{"links":{"self":"https://search.arvasarchive.org/catalog.json?f%5Blevel%5D%5B%5D=Subseries\u0026f%5Brepository%5D%5B%5D=Fairfax+Circuit+Court+Historic+Records+Center","next":"https://search.arvasarchive.org/catalog.json?f%5Blevel%5D%5B%5D=Subseries\u0026f%5Brepository%5D%5B%5D=Fairfax+Circuit+Court+Historic+Records+Center\u0026page=2","last":"https://search.arvasarchive.org/catalog.json?f%5Blevel%5D%5B%5D=Subseries\u0026f%5Brepository%5D%5B%5D=Fairfax+Circuit+Court+Historic+Records+Center\u0026page=4"},"meta":{"pages":{"current_page":1,"next_page":2,"prev_page":null,"total_pages":4,"limit_value":10,"offset_value":0,"total_count":32,"first_page?":true,"last_page?":false}},"data":[{"id":"vaffcr_vaffcr0005_c03_c01_c05","type":"Subseries","attributes":{"title":"Subseries 10: Miscellaneous","breadcrumbs":{"id":"https://search.arvasarchive.org/catalog/vaffcr_vaffcr0005_c03_c01_c05#breadcrumbs","type":"document_value","attributes":{"value":{"ref_ssi":"vaffcr_vaffcr0005_c03_c01_c05","ref_ssm":["vaffcr_vaffcr0005_c03_c01_c05"],"id":"vaffcr_vaffcr0005_c03_c01_c05","ead_ssi":"vaffcr_vaffcr0005","_root_":"vaffcr_vaffcr0005","_nest_parent_":"vaffcr_vaffcr0005_c03_c01","parent_ssi":"vaffcr_vaffcr0005_c03_c01","parent_ssim":["vaffcr_vaffcr0005","vaffcr_vaffcr0005_c03","vaffcr_vaffcr0005_c03_c01"],"parent_ids_ssim":["vaffcr_vaffcr0005","vaffcr_vaffcr0005_c03","vaffcr_vaffcr0005_c03_c01"],"parent_unittitles_ssm":["F.W. Richardson Papers, \n 1858-1943","Box 3","Series 2: Professional Continued"],"parent_unittitles_tesim":["F.W. Richardson Papers, \n 1858-1943","Box 3","Series 2: Professional Continued"],"text":["F.W. Richardson Papers, \n 1858-1943","Box 3","Series 2: Professional Continued","Subseries 10: Miscellaneous"],"title_filing_ssi":"Subseries 10: Miscellaneous\n\t\t","title_ssm":["Subseries 10: Miscellaneous\n\t\t"],"title_tesim":["Subseries 10: Miscellaneous\n\t\t"],"normalized_title_ssm":["Subseries 10: Miscellaneous"],"component_level_isim":[3],"repository_ssim":["Fairfax Circuit Court Historic Records Center"],"collection_ssim":["F.W. Richardson Papers, \n 1858-1943"],"has_online_content_ssim":["false"],"child_component_count_isi":1,"level_ssm":["Subseries"],"level_ssim":["Subseries"],"sort_isi":146,"_nest_path_":"/components#2/components#0/components#4","timestamp":"2026-04-30T21:27:17.608Z","collection":{"numFound":1,"start":0,"numFoundExact":true,"docs":[{"id":"vaffcr_vaffcr0005","ead_ssi":"vaffcr_vaffcr0005","_root_":"vaffcr_vaffcr0005","_nest_parent_":"vaffcr_vaffcr0005","ead_source_url_ssi":"data/fcc/vaffcr0005.xml","title_ssm":["F.W. Richardson Papers, \n 1858-1943\n"],"title_tesim":["F.W. Richardson Papers, \n 1858-1943\n"],"level_ssm":["collection"],"level_ssim":["Collection"],"normalized_title_ssm":["F.W. Richardson Papers, \n 1858-1943"],"text":["F.W. Richardson Papers, \n 1858-1943","Primarily Fairfax County.","Land and personal property, taxes, wills and estate paperwork, divorce, term papers, general court papers, election records, laws and acts, Board of Supervisors, Prohibition, WWI Exemption Board and Memorial, clerk's budget, salaries and reports, personal banking and insurance, Civil War, Reconstruction, WWI, Prohibition, Great Depression, life events of Richardson family","Deeds, certificates of title, wills, receipts, checkbook and checks, booklets, correspondence, farming journal, naturalization certificate, divorce notices, reports, tax bills and receipts, term papers and related paperwork, pardon, corporation papers, plats, blueprints, WWI Exemption Board chits, insurance certificates, promissory notes, election nomination papers, oaths of office, arrest and bond warrants, petitions, delinquent tax lists, vehicle insurance policies","State Auditor of Public Accounts, Deputy Clerk, Secretary of the Board of Supervisors","Paper, cardstock, leather, photographic material, ink, graphite",".","Frederick Wilmer (F.W.) Richardson and his father, Ferdinand Dawson (F.D.) Richardson, held the positions of Clerk of Fairfax County Court and Fairfax Circuit Court, variously, from 1833 to 1935.\n","F.D. Richardson was born on November 9th, 1808. He began his career as an assistant or deputy clerk in 1826; he was County Court Clerk from 1833-1835, 1867-1869 and 1870-1880. F.D. served as Circuit Court Clerk from 1835-1880, apart from a hiatus during the Civil War.\n","Prior to the Civil War, F.D. was a Captain in the Virginia Militia. He was also an avid farmer, as evidenced by his farming journal found in this collection, and is listed as Recording Secretary on the 1848 Constitution of Fairfax Agricultural Society. Post-Civil War, F.D. was a founding member of Central Farmers' Club which began in February 1874. He was also Clerk to the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors throughout the 1870s.\n","Not much is known about F.D.'s activities during the Civil War. He voted for secession from the Union in 1861, and courthouse lore has it that he took George Washington's will down to Richmond for safe-keeping. Physical evidence places him in Richmond in December 1861 and January 1862. \n","F.D. died on October 13th, 1880. His wife and F.W.'s mother, Mary Posey (Grigsby) Richardson, died on December 12th, 1889.\n","F.W. Richardson was born on October 16th 1854. He married Amelia (Millie) Lee Buck in 1883 and had four children, Frederick Dawson (1884 - 1954), Marcus Bayly (1886 - 1917), Mary Buck (1889 - 1890) and Virginia Fairfax (1891 - 1988). \n","In 1871, F.W. became his father's deputy as Assistant Clerk in the Office of the Clerk of County Court. On his father's death, he became temporary Clerk of County and Circuit Courts. In 1881, F.W. was voted in as Clerk of County Court, a position he held until County Court was abolished in 1903. F.W. held the office of Clerk of Circuit Court from 1904 to 1935.\n","During his working life, F.W. held many other prominent positions within Fairfax County and his local community. He was Clerk of the Board of Supervisors from 1880 - 1935 and County Treasurer in the 1890s; according to the Fairfax Herald, he served as a Probate Judge in 1904 and 1906; he was also a notary public, a real estate buyer, a member of the Chamber of Commerce and a delegate to the Prison Association in 1908. He served on many boards and committees, notably the County Health Board, the Fairfax Confederate Monument Association and Confederate Reunion Committee in 1900, the Great War Memorial Fund Committee, the Bicentennial Committee, the Farmers' Institute Committee and the Homecoming Day committee. In 1917, F.W. served as clerk for the Local Board for the Selective Service System Draft (WWI military service), and was Secretary and President of the Town Hall Association, Secretary and President of the Cemetery Association, Secretary and Treasurer of Henry Masonic Lodge, President of the Democratic Club and Wilson Club in 1916, elected Providence Lodge Good Templars Officer in 1873, elected Fairfax Lyceum Recording and Corresponding Secretary in 1874 and elected to the Zion Church Vestry in 1931. He was also a member of the Red Cross.\n","In addition to his monumental public service, F.W. made large donations to the Confederate Reunion, Fairfax fairs and agricultural shows, roads, the War Relief Fund, the YMCA Fund, the Library building, the Fire Department and a new school building. He was much in demand as a public speaker, newspapers of the time list him as addressing Army draftees in 1917, the Civic League, the Rotary Club, Herndon Church of Christ and the Fairfax Lyceum.\n","Newspapers from F.W.'s time also record his active social life, attending many dinners and other functions, especially notable are the bank and Bar Association dinners. \n","The collection offers a little insight into F.W.'s personal life. He was financially astute, as his many tax returns, insurance papers, Christmas club and bank books show. The collection shows that F.W. held shares in the Silver Butte Mines Corporation, the Mercantile-Railway Building and Loan Association of Alexandria, Virginia Title Company, Falls Church Bank, Incorporated, Fairfax and Loudoun Light and Power Company and Baltimore Building and Loan Association of Baltimore City. He even assumed some financial responsibility for his sister, Madge Pierce, after her husband's death. In the collection are copies of deeds of lands bought by F.W. and his real estate partners, James Love (also a Judge) and R.W. Moore. F.W. also seems to have had some interest in the arts, he was Secretary of the Olio Theatrical Troop in 1874 and held some shares in the Cosmos Theatre Co., Inc.\n","F.W.'s son, Frederick Dawson, had a legal career and was very active in the business and social affairs of Fairfax County. His other son, Marcus Bayly worked for him as deputy clerk. Tragically, Marcus was killed when his car hit a streetcar in August 1917. Amongst F.W.'s papers was a newspaper cutting of the accident, this has been copied onto acid-free paper.\n","Elton Richardson Holbrook, F.W.'s nephew, also worked for F.W. as a deputy clerk; his signature appears on multiple papers. Unfortunately, he committed suicide in the 1931.\n","F.W. retired from Circuit Court in 1935 and was succeeded by John M. Whalen, a couple of whose papers appear in the collection. F.W. died on 23rd April, 1936.\n","Sources:  The collection, the Historical Newspaper Index at Fairfax County Public Library Virginia Room, correspondence from local historian, Lee Hubbard, Find a Grave","Series 1:  Personal, 1861-1936, contains personal papers from both F.D. and F.W. Richardson. F.D.'s papers include receipts from Richmond merchants dating to 1861 and 1862 showing that F.D. and another man listed as Howard were buying large quantities of foodstuffs, cooking, serving and eating implements, tobacco products and pipes and other sundries such as candle molds and needles. There is no evidence-based explanation for these purchases. A possible explanation is that F.D. was outfitting a Confederate unit, but this is conjecture. F.D.'s papers also include a farming journal, other bills and receipts, some court papers and claims on his estate.\n","F.W.'s papers include a number of deeds and other property papers, insurance certificates and papers, investments papers, bank books and checks, tax returns, masonic membership cards and papers, other club membership cards and papers and papers pertaining to his work on the local board of the Selective Service System Draft in 1917 during WWI. The most poignant of these papers are chits stating whether local men (identified by serial numbers) passed their physical examinations for the draft. Some of the serial numbers correspond to entries in the Local Board Selective Service System Draft Records Book 1917, found in the archives. These entries state whether the men were allowed exemption from service due to dependents or occupation. See Appendix IV for details.\n","Series 2:  Professional, 1881 - 1935, contains documents pertaining to F.W.'s position as Clerk of County and Circuit Court. These documents include land records such as deed, lease, bill of sale, contract, mortgage, survey and certificate of title paperwork and correspondence; personal property records such as sales and conditional sales contract, loan, lien and chattel mortgage paperwork and correspondence; copies of wills, administrator and executor appointments, inheritance tax and fees paperwork and correspondence; tax records such as delinquent tax lists, receipts, sales paperwork and general tax correspondence; term papers records for commonwealth and civil cases such as Justice of the Peace statements, warrants of arrest, bail paperwork, jury summonses, case proceedings, judgements, divorce notices, insane asylum commitment papers, motions and petitions, pardon and parole forms, lists of court costs and clerk's fees, lawyers correspondence and receipts; other court records such as a jail condition report, hunting and fishing licenses, corporation directors and officers lists, names for the WWI Memorial and election candidacy papers; clerk's office documents such as reports, budget, salary lists, bank account information and receipts and correspondence with the State Auditor, attorneys and others. This series also has documents pertaining to F.W.'s position as Clerk of the Board of Supervisors such as a record of the County Levy in 1914 and correspondence concerning Board matters and bills.\nOf particular note is the correspondence concerning Prohibition laws and the Reports of Clerks of Court showing the special importance given Prohibition cases. \n","Series 3:  Posthumous Papers, 1936 - 1943, contains paperwork created by/ for John Whalen, Clerk of Circuit Court. The documents include a docket of cases for the November term 1937, letters from Courthouse supply manufacturers, general correspondence and a postcard.\n","Click here to view Apendixes I through IV (See pages 8-11).","Unit 51, Top Shelf, Boxes 1-3; Oversize in Unit 26, Drawer #6\n","Frederick Wilmer (F.W.) Richardson, Ferdinand Dawson (F.D.) Richardson, Fairfax Circuit Court, C. Lee Moore (State Auditor of Public Accounts), Elton R. Holbrook (Deputy Clerk), John M. Whalen (Clerk after F.W.) Frank L. Ballenger(Secretary of the Board of Supervisors)","English\n"],"collection_title_tesim":["F.W. Richardson Papers, \n 1858-1943"],"collection_ssim":["F.W. Richardson Papers, \n 1858-1943"],"repository_ssm":["Fairfax Circuit Court Historic Records Center"],"repository_ssim":["Fairfax Circuit Court Historic Records Center"],"geogname_ssm":["Primarily Fairfax County."],"geogname_ssim":["Primarily Fairfax County."],"creator_ssm":["Fairfax Circuit Court Historic Records Center\n"],"creator_ssim":["Fairfax Circuit Court Historic Records Center\n"],"places_ssim":["Primarily Fairfax County."],"acqinfo_ssim":["Permanent Record of Fairfax Circuit Court Historic Records Center.\n"],"access_subjects_ssim":["Land and personal property, taxes, wills and estate paperwork, divorce, term papers, general court papers, election records, laws and acts, Board of Supervisors, Prohibition, WWI Exemption Board and Memorial, clerk's budget, salaries and reports, personal banking and insurance, Civil War, Reconstruction, WWI, Prohibition, Great Depression, life events of Richardson family","Deeds, certificates of title, wills, receipts, checkbook and checks, booklets, correspondence, farming journal, naturalization certificate, divorce notices, reports, tax bills and receipts, term papers and related paperwork, pardon, corporation papers, plats, blueprints, WWI Exemption Board chits, insurance certificates, promissory notes, election nomination papers, oaths of office, arrest and bond warrants, petitions, delinquent tax lists, vehicle insurance policies","State Auditor of Public Accounts, Deputy Clerk, Secretary of the Board of Supervisors","Paper, cardstock, leather, photographic material, ink, graphite"],"access_subjects_ssm":["Land and personal property, taxes, wills and estate paperwork, divorce, term papers, general court papers, election records, laws and acts, Board of Supervisors, Prohibition, WWI Exemption Board and Memorial, clerk's budget, salaries and reports, personal banking and insurance, Civil War, Reconstruction, WWI, Prohibition, Great Depression, life events of Richardson family","Deeds, certificates of title, wills, receipts, checkbook and checks, booklets, correspondence, farming journal, naturalization certificate, divorce notices, reports, tax bills and receipts, term papers and related paperwork, pardon, corporation papers, plats, blueprints, WWI Exemption Board chits, insurance certificates, promissory notes, election nomination papers, oaths of office, arrest and bond warrants, petitions, delinquent tax lists, vehicle insurance policies","State Auditor of Public Accounts, Deputy Clerk, Secretary of the Board of Supervisors","Paper, cardstock, leather, photographic material, ink, graphite"],"has_online_content_ssim":["false"],"physdesc_tesim":["."],"extent_ssm":["3.25 linear feet"],"extent_tesim":["3.25 linear feet"],"genreform_ssim":["Paper, cardstock, leather, photographic material, ink, graphite"],"bioghist_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eFrederick Wilmer (F.W.) Richardson and his father, Ferdinand Dawson (F.D.) Richardson, held the positions of Clerk of Fairfax County Court and Fairfax Circuit Court, variously, from 1833 to 1935.\n\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eF.D. Richardson was born on November 9th, 1808. He began his career as an assistant or deputy clerk in 1826; he was County Court Clerk from 1833-1835, 1867-1869 and 1870-1880. F.D. served as Circuit Court Clerk from 1835-1880, apart from a hiatus during the Civil War.\n\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003ePrior to the Civil War, F.D. was a Captain in the Virginia Militia. He was also an avid farmer, as evidenced by his farming journal found in this collection, and is listed as Recording Secretary on the 1848 Constitution of Fairfax Agricultural Society. Post-Civil War, F.D. was a founding member of Central Farmers' Club which began in February 1874. He was also Clerk to the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors throughout the 1870s.\n\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eNot much is known about F.D.'s activities during the Civil War. He voted for secession from the Union in 1861, and courthouse lore has it that he took George Washington's will down to Richmond for safe-keeping. Physical evidence places him in Richmond in December 1861 and January 1862. \n\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eF.D. died on October 13th, 1880. His wife and F.W.'s mother, Mary Posey (Grigsby) Richardson, died on December 12th, 1889.\n\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eF.W. Richardson was born on October 16th 1854. He married Amelia (Millie) Lee Buck in 1883 and had four children, Frederick Dawson (1884 - 1954), Marcus Bayly (1886 - 1917), Mary Buck (1889 - 1890) and Virginia Fairfax (1891 - 1988). \n\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eIn 1871, F.W. became his father's deputy as Assistant Clerk in the Office of the Clerk of County Court. On his father's death, he became temporary Clerk of County and Circuit Courts. In 1881, F.W. was voted in as Clerk of County Court, a position he held until County Court was abolished in 1903. F.W. held the office of Clerk of Circuit Court from 1904 to 1935.\n\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eDuring his working life, F.W. held many other prominent positions within Fairfax County and his local community. He was Clerk of the Board of Supervisors from 1880 - 1935 and County Treasurer in the 1890s; according to the Fairfax Herald, he served as a Probate Judge in 1904 and 1906; he was also a notary public, a real estate buyer, a member of the Chamber of Commerce and a delegate to the Prison Association in 1908. He served on many boards and committees, notably the County Health Board, the Fairfax Confederate Monument Association and Confederate Reunion Committee in 1900, the Great War Memorial Fund Committee, the Bicentennial Committee, the Farmers' Institute Committee and the Homecoming Day committee. In 1917, F.W. served as clerk for the Local Board for the Selective Service System Draft (WWI military service), and was Secretary and President of the Town Hall Association, Secretary and President of the Cemetery Association, Secretary and Treasurer of Henry Masonic Lodge, President of the Democratic Club and Wilson Club in 1916, elected Providence Lodge Good Templars Officer in 1873, elected Fairfax Lyceum Recording and Corresponding Secretary in 1874 and elected to the Zion Church Vestry in 1931. He was also a member of the Red Cross.\n\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eIn addition to his monumental public service, F.W. made large donations to the Confederate Reunion, Fairfax fairs and agricultural shows, roads, the War Relief Fund, the YMCA Fund, the Library building, the Fire Department and a new school building. He was much in demand as a public speaker, newspapers of the time list him as addressing Army draftees in 1917, the Civic League, the Rotary Club, Herndon Church of Christ and the Fairfax Lyceum.\n\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eNewspapers from F.W.'s time also record his active social life, attending many dinners and other functions, especially notable are the bank and Bar Association dinners. \n\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eThe collection offers a little insight into F.W.'s personal life. He was financially astute, as his many tax returns, insurance papers, Christmas club and bank books show. The collection shows that F.W. held shares in the Silver Butte Mines Corporation, the Mercantile-Railway Building and Loan Association of Alexandria, Virginia Title Company, Falls Church Bank, Incorporated, Fairfax and Loudoun Light and Power Company and Baltimore Building and Loan Association of Baltimore City. He even assumed some financial responsibility for his sister, Madge Pierce, after her husband's death. In the collection are copies of deeds of lands bought by F.W. and his real estate partners, James Love (also a Judge) and R.W. Moore. F.W. also seems to have had some interest in the arts, he was Secretary of the Olio Theatrical Troop in 1874 and held some shares in the Cosmos Theatre Co., Inc.\n\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eF.W.'s son, Frederick Dawson, had a legal career and was very active in the business and social affairs of Fairfax County. His other son, Marcus Bayly worked for him as deputy clerk. Tragically, Marcus was killed when his car hit a streetcar in August 1917. Amongst F.W.'s papers was a newspaper cutting of the accident, this has been copied onto acid-free paper.\n\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eElton Richardson Holbrook, F.W.'s nephew, also worked for F.W. as a deputy clerk; his signature appears on multiple papers. Unfortunately, he committed suicide in the 1931.\n\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eF.W. retired from Circuit Court in 1935 and was succeeded by John M. Whalen, a couple of whose papers appear in the collection. F.W. died on 23rd April, 1936.\n\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003e\u003ctitle render=\"bold\"\u003eSources:\u003c/title\u003e The collection, the Historical Newspaper Index at Fairfax County Public Library Virginia Room, correspondence from local historian, Lee Hubbard,\u003cextref type=\"simple\" href=\"https://www.findagrave.com/\"\u003eFind a Grave\u003c/extref\u003e\n\n\n\u003c/p\u003e"],"bioghist_heading_ssm":["Biographical Information\n"],"bioghist_tesim":["Frederick Wilmer (F.W.) Richardson and his father, Ferdinand Dawson (F.D.) Richardson, held the positions of Clerk of Fairfax County Court and Fairfax Circuit Court, variously, from 1833 to 1935.\n","F.D. Richardson was born on November 9th, 1808. He began his career as an assistant or deputy clerk in 1826; he was County Court Clerk from 1833-1835, 1867-1869 and 1870-1880. F.D. served as Circuit Court Clerk from 1835-1880, apart from a hiatus during the Civil War.\n","Prior to the Civil War, F.D. was a Captain in the Virginia Militia. He was also an avid farmer, as evidenced by his farming journal found in this collection, and is listed as Recording Secretary on the 1848 Constitution of Fairfax Agricultural Society. Post-Civil War, F.D. was a founding member of Central Farmers' Club which began in February 1874. He was also Clerk to the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors throughout the 1870s.\n","Not much is known about F.D.'s activities during the Civil War. He voted for secession from the Union in 1861, and courthouse lore has it that he took George Washington's will down to Richmond for safe-keeping. Physical evidence places him in Richmond in December 1861 and January 1862. \n","F.D. died on October 13th, 1880. His wife and F.W.'s mother, Mary Posey (Grigsby) Richardson, died on December 12th, 1889.\n","F.W. Richardson was born on October 16th 1854. He married Amelia (Millie) Lee Buck in 1883 and had four children, Frederick Dawson (1884 - 1954), Marcus Bayly (1886 - 1917), Mary Buck (1889 - 1890) and Virginia Fairfax (1891 - 1988). \n","In 1871, F.W. became his father's deputy as Assistant Clerk in the Office of the Clerk of County Court. On his father's death, he became temporary Clerk of County and Circuit Courts. In 1881, F.W. was voted in as Clerk of County Court, a position he held until County Court was abolished in 1903. F.W. held the office of Clerk of Circuit Court from 1904 to 1935.\n","During his working life, F.W. held many other prominent positions within Fairfax County and his local community. He was Clerk of the Board of Supervisors from 1880 - 1935 and County Treasurer in the 1890s; according to the Fairfax Herald, he served as a Probate Judge in 1904 and 1906; he was also a notary public, a real estate buyer, a member of the Chamber of Commerce and a delegate to the Prison Association in 1908. He served on many boards and committees, notably the County Health Board, the Fairfax Confederate Monument Association and Confederate Reunion Committee in 1900, the Great War Memorial Fund Committee, the Bicentennial Committee, the Farmers' Institute Committee and the Homecoming Day committee. In 1917, F.W. served as clerk for the Local Board for the Selective Service System Draft (WWI military service), and was Secretary and President of the Town Hall Association, Secretary and President of the Cemetery Association, Secretary and Treasurer of Henry Masonic Lodge, President of the Democratic Club and Wilson Club in 1916, elected Providence Lodge Good Templars Officer in 1873, elected Fairfax Lyceum Recording and Corresponding Secretary in 1874 and elected to the Zion Church Vestry in 1931. He was also a member of the Red Cross.\n","In addition to his monumental public service, F.W. made large donations to the Confederate Reunion, Fairfax fairs and agricultural shows, roads, the War Relief Fund, the YMCA Fund, the Library building, the Fire Department and a new school building. He was much in demand as a public speaker, newspapers of the time list him as addressing Army draftees in 1917, the Civic League, the Rotary Club, Herndon Church of Christ and the Fairfax Lyceum.\n","Newspapers from F.W.'s time also record his active social life, attending many dinners and other functions, especially notable are the bank and Bar Association dinners. \n","The collection offers a little insight into F.W.'s personal life. He was financially astute, as his many tax returns, insurance papers, Christmas club and bank books show. The collection shows that F.W. held shares in the Silver Butte Mines Corporation, the Mercantile-Railway Building and Loan Association of Alexandria, Virginia Title Company, Falls Church Bank, Incorporated, Fairfax and Loudoun Light and Power Company and Baltimore Building and Loan Association of Baltimore City. He even assumed some financial responsibility for his sister, Madge Pierce, after her husband's death. In the collection are copies of deeds of lands bought by F.W. and his real estate partners, James Love (also a Judge) and R.W. Moore. F.W. also seems to have had some interest in the arts, he was Secretary of the Olio Theatrical Troop in 1874 and held some shares in the Cosmos Theatre Co., Inc.\n","F.W.'s son, Frederick Dawson, had a legal career and was very active in the business and social affairs of Fairfax County. His other son, Marcus Bayly worked for him as deputy clerk. Tragically, Marcus was killed when his car hit a streetcar in August 1917. Amongst F.W.'s papers was a newspaper cutting of the accident, this has been copied onto acid-free paper.\n","Elton Richardson Holbrook, F.W.'s nephew, also worked for F.W. as a deputy clerk; his signature appears on multiple papers. Unfortunately, he committed suicide in the 1931.\n","F.W. retired from Circuit Court in 1935 and was succeeded by John M. Whalen, a couple of whose papers appear in the collection. F.W. died on 23rd April, 1936.\n","Sources:  The collection, the Historical Newspaper Index at Fairfax County Public Library Virginia Room, correspondence from local historian, Lee Hubbard, Find a Grave"],"scopecontent_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003e\u003ctitle render=\"bold\"\u003eSeries 1:\u003c/title\u003e Personal, 1861-1936, contains personal papers from both F.D. and F.W. Richardson. F.D.'s papers include receipts from Richmond merchants dating to 1861 and 1862 showing that F.D. and another man listed as Howard were buying large quantities of foodstuffs, cooking, serving and eating implements, tobacco products and pipes and other sundries such as candle molds and needles. There is no evidence-based explanation for these purchases. A possible explanation is that F.D. was outfitting a Confederate unit, but this is conjecture. F.D.'s papers also include a farming journal, other bills and receipts, some court papers and claims on his estate.\n\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eF.W.'s papers include a number of deeds and other property papers, insurance certificates and papers, investments papers, bank books and checks, tax returns, masonic membership cards and papers, other club membership cards and papers and papers pertaining to his work on the local board of the Selective Service System Draft in 1917 during WWI. The most poignant of these papers are chits stating whether local men (identified by serial numbers) passed their physical examinations for the draft. Some of the serial numbers correspond to entries in the Local Board Selective Service System Draft Records Book 1917, found in the archives. These entries state whether the men were allowed exemption from service due to dependents or occupation. See Appendix IV for details.\n\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003e\u003ctitle render=\"bold\"\u003eSeries 2:\u003c/title\u003e Professional, 1881 - 1935, contains documents pertaining to F.W.'s position as Clerk of County and Circuit Court. These documents include land records such as deed, lease, bill of sale, contract, mortgage, survey and certificate of title paperwork and correspondence; personal property records such as sales and conditional sales contract, loan, lien and chattel mortgage paperwork and correspondence; copies of wills, administrator and executor appointments, inheritance tax and fees paperwork and correspondence; tax records such as delinquent tax lists, receipts, sales paperwork and general tax correspondence; term papers records for commonwealth and civil cases such as Justice of the Peace statements, warrants of arrest, bail paperwork, jury summonses, case proceedings, judgements, divorce notices, insane asylum commitment papers, motions and petitions, pardon and parole forms, lists of court costs and clerk's fees, lawyers correspondence and receipts; other court records such as a jail condition report, hunting and fishing licenses, corporation directors and officers lists, names for the WWI Memorial and election candidacy papers; clerk's office documents such as reports, budget, salary lists, bank account information and receipts and correspondence with the State Auditor, attorneys and others. This series also has documents pertaining to F.W.'s position as Clerk of the Board of Supervisors such as a record of the County Levy in 1914 and correspondence concerning Board matters and bills.\nOf particular note is the correspondence concerning Prohibition laws and the Reports of Clerks of Court showing the special importance given Prohibition cases. \n\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003e\u003ctitle render=\"bold\"\u003eSeries 3:\u003c/title\u003e Posthumous Papers, 1936 - 1943, contains paperwork created by/ for John Whalen, Clerk of Circuit Court. The documents include a docket of cases for the November term 1937, letters from Courthouse supply manufacturers, general correspondence and a postcard.\n\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003e\u003cextref type=\"simple\" href=\"https://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/circuit/sites/circuit/files/assets/documents/pdf/hrc/the-fw-richardson-papers-1858-1943.pdf\"\u003eClick here to view Apendixes I through IV (See pages 8-11).\u003c/extref\u003e\n\u003c/p\u003e"],"scopecontent_heading_ssm":["Scope and Content\n"],"scopecontent_tesim":["Series 1:  Personal, 1861-1936, contains personal papers from both F.D. and F.W. Richardson. F.D.'s papers include receipts from Richmond merchants dating to 1861 and 1862 showing that F.D. and another man listed as Howard were buying large quantities of foodstuffs, cooking, serving and eating implements, tobacco products and pipes and other sundries such as candle molds and needles. There is no evidence-based explanation for these purchases. A possible explanation is that F.D. was outfitting a Confederate unit, but this is conjecture. F.D.'s papers also include a farming journal, other bills and receipts, some court papers and claims on his estate.\n","F.W.'s papers include a number of deeds and other property papers, insurance certificates and papers, investments papers, bank books and checks, tax returns, masonic membership cards and papers, other club membership cards and papers and papers pertaining to his work on the local board of the Selective Service System Draft in 1917 during WWI. The most poignant of these papers are chits stating whether local men (identified by serial numbers) passed their physical examinations for the draft. Some of the serial numbers correspond to entries in the Local Board Selective Service System Draft Records Book 1917, found in the archives. These entries state whether the men were allowed exemption from service due to dependents or occupation. See Appendix IV for details.\n","Series 2:  Professional, 1881 - 1935, contains documents pertaining to F.W.'s position as Clerk of County and Circuit Court. These documents include land records such as deed, lease, bill of sale, contract, mortgage, survey and certificate of title paperwork and correspondence; personal property records such as sales and conditional sales contract, loan, lien and chattel mortgage paperwork and correspondence; copies of wills, administrator and executor appointments, inheritance tax and fees paperwork and correspondence; tax records such as delinquent tax lists, receipts, sales paperwork and general tax correspondence; term papers records for commonwealth and civil cases such as Justice of the Peace statements, warrants of arrest, bail paperwork, jury summonses, case proceedings, judgements, divorce notices, insane asylum commitment papers, motions and petitions, pardon and parole forms, lists of court costs and clerk's fees, lawyers correspondence and receipts; other court records such as a jail condition report, hunting and fishing licenses, corporation directors and officers lists, names for the WWI Memorial and election candidacy papers; clerk's office documents such as reports, budget, salary lists, bank account information and receipts and correspondence with the State Auditor, attorneys and others. This series also has documents pertaining to F.W.'s position as Clerk of the Board of Supervisors such as a record of the County Levy in 1914 and correspondence concerning Board matters and bills.\nOf particular note is the correspondence concerning Prohibition laws and the Reports of Clerks of Court showing the special importance given Prohibition cases. \n","Series 3:  Posthumous Papers, 1936 - 1943, contains paperwork created by/ for John Whalen, Clerk of Circuit Court. The documents include a docket of cases for the November term 1937, letters from Courthouse supply manufacturers, general correspondence and a postcard.\n","Click here to view Apendixes I through IV (See pages 8-11)."],"physloc_html_tesm":["\u003cphysloc label=\"Shelf Location\"\u003eUnit 51, Top Shelf, Boxes 1-3; Oversize in Unit 26, Drawer #6\n\u003c/physloc\u003e"],"physloc_tesim":["Unit 51, Top Shelf, Boxes 1-3; Oversize in Unit 26, Drawer #6\n"],"names_coll_ssim":["Frederick Wilmer (F.W.) Richardson, Ferdinand Dawson (F.D.) Richardson, Fairfax Circuit Court, C. Lee Moore (State Auditor of Public Accounts), Elton R. Holbrook (Deputy Clerk), John M. Whalen (Clerk after F.W.) Frank L. Ballenger(Secretary of the Board of Supervisors)"],"names_ssim":["Frederick Wilmer (F.W.) Richardson, Ferdinand Dawson (F.D.) Richardson, Fairfax Circuit Court, C. Lee Moore (State Auditor of Public Accounts), Elton R. Holbrook (Deputy Clerk), John M. Whalen (Clerk after F.W.) Frank L. Ballenger(Secretary of the Board of Supervisors)"],"persname_ssim":["Frederick Wilmer (F.W.) Richardson, Ferdinand Dawson (F.D.) Richardson, Fairfax Circuit Court, C. Lee Moore (State Auditor of Public Accounts), Elton R. Holbrook (Deputy Clerk), John M. Whalen (Clerk after F.W.) Frank L. Ballenger(Secretary of the Board of Supervisors)"],"language_ssim":["English\n"],"total_component_count_is":149,"online_item_count_is":0,"component_level_isim":[0],"sort_isi":0,"timestamp":"2026-04-30T21:27:17.608Z"}]}},"label":"Breadcrumbs"}}},"links":{"self":"https://search.arvasarchive.org/catalog/vaffcr_vaffcr0005_c03_c01_c05"}},{"id":"vaffcr_vaffcr00002_c01_c01","type":"Subseries","attributes":{"title":"Subseries 1: Confederate Applications for Aid","breadcrumbs":{"id":"https://search.arvasarchive.org/catalog/vaffcr_vaffcr00002_c01_c01#breadcrumbs","type":"document_value","attributes":{"value":{"ref_ssi":"vaffcr_vaffcr00002_c01_c01","ref_ssm":["vaffcr_vaffcr00002_c01_c01"],"id":"vaffcr_vaffcr00002_c01_c01","ead_ssi":"vaffcr_vaffcr00002","_root_":"vaffcr_vaffcr00002","_nest_parent_":"vaffcr_vaffcr00002_c01","parent_ssi":"vaffcr_vaffcr00002_c01","parent_ssim":["vaffcr_vaffcr00002","vaffcr_vaffcr00002_c01"],"parent_ids_ssim":["vaffcr_vaffcr00002","vaffcr_vaffcr00002_c01"],"parent_unittitles_ssm":["Fairfax County Civil War Pensions, \n 1876-1943","Series 1: Applications"],"parent_unittitles_tesim":["Fairfax County Civil War Pensions, \n 1876-1943","Series 1: Applications"],"text":["Fairfax County Civil War Pensions, \n 1876-1943","Series 1: Applications","Subseries 1: Confederate Applications for Aid"],"title_filing_ssi":"Subseries 1: Confederate Applications for Aid\n\t","title_ssm":["Subseries 1: Confederate Applications for Aid\n\t"],"title_tesim":["Subseries 1: Confederate Applications for Aid\n\t"],"normalized_title_ssm":["Subseries 1: