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Recorded African-American history in English North America dates to August 1619, the year that the first Africans were brought involuntarily into the waters of Hampton Roads. In 1623, Isle of Wight County (then Warraskoyack Shire) records its first four Africans at Bennett's Welcome plantation, Edward Bennett's. In Virginia, the Emancipation Act was adopted in 1782. The Emancipation Act permitted owners of slaves to free their slaves through the will of the owner, or while the owner was still alive by means of a deed-of-manumission. When you prefer a useful reference about racial equity, browse around this website.. Many slaves were freed by their owners as the result of this law. William Scott of Windsor, most probably was a Quaker was the one responsible for releasing 24 slaves from his estate on the 7th of March 1783. His neighbour Matthew Jordan freed four of his slaves on the same day. The first documented black property owner in Isle of Wight County was Peter Beacock. He purchased 50 acres from Anne and Joseph Goodrich in 1772. Timothy Tynes' will of 1802, freed his slaves 62. The will also left them livestock and the total of 4,750 acres, PS900 and farm equipment. These families flourished, building homesteads, farming and working the community's water sources. A large number of Tynes descendants are found in Isle of Wight County today. Based on the U.S. Census, Isle of Wight County was home to 4,272 slaves in 1830. Taxed as livestock, a slave's value was determined by gender. By 1860, there were 1,370 free blacks living in Isle of Wight County. Most were farmers, lumbermen or watermen who owned property and operated businesses. The people of Isle of Wight County was as free as it was slave-ridden when the Civil War arrived. To fire upon Union ships and destroy Union ships, the Confederate Army built a fort at Harden's Bluff across the James River from Mulberry Point. The Confederate Army rented slave labor and hired free black laborers. Records of payment reveal that these men were paid for 50 cents a day. Major General Benjamin Butler, in May 1861, declared that all slaves of males arriving at Fort Monroe would become contraband of war. He would not return their owners. As the war continued, hundreds of women, men and children fled to Fort Monroe. A group of Colored Troops was formed out of various contrabands found at Fort Monroe in 1863. The 36th Infantry United States Colored Troops comprised mostly former slaves, including 11 from Isle of Wight County. On Sept. 1, 1864, it was documented that several free blacks visit from Fortress Monroe to sail to Smithfield with the intention of gathering their families. Also, on July 4, 1865, an ex-slaves' boat traveled across Fortress Monroe to the foot of South Church Street to celebrate Independence Day.