These were African Americans who were not citizens but neither were they slaves. In all probability these individuals were children of mothers who were not themselves enslaved women, for the status of the mother determined the legal classification of her child. By 1860, the state legislature had so restricted emancipation in Georgia that the number of free blacks increased only through birth to free mothers.
One valuable source of information about these “free persons of color” comes from the 1860 federal census, which identifies them, providing both given names and surnames. [Enslaved persons are counted by sex and age but with no names in the 1860s census.] Description by the census taker of “black” or “mulatto” enables the researcher to determine who is included in this anomalous segment of the Monroe Count population in 1860.