Mason Family Papers: The Digital Edition

The Fairfax Circuit Court Slavery Index refers to records held at the Fairfax Circuit Court Historic Records Center in Fairfax, Virginia. These records include probate documents, such as wills, trusts, deeds of gift, and estate settlements from the early 1700s-1860s, all which mention enslaved peoples. This index was created specifically to study slavery. Therefore, only probate records which reference enslaved peoples are included. Thus, this is not an index of all probate records at the Fairfax Circuit Court Historic Records Center. However, it is an index of all probate records which mention enslaved peoples.

Archivists at the Fairfax County Courthouse originally created this index on paper cards. The Mason Family Papers: The Digital Edition database contains transcriptions of these index cards. Included are all index entries for the Mason family, as well as other associates including the Barnes, Brent, Chichester, Love, McCarty, and Washington families. Researchers desiring to use the original records can access them at the Fairfax County Courthouse Historic Records Center using the citation found on each entry.