Message from the Free Smiths of Louisa County

You ask why we didn’t register as requiredwhy we failed to appear before the Provost Marshalwhy we avoided the courthouse, the census, the bank.You ask where we sheltered while battles seethedwhere our mothers gave birth, in which hidden houses& why we didn’t register as required.While so many perished in other countiesor raged with Nat in Southampton, how did we manage?We avoided the courthouse, the census, the bank.Whatever we had, we held. Whatever we knewwe told no one who counted. We kept backour names. We didn’t register as required.When you search for us now, you find silence.You may trace us back to a moment. No further.We avoided the courthouse, the census, the bankwith its clock, tracking everyone’s time but our own.We chose inward passages. We kept deep counsel.We didn’t register as required, which disappoints you.Why do you trust the courthouse, the census, the bank?