Often the most that can be done to measure the contributions of enslaved people to Ravensworth is to provide a count of those living and working in a certain household or parcel. Federal census did not list the names of enslaved people. For slaveholder households the earliest census, starting in 1790, counted the number of slaves; later census also recorded their gender and age.

Wills, estate inventories, contracts, deeds and other official records are sources that occasionally named the enslaved and recorded other information about them such as occupation and family relationships. Where these records are found, a more thorough report is possible.