The Drighouse family in the Northampton "Register of Free Blacks" (Northampton County, VA, 1859)
Record: the document says itPattern: documents line upLens: our readingOpen: not yet proven
Year: 1859 · Places: Virginia, Europe
SUMMARYThe Drighouse family in the Northampton "Register of Free Blacks" (Northampton County, VA, 1859) [Connections: Virginia & Eastern Shore, Nov 5, 2026]
RECORDTwo entries were made on 31 Aug. 1859. Entry #183: William Drighouse, "35yrs Old," complexion "Yellow," "Born in the County of Northampton." Entry #212: Bridger Drighouse, "25yrs," complexion "Light Chesnut," with "Scars on on each ear caused by holes for rings." The register has 293 entries (1853–1861) recording name, birth, complexion, height and marks. It was compiled by Frances Bibbins Latimer. HOSTILE
WITNESSFree-people registers were a control system run by the county court
PATTERNThis is the kind of record where Eastern Shore Native-descended families would show up once the Gingaskin category was gone: free, Northampton-born, and described by "complexion" only
LENS (WW9)The register records skin color but never asks whose land these people came from
OPENNeeds deep research. Whether the Drighouse family appears on the 1814 Gingaskin allotment list or among Indian Town residents was not confirmed on any page fetched. Also check Press and West, which a local history blog names as surnames of Gingaskin descendants. That claim is unverified
SOURCENabb Center, Register of Free Blacks #183; #212; collection overview. Primary: Northampton County Register of Free Negroes, 1853–1861.