Our Clarke
Enslaved at Clermont before emancipation, she sold a shirt to her former enslavers in November 1867. In Clermont's account a September 1870 plat identifies her with Lots 1 and 2 in Josephine City, and a May 1871 clerk record describes a sale of Lot 1 with her husband, Phillip Williams. Her age and death date remain unresolved in that account.
Enslaved at Clermont before the war. Buyer of Lots 1 and 2 at Josephine City in 1870. The community's presumed namesake.
Before the Civil War, Josephine was enslaved at Clermont1, one of the county's large working farms. The Clermont account used for this page says nothing more about her life before emancipation.
The first entry that names her as an economic actor is a receipt: in November 1867, two years after emancipation, she sold a shirt to her former enslavers, and the transaction was written into Clermont's account book1. The receipt itself has not been read; the description of it in the Clermont summary is what the collection carries. The next entry places her, in September 1870, as the purchaser of Lots 1 and 2 on a plat now identified with the founding of Josephine City2. The lot geometry has not been reconstructed; what is documented is the identification. The following spring, in May 1871, a clerk's record notes the sale of Lot 1, this time naming her husband Phillip Williams alongside her3.
The Virginia Department of Historic Resources names her among the twenty-four founders of Josephine City and calls her the neighborhood's presumed namesake1. The identification is qualified in the state nomination itself: it is presented as probable rather than conclusively established. If she IS the person for whom the neighborhood was named, that would make one former Clermont resident the anchor of a community that still carries her first name a hundred and fifty-five years later.
What the record does not settle is her age, when she died, or where she is buried1. No birth year is inferred here from unnamed census entries. Her life after 1871 is a research target.
Four documents. One woman across the emancipation line. The most important record still open is a systematic search of the 1870, 1880, 1900 and 1910 census manuscript schedules for a Josephine Williams in the Josephine City district.
Clermont's account places Josephine in enslavement at Clermont before emancipation.
An institutional account supports this biographical connection.
This short profile is not a complete biography and does not infer undocumented motives.
Evidence role: supports. Supports the claim at the stated source level; see limits.
Clermont Farm / Cory A. Van Horn
Locator: Opening paragraph; final two historical paragraphs
Checked: Page text reviewed. Original image not independently inspected.
Open sourceSource family: clermont-josephine. Multiple passages from one source are not independent witnesses.
AI-assisted source check · 2026-09-08. How this project checks its sources
Clermont describes a November 1867 receipt for a shirt sold by Josephine to her former enslavers.
A specific document has been identified by the institution.
The source description, not the original receipt, was read. No amount or full transcription is supplied.
Evidence role: supports. Supports the claim at the stated source level; see limits.
Clermont Farm / Cory A. Van Horn
Locator: Four-document list, item 2: November 1867 receipt
Checked: Page text reviewed. Original image not independently inspected.
Open sourceSource family: clermont-josephine. Multiple passages from one source are not independent witnesses.
AI-assisted source check · 2026-09-08. How this project checks its sources
Clermont identifies Josephine as the purchaser of Lots 1 and 2 in a September 1870 plat.
The institutional account names lots and a month.
No lot geometry is reconstructed or displayed; original plat inspection remains open.
Evidence role: supports. Supports the claim at the stated source level; see limits.
Clermont Farm / Cory A. Van Horn
Locator: Four-document list, items 3 and 4: 1870 plat and 1871 sale
Checked: Page text reviewed. Original image not independently inspected.
Open sourceSource family: clermont-josephine. Multiple passages from one source are not independent witnesses.
AI-assisted source check · 2026-09-08. How this project checks its sources
Clermont identifies a May 1871 clerk record of the sale of Lot 1 with her husband, Phillip Williams.
A follow-up record is described by the source.
The clerk record and the identities in it were not independently inspected.
Evidence role: supports. Supports the claim at the stated source level; see limits.
Clermont Farm / Cory A. Van Horn
Locator: Four-document list, items 3 and 4: 1870 plat and 1871 sale
Checked: Page text reviewed. Original image not independently inspected.
Open sourceSource family: clermont-josephine. Multiple passages from one source are not independent witnesses.
AI-assisted source check · 2026-09-08. How this project checks its sources
DHR includes Josephine Williams among the buyers and calls her the presumed namesake.
Both her inclusion and the source's qualification are retained.
The naming explanation is not presented as conclusively established.
Evidence role: supports. Supports the claim at the stated source level; see limits.
Virginia Department of Historic Resources · 2024-02-17 (last update)
Locator: Opening historical paragraph
Relevant passageincluding Josephine Williams, the presumed namesake of Josephine City.
Checked: Page text reviewed. Original image not independently inspected.
Open sourceSource family: dhr-josephine. Multiple passages from one source are not independent witnesses.
AI-assisted source check · 2026-09-08. How this project checks its sources
The Clermont account does not establish Josephine's age or when and where she died.
The limits of the reviewed account are made explicit.
This does not establish that every possible record has been searched. No birth year is inferred from unnamed census entries.
Evidence role: supports. Supports the claim at the stated source level; see limits.
Clermont Farm / Cory A. Van Horn
Locator: Opening paragraph; final two historical paragraphs
Checked: Page text reviewed. Original image not independently inspected.
Open sourceSource family: clermont-josephine. Multiple passages from one source are not independent witnesses.
AI-assisted source check · 2026-09-08. How this project checks its sources
DHR includes Josephine Williams among the buyers and calls her the presumed namesake.
DHR includes Josephine Williams among the buyers and calls her the presumed namesake.
Both her inclusion and the source's qualification are retained.
The naming explanation is not presented as conclusively established.
Evidence role: supports. Supports the claim at the stated source level; see limits.
Virginia Department of Historic Resources · 2024-02-17 (last update)
Locator: Opening historical paragraph
Relevant passageincluding Josephine Williams, the presumed namesake of Josephine City.
Checked: Page text reviewed. Original image not independently inspected.
Open sourceSource family: dhr-josephine. Multiple passages from one source are not independent witnesses.
AI-assisted source check · 2026-09-08. How this project checks its sources
Clermont describes a November 1867 receipt for a shirt sold by Josephine to her former enslavers.
Clermont describes a November 1867 receipt for a shirt sold by Josephine to her former enslavers.
A specific document has been identified by the institution.
The source description, not the original receipt, was read. No amount or full transcription is supplied.
Evidence role: supports. Supports the claim at the stated source level; see limits.
Clermont Farm / Cory A. Van Horn
Locator: Four-document list, item 2: November 1867 receipt
Checked: Page text reviewed. Original image not independently inspected.
Open sourceSource family: clermont-josephine. Multiple passages from one source are not independent witnesses.
AI-assisted source check · 2026-09-08. How this project checks its sources
Clermont identifies Josephine as the purchaser of Lots 1 and 2 in a September 1870 plat.
Clermont identifies Josephine as the purchaser of Lots 1 and 2 in a September 1870 plat.
The institutional account names lots and a month.
No lot geometry is reconstructed or displayed; original plat inspection remains open.
Evidence role: supports. Supports the claim at the stated source level; see limits.
Clermont Farm / Cory A. Van Horn
Locator: Four-document list, items 3 and 4: 1870 plat and 1871 sale
Checked: Page text reviewed. Original image not independently inspected.
Open sourceSource family: clermont-josephine. Multiple passages from one source are not independent witnesses.
AI-assisted source check · 2026-09-08. How this project checks its sources
Clermont identifies a May 1871 clerk record of the sale of Lot 1 with her husband, Phillip Williams.
Clermont identifies a May 1871 clerk record of the sale of Lot 1 with her husband, Phillip Williams.
A follow-up record is described by the source.
The clerk record and the identities in it were not independently inspected.
Evidence role: supports. Supports the claim at the stated source level; see limits.
Clermont Farm / Cory A. Van Horn
Locator: Four-document list, items 3 and 4: 1870 plat and 1871 sale
Checked: Page text reviewed. Original image not independently inspected.
Open sourceSource family: clermont-josephine. Multiple passages from one source are not independent witnesses.
AI-assisted source check · 2026-09-08. How this project checks its sources
The Clermont account does not establish Josephine's age or when and where she died.
The Clermont account does not establish Josephine's age or when and where she died.
The limits of the reviewed account are made explicit.
This does not establish that every possible record has been searched. No birth year is inferred from unnamed census entries.
Evidence role: supports. Supports the claim at the stated source level; see limits.
Clermont Farm / Cory A. Van Horn
Locator: Opening paragraph; final two historical paragraphs
Checked: Page text reviewed. Original image not independently inspected.
Open sourceSource family: clermont-josephine. Multiple passages from one source are not independent witnesses.
AI-assisted source check · 2026-09-08. How this project checks its sources
Clermont's account places Josephine in enslavement at Clermont before emancipation.
Clermont's account places Josephine in enslavement at Clermont before emancipation.
An institutional account supports this biographical connection.
This short profile is not a complete biography and does not infer undocumented motives.
Evidence role: supports. Supports the claim at the stated source level; see limits.
Clermont Farm / Cory A. Van Horn
Locator: Opening paragraph; final two historical paragraphs
Checked: Page text reviewed. Original image not independently inspected.
Open sourceSource family: clermont-josephine. Multiple passages from one source are not independent witnesses.
AI-assisted source check · 2026-09-08. How this project checks its sources
Also indexed as: Josephine. Life dates that aren't known aren't guessed at here.
Know who this was, or something the records here miss? Help fill a gap. It stays private until it is reviewed.
In 1870, twenty-four formerly enslaved African Americans purchased the land that became Josephine City. Their community went on to build a school through local contributions of labor and money.
What the evidence says Founding documented. Naming account qualified.
A first at the fire company, thirty people with brush cutters in a cemetery, eighty-five thousand anonymous dollars for the schools, and a hundred meals put together in a few days.
What the evidence says One year of a county, read from the twelve 2025 issues of its own monthly paper.
