Estate Inventory of 16 Enslaved (Historical Marker)

Here follows the inscription written on this roadside historical marker:

Estate inventory of 16 enslaved, December 20, 1856:
• Charles, 17 : $1,000
• John, 20 : $1,000
• Peter, 25 : $1,000
• Henry, 25 : $1,000
• Hannah & Child, 29 : $900
• Louisa, 28 : $800
• Harriet, 28 : $800
• Daniel, 11 : $500
• Laura, 9 : $300
• Ann, 9 : $300
• Sandy, 6 : $250
• Sealy, 7 : $200
• Bill, 4 : $200
• Cora, 4 : $150
• Sally, 56 : $100

In 1856, this land was a 670-acre plantation. An inventory from 1856 lists the names of these enslaved individuals, and their assigned monetary value based on their ages and genders. Some were forced to raise livestock and grow crops on the plantation while others were forced to work in the owner’s houses in Alexandria. These lives and their legacies should be remembered.

Fairfax County Student Historical Marker Project, Installed 2024.

Erected 2024 by Fairfax County History Commission/Students of West Springfield High School.


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More about this marker:
Although the marker was installed in 2024, it was unveiled in a public ceremony on April 5, 2025.

This marker is the result of a broader effort by the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors and Fairfax History Commission to shed light on African American history and encourage community engagement through student-led historic marker initiatives.

Also see . . .
"Historical Marker Project Unveils Third Marker: The Enslaved 16"
(Fairfax County Govt. News Center)
April 7, 2025 press release.

Excerpt:
"Students, families, community leaders and historians gathered on Saturday, April 5, to unveil a new historical marker honoring the Enslaved 16. This dedication marks the third in a series of markers installed across Fairfax County to illuminate the African American experience and its vital role in shaping the region’s history."

Historical Marker Unveiling & Dedication Ceremony:
Black/African American Historical Marker Project unveiled The Enslaved 16 marker at West Springfield High School, honoring 16 individuals. Their first names and "values" are listed in the will and estate inventory of the land on which the school now stands. Though deprived of family names, liberty, and dignity, they lived and labored here. While their personal histories remain unrecorded, their lives and legacy deserve to be remembered.

Here follow excerpts from the dedication ceremony:
>> "We are celebrating the historical marker program, the unveiling of the historical marker, and the Enslaved 16 who contributed to our community. So the Enslaved 16 represents 16 individuals who were part of a property inventory and they represent a larger forgotten history in Fairfax County- individuals who didn't even have a last name, were just listed as property along with values. That would be the first mean, age, and gender. And that was it."

"So, today we're honoring the Enslaved 16 and making sure that when our young people come into West Springfield, High School, that they have an opportunity to intersect with history, literally every time they come into the parking lot of the building. And this is so important because for me personally, my mom was a middle school history teacher. And so she would constantly tell us all the time. The most important role in history is learning about our past so we can do better in the future."

"This program is something that was started by the Board of Supervisors to commemorate African American history in the county and then went to the History Commission to sponsor a competition program to encourage students to submit applications for African American History, African American individuals in the county's past who would represent good subjects for historic markers."

"The names in the ages of the of the children is was they were recorded in 1856. and they're now being honored in this marker. And as it was, we teach our children and as we get better at understanding and learning our own history, I know that we're going to continue to create a more inclusive. It's not a divisive thing that we're doing. They're really honoring that we came here, that we have a past and that we want to work together to build a better future."