With support of a National Historical Publications and Records Commission Documenting Democracy Grant, this record series was completely digitized and item level processed by name in 2016. To search results, please visit the Legacy of Slavery database found here http://slavery2.msa.maryland.gov/pages/Search.aspx

A manumission is the legal document freeing a slave. The earliest manumissions were recorded by deed in the county land records. Between 1752 and 1790, the deed was the only legal document that could free a slave. But before and after those years, manumissions were also recorded in wills, chattel records, and, for Anne Arundel and Harford counties, in a separate record series called (Manumissions). Information included in a manumission are the name(s) and aliases of the newly freed person, the name(s) of the owner(s), age, the date that the person is to be freed (either immediately, or delayed to a date in the future), as well as a citation for where the original manumission was recorded among the county records.

Manumissions may also show a citation to the recorded copies in (Land Records) in series C1426 and C1427. In addition, manumissions can be found among (Wills) in series C1495 and CM869. Sometimes freedom actually occurred at a later time, such as after a period of years or when a slave reached a specific age. For a modern index to the recorded (Land Records) copies see series CE435 and C2514 (Manumissions, Index). For an ebook of this series, click here. C2511-4 consists of a single folder, which was transferred at a later date than the earlier units.