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John Mercer Langston was born on December 14, 1829 to a freed slave, Lucy Langston, and a white man of “extreme old age," Ralph Quarles. At the time of Langston's birth, Virginia law specified that all children would be born into a “free or bond…

Henry Brown was born about 1815 in Louisa County at a plantation known as “The Hermitage,” located about two miles from Cuckoo (shown in this photo as it appears in 2011). His master, John Barret, was a Revolutionary war veteran and a former…

Death Certificate of Burton Payne founder of African American community "Payne Town" includes notation "slave of AG Wills" died at age 105

Martin and Martha Johnson appear in the Freedman’s Bureau marriage records for Louisa County – he is 42 and she is 39.

Barbara is listed as the daughter of Martin Johnson and Martha Johnson in a 1850 slave list.
In the 1900 census, Barbara…