In these depositions, several indentured servants, captured in an attempt to rebel in Gloucester County, explain what their plan was and how it should have been executed. Some spelling has been modernized.
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Author: General Court
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Punishment for the Enslaved Man Sam (1688)
On April 26, 1688, the General Court found Sam, the slave of Richard Metcalfe of Westmoreland County, guilty in James City County of promoting a slave rebellion. His conviction came just six months or so after a suspected plot was discovered in Westmoreland County. Some spelling has been modernized and contractions expanded.
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General Court Hears Case on Witchcraft (1626)
The following is a transcript of the proceedings of the General Court, meeting in Jamestown on September 11, 1626. The court heard evidence against Joan Wright of Surry County, who was accused by her neighbors of practicing witchcraft. She was acquitted in, perhaps, the earliest allegation of witchcraft on record against an English settler in North America. Some spelling has been modernized and contractions expanded.
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The Deaths of Elizabeth Abbott and Elias Hinton (1624)
In these depositions, delivered to the General Court on October 10, 1624, various indentured servants, masters, and other witnesses testify about the deaths of two servants—Elizabeth Abbott and Elias Hinton—at the hand of their master and mistress, John and Alice Proctor. Some spelling has been modernized and contractions expanded.
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Testimony in the Trial of Gabriel (October 6, 1800)
In the following testimony, several black informants testify against Gabriel, an enslaved blacksmith owned by Thomas H. Prosser. They accuse him of being the leader of what came to be known as Gabriel’s Conspiracy. Witnesses also testify against slaves named Thilmans Dick and Randolph.
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General Court Responds to Runaway Servants and Slaves (1640)
The following two General Court cases, from July 1640, are a sampling of the Virginia colonial government‘s response to the problem of runaway indentured servants and slaves. Some spelling has been modernized and contractions expanded.
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A Black Indentured Servant Sues for His Freedom (1675)
This letter serves as a petition to Virginia governor Sir William Berkeley and members of the General Court on behalf of Phillip Corven, a black indentured servant who claims to have had his rights violated by his master. Following the petition is an excerpt from the proceedings of the General Court, dated June 16, 1675, in which the judges order that the servant be freed. From the first document to the second, the servant’s name changes from Corven to Gowen, and his master’s from Charles Lucas to Jonathan Lucas. Some spelling has been modernized and contractions expanded.
