"Know all men by these presents that I, Eliza W. Cocke, of the Town of Smithfield, in the County of Isle of Wight, in the State of Virginia, from motives of benevolence have manumitted and set free from slavery, &c."[[178]]
Extract from the will of Louisa Muschett, of Prince William County, dated 19th March, 1856, and admitted to probate on the 12th February, 1858:
"I will and desire all my servants to be hired out for three years, and at the end of that time, to be free, each grown servant to have fifty dollars, and each child to have twenty-five dollars."[[179]]
Extract from the will of Robert Tinsley, of Amherst County, dated March 12, 1859, and admitted to probate January 20, 1862:
"It is my will and desire that the residue of my slaves and future increase be emancipated and removed at the expense of my estate to one of the free states of this Union. Although there are some legal impediments, I suppose with the provisions I intend for them they can be settled in Ohio, or some other of the Western States. I wish them settled in families upon tracts of land to be purchased and secured to them to the amount of one hundred dollars a head, and furnished with a substantial suit of clothes suitable to the season and plain provisions sufficient for a year's supply, and this is to be done as soon as sufficient funds can be raised from collection of debts in aid of any money I may leave on hand....
"If the slaves cannot be settled in Ohio, or some other free state of this Union, I wish them properly equipped and sent to Liberia at the expense of my estate."[[180]]
No attempt has been made to present extracts from all the great number of deeds and wills which are to be found of record in the various clerks' offices throughout Virginia but the foregoing have been selected as fairly representative, both with respect to the time of their execution, the different sections of the state in which they are to be found, and the social position of the emancipators. They are also illustrative of the great number of emancipations and of the difficulties and expenses incurred by Virginia slaveholders in effectuating that result.
| [163] | Will Book No. 14, p. 263, Clerk's Office, Bath County, Virginia. |
| [164] | Will Book No. 1, p. 90, New Records, Clerk's Office, Prince George County, Virginia. |