Sadly I am out and about and not able to quickly fact check, but I do believe another reason he didn’t because it was illegal at the time in Virginia for a freed slave to say residing in the state.
Sadly I am out and about and not able to quickly fact check, but I do believe another reason he didn’t because it was illegal at the time in Virginia for a freed slave to say residing in the state.
One of my ancestors was a Free Negro in the censuses before and after the civil war. So were her children.
I was not aware of this reality until I got serious in our genealogy.