Enslaved Labor in the Shenandoah Valley

Enslaved Labor in the Shenandoah Valley. History of Slavery on the Pritchard Farm. , Three generations of the Pritchard family utilized enslaved labor in their farming and business ventures from at least as early as 1778 to the time of the Civil War. Stephen Pritchard, Sr. (1745-1819) and his son Stephen Jr. (1776-1858) each held about a dozen enslaved African Americans. But Stephen Jr.'s son, Samuel (1815-1875), did not own slaves in accordance with the 1860 slave census. Was this because of his 1857 marriage to Helen Johnson from New Jersey?, Historical records are unclear on this matter. What we do know is when Helen Pritchard appeared before the Southern Claims Commission in 1878 to seek reimbursement for property taken during the war she was asked about potential witnesses, her response was "We had black slaves, but I don't know where they are." Perhaps Samuel Pritchard did not directly keep people in bondage, but utilized enslaved labor through rental agreements with local slave owners., So what happened to the enslaved African Americans who lived and worked on this property? Per family wills, most were passed on to selected adult children, less Samuel, along with other inherited property. And while the individual fate of these enslaved African Americans is not clear, we do know many of their given names: Jacob, Richard, Molly, Amos, Anthony and others. It is clear while some of these enslaved African Americans lived out their lives in bondage and are buried somewhere on the Pritchard property, others no doubt obtained their freedom during the ebb and flow of the Civil War in the lower Valley. And like many of the newly minted freedmen, some migrated to nearby cities in search of work while others choose to stay in the area and help establish one of the dozens of local African American communities that sprang up after the war., (Sidebar):, Although the population of enslaved people in Frederick County, VA was less than in areas such as Virginia's Tidewater region, enslaved people comprised about 15% of the population in 1860. Enslaved people, including those rented from outside of the county, played a vital part in this area's mostly agrarian economy at that time., (Captions):, Enslaved Virginia Family in 1862 , Photo by G. H. Houghton, 1850 Slave Census (Stephen Pritchard, Jr.)