Having recently purchased "a very valuable estate" in Nansemond County, Dr. Arthur Woolford, a Maryland slaveholder, seeks permission to bring his slaves into Virginia. His sole objective, he assures the legislature, is to have the slaves work on his farm and that "traffick and speculation are by no means intended." Dr. Woolford adds that "in this country, partialities and attachment must necessarily arise towards such slaves as have been reared and brought up by their owners. That a separation from servants who have long been accustomed to the habits and disposition of their masters and family, would produce mutual distress, inconvenience, and loss."
Result: Referred to slave committee.
Or you may view all people.
Repository: Library of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia
