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.
- Counts before 1800 – Enslaved people were taxable property and were counted under their owners names in the tax rolls.
- Slaves at Oak Hill 1821 – 1856
- Slaves Owned by William Henry Fitzhugh in 1830 – listed by name and age from his estate inventory
- Manumitted Fitzhugh Slaves Registered as Free Blacks – those freed by William Henry Fitzhugh’s will who registered as free blacks in 1850-51, listed by name and age
- Information about the enslaved is also to be found throughout this site in the biographical and land parcel sections.