The following research will contain the following:

• Name of a person of color OR indication thereof

• Their age(s), if given, as well as their gender, if given

• The date of the particular transaction or court entry

• Grantor - individual whom was the seller or the giving individual in the transaction

• Grantee - individual who was the buyer or the receiving individual in the transaction

• Deceased - this is the individual whose estate is being settle which often included people of color

• Legatee - an individual whom a deceased person willed part of their estate to

Deed Terms

• Agreement - a literal agreement between two parties

• Bill of Sale - this is where a grantor sold property to a grantee

• Mortgage - this is where the grantor has allowed the grantee temporary ownership of some property for a loan; most times this was to be void after payment returned

• Deed of Gift - where a grantor was gave the grantee some sort of property

• Deed of Trust or Trust Deed - a functional equivalent of a mortgage deed. It did not transfer ownership of property as say, a bill of sale would. Rather, it would make property collateral for a loan. In most cases there was a time period for repayment and if not met, the property could then be sold to recoup the money.

• Dissolution of Partnership - where a firm or business owners dissolved their partnership and divided property

• Marriage Contract - this deed usually was done to secure a woman’s property for her own before she married

• Power of Attorney - an individual would grant authority for some action to another in their behest

• Quit Claim or Release - the grantor in this deed is basically relinquishing any interest or ownership in the property

• Sheriff’s Sale - in some cases, the court would order that property be sold to recoup funds or to finalize a court suit; in these instances the sheriff is to the grantor or owner of the property

Court of Common Pleas - Description of Implements

• Sale; Deed Akn - this was a deed that was acknowledged in court, in most cases the deed can be found and will likely hold additional information

• Gift; Deed Akn - this was a Deed of Gift where an individual was giving another some sort of property and was acknowledged in court; in most cases the deed can be found and will likely hold additional information

• Trust; Deed Akn - this was a Deed in Trust which recorded the sale of property to satisfy a debt and was acknowledged in court; in most cases the deed can be found and will likely hold additional information

• Bound - the purpose was to provide a method of teaching orphaned or poor children with skills to become a productive adult; there is some question here as to whether children of color that were apprenticed were actually free persons of color. This particular resource shows that children of free persons of color and free illegitimate children of color were eligible for apprenticeship.

• Marriage Contract; Deed Akn - this deed usually was done to secure a woman’s property for her own before she married and was subsequently acknowledged in court

• Mortgage; Deed Akn - this is where the grantor has allowed the grantee temporary ownership of some property for a loan; most times this was to be void after payment returned

• Quit Claim; Deed Akn or Release; Deed Akn - the grantor in this deed is basically relinquishing any interest or ownership in the property

• Petition for Partition - this was to beg the courts approval to divide estate property of a deceased individual among legatees; in some instances you will be able to find the subsequent entry for how this property was actually divided

• Partition -where some property of a deceased person was divided among legatees

• State vs or Suit - this is a court case for some civil or criminal case

• Inventory - an entry record for the inventory of the estate, either of a deceased individual or of the property of a legatee of the deceased

• Court Order - this is a generic entry for some type of action that was set by the court

• Valuation - much like an inventory, this was an entry where a court ordered group would review and assign a value to property

• Emancipation -this was an entry where a person of color was going through the motions of being emancipated or freed from slavery

• Dower - the widow of a deceased man was entitled to a certain portion of her husband’s estate and the court would assign a group to value and assign her this property

• Estate Return - once an individual died, their estate would be set in a inventory of property, claims of money due and money owed, etc. Inventory of slaves will more than likely be found in the estate papers, but in some instances this inventory was recorded in court

• Hire - the estate of an individual may be in the red so to speak, meaning they owed more than they owned at their time of death. This was one reason that slaves would be hired out to others in the community at a price to increase the revenue an estate could produce. Sometimes, slaves who were willed or divided to legatees were also hired out for the purpose of, again, bringing in revenue for the legatee’s estate

• Petition to Sell - Much like the entry for hiring slaves, a way for an administrator/executor to pay off debts of the deceased was to sell property including slaves that were not willed otherwise; looking into a deceased individual’s estate records, especially estate sale records, is the best way to find more information

• Will - occasionally a will would be recorded in the court minutes and this may indicate where slave property were to be distributed or sold.