To Independence For Women ....................................... 177 Struggling to Find Protection ...................................................................................... 181 Grappling with Land Ownership ................................................................................. 191 Bearing the Burden...................................................................................................... 206 Chapter Five--Outside The Prime Working Years ......................................................... 220 Placing a Value on the Young ..................................................................................... 228 v Living on the Fringes of White Paternalism ............................................................... 238 Laboring into their Final Years ................................................................................... 245 Conclusion--Both African And American ...................................................................... 257 References ....................................................................................................................... 265 Primary Sources .......................................................................................................... 265 Newspapers and Publications .................................................................................. 265 State and Federal Records ....................................................................................... 265 Books, Articles, and Web Sites ................................................................................... 266 vi LIST OF TABLES Table Page Table 1 1800 Population of the District of Columbia and Neighboring Jurisdictions...... 29 Table 2 1830 Population of the District of Columbia and Neighboring Jurisdictions...... 30 Table 3 1860 Population of the District of Columbia and Neighboring Jurisdictions...... 30 Table 4 Free African American Neighbors of Anna Maria Fitzhugh ............................... 68 Table 5 Summary of Registrations of Free African Americans in Fairfax County, 1822- 1861................................................................................................................................. 101 Table 6 Free African Americans Allowed to Remain in Fairfax County Prior to 1831 . 104 Table 7 Court Ordered Compensation to Apprentices, 1845-1860 ................................ 231 Table 8 Expenditures on the Poor in Fairfax County during the 1850's ......................... 240 vii LIST OF FIGURES Figure Page Figure 1 Lossing sketch of West Ford in 1859. .............................................................. 129 Figure 2 1815 Survey of Gum Springs Tract shown as Lot No. 1 in the plat................. 132 Figure 3 1860 Property Map of a portion of Mason's Neck in Southeastern Fairfax County showing land holdings of Elijah Blackburn, Richard Blackburn, and George Williams. Map overlays 1960 property boundaries of the area. ..................................... 136 Figure 4 1860 Property Map showing the land holdings of the descendants of slaves freed by Robert Carter, III. Map overlays 1960 property boundaries of the area. ................... 144 Figure 5 Caricature of Thorton Gray as an old man. He is depicted with a hoe in his hand showing his labor even at an advanced age. ................................................................... 247 viii ABSTRACT FREEDOM IS NOT ENOUGH: AFRICAN AMERICANS IN ANTEBELLUM FAIRFAX COUNTY Curtis L. Vaughn, Ph.D. George Mason University, 2014 Dissertation Director: Dr. Jane Turner Censer Prior to the Civil War, the lives of free African Americans in Fairfax County, Virginia were both ordinary and extraordinary. Using the land as the underpinning of their existence, they approached life using methods that were common to the general population around them. Fairfax was a place that was undergoing a major transition from a plantation society to a culture dominated by self-reliant people operating small farms. Free African Americans who were able to gain access to land were a part of this process allowing them to discard the mantle of dependency associated with slavery. Nevertheless, as much as ex-slaves and their progeny attempted to live in the mainstream of this rural society, they faced laws and stereotypes that the county’s white population did not have to confront. African Americans’ ability to overcome race-based obstacles was dependent upon using their labor for their own benefit rather than for the comfort and profit of a former master or white employer. ix When free African Americans were able to have access to the labor of their entire family, they were more likely to become self-reliant, but the vestiges of the slave system often stymied independence particularly for free women. Antebellum Fairfax had many families who had both slave and free members and some families who had both white and African American members. These divisions in families more often adversely impacted free African American women who could not rely on the labor of an enslaved husband or the lasting attention of a white male. Moreover, families who remained intact were more likely to be able to care for children and dependent aging members, while free African American females who headed households often saw their progeny subjected to forced apprenticeships in order for the family to survive. Although the land provided the economic basis for the survival of free African Americans, the county’s location along the border with Maryland and the District of Columbia also played a role in the lives of the county’s free African American population. Virginia and its neighbors remained slave jurisdictions until the Civil War, but each government wished to