This dataset includes 8 TIFF files showing emancipation bills from Lancaster County in Virginia. They were created by enslavers or “masters” seeking to free indentured servants or enslaved people from their servitude. These documents were collected in association with the Dangerous Harbor Project which used courthouse documents to identify escaped unfree laborers in the 17th century Chesapeake and the punishments associated with their escape.
Naming conventions of files: There are 3 parts to the file naming convention of the court orders.
For example: LancasterOrders_1655-1666_0001
LancasterOrders: Identifies the county the court documents are from and the type of document
1655-1666: Identifies the timeframe in which the court documents were written
0001: Identifies the page’s position within the reel