Strangers in Their Midst: The Free Black Population of Amherst County Virginia

This book presents a historical overview of the free Negro in Virginia, from the mid-eighteenth century through the Civil War, along with the physical and historical background of Amherst County. The original edition preserved a wealth of information on nearly 1,200 free persons of color who lived in Amherst County prior to the Civil War. This second edition contains well over 350 new names. In addition, more than a hundred names from the previous book have been expanded with new information. An entire chapter on the Indian population of Amherst County has been added and the chapter dealing with the history of slaves and free colored persons in Virginia has been substantially enlarged.

A verbatim transcript of the Amherst County Register of Free Blacks, 1822-1864, follows the narrative. Misspellings and capitalization have been preserved as they were recorded, and the entries are presented in the original chronological order. The last section is alphabetical by name and lists individual data on all known free Negroes in Amherst County during the study period, 1761 to 1865. A new glossary of terms, endnotes, and an index augment the text.