Nomini Hall Historical Timeline
Nomini Hall Slave Legacy Project

The Deed of Gift: Timeline of Emancipation

In 1791, Robert Carter III set in motion the largest private emancipation in American history. This timeline places every documented freedom alongside the laws and events that shaped it. Click any name to view their full profile.

511+
People Named in the Deed
283
Manumissions Documented by Name
35
Years from First to Last
Nomini Hall Manumission
National & Virginia History
Law & Legal Challenge
The World Before the Deed
1619
First Africans Arrive in Virginia
English settlers purchase 20 Africans from a Dutch ship. Initially treated as indentured servants, they and their descendants would soon be trapped in chattel slavery.
1662
Virginia Defines Slavery Through the Mother
Virginia law declares children follow the status of their mother. A child born to an enslaved woman is enslaved, regardless of the father.
1667
Baptism No Longer Grants Freedom
Virginia revokes the English precedent that conversion to Christianity could free an enslaved person.
1729
Nomini Hall Built
The Carter family mansion is constructed in Westmoreland County. It will become the headquarters of an estate spanning 18 plantations across five counties.
1776
Declaration of Independence
The colonies declare “all men are created equal.” Thomas Jefferson, the principal author, enslaves over 600 people in his lifetime and frees only 10.
1777
Vermont Abolishes Slavery
Vermont becomes the first government entity in North America to abolish slavery.
1782
Virginia Manumission Act
Virginia passes “An Act to Authorize the Manumission of Slaves,” making it legal for slaveholders to free enslaved people without government approval. This law makes the Deed of Gift possible.

Within a decade, nearly 10,000 enslaved Virginians are freed under this law.

1787
Three-Fifths Clause
At the Constitutional Convention, delegates agree each enslaved person counts as three-fifths of a person for Congressional representation.
The Deed of Gift, 1791
1791
Haitian Revolution Begins
The first successful slave uprising in the Western Hemisphere begins in the French colony of Santo Domingo.
August 1, 1791
Carter Writes the Deed of Gift
Robert Carter III authors a legal document to gradually free every enslaved person on his estate: 452 men, women, and children across 18 plantations. “I have for some time past been convinced that to retain them in Slavery is contrary to the true Principles of Religion and Justice.”
September 5, 1791
The Deed Is Filed
Carter travels to the Northumberland County courthouse and files the Deed of Gift. 15 people freed each January, beginning with the oldest. Males under 21 freed at 21; females under 18 freed at 18.
The First Wave: 1792-1793
January 2, 1792
The First People Walk Free
Carter is ahead of schedule. Instead of 15, he brings 29 people before the Westmoreland County Court: carpenters, coopers, sailors, blacksmiths, and the foreman of Old Ordinary.
1793
First Fugitive Slave Act
Congress passes legislation allowing the recovery of runaway slaves and creating a $500 fine for anyone who aids a fugitive.
January 1, 1793
54 People Freed: Carter Accelerates
The largest single wave. Carter frees cooks, seamstresses, laundresses, millers, tailors, sailors, coopers, and midwives. Sarah Johnson, born around 1717, is freed at approximately 76 years old.
May 1793
Carter Leaves Virginia
Carter moves to Baltimore, settling in a mixed neighborhood of white and free Black residents. He will never return to Nomini Hall.
Gradual Freedom: 1794-1800
1794
France Emancipates Colonial Slaves
France abolishes slavery in all its colonies. In the U.S., Congress prohibits the outfitting of vessels for the slave trade.
1795
33 People Receive Freedom Certificates
Including Kezia Newman, Phyllis Newman, Winney Burke, and Alexander Jones, a mariner who served on Carter’s vessels.
January 1796
24 People Certified Free
Including Rose Taylor, Ralph Worsley (certificate recorded with the Pennsylvania Abolition Society), and Beverly Harrison.
January 1797
25 Certificates Issued
Including Benjamin Taylor, Ned Taylor, John Thompson, and Catherine Walker.
November 3, 1799
21 People Emancipated
Including Francis Newman, George Harris, Nathaniel Harris, James Thompson, and John Gumby.
1800
Census: 887,612 Enslaved
The U.S. census counts nearly 900,000 enslaved people. Virginia holds 39% of its population in bondage.
January 6, 1800
21 More Freed
Including Boatswain Bailey, Simon Reid, Dennis Newman, and Agnes Thompson.
After Carter’s Death: 1801-1808
January 1, 1801
20 People Freed
Including Judith Newman, Pheby Johnson, Dorcas Reid, and Lucy Robinson.
January 1, 1803
12 People Freed
Including James Trustin, freed after enduring three whippings in Baltimore. Two days later, he asked Carter to help free a friend from jail.
1804
Carter Dies in Baltimore
Robert Carter III dies and requests burial in an unmarked grave. His heirs challenge the Deed. Trustee Benjamin Dawson takes over.
1805
Frederick County Court Blocks the Deed
Rev. Charles Mynn Thruston, Carter’s old enemy now serving as judge, refuses to record the emancipation deed. Thirteen people are denied their freedom.

Blocked: Samuel Newman, John Tuckson, David Mitchell, John Robinson, Isaac Harris, Sally Harrison, Lettice Reed, Lydia Gaskins, Christina Cary, Faith Johnston, Lettice Thornton, Lettice Newman, Nancy Griggs. They will wait three more years.

1806
Virginia Strikes Back
Virginia passes a law requiring all freed Black people to leave the state within one year or face re-enslavement.

This law forces an impossible choice: freedom means exile from family, community, and the only home you have ever known.

1807
U.S. Bans the International Slave Trade
Congress bans the importation of enslaved people, effective January 1, 1808.
March 24, 1808
Virginia Court of Appeals Upholds the Deed
The state’s highest court rules that Frederick County erred. The Deed is valid. All 13 people blocked in 1805 are ordered freed.

The Deed survives Carter’s death, his family’s opposition, and a hostile judge. Freedom prevails.

The Last Freedoms: 1812-1826
June 2, 1812
Dean Johnston Certified Free
Born in 1790, freed by Benjamin Dawson 21 years after the Deed.
1820
Missouri Compromise
Congress draws a line: slavery south of 36°30′, prohibited to the north.
September 1821
Rachel Worsley Registered Free
Daughter of Rose Taylor, registered free in Westmoreland County, 30 years after the Deed.
1825
Adderson Richardson & Rebekah Allen Certified
Benjamin Dawson is still certifying freedom 34 years after the Deed was filed.
June 9, 1826
Edmund Harris: Among the Last
Born the year the Deed was written, freedom certified in Fairfax County Court after 35 years.
The Long Arc Toward Abolition
1831
Nat Turner’s Rebellion
In Southampton County, Virginia. Virginia responds with even harsher restrictions.
1850
Strengthened Fugitive Slave Act
Free Black people, including descendants of the Carter manumission, face heightened risk of kidnapping and re-enslavement.
1857
Dred Scott Decision
The Supreme Court rules that Black people, free or enslaved, are not citizens.
January 1, 1863
Emancipation Proclamation
72 years after Carter filed the Deed, President Lincoln issues the Emancipation Proclamation.
1865
The 13th Amendment
Slavery is abolished throughout the United States. The institution Carter defied in 1791 finally ends.

Their Names Endure

This timeline documents 283 people freed by name, but the Deed of Gift ultimately liberated more than 500 men, women, and children, plus their descendants. The Nomini Hall Slave Legacy Project continues to research, document, and connect the living descendants of this extraordinary act of liberation.