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Rachel Findlay, slave, won her freedom by suing Virginia. Twice.

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Estimated reading time: 4 minutes

Tal Stanley and April Martin hold the Free Blacks Registry (VA)

Please welcome guest author April Martin, program director at the Wilderness Road Regional Museum, Newbern, VA. The museum houses the registry discussed below. She & Dr. Tal Stanley, of Emory & Henry College, hold it. Martin is also coordinator, Farm at Selu, Radford University, and museum coordinator, Ratcliffe Museum.

Our mountains hold many stories and echoes from the past. Several of those stories are remembered annually, such as the Mary Draper Ingles Weekend each July. Others are remembered on anniversary dates or to coincide with larger context history, such as the events in 2019 to commemorate 1619. And then there are stories that for one reason or the other are not as well known, but are equally inspiring and deserving.

One of those overlooked stories that make up the fabric of Old Fincastle is that of Rachel Findlay and her family. Not long ago the Wilderness Road Regional Museum rediscovered an “Endangered Artifact,” a registry which listed the Free People of Color of Pulaski County, 1851-1864.

Rachel Findlay’s descendants included in the Pulaski County Register of Free People of Color.
Rachel Findlay’s descendants included in the Pulaski County Register of Free People of Color.

While continuing to do research on the names included in that artifact, a connection was made to a lawsuit by an enslaved person named Rachel Findlay (Finley) (Findley) from Wythe County, VA who won her freedom by
suing Virginia twice.

After confirming with historian Mary Kegley, it appears that Charlotte Findley and her family listed in the Pulaski register were free because of the bravery and determination of grandmother Rachel.

Here’s Rachel’s story. In 1712 it appears that a Virginian named Henry Clay (the great- grandfather of the statesman Henry Clay) illegally enslaved a lady named Chance, who was either from the Catawba or Choctaw nation. She was brought into Virginia from the Carolinas and held in forced servitude. She had children and grandchildren who also remained enslaved. One of those grandchildren was Rachel, born in 1753 or 54.

Rachel was allowed to bring suit in Virginia and claimed freedom since it was illegal to hold Native Americans as slaves. Rachel and two brothers won the case in Williamsburg in 1773.

May 4, 1773 document that originally declared Rachel Findlay free (Courtesy Library of Virginia)
May 4, 1773 document that originally declared Rachel Findlay free (Courtesy Library of Virginia)

But before she was allowed to legally see that freedom, the Clays brought her and her young daughter Juda into the Backcountry of Virginia. Into the New River Valley to be exact, where she and her daughter were sold or traded to John Draper near Ingles Ferry. He probably was unaware of the court case, and Rachel and Juda and their growing family remained enslaved.

The American Revolution would very soon be occurring. With independence of the colonies and more western expansion, the new County of Wythe was formed in 1790, and once again Rachel had hope in the legal justice system, and filed suit for freedom in 1813. After delays and court
cases being moved to counties in eastern Virginia and older witnesses giving at times contradictory evidence, Rachel was finally given legal freedom, again, on May 13, 1820, forty-seven years after first winning her case.

In addition to Rachel, all of her children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren also saw freedom. John Draper states that at least 44 of Rachel’s extended family became free as a result of the trial. According to the Pulaski register, Rachel was granted freedom by suit in Wythe County. Her freedom is also confirmed in the register by listing all of her descendants as “born free.” The names of more of Rachel’s family are now part of that amazing story of determination and a mother’s love for her family.

The second verdict declared Rachel Findlay free, again, May 13, 1820.
The second verdict declared Rachel Findlay free, again, May 13, 1820.

Mary Kegley’s research has brought this story to the forefront before in recent years and in 2014, Rachel was listed by the Library of Virginia as one of the Outstanding Women of the Commonwealth. Kegley also published a fictional account called “Free in Chains,” using Rachel’s story as the inspiration.

More articles on the black experience in the region:

I had almost fell out with God for making me a slave(Opens in a new browser tab)

“Oh, I’m just taking three pigs to market” –Ohio’s Underground Railroad(Opens in a new browser tab)

2 comments

  1. Rachel Findlay is my ancestor, as is Chance. We are studying our genealogical lineage as a family, having traced it to Chance and Rachel.

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