Augusta County

Biographies of Emancipated Slaves

• Richard and Marshall Washington
• Hardy Shaw
• Mary Blackburn
• Joseph Walker
• Henry Carter
• Thomas & Nancy Jefferson

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Biography: Richard and Marshall Washington

Prior to the war, brothers Richard and Marshall Washington belonged to John Keiser, a Waynesboro farmer. Richard testified on behalf of Keiser when the latter sought reimbursement for property taken during the Civil War. According to Thomas Jefferson, an African American acquainted with the claimant, “[Keiser] was as kind to the colored people as he could be.” Richard and Marshall testified that they were freed by the Emancipation Proclamation.

In 1870, Marshall, a farm laborer, lived in the 2nd District of Augusta County with his wife, Charlotte, and their three children – Robert, Silas, and Sarah.