Free Persons of Color Mentioned in County Court Minutes

Tennessee state law, apparently passed around 1850, required free persons of color to register in their county of residence and execute a bond. These bonds were not recorded in the county’s Settlements and Bonds books, so it appears that the names listed below may not appear in any other county records.

County Court Minutes, 7 Jul 1851:

The following free persons of color, having been notified, appeared and entered into bond as the law requires relative to free persons of color, and the same is ordered to be disposed of as the law requires (to wit), Edmund Campbell, Judith Stewart and children, John Harris, Emma Brown, Violet Brown and children, Elmira Black, Caroline Brown, Joshua King, wife and children, Pleasant McCutchen, Drew Scott, Jordan Shavers, Roland Langston, James Harris and wife and children, Daniel Brown, wife & children, James Scott, Thomas Brown, Samuel Brown, Edward W. Moore, wife and children, John F. Moore, wife & children, Joseph Stewart and family, Elijah Davis, wife & children.

County Court Minutes, 8 Jul 1851:

Weston H. Moore and Willey H. Barnes and child, free persons of color, came into Court and entered into bond as the law directs.

County Court Minutes, 4 Aug 1851:

The following free persons of color appeared in open Court and entered into bond as the law requires relative to free persons of color (to wit): Simon S. Moreland, Washington Moreland, Henry B. Moore, Willie Moreland, William Brown, Lewis W. Moreland, James Finlay, Francis Brown, Anderson Moreland, Edward Moreland.

County Court Minutes, 6 Oct 1851:

Thomas Johnson, a free man of color, appeared in open Court and entered into bond as the law requires in regard to free persons of color, and the same is ordered to be disposed of as the law directs.

County Court Minutes, 6 Oct 1851:

Mary Jane Brown and George Brown, free persons of color, appeared and gave bond as the law directs, and the same is ordered to be disposed of as the law requires in such case.