People Enslaved by the Mason Family

The purpose of this dataset is to identify each of the people enslaved by George Mason IV and his descendants between the years 1773 and 1865. The former date reflects when George Mason IV wrote his last will and testament (i.e., the version his descendants filed with the Fairfax County Circuit Court upon his death in 1792), while the latter date corresponds with the ending of the American Civil War and the ratification of the Thirteenth Amendment (which abolished slavery in the United States). By identifying and describing each enslaved person, we aim to reconstruct the personhood and relationships of the enslaved, as well as equip descendants and scholars with information. The dataset will be expanded to include other Mason descendants and their slaveholding practices beyond Virginia.

本数据集旨在识别1773年至1865年间，乔治·梅森四世（George Mason IV）及其后裔所奴役的每一位人士。其中前者日期对应乔治·梅森四世拟定其最后遗嘱的时间（即其后裔在他1792年去世后，向费尔法克斯县巡回法院提交的遗嘱版本），后者日期则与美国内战结束以及美国第十三修正案（该修正案废除了美国的奴隶制）的批准时间相一致。通过识别并记述每一位被奴役者，本研究旨在还原被奴役群体的人格与社会关系，并为其后裔及相关学者提供详实的研究资料。后续本数据集还将扩展收录弗吉尼亚州以外的其他梅森家族后裔及其蓄奴相关史实。