Coroner’s Inquisitions are investigations into the deaths of individuals who died by a sudden, violent, unnatural, or suspicious manner, or who died without medical attendance. The coroner would summon a jury of twelve white men, usually prominent citizens of that locality, to assist him in determining cause of death. The jury viewed the body of the deceased and heard the testimony of witnesses which did include both white and Black perspectives. This witness testimony was recorded and after seeing and hearing the evidence, a white jury delivered in writing to the coroner their conclusion concerning cause of death referred to as the inquisition. These causes of death would be determined by a white perspective and Black individuals were only consulted; they were never in a position to make decisions. If a criminal act was determined to be the cause of death, the coroner delivered the guilty person to the sheriff and the inquests would be used as evidence in the criminal trial. In this case, coroner’s inquisitions were filed with the trial papers. See Commonwealth Causes for more. If there was not a trial, coroner’s inquisitions were filed separately and will likely appear in this collection as a stand alone set of documents.
Documents commonly found in coroner’s inquisitions include the inquisition, depositions, and summons. Information found in the inquisition include the name of the coroner, the names of the jurors, the name and age of the deceased if known, gender and race of the deceased, and when, how, and by what means the deceased came to his or her death. If the coroner knew the deceased person to be Black or multiracial, the inquest should identify the person as enslaved; a “free Negro”; a “person of color”; or a “mulatto.” If the coroner knew the deceased person to be enslaved, the inquest should include their name, their enslaver and the enslaver’s residence. Information found in the depositions include the name of the deponent and his or her account of the circumstances that led to the death of the deceased. Unlike many other legal proceedings in antebellum Virginia, enslaved people were permitted to provide depositions for coroners’ inquisitions.
This data is subset focusing on records where African Americans were named either as the deceased or persons of interest involved in the inquest and is a by-product of indexing done for the Virginia Untold: African American Narrative digital collection.
Some data in this collection is drawn directly from the original historical records (see column descriptions) and may contain terminology which is now deemed offensive.