Confederate Applications for Aid"],"component_level_isim":[2],"repository_ssim":["Fairfax Circuit Court Historic Records Center"],"collection_ssim":["Fairfax County Civil War Pensions, \n 1876-1943"],"has_online_content_ssim":["false"],"child_component_count_isi":2,"level_ssm":["Subseries"],"level_ssim":["Subseries"],"sort_isi":2,"_nest_path_":"/components#0/components#0","timestamp":"2026-04-30T21:27:17.608Z","collection":{"numFound":1,"start":0,"numFoundExact":true,"docs":[{"id":"vaffcr_vaffcr00002","ead_ssi":"vaffcr_vaffcr00002","_root_":"vaffcr_vaffcr00002","_nest_parent_":"vaffcr_vaffcr00002","ead_source_url_ssi":"data/fcc/vaffcr00002.xml","title_ssm":["Fairfax County Civil War Pensions, \n 1876-1943\n"],"title_tesim":["Fairfax County Civil War Pensions, \n 1876-1943\n"],"level_ssm":["collection"],"level_ssim":["Collection"],"normalized_title_ssm":["Fairfax County Civil War Pensions, \n 1876-1943"],"text":["Fairfax County Civil War Pensions, \n 1876-1943","Primarily Fairfax County ","Confederate and Union civil war pensions, disabilities","Pension applications, blank forms, letters, pension rolls, judges' orders, reports","Paper, cardstock, ink, graphite",".","In 1867, the State of Virginia began its first Confederate veteran aid program by offering artificial limbs to disabled veterans who had lost a limb as a result of war-time injuries. An act in 1872 allowed for artificial legs to be provided to veterans, and an amendment to this act also allowed African American veterans and 'employees' to receive legs. Beginning in 1873, the State offered commutations (one- time payments) to veterans whose artificial limbs were badly-fitting or unusable. Officially called Artificial Limb Commutations, these payments were eventually offered to veterans whose wounds completely disabled or paralyzed their limbs but did not result in amputations. Further acts in 1876 and 1882 provided aid for veterans who couldn't perform manual labor owing to wounds wholly or partly disabling their limbs, and finally, for wounds disabling any part of their body. These qualifying wounds included loss of eyesight. A final act passed in 1884 superseded the Artificial Limb Commutations with Aid to Citizens of Virginia Wounded and Maimed during the Late War. This act provided $60 to veterans with generally disabling wounds, and $60 to veterans for each limb or eye lost.\n","Realizing that a one-time payment would not provide permanent relief for the many disabled veterans who couldn't support themselves or their dependents, the General Assembly passed the first Confederate pension act in 1888. This act allowed a wounded veteran to apply for an annual pension if his total annual income was less than $300 and his personal and real property was valued at less than $1000. Widows whose husbands had died during the war, who remained unmarried and whose income and property values met the same requirements as those of veterans, were also entitled to apply.\n","The pension act of 1900 allowed veterans disabled owing to old age to apply. Widows whose husbands died after the war, and whose annual income was less than $100, were also eligible for application. This act dramatically increased the number of Confederate pensioners and, therefore, added to the strain on Virginia's economy; as a result of this, the General Assembly passed a further act in 1902 which placed more severe restrictions on income limits. Veterans and war-bereaved widows could not earn more than $150 per year or have more than $500 worth of real and personal property. In addition to this, widows whose husbands had died since the war had to have been married before May 1866. \n","Each subsequent act enlarged the eligibility quota. In 1908, former Confederate nurses, known as matrons, were included. Unlike the widows, the matrons had to be married to receive their pension. A further addition was the introduction of one-time disbursements of funeral expenses ($25). The 1912 act allowed women who had been widowed, remarried to another Confederate veteran and widowed again to apply. The 1924 and 1926 acts opened up pensions for former slaves and freemen who had acted for the Confederate Army as body servants, cooks, guards, hostlers, teamsters, blacksmiths, hospital and railroad workers, and who had buried the dead. Former Virginia residents who had moved to D.C. were also eligible under the 1924 act.","The required dates of marriage for widows also changed as time progressed. The 1912 act changed the date to before May 1868, the 1918 act to before May 1870, the 1922 act to before May 1877, the 1924 act to before December 31st 1882, the 1926 act to before 1886, and the 1927 act to before 1890. In response to inflation, the General Assembly gradually increased the maximum salary and property values allowed for eligibility. By 1926, the salary limit was $400, and the total property limit was $2000.\n","The Confederate commutation, aid and pension processes in Virginia relied on county circuit courts to collect, vet, accept or deny applications. The circuit court clerk collected applications and made a certified list of applicants, one of which was sent to the judge, one sent to the local pension board and one displayed on the courthouse door. The clerk also handed the applications to the court. From 1888 to 1900, county judges decided pension eligibility. In 1900, the pension act required counties to elect a five-person pension board to determine eligibility and send applications to the State Pension Board for further examination. In 1902, judges became the deciding authorities again, and the county pension board's purpose was relegated to assessing each applicant's eligibility and passing their recommendations to the deciding judge. Judges examined applications, determined eligibility and made an Order to certify or disallow a claim. The clerk then sent a list of allowed and certified pension claims to the State Pension Board, and, later, to the Auditor of Public Accounts. \n","The local pension board's commissioners other duties were to report the deaths of pensioners and discover and report pensioners who no longer met eligibility criteria, so that their names were removed from the State Pension Rolls, and their pensions not overpaid.\n","In 1958, the Federal Government also began issuing pensions to Confederate veterans and widows. The last Virginia Confederate veteran died in 1959; Virginia and the Federal Government continued to pay pensions to widows and unmarried children into the 21st century. In 2009, Virginia Code Section 51.1-900 (governing Confederate pensions) was repealed and Confederate pensions ceased to be. \n","Sources:  The collection, Google Books, Encyclopedia of Virginia, Library of Virginia\n","Series 1:  Applications, 1876 - 1943, contains one Union pension application, applications for Artificial Limb Commutation (Confederate), applications for aid (Confederate), Confederate pension applications and supporting paperwork\n","Series 2:  Confederate Pension Board of Fairfax Co., 1900 - 1933, contains oaths and appointment statements, reports and correspondence\n","Series 3:  Circuit Court and Pensions, 1902 - 1933, contains judges' orders, Confederate pensions rolls, correspondence with the State Pension Clerk and State Auditor of Public Accounts \n","Series 4:  Miscellaneous, 1902 - 1930, contains lists of applicants, correspondence and notices\n","Series 5:  Publications by State Auditor of Public Accounts, 1922, 1924, 1926\n","Series 6:  Roster of Confederate Pensioners of Virginia, 1909, 1916, 1917, 1919, 1920, 1921, 1925\n","Click here to view Apendixes I through II (See pages 4-8).","Unit 38, Drawer 2; Unit 52, Row 6\n","Confederate Pension Board of Fairfax Co., State Auditor of Public Accounts, State Pension Clerk, Fairfax County Circuit Court","English\n"],"collection_title_tesim":["Fairfax County Civil War Pensions, \n 1876-1943"],"collection_ssim":["Fairfax County Civil War Pensions, \n 1876-1943"],"repository_ssm":["Fairfax Circuit Court Historic Records Center"],"repository_ssim":["Fairfax Circuit Court Historic Records Center"],"geogname_ssm":["Primarily Fairfax County "],"geogname_ssim":["Primarily Fairfax County "],"creator_ssm":["Fairfax Circuit Court Historic Records Center\n"],"creator_ssim":["Fairfax Circuit Court Historic Records Center\n"],"places_ssim":["Primarily Fairfax County "],"acqinfo_ssim":["Permanent Record of the Fairfax Circuit Court Historic Records Center.\n"],"access_subjects_ssim":["Confederate and Union civil war pensions, disabilities","Pension applications, blank forms, letters, pension rolls, judges' orders, reports","Paper, cardstock, ink, graphite"],"access_subjects_ssm":["Confederate and Union civil war pensions, disabilities","Pension applications, blank forms, letters, pension rolls, judges' orders, reports","Paper, cardstock, ink, graphite"],"has_online_content_ssim":["false"],"physdesc_tesim":["."],"extent_ssm":["1 linear foot"],"extent_tesim":["1 linear foot"],"genreform_ssim":["Paper, cardstock, ink, graphite"],"bioghist_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eIn 1867, the State of Virginia began its first Confederate veteran aid program by offering artificial limbs to disabled veterans who had lost a limb as a result of war-time injuries. An act in 1872 allowed for artificial legs to be provided to veterans, and an amendment to this act also allowed African American veterans and 'employees' to receive legs. Beginning in 1873, the State offered commutations (one- time payments) to veterans whose artificial limbs were badly-fitting or unusable. Officially called Artificial Limb Commutations, these payments were eventually offered to veterans whose wounds completely disabled or paralyzed their limbs but did not result in amputations. Further acts in 1876 and 1882 provided aid for veterans who couldn't perform manual labor owing to wounds wholly or partly disabling their limbs, and finally, for wounds disabling any part of their body. These qualifying wounds included loss of eyesight. A final act passed in 1884 superseded the Artificial Limb Commutations with Aid to Citizens of Virginia Wounded and Maimed during the Late War. This act provided $60 to veterans with generally disabling wounds, and $60 to veterans for each limb or eye lost.\n\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eRealizing that a one-time payment would not provide permanent relief for the many disabled veterans who couldn't support themselves or their dependents, the General Assembly passed the first Confederate pension act in 1888. This act allowed a wounded veteran to apply for an annual pension if his total annual income was less than $300 and his personal and real property was valued at less than $1000. Widows whose husbands had died during the war, who remained unmarried and whose income and property values met the same requirements as those of veterans, were also entitled to apply.\n\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eThe pension act of 1900 allowed veterans disabled owing to old age to apply. Widows whose husbands died after the war, and whose annual income was less than $100, were also eligible for application. This act dramatically increased the number of Confederate pensioners and, therefore, added to the strain on Virginia's economy; as a result of this, the General Assembly passed a further act in 1902 which placed more severe restrictions on income limits. Veterans and war-bereaved widows could not earn more than $150 per year or have more than $500 worth of real and personal property. In addition to this, widows whose husbands had died since the war had to have been married before May 1866. \n\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eEach subsequent act enlarged the eligibility quota. In 1908, former Confederate nurses, known as matrons, were included. Unlike the widows, the matrons had to be married to receive their pension. A further addition was the introduction of one-time disbursements of funeral expenses ($25). The 1912 act allowed women who had been widowed, remarried to another Confederate veteran and widowed again to apply. The 1924 and 1926 acts opened up pensions for former slaves and freemen who had acted for the Confederate Army as body servants, cooks, guards, hostlers, teamsters, blacksmiths, hospital and railroad workers, and who had buried the dead. Former Virginia residents who had moved to D.C. were also eligible under the 1924 act.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eThe required dates of marriage for widows also changed as time progressed. The 1912 act changed the date to before May 1868, the 1918 act to before May 1870, the 1922 act to before May 1877, the 1924 act to before December 31st 1882, the 1926 act to before 1886, and the 1927 act to before 1890. In response to inflation, the General Assembly gradually increased the maximum salary and property values allowed for eligibility. By 1926, the salary limit was $400, and the total property limit was $2000.\n\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eThe Confederate commutation, aid and pension processes in Virginia relied on county circuit courts to collect, vet, accept or deny applications. The circuit court clerk collected applications and made a certified list of applicants, one of which was sent to the judge, one sent to the local pension board and one displayed on the courthouse door. The clerk also handed the applications to the court. From 1888 to 1900, county judges decided pension eligibility. In 1900, the pension act required counties to elect a five-person pension board to determine eligibility and send applications to the State Pension Board for further examination. In 1902, judges became the deciding authorities again, and the county pension board's purpose was relegated to assessing each applicant's eligibility and passing their recommendations to the deciding judge. Judges examined applications, determined eligibility and made an Order to certify or disallow a claim. The clerk then sent a list of allowed and certified pension claims to the State Pension Board, and, later, to the Auditor of Public Accounts. \n\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eThe local pension board's commissioners other duties were to report the deaths of pensioners and discover and report pensioners who no longer met eligibility criteria, so that their names were removed from the State Pension Rolls, and their pensions not overpaid.\n\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eIn 1958, the Federal Government also began issuing pensions to Confederate veterans and widows. The last Virginia Confederate veteran died in 1959; Virginia and the Federal Government continued to pay pensions to widows and unmarried children into the 21st century. In 2009, Virginia Code Section 51.1-900 (governing Confederate pensions) was repealed and Confederate pensions ceased to be. \n\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003e\u003ctitle render=\"bold\"\u003eSources:\u003c/title\u003e The collection, Google Books, Encyclopedia of Virginia, Library of Virginia\n\u003c/p\u003e"],"bioghist_heading_ssm":["Biographical/Historical Information \n"],"bioghist_tesim":["In 1867, the State of Virginia began its first Confederate veteran aid program by offering artificial limbs to disabled veterans who had lost a limb as a result of war-time injuries. An act in 1872 allowed for artificial legs to be provided to veterans, and an amendment to this act also allowed African American veterans and 'employees' to receive legs. Beginning in 1873, the State offered commutations (one- time payments) to veterans whose artificial limbs were badly-fitting or unusable. Officially called Artificial Limb Commutations, these payments were eventually offered to veterans whose wounds completely disabled or paralyzed their limbs but did not result in amputations. Further acts in 1876 and 1882 provided aid for veterans who couldn't perform manual labor owing to wounds wholly or partly disabling their limbs, and finally, for wounds disabling any part of their body. These qualifying wounds included loss of eyesight. A final act passed in 1884 superseded the Artificial Limb Commutations with Aid to Citizens of Virginia Wounded and Maimed during the Late War. This act provided $60 to veterans with generally disabling wounds, and $60 to veterans for each limb or eye lost.\n","Realizing that a one-time payment would not provide permanent relief for the many disabled veterans who couldn't support themselves or their dependents, the General Assembly passed the first Confederate pension act in 1888. This act allowed a wounded veteran to apply for an annual pension if his total annual income was less than $300 and his personal and real property was valued at less than $1000. Widows whose husbands had died during the war, who remained unmarried and whose income and property values met the same requirements as those of veterans, were also entitled to apply.\n","The pension act of 1900 allowed veterans disabled owing to old age to apply. Widows whose husbands died after the war, and whose annual income was less than $100, were also eligible for application. This act dramatically increased the number of Confederate pensioners and, therefore, added to the strain on Virginia's economy; as a result of this, the General Assembly passed a further act in 1902 which placed more severe restrictions on income limits. Veterans and war-bereaved widows could not earn more than $150 per year or have more than $500 worth of real and personal property. In addition to this, widows whose husbands had died since the war had to have been married before May 1866. \n","Each subsequent act enlarged the eligibility quota. In 1908, former Confederate nurses, known as matrons, were included. Unlike the widows, the matrons had to be married to receive their pension. A further addition was the introduction of one-time disbursements of funeral expenses ($25). The 1912 act allowed women who had been widowed, remarried to another Confederate veteran and widowed again to apply. The 1924 and 1926 acts opened up pensions for former slaves and freemen who had acted for the Confederate Army as body servants, cooks, guards, hostlers, teamsters, blacksmiths, hospital and railroad workers, and who had buried the dead. Former Virginia residents who had moved to D.C. were also eligible under the 1924 act.","The required dates of marriage for widows also changed as time progressed. The 1912 act changed the date to before May 1868, the 1918 act to before May 1870, the 1922 act to before May 1877, the 1924 act to before December 31st 1882, the 1926 act to before 1886, and the 1927 act to before 1890. In response to inflation, the General Assembly gradually increased the maximum salary and property values allowed for eligibility. By 1926, the salary limit was $400, and the total property limit was $2000.\n","The Confederate commutation, aid and pension processes in Virginia relied on county circuit courts to collect, vet, accept or deny applications. The circuit court clerk collected applications and made a certified list of applicants, one of which was sent to the judge, one sent to the local pension board and one displayed on the courthouse door. The clerk also handed the applications to the court. From 1888 to 1900, county judges decided pension eligibility. In 1900, the pension act required counties to elect a five-person pension board to determine eligibility and send applications to the State Pension Board for further examination. In 1902, judges became the deciding authorities again, and the county pension board's purpose was relegated to assessing each applicant's eligibility and passing their recommendations to the deciding judge. Judges examined applications, determined eligibility and made an Order to certify or disallow a claim. The clerk then sent a list of allowed and certified pension claims to the State Pension Board, and, later, to the Auditor of Public Accounts. \n","The local pension board's commissioners other duties were to report the deaths of pensioners and discover and report pensioners who no longer met eligibility criteria, so that their names were removed from the State Pension Rolls, and their pensions not overpaid.\n","In 1958, the Federal Government also began issuing pensions to Confederate veterans and widows. The last Virginia Confederate veteran died in 1959; Virginia and the Federal Government continued to pay pensions to widows and unmarried children into the 21st century. In 2009, Virginia Code Section 51.1-900 (governing Confederate pensions) was repealed and Confederate pensions ceased to be. \n","Sources:  The collection, Google Books, Encyclopedia of Virginia, Library of Virginia\n"],"scopecontent_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003e\u003ctitle render=\"bold\"\u003eSeries 1:\u003c/title\u003e Applications, 1876 - 1943, contains one Union pension application, applications for Artificial Limb Commutation (Confederate), applications for aid (Confederate), Confederate pension applications and supporting paperwork\n\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003e\u003ctitle render=\"bold\"\u003eSeries 2: \u003c/title\u003eConfederate Pension Board of Fairfax Co., 1900 - 1933, contains oaths and appointment statements, reports and correspondence\n\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003e\u003ctitle render=\"bold\"\u003eSeries 3: \u003c/title\u003eCircuit Court and Pensions, 1902 - 1933, contains judges' orders, Confederate pensions rolls, correspondence with the State Pension Clerk and State Auditor of Public Accounts \n\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003e\u003ctitle render=\"bold\"\u003eSeries 4:\u003c/title\u003e Miscellaneous, 1902 - 1930, contains lists of applicants, correspondence and notices\n\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003e\u003ctitle render=\"bold\"\u003eSeries 5: \u003c/title\u003ePublications by State Auditor of Public Accounts, 1922, 1924, 1926\n\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003e\u003ctitle render=\"bold\"\u003eSeries 6: \u003c/title\u003eRoster of Confederate Pensioners of Virginia, 1909, 1916, 1917, 1919, 1920, 1921, 1925\n\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003e\u003cextref type=\"simple\" href=\"https://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/circuit/sites/circuit/files/assets/documents/pdf/hrc/fairfax-county-civil-war-pensions-1876-1943.pdf\"\u003eClick here to view Apendixes I through II (See pages 4-8).\u003c/extref\u003e\n\u003c/p\u003e"],"scopecontent_heading_ssm":["Scope and Content\n"],"scopecontent_tesim":["Series 1:  Applications, 1876 - 1943, contains one Union pension application, applications for Artificial Limb Commutation (Confederate), applications for aid (Confederate), Confederate pension applications and supporting paperwork\n","Series 2:  Confederate Pension Board of Fairfax Co., 1900 - 1933, contains oaths and appointment statements, reports and correspondence\n","Series 3:  Circuit Court and Pensions, 1902 - 1933, contains judges' orders, Confederate pensions rolls, correspondence with the State Pension Clerk and State Auditor of Public Accounts \n","Series 4:  Miscellaneous, 1902 - 1930, contains lists of applicants, correspondence and notices\n","Series 5:  Publications by State Auditor of Public Accounts, 1922, 1924, 1926\n","Series 6:  Roster of Confederate Pensioners of Virginia, 1909, 1916, 1917, 1919, 1920, 1921, 1925\n","Click here to view Apendixes I through II (See pages 4-8)."],"physloc_html_tesm":["\u003cphysloc label=\"Shelf Location\"\u003eUnit 38, Drawer 2; Unit 52, Row 6\n\u003c/physloc\u003e"],"physloc_tesim":["Unit 38, Drawer 2; Unit 52, Row 6\n"],"names_coll_ssim":["Confederate Pension Board of Fairfax Co., State Auditor of Public Accounts, State Pension Clerk, Fairfax County Circuit Court"],"names_ssim":["Confederate Pension Board of Fairfax Co., State Auditor of Public Accounts, State Pension Clerk, Fairfax County Circuit Court"],"corpname_ssim":["Confederate Pension Board of Fairfax Co., State Auditor of Public Accounts, State Pension Clerk, Fairfax County Circuit Court"],"language_ssim":["English\n"],"total_component_count_is":34,"online_item_count_is":0,"component_level_isim":[0],"sort_isi":0,"timestamp":"2026-04-30T21:27:17.608Z"}]}},"label":"Breadcrumbs"}}},"links":{"self":"https://search.arvasarchive.org/catalog/vaffcr_vaffcr00002_c01_c01"}},{"id":"vaffcr_vaffcr0005_c01_c01_c01","type":"Subseries","attributes":{"title":"Subseries 1: F.D. Richardson Papers","breadcrumbs":{"id":"https://search.arvasarchive.org/catalog/vaffcr_vaffcr0005_c01_c01_c01#breadcrumbs","type":"document_value","attributes":{"value":{"ref_ssi":"vaffcr_vaffcr0005_c01_c01_c01","ref_ssm":["vaffcr_vaffcr0005_c01_c01_c01"],"id":"vaffcr_vaffcr0005_c01_c01_c01","ead_ssi":"vaffcr_vaffcr0005","_root_":"vaffcr_vaffcr0005","_nest_parent_":"vaffcr_vaffcr0005_c01_c01","parent_ssi":"vaffcr_vaffcr0005_c01_c01","parent_ssim":["vaffcr_vaffcr0005","vaffcr_vaffcr0005_c01","vaffcr_vaffcr0005_c01_c01"],"parent_ids_ssim":["vaffcr_vaffcr0005","vaffcr_vaffcr0005_c01","vaffcr_vaffcr0005_c01_c01"],"parent_unittitles_ssm":["F.W. Richardson Papers, \n 1858-1943","Box 1","Series 1: Personal"],"parent_unittitles_tesim":["F.W. Richardson Papers, \n 1858-1943","Box 1","Series 1: Personal"],"text":["F.W. Richardson Papers, \n 1858-1943","Box 1","Series 1: Personal","Subseries 1: F.D. Richardson Papers"],"title_filing_ssi":"Subseries 1: F.D. Richardson Papers\n\t\t","title_ssm":["Subseries 1: F.D. Richardson Papers\n\t\t"],"title_tesim":["Subseries 1: F.D. Richardson Papers\n\t\t"],"normalized_title_ssm":["Subseries 1: F.D. Richardson Papers"],"component_level_isim":[3],"repository_ssim":["Fairfax Circuit Court Historic Records Center"],"collection_ssim":["F.W. Richardson Papers, \n 1858-1943"],"has_online_content_ssim":["false"],"child_component_count_isi":6,"level_ssm":["Subseries"],"level_ssim":["Subseries"],"sort_isi":3,"_nest_path_":"/components#0/components#0/components#0","timestamp":"2026-04-30T21:27:17.608Z","collection":{"numFound":1,"start":0,"numFoundExact":true,"docs":[{"id":"vaffcr_vaffcr0005","ead_ssi":"vaffcr_vaffcr0005","_root_":"vaffcr_vaffcr0005","_nest_parent_":"vaffcr_vaffcr0005","ead_source_url_ssi":"data/fcc/vaffcr0005.xml","title_ssm":["F.W. Richardson Papers, \n 1858-1943\n"],"title_tesim":["F.W. Richardson Papers, \n 1858-1943\n"],"level_ssm":["collection"],"level_ssim":["Collection"],"normalized_title_ssm":["F.W. Richardson Papers, \n 1858-1943"],"text":["F.W. Richardson Papers, \n 1858-1943","Primarily Fairfax County.","Land and personal property, taxes, wills and estate paperwork, divorce, term papers, general court papers, election records, laws and acts, Board of Supervisors, Prohibition, WWI Exemption Board and Memorial, clerk's budget, salaries and reports, personal banking and insurance, Civil War, Reconstruction, WWI, Prohibition, Great Depression, life events of Richardson family","Deeds, certificates of title, wills, receipts, checkbook and checks, booklets, correspondence, farming journal, naturalization certificate, divorce notices, reports, tax bills and receipts, term papers and related paperwork, pardon, corporation papers, plats, blueprints, WWI Exemption Board chits, insurance certificates, promissory notes, election nomination papers, oaths of office, arrest and bond warrants, petitions, delinquent tax lists, vehicle insurance policies","State Auditor of Public Accounts, Deputy Clerk, Secretary of the Board of Supervisors","Paper, cardstock, leather, photographic material, ink, graphite",".","Frederick Wilmer (F.W.) Richardson and his father, Ferdinand Dawson (F.D.) Richardson, held the positions of Clerk of Fairfax County Court and Fairfax Circuit Court, variously, from 1833 to 1935.\n","F.D. Richardson was born on November 9th, 1808. He began his career as an assistant or deputy clerk in 1826; he was County Court Clerk from 1833-1835, 1867-1869 and 1870-1880. F.D. served as Circuit Court Clerk from 1835-1880, apart from a hiatus during the Civil War.\n","Prior to the Civil War, F.D. was a Captain in the Virginia Militia. He was also an avid farmer, as evidenced by his farming journal found in this collection, and is listed as Recording Secretary on the 1848 Constitution of Fairfax Agricultural Society. Post-Civil War, F.D. was a founding member of Central Farmers' Club which began in February 1874. He was also Clerk to the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors throughout the 1870s.\n","Not much is known about F.D.'s activities during the Civil War. He voted for secession from the Union in 1861, and courthouse lore has it that he took George Washington's will down to Richmond for safe-keeping. Physical evidence places him in Richmond in December 1861 and January 1862. \n","F.D. died on October 13th, 1880. His wife and F.W.'s mother, Mary Posey (Grigsby) Richardson, died on December 12th, 1889.\n","F.W. Richardson was born on October 16th 1854. He married Amelia (Millie) Lee Buck in 1883 and had four children, Frederick Dawson (1884 - 1954), Marcus Bayly (1886 - 1917), Mary Buck (1889 - 1890) and Virginia Fairfax (1891 - 1988). \n","In 1871, F.W. became his father's deputy as Assistant Clerk in the Office of the Clerk of County Court. On his father's death, he became temporary Clerk of County and Circuit Courts. In 1881, F.W. was voted in as Clerk of County Court, a position he held until County Court was abolished in 1903. F.W. held the office of Clerk of Circuit Court from 1904 to 1935.\n","During his working life, F.W. held many other prominent positions within Fairfax County and his local community. He was Clerk of the Board of Supervisors from 1880 - 1935 and County Treasurer in the 1890s; according to the Fairfax Herald, he served as a Probate Judge in 1904 and 1906; he was also a notary public, a real estate buyer, a member of the Chamber of Commerce and a delegate to the Prison Association in 1908. He served on many boards and committees, notably the County Health Board, the Fairfax Confederate Monument Association and Confederate Reunion Committee in 1900, the Great War Memorial Fund Committee, the Bicentennial Committee, the Farmers' Institute Committee and the Homecoming Day committee. In 1917, F.W. served as clerk for the Local Board for the Selective Service System Draft (WWI military service), and was Secretary and President of the Town Hall Association, Secretary and President of the Cemetery Association, Secretary and Treasurer of Henry Masonic Lodge, President of the Democratic Club and Wilson Club in 1916, elected Providence Lodge Good Templars Officer in 1873, elected Fairfax Lyceum Recording and Corresponding Secretary in 1874 and elected to the Zion Church Vestry in 1931. He was also a member of the Red Cross.\n","In addition to his monumental public service, F.W. made large donations to the Confederate Reunion, Fairfax fairs and agricultural shows, roads, the War Relief Fund, the YMCA Fund, the Library building, the Fire Department and a new school building. He was much in demand as a public speaker, newspapers of the time list him as addressing Army draftees in 1917, the Civic League, the Rotary Club, Herndon Church of Christ and the Fairfax Lyceum.\n","Newspapers from F.W.'s time also record his active social life, attending many dinners and other functions, especially notable are the bank and Bar Association dinners. \n","The collection offers a little insight into F.W.'s personal life. He was financially astute, as his many tax returns, insurance papers, Christmas club and bank books show. The collection shows that F.W. held shares in the Silver Butte Mines Corporation, the Mercantile-Railway Building and Loan Association of Alexandria, Virginia Title Company, Falls Church Bank, Incorporated, Fairfax and Loudoun Light and Power Company and Baltimore Building and Loan Association of Baltimore City. He even assumed some financial responsibility for his sister, Madge Pierce, after her husband's death. In the collection are copies of deeds of lands bought by F.W. and his real estate partners, James Love (also a Judge) and R.W. Moore. F.W. also seems to have had some interest in the arts, he was Secretary of the Olio Theatrical Troop in 1874 and held some shares in the Cosmos Theatre Co., Inc.\n","F.W.'s son, Frederick Dawson, had a legal career and was very active in the business and social affairs of Fairfax County. His other son, Marcus Bayly worked for him as deputy clerk. Tragically, Marcus was killed when his car hit a streetcar in August 1917. Amongst F.W.'s papers was a newspaper cutting of the accident, this has been copied onto acid-free paper.\n","Elton Richardson Holbrook, F.W.'s nephew, also worked for F.W. as a deputy clerk; his signature appears on multiple papers. Unfortunately, he committed suicide in the 1931.\n","F.W. retired from Circuit Court in 1935 and was succeeded by John M. Whalen, a couple of whose papers appear in the collection. F.W. died on 23rd April, 1936.\n","Sources:  The collection, the Historical Newspaper Index at Fairfax County Public Library Virginia Room, correspondence from local historian, Lee Hubbard, Find a Grave","Series 1:  Personal, 1861-1936, contains personal papers from both F.D. and F.W. Richardson. F.D.'s papers include receipts from Richmond merchants dating to 1861 and 1862 showing that F.D. and another man listed as Howard were buying large quantities of foodstuffs, cooking, serving and eating implements, tobacco products and pipes and other sundries such as candle molds and needles. There is no evidence-based explanation for these purchases. A possible explanation is that F.D. was outfitting a Confederate unit, but this is conjecture. F.D.'s papers also include a farming journal, other bills and receipts, some court papers and claims on his estate.\n","F.W.'s papers include a number of deeds and other property papers, insurance certificates and papers, investments papers, bank books and checks, tax returns, masonic membership cards and papers, other club membership cards and papers and papers pertaining to his work on the local board of the Selective Service System Draft in 1917 during WWI. The most poignant of these papers are chits stating whether local men (identified by serial numbers) passed their physical examinations for the draft. Some of the serial numbers correspond to entries in the Local Board Selective Service System Draft Records Book 1917, found in the archives. These entries state whether the men were allowed exemption from service due to dependents or occupation. See Appendix IV for details.\n","Series 2:  Professional, 1881 - 1935, contains documents pertaining to F.W.'s position as Clerk of County and Circuit Court. These documents include land records such as deed, lease, bill of sale, contract, mortgage, survey and certificate of title paperwork and correspondence; personal property records such as sales and conditional sales contract, loan, lien and chattel mortgage paperwork and correspondence; copies of wills, administrator and executor appointments, inheritance tax and fees paperwork and correspondence; tax records such as delinquent tax lists, receipts, sales paperwork and general tax correspondence; term papers records for commonwealth and civil cases such as Justice of the Peace statements, warrants of arrest, bail paperwork, jury summonses, case proceedings, judgements, divorce notices, insane asylum commitment papers, motions and petitions, pardon and parole forms, lists of court costs and clerk's fees, lawyers correspondence and receipts; other court records such as a jail condition report, hunting and fishing licenses, corporation directors and officers lists, names for the WWI Memorial and election candidacy papers; clerk's office documents such as reports, budget, salary lists, bank account information and receipts and correspondence with the State Auditor, attorneys and others. This series also has documents pertaining to F.W.'s position as Clerk of the Board of Supervisors such as a record of the County Levy in 1914 and correspondence concerning Board matters and bills.\nOf particular note is the correspondence concerning Prohibition laws and the Reports of Clerks of Court showing the special importance given Prohibition cases. \n","Series 3:  Posthumous Papers, 1936 - 1943, contains paperwork created by/ for John Whalen, Clerk of Circuit Court. The documents include a docket of cases for the November term 1937, letters from Courthouse supply manufacturers, general correspondence and a postcard.\n","Click here to view Apendixes I through IV (See pages 8-11).","Unit 51, Top Shelf, Boxes 1-3; Oversize in Unit 26, Drawer #6\n","Frederick Wilmer (F.W.) Richardson, Ferdinand Dawson (F.D.) Richardson, Fairfax Circuit Court, C. Lee Moore (State Auditor of Public Accounts), Elton R. Holbrook (Deputy Clerk), John M. Whalen (Clerk after F.W.) Frank L. Ballenger(Secretary of the Board of Supervisors)","English\n"],"collection_title_tesim":["F.W. Richardson Papers, \n 1858-1943"],"collection_ssim":["F.W. Richardson Papers, \n 1858-1943"],"repository_ssm":["Fairfax Circuit Court Historic Records Center"],"repository_ssim":["Fairfax Circuit Court Historic Records Center"],"geogname_ssm":["Primarily Fairfax County."],"geogname_ssim":["Primarily Fairfax County."],"creator_ssm":["Fairfax Circuit Court Historic Records Center\n"],"creator_ssim":["Fairfax Circuit Court Historic Records Center\n"],"places_ssim":["Primarily Fairfax County."],"acqinfo_ssim":["Permanent Record of Fairfax Circuit Court Historic Records Center.\n"],"access_subjects_ssim":["Land and personal property, taxes, wills and estate paperwork, divorce, term papers, general court papers, election records, laws and acts, Board of Supervisors, Prohibition, WWI Exemption Board and Memorial, clerk's budget, salaries and reports, personal banking and insurance, Civil War, Reconstruction, WWI, Prohibition, Great Depression, life events of Richardson family","Deeds, certificates of title, wills, receipts, checkbook and checks, booklets, correspondence, farming journal, naturalization certificate, divorce notices, reports, tax bills and receipts, term papers and related paperwork, pardon, corporation papers, plats, blueprints, WWI Exemption Board chits, insurance certificates, promissory notes, election nomination papers, oaths of office, arrest and bond warrants, petitions, delinquent tax lists, vehicle insurance policies","State Auditor of Public Accounts, Deputy Clerk, Secretary of the Board of Supervisors","Paper, cardstock, leather, photographic material, ink, graphite"],"access_subjects_ssm":["Land and personal property, taxes, wills and estate paperwork, divorce, term papers, general court papers, election records, laws and acts, Board of Supervisors, Prohibition, WWI Exemption Board and Memorial, clerk's budget, salaries and reports, personal banking and insurance, Civil War, Reconstruction, WWI, Prohibition, Great Depression, life events of Richardson family","Deeds, certificates of title, wills, receipts, checkbook and checks, booklets, correspondence, farming journal, naturalization certificate, divorce notices, reports, tax bills and receipts, term papers and related paperwork, pardon, corporation papers, plats, blueprints, WWI Exemption Board chits, insurance certificates, promissory notes, election nomination papers, oaths of office, arrest and bond warrants, petitions, delinquent tax lists, vehicle insurance policies","State Auditor of Public Accounts, Deputy Clerk, Secretary of the Board of Supervisors","Paper, cardstock, leather, photographic material, ink, graphite"],"has_online_content_ssim":["false"],"physdesc_tesim":["."],"extent_ssm":["3.25 linear feet"],"extent_tesim":["3.25 linear feet"],"genreform_ssim":["Paper, cardstock, leather, photographic material, ink, graphite"],"bioghist_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eFrederick Wilmer (F.W.) Richardson and his father, Ferdinand Dawson (F.D.) Richardson, held the positions of Clerk of Fairfax County Court and Fairfax Circuit Court, variously, from 1833 to 1935.\n\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eF.D. Richardson was born on November 9th, 1808. He began his career as an assistant or deputy clerk in 1826; he was County Court Clerk from 1833-1835, 1867-1869 and 1870-1880. F.D. served as Circuit Court Clerk from 1835-1880, apart from a hiatus during the Civil War.\n\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003ePrior to the Civil War, F.D. was a Captain in the Virginia Militia. He was also an avid farmer, as evidenced by his farming journal found in this collection, and is listed as Recording Secretary on the 1848 Constitution of Fairfax Agricultural Society. Post-Civil War, F.D. was a founding member of Central Farmers' Club which began in February 1874. He was also Clerk to the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors throughout the 1870s.\n\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eNot much is known about F.D.'s activities during the Civil War. He voted for secession from the Union in 1861, and courthouse lore has it that he took George Washington's will down to Richmond for safe-keeping. Physical evidence places him in Richmond in December 1861 and January 1862. \n\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eF.D. died on October 13th, 1880. His wife and F.W.'s mother, Mary Posey (Grigsby) Richardson, died on December 12th, 1889.\n\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eF.W. Richardson was born on October 16th 1854. He married Amelia (Millie) Lee Buck in 1883 and had four children, Frederick Dawson (1884 - 1954), Marcus Bayly (1886 - 1917), Mary Buck (1889 - 1890) and Virginia Fairfax (1891 - 1988). \n\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eIn 1871, F.W. became his father's deputy as Assistant Clerk in the Office of the Clerk of County Court. On his father's death, he became temporary Clerk of County and Circuit Courts. In 1881, F.W. was voted in as Clerk of County Court, a position he held until County Court was abolished in 1903. F.W. held the office of Clerk of Circuit Court from 1904 to 1935.\n\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eDuring his working life, F.W. held many other prominent positions within Fairfax County and his local community. He was Clerk of the Board of Supervisors from 1880 - 1935 and County Treasurer in the 1890s; according to the Fairfax Herald, he served as a Probate Judge in 1904 and 1906; he was also a notary public, a real estate buyer, a member of the Chamber of Commerce and a delegate to the Prison Association in 1908. He served on many boards and committees, notably the County Health Board, the Fairfax Confederate Monument Association and Confederate Reunion Committee in 1900, the Great War Memorial Fund Committee, the Bicentennial Committee, the Farmers' Institute Committee and the Homecoming Day committee. In 1917, F.W. served as clerk for the Local Board for the Selective Service System Draft (WWI military service), and was Secretary and President of the Town Hall Association, Secretary and President of the Cemetery Association, Secretary and Treasurer of Henry Masonic Lodge, President of the Democratic Club and Wilson Club in 1916, elected Providence Lodge Good Templars Officer in 1873, elected Fairfax Lyceum Recording and Corresponding Secretary in 1874 and elected to the Zion Church Vestry in 1931. He was also a member of the Red Cross.\n\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eIn addition to his monumental public service, F.W. made large donations to the Confederate Reunion, Fairfax fairs and agricultural shows, roads, the War Relief Fund, the YMCA Fund, the Library building, the Fire Department and a new school building. He was much in demand as a public speaker, newspapers of the time list him as addressing Army draftees in 1917, the Civic League, the Rotary Club, Herndon Church of Christ and the Fairfax Lyceum.\n\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eNewspapers from F.W.'s time also record his active social life, attending many dinners and other functions, especially notable are the bank and Bar Association dinners. \n\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eThe collection offers a little insight into F.W.'s personal life. He was financially astute, as his many tax returns, insurance papers, Christmas club and bank books show. The collection shows that F.W. held shares in the Silver Butte Mines Corporation, the Mercantile-Railway Building and Loan Association of Alexandria, Virginia Title Company, Falls Church Bank, Incorporated, Fairfax and Loudoun Light and Power Company and Baltimore Building and Loan Association of Baltimore City. He even assumed some financial responsibility for his sister, Madge Pierce, after her husband's death. In the collection are copies of deeds of lands bought by F.W. and his real estate partners, James Love (also a Judge) and R.W. Moore. F.W. also seems to have had some interest in the arts, he was Secretary of the Olio Theatrical Troop in 1874 and held some shares in the Cosmos Theatre Co., Inc.\n\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eF.W.'s son, Frederick Dawson, had a legal career and was very active in the business and social affairs of Fairfax County. His other son, Marcus Bayly worked for him as deputy clerk. Tragically, Marcus was killed when his car hit a streetcar in August 1917. Amongst F.W.'s papers was a newspaper cutting of the accident, this has been copied onto acid-free paper.\n\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eElton Richardson Holbrook, F.W.'s nephew, also worked for F.W. as a deputy clerk; his signature appears on multiple papers. Unfortunately, he committed suicide in the 1931.\n\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eF.W. retired from Circuit Court in 1935 and was succeeded by John M. Whalen, a couple of whose papers appear in the collection. F.W. died on 23rd April, 1936.\n\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003e\u003ctitle render=\"bold\"\u003eSources:\u003c/title\u003e The collection, the Historical Newspaper Index at Fairfax County Public Library Virginia Room, correspondence from local historian, Lee Hubbard,\u003cextref type=\"simple\" href=\"https://www.findagrave.com/\"\u003eFind a Grave\u003c/extref\u003e\n\n\n\u003c/p\u003e"],"bioghist_heading_ssm":["Biographical Information\n"],"bioghist_tesim":["Frederick Wilmer (F.W.) Richardson and his father, Ferdinand Dawson (F.D.) Richardson, held the positions of Clerk of Fairfax County Court and Fairfax Circuit Court, variously, from 1833 to 1935.\n","F.D. Richardson was born on November 9th, 1808. He began his career as an assistant or deputy clerk in 1826; he was County Court Clerk from 1833-1835, 1867-1869 and 1870-1880. F.D. served as Circuit Court Clerk from 1835-1880, apart from a hiatus during the Civil War.\n","Prior to the Civil War, F.D. was a Captain in the Virginia Militia. He was also an avid farmer, as evidenced by his farming journal found in this collection, and is listed as Recording Secretary on the 1848 Constitution of Fairfax Agricultural Society. Post-Civil War, F.D. was a founding member of Central Farmers' Club which began in February 1874. He was also Clerk to the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors throughout the 1870s.\n","Not much is known about F.D.'s activities during the Civil War. He voted for secession from the Union in 1861, and courthouse lore has it that he took George Washington's will down to Richmond for safe-keeping. Physical evidence places him in Richmond in December 1861 and January 1862. \n","F.D. died on October 13th, 1880. His wife and F.W.'s mother, Mary Posey (Grigsby) Richardson, died on December 12th, 1889.\n","F.W. Richardson was born on October 16th 1854. He married Amelia (Millie) Lee Buck in 1883 and had four children, Frederick Dawson (1884 - 1954), Marcus Bayly (1886 - 1917), Mary Buck (1889 - 1890) and Virginia Fairfax (1891 - 1988). \n","In 1871, F.W. became his father's deputy as Assistant Clerk in the Office of the Clerk of County Court. On his father's death, he became temporary Clerk of County and Circuit Courts. In 1881, F.W. was voted in as Clerk of County Court, a position he held until County Court was abolished in 1903. F.W. held the office of Clerk of Circuit Court from 1904 to 1935.\n","During his working life, F.W. held many other prominent positions within Fairfax County and his local community. He was Clerk of the Board of Supervisors from 1880 - 1935 and County Treasurer in the 1890s; according to the Fairfax Herald, he served as a Probate Judge in 1904 and 1906; he was also a notary public, a real estate buyer, a member of the Chamber of Commerce and a delegate to the Prison Association in 1908. He served on many boards and committees, notably the County Health Board, the Fairfax Confederate Monument Association and Confederate Reunion Committee in 1900, the Great War Memorial Fund Committee, the Bicentennial Committee, the Farmers' Institute Committee and the Homecoming Day committee. In 1917, F.W. served as clerk for the Local Board for the Selective Service System Draft (WWI military service), and was Secretary and President of the Town Hall Association, Secretary and President of the Cemetery Association, Secretary and Treasurer of Henry Masonic Lodge, President of the Democratic Club and Wilson Club in 1916, elected Providence Lodge Good Templars Officer in 1873, elected Fairfax Lyceum Recording and Corresponding Secretary in 1874 and elected to the Zion Church Vestry in 1931. He was also a member of the Red Cross.\n","In addition to his monumental public service, F.W. made large donations to the Confederate Reunion, Fairfax fairs and agricultural shows, roads, the War Relief Fund, the YMCA Fund, the Library building, the Fire Department and a new school building. He was much in demand as a public speaker, newspapers of the time list him as addressing Army draftees in 1917, the Civic League, the Rotary Club, Herndon Church of Christ and the Fairfax Lyceum.\n","Newspapers from F.W.'s time also record his active social life, attending many dinners and other functions, especially notable are the bank and Bar Association dinners. \n","The collection offers a little insight into F.W.'s personal life. He was financially astute, as his many tax returns, insurance papers, Christmas club and bank books show. The collection shows that F.W. held shares in the Silver Butte Mines Corporation, the Mercantile-Railway Building and Loan Association of Alexandria, Virginia Title Company, Falls Church Bank, Incorporated, Fairfax and Loudoun Light and Power Company and Baltimore Building and Loan Association of Baltimore City. He even assumed some financial responsibility for his sister, Madge Pierce, after her husband's death. In the collection are copies of deeds of lands bought by F.W. and his real estate partners, James Love (also a Judge) and R.W. Moore. F.W. also seems to have had some interest in the arts, he was Secretary of the Olio Theatrical Troop in 1874 and held some shares in the Cosmos Theatre Co., Inc.\n","F.W.'s son, Frederick Dawson, had a legal career and was very active in the business and social affairs of Fairfax County. His other son, Marcus Bayly worked for him as deputy clerk. Tragically, Marcus was killed when his car hit a streetcar in August 1917. Amongst F.W.'s papers was a newspaper cutting of the accident, this has been copied onto acid-free paper.\n","Elton Richardson Holbrook, F.W.'s nephew, also worked for F.W. as a deputy clerk; his signature appears on multiple papers. Unfortunately, he committed suicide in the 1931.\n","F.W. retired from Circuit Court in 1935 and was succeeded by John M. Whalen, a couple of whose papers appear in the collection. F.W. died on 23rd April, 1936.\n","Sources:  The collection, the Historical Newspaper Index at Fairfax County Public Library Virginia Room, correspondence from local historian, Lee Hubbard, Find a Grave"],"scopecontent_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003e\u003ctitle render=\"bold\"\u003eSeries 1:\u003c/title\u003e Personal, 1861-1936, contains personal papers from both F.D. and F.W. Richardson. F.D.'s papers include receipts from Richmond merchants dating to 1861 and 1862 showing that F.D. and another man listed as Howard were buying large quantities of foodstuffs, cooking, serving and eating implements, tobacco products and pipes and other sundries such as candle molds and needles. There is no evidence-based explanation for these purchases. A possible explanation is that F.D. was outfitting a Confederate unit, but this is conjecture. F.D.'s papers also include a farming journal, other bills and receipts, some court papers and claims on his estate.\n\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eF.W.'s papers include a number of deeds and other property papers, insurance certificates and papers, investments papers, bank books and checks, tax returns, masonic membership cards and papers, other club membership cards and papers and papers pertaining to his work on the local board of the Selective Service System Draft in 1917 during WWI. The most poignant of these papers are chits stating whether local men (identified by serial numbers) passed their physical examinations for the draft. Some of the serial numbers correspond to entries in the Local Board Selective Service System Draft Records Book 1917, found in the archives. These entries state whether the men were allowed exemption from service due to dependents or occupation. See Appendix IV for details.\n\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003e\u003ctitle render=\"bold\"\u003eSeries 2:\u003c/title\u003e Professional, 1881 - 1935, contains documents pertaining to F.W.'s position as Clerk of County and Circuit Court. These documents include land records such as deed, lease, bill of sale, contract, mortgage, survey and certificate of title paperwork and correspondence; personal property records such as sales and conditional sales contract, loan, lien and chattel mortgage paperwork and correspondence; copies of wills, administrator and executor appointments, inheritance tax and fees paperwork and correspondence; tax records such as delinquent tax lists, receipts, sales paperwork and general tax correspondence; term papers records for commonwealth and civil cases such as Justice of the Peace statements, warrants of arrest, bail paperwork, jury summonses, case proceedings, judgements, divorce notices, insane asylum commitment papers, motions and petitions, pardon and parole forms, lists of court costs and clerk's fees, lawyers correspondence and receipts; other court records such as a jail condition report, hunting and fishing licenses, corporation directors and officers lists, names for the WWI Memorial and election candidacy papers; clerk's office documents such as reports, budget, salary lists, bank account information and receipts and correspondence with the State Auditor, attorneys and others. This series also has documents pertaining to F.W.'s position as Clerk of the Board of Supervisors such as a record of the County Levy in 1914 and correspondence concerning Board matters and bills.\nOf particular note is the correspondence concerning Prohibition laws and the Reports of Clerks of Court showing the special importance given Prohibition cases. \n\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003e\u003ctitle render=\"bold\"\u003eSeries 3:\u003c/title\u003e Posthumous Papers, 1936 - 1943, contains paperwork created by/ for John Whalen, Clerk of Circuit Court. The documents include a docket of cases for the November term 1937, letters from Courthouse supply manufacturers, general correspondence and a postcard.\n\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003e\u003cextref type=\"simple\" href=\"https://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/circuit/sites/circuit/files/assets/documents/pdf/hrc/the-fw-richardson-papers-1858-1943.pdf\"\u003eClick here to view Apendixes I through IV (See pages 8-11).\u003c/extref\u003e\n\u003c/p\u003e"],"scopecontent_heading_ssm":["Scope and Content\n"],"scopecontent_tesim":["Series 1:  Personal, 1861-1936, contains personal papers from both F.D. and F.W. Richardson. F.D.'s papers include receipts from Richmond merchants dating to 1861 and 1862 showing that F.D. and another man listed as Howard were buying large quantities of foodstuffs, cooking, serving and eating implements, tobacco products and pipes and other sundries such as candle molds and needles. There is no evidence-based explanation for these purchases. A possible explanation is that F.D. was outfitting a Confederate unit, but this is conjecture. F.D.'s papers also include a farming journal, other bills and receipts, some court papers and claims on his estate.\n","F.W.'s papers include a number of deeds and other property papers, insurance certificates and papers, investments papers, bank books and checks, tax returns, masonic membership cards and papers, other club membership cards and papers and papers pertaining to his work on the local board of the Selective Service System Draft in 1917 during WWI. The most poignant of these papers are chits stating whether local men (identified by serial numbers) passed their physical examinations for the draft. Some of the serial numbers correspond to entries in the Local Board Selective Service System Draft Records Book 1917, found in the archives. These entries state whether the men were allowed exemption from service due to dependents or occupation. See Appendix IV for details.\n","Series 2:  Professional, 1881 - 1935, contains documents pertaining to F.W.'s position as Clerk of County and Circuit Court. These documents include land records such as deed, lease, bill of sale, contract, mortgage, survey and certificate of title paperwork and correspondence; personal property records such as sales and conditional sales contract, loan, lien and chattel mortgage paperwork and correspondence; copies of wills, administrator and executor appointments, inheritance tax and fees paperwork and correspondence; tax records such as delinquent tax lists, receipts, sales paperwork and general tax correspondence; term papers records for commonwealth and civil cases such as Justice of the Peace statements, warrants of arrest, bail paperwork, jury summonses, case proceedings, judgements, divorce notices, insane asylum commitment papers, motions and petitions, pardon and parole forms, lists of court costs and clerk's fees, lawyers correspondence and receipts; other court records such as a jail condition report, hunting and fishing licenses, corporation directors and officers lists, names for the WWI Memorial and election candidacy papers; clerk's office documents such as reports, budget, salary lists, bank account information and receipts and correspondence with the State Auditor, attorneys and others. This series also has documents pertaining to F.W.'s position as Clerk of the Board of Supervisors such as a record of the County Levy in 1914 and correspondence concerning Board matters and bills.\nOf particular note is the correspondence concerning Prohibition laws and the Reports of Clerks of Court showing the special importance given Prohibition cases. \n","Series 3:  Posthumous Papers, 1936 - 1943, contains paperwork created by/ for John Whalen, Clerk of Circuit Court. The documents include a docket of cases for the November term 1937, letters from Courthouse supply manufacturers, general correspondence and a postcard.\n","Click here to view Apendixes I through IV (See pages 8-11)."],"physloc_html_tesm":["\u003cphysloc label=\"Shelf Location\"\u003eUnit 51, Top Shelf, Boxes 1-3; Oversize in Unit 26, Drawer #6\n\u003c/physloc\u003e"],"physloc_tesim":["Unit 51, Top Shelf, Boxes 1-3; Oversize in Unit 26, Drawer #6\n"],"names_coll_ssim":["Frederick Wilmer (F.W.) Richardson, Ferdinand Dawson (F.D.) Richardson, Fairfax Circuit Court, C. Lee Moore (State Auditor of Public Accounts), Elton R. Holbrook (Deputy Clerk), John M. Whalen (Clerk after F.W.) Frank L. Ballenger(Secretary of the Board of Supervisors)"],"names_ssim":["Frederick Wilmer (F.W.) Richardson, Ferdinand Dawson (F.D.) Richardson, Fairfax Circuit Court, C. Lee Moore (State Auditor of Public Accounts), Elton R. Holbrook (Deputy Clerk), John M. Whalen (Clerk after F.W.) Frank L. Ballenger(Secretary of the Board of Supervisors)"],"persname_ssim":["Frederick Wilmer (F.W.) Richardson, Ferdinand Dawson (F.D.) Richardson, Fairfax Circuit Court, C. Lee Moore (State Auditor of Public Accounts), Elton R. Holbrook (Deputy Clerk), John M. Whalen (Clerk after F.W.) Frank L. Ballenger(Secretary of the Board of Supervisors)"],"language_ssim":["English\n"],"total_component_count_is":149,"online_item_count_is":0,"component_level_isim":[0],"sort_isi":0,"timestamp":"2026-04-30T21:27:17.608Z"}]}},"label":"Breadcrumbs"}}},"links":{"self":"https://search.arvasarchive.org/catalog/vaffcr_vaffcr0005_c01_c01_c01"}},{"id":"vaffcr_vaffcr0005_c02_c01_c01","type":"Subseries","attributes":{"title":"Subseries 1: Land Records","breadcrumbs":{"id":"https://search.arvasarchive.org/catalog/vaffcr_vaffcr0005_c02_c01_c01#breadcrumbs","type":"document_value","attributes":{"value":{"ref_ssi":"vaffcr_vaffcr0005_c02_c01_c01","ref_ssm":["vaffcr_vaffcr0005_c02_c01_c01"],"id":"vaffcr_vaffcr0005_c02_c01_c01","ead_ssi":"vaffcr_vaffcr0005","_root_":"vaffcr_vaffcr0005","_nest_parent_":"vaffcr_vaffcr0005_c02_c01","parent_ssi":"vaffcr_vaffcr0005_c02_c01","parent_ssim":["vaffcr_vaffcr0005","vaffcr_vaffcr0005_c02","vaffcr_vaffcr0005_c02_c01"],"parent_ids_ssim":["vaffcr_vaffcr0005","vaffcr_vaffcr0005_c02","vaffcr_vaffcr0005_c02_c01"],"parent_unittitles_ssm":["F.W. Richardson Papers, \n 1858-1943","Box 2","Series 2: Professional"],"parent_unittitles_tesim":["F.W. Richardson Papers, \n 1858-1943","Box 2","Series 2: Professional"],"text":["F.W. Richardson Papers, \n 1858-1943","Box 2","Series 2: Professional","Subseries 1: Land Records"],"title_filing_ssi":"Subseries 1: Land Records\n\t\t","title_ssm":["Subseries 1: Land Records\n\t\t"],"title_tesim":["Subseries 1: Land Records\n\t\t"],"normalized_title_ssm":["Subseries 1: Land Records"],"component_level_isim":[3],"repository_ssim":["Fairfax Circuit Court Historic Records Center"],"collection_ssim":["F.W. Richardson Papers, \n 1858-1943"],"has_online_content_ssim":["false"],"child_component_count_isi":18,"level_ssm":["Subseries"],"level_ssim":["Subseries"],"sort_isi":57,"_nest_path_":"/components#1/components#0/components#0","timestamp":"2026-04-30T21:27:17.608Z","collection":{"numFound":1,"start":0,"numFoundExact":true,"docs":[{"id":"vaffcr_vaffcr0005","ead_ssi":"vaffcr_vaffcr0005","_root_":"vaffcr_vaffcr0005","_nest_parent_":"vaffcr_vaffcr0005","ead_source_url_ssi":"data/fcc/vaffcr0005.xml","title_ssm":["F.W. Richardson Papers, \n 1858-1943\n"],"title_tesim":["F.W. Richardson Papers, \n 1858-1943\n"],"level_ssm":["collection"],"level_ssim":["Collection"],"normalized_title_ssm":["F.W. Richardson Papers, \n 1858-1943"],"text":["F.W. Richardson Papers, \n 1858-1943","Primarily Fairfax County.","Land and personal property, taxes, wills and estate paperwork, divorce, term papers, general court papers, election records, laws and acts, Board of Supervisors, Prohibition, WWI Exemption Board and Memorial, clerk's budget, salaries and reports, personal banking and insurance, Civil War, Reconstruction, WWI, Prohibition, Great Depression, life events of Richardson family","Deeds, certificates of title, wills, receipts, checkbook and checks, booklets, correspondence, farming journal, naturalization certificate, divorce notices, reports, tax bills and receipts, term papers and related paperwork, pardon, corporation papers, plats, blueprints, WWI Exemption Board chits, insurance certificates, promissory notes, election nomination papers, oaths of office, arrest and bond warrants, petitions, delinquent tax lists, vehicle insurance policies","State Auditor of Public Accounts, Deputy Clerk, Secretary of the Board of Supervisors","Paper, cardstock, leather, photographic material, ink, