All Albert Bell did was to transcribe the documents which were in the Bass family chest with the permission of the family. I don't see how anyone can say he transcribed them incorrectly if the family will not allow anyone else to see the documents. What is there to hide?

The evidence that Sarah was a slave are seventeenth and early eighteenth century documents in the Virginia State Archives: the 1696 will of Major Nichols [Will Book 6, folio 95a-96] and Sarah's deeds by which she and her husband William Bass sold the land "that Major Nichols gave unto the said Sarah" [Deed Book 12, page 188]. Also, her son John Bass "son of Sarah" sold 200 acres "given the Above mentioned Sarah Bass by the will of Major Nichols" [Deed Book 18, pp. 41-42b].

Incidentally, Sarah's "Negro" mother remained a slave.
Paul