Fiduciary Records

Fiduciary records consist primarily of estate administrator settlements, estate inventories, dower allotments, estate divisions, estate sales, and guardian accounts involving enslaved people. Under the laws of chattel slavery, enslaved people were documented in these records along with other personal property. These records include the names of estate owners, value of personal property owned (including enslaved people), and names of recipients of property. Some fiduciary records include additional information regarding enslaved people such as age, family relationships, physical and mental condition, if they were sold to someone else, and if they self-emancipated (had run away from their enslaver).

The data in this collection is drawn directly from the historical documents and may contain language that is now deemed offensive.