it 's always good to investigate , '' he said . The Virginia Historical Society finds 3,200 slaves named in private documents . In the late 1700s, a group of wealthy planters from Virginia, led by Thomas Jefferson, began to purchase land and establish plantations on the Eastern Shore of Virginia. `` We sold all the negros 43 in number at astonishingly large prices , '' an 1858 letter says . One user of the society 's free database of slaves finds the owner of his great-great-great-grandfather .
The Virginia Historical Society finds 3,200 slaves named in private documents . In the late 1700s, a group of wealthy planters from Virginia, led by Thomas Jefferson, began to purchase land and establish plantations on the Eastern Shore of Virginia. `` We sold all the negros 43 in number at astonishingly large prices , '' an 1858 letter says . One user of the society 's free database of slaves finds the owner of his great-great-great-grandfather .