Charles Anderson

Profile:
Charles Anderson is one of the free inhabitants who appears on the 1850 Greenbrier County census. (See previous post re: early census records) In 1850 he is listed as a Black man, age 35. One year earlier he registered as a free inhabitant at the Greenbrier County Courthouse. He gave his age as 24. The Greenbrier Historical Society (GHS) in Lewisburg, WV maintains the Registry of Free People of Color. They have published the contents of the Registry in various editions of their newsletter Appalachian Springs. (for instance see AS, 6/2002) The registry indicates that Charles Anderson was 6 feet tall with a dark complexion. Even though the ages are off I am pretty sure that this is the same person. The population of GC was very small (still is) & the population of free inhabitants was even smaller. I've reviewed every GC source that I know of for free inhabitants. The two main sources that I know of would be: (1) Census Records & (2) Registry entries. Also, some free inhabitants were named in Helen Stinson's book of court records (see entry below) & some may have been named in Larry Shuck's book of court records. For more information about Charles Anderson and for his full "description" see the Appalachian Springs Newsletter of the GHS, June 2002.
The Greenbrier Historical Society publishes a journal (Journal of the Greenbrier Historical Society) and a newsletter (Appalachian Springs). They also have a website though, unfortunately, they do not have a section/tab of their website that deals with African American history & genealogy.