"After languishing for over a century in the basement of the Washington County Courthouse, it seems only fitting that the records of these people should be brought to light -- their voices should be heard -- the legacy of their memory should be passed down to their descendants."

This is an essential source book for anyone researching African American ancestors, as Washington County, Maryland, was in the middle of two major migratory routes: the National Road (present day U.S. Route 40), which ran east-west, and the route from Pennsylvania to the Shenandoah Valley in Virginia, which ran north-south. It contains an exact transcript of the original manumission documents located in the Washington County Courthouse -- "nothing has been changed, including the punctuation and spelling." The manumission documents include the name and full physical description of the ancestor. They frequently include dates and places of birth as well as names of children. Records are from 1806 to 1862. An index of all persons completes this work.