Certificates of Emancipation
- Lawrence Lore
- Jul 16, 2024
- 1 min read
john King was looking for something else--a deed for a particular property when he noticed two entries of interest--Certificates of Emancipation proving that a person of color was a free man and not a slave,
The first was for JAMES ALEXANDER RUSSELL--we have had his Certificate of Emancipation in Warren Co KY, but John had never found his free papers locally. The filing date of 23 August 1841 places James A. Russell, a free man and not a slave, in Lawrence County by that date--very significant!
The other is for some newly discovered, yet unknown man named ODELY BOWELS, a free person of color, who had completed an apprenticeship with Morgan Brown in Tennessee in 1835.
We now have found seven Certificates of Freedom or Free Papers in the Lawrence County Deed Records: JAMES ALEXANDER RUSSELL, MARIA LEVAUGH RUSSELL, FLORELL RUSSELL, CASTERIA RUSSELL, EZEKIEL MADISON LEVAUGH, BASIL RUSSELL, and ODELY BOWELS.
If you would like to learn more about the history of free people of color in Lawrence County, contact us at lawrencelore@gmail.com