Kate’s notes: The Gilliland and Edmiston families of Greenbrier and Pocahontas counties of West Virginia had many marriages among them; in fact, Samuel Gilliland, a son of Nathan and my fifth gr-grandfather, was married to Elizabeth Edmiston (Edmonston). The Edmistons, like this branch of the Gillilands, were to be found in the early records of Augusta County, Virginia. A James Edmiston is recorded to have been baptized by Rev. John Craig in November of 1746 at Augusta County, Virginia, as a son of Mathew Edmiston.
    This is the first document I have found among Gilliland records for the emancipation of a slave. The fact that William, the freed slave, carried the surname of Lewis points to a connection to a very prominent family of the area, for whom Lewisburg in Greenbrier County is named. It is gratifying to find a record such as this with the full name of the emancipated man given for the record; I hope this will be of some genealogical benefit to any descendants of William.
    The original document from which this transcription was created may be found in the Will Book for Pocahontas County, v. 001, 1822-1832, record 464.

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The Emancipation of William Lewis, 1836

Know all men by these presents that I James Edmiston of the County of Pocahontas & State of Virginia have manumitted emancipated and set free & by these presents do manumit, emancipate and set free a negro man slave named William and sometimes called William Lewis whome I purchased from James and Jane Gilliland of the County of Greenbrier & I hereby declare him the said William to be entirely liberated from slavery & entitled to all the rights and privileges of a free person with which it is my power to [vest] him.  He the said William hereby emancipated is a man of dark Complexion about five feet ten inches high and will be twenty seven years old on 17th of October next. In Testimony whereof I have set my hand and affixed my seal June 7th 1836.
                                                                                                           James Edmiston   {seal}
Pocahontas County June Court 1836
The foregoing Bond was acknowledged in Court and ordered to be Recorded
                                                                                                Teste
                                                                                                           H. W. Moffett  clk

-transcription by Kate Maynard  2013