The eight hundred and thirty-first volume of the Archives of Maryland Online was originally created between 1816-1844. The Archives of Maryland edition was published in 2010 by the Maryland State Archives.

A manumission is the legal document freeing a slave. The earliest manumissions were recorded by deed in the county land records. Between 1752 and 1796, a deed was the only legal document that could free a slave. But before and after those years, manumissions were also recorded in wills, chattel records, and, for Anne Arundel and Harford counties, in a separate record series called (Manumissions).

The typical information found in a manumission includes the name and residence of the slave holder, the name (often just the first name) and age of the slave or slaves to be freed, and the date or age at which freedom would be granted. Sometimes the manumission even indicates familial relationships by listing the names of children, wives or husbands. Sometimes, though, the manumission does not list the names of the slaves being freed. The document may simply refer to "sundry slaves."