Historical re-enactors to perform

The pub­lic is invited to Christ Church in Weems at 10 a.m. Sep­tem­ber 6 to com­mem­o­rate Robert Carter III’s 1791 Deed of Eman­ci­pa­tion and honor the lives of those fam­i­lies and their descen­dants set free by the act.

Accord­ing to Foun­da­tion for His­toric Christ Church edu­ca­tion direc­tor and cura­tor Robert Tea­gle, back in Sep­tem­ber of 1791 Robert Carter III of West­more­land County issued a deed of eman­ci­pa­tion to free more than 450 slaves, the largest sin­gle act of slave man­u­mis­sion in Amer­i­can his­tory before the Eman­ci­pa­tion Procla­ma­tion, which Pres­i­dent Abra­ham Lin­coln issued more than 70 years later in 1863.

A num­ber of descen­dants of the fam­i­lies have attended pre­vi­ous events, and the spon­sor­ing orga­ni­za­tions are hope­ful for an even greater turnout this year, said Teagle.