Term Slave Registration, Robert Peebles, 1788

Many individual slave returns have been lost. However, it was the task of the county prothonotary, or lead clerk, to compile all of the individual returns into a single registry. These books can help help fill in the gaps. Sometimes they can even clarify important details.

For example, the Cumberland County prothonotary identified Joe as male in his registry, whereas Peebles’ original return did not specify the child’s gender. An 1823 state supreme court case, Stiles v. Nelly, determined that registrations such as this—where the registry clarified the return—were valid.