Jane wrote:
Also, perhaps, the local law enforcers, "looked the other way." This is a hard issue to clarify.
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Hello Jane,
Although not the "best" answer, it seems to be the one I also come up with.

Perhaps "time" may have had something to do with "registation" enforcement. The closer to the enactment of Ohio's Black Codes (1804) there might have been more strict enforcement. Also the size of the incoming group. Larger groups were invariably registered, ex. Randolphs, Gist, Mendenhall and Brown, etc., in the Miami Valley. Could the name of the county where registered have changed? There were many "new" counties organized in the early years of statehood.

Another situation I've noticed, when the former slaves came into Ohio with the slave-holding family there doesn't seem to be a consistent registration pattern. Could that be because they weren't legally "freed" in the slave-holding state? And there wasn't legally a slave status in Ohio to be freed from.

Well, I'm rambling, so back to your initial statement..."looking the other way". It seems where there is a rule (law), there are always exceptions

Take care & best wishes,

Art Thomas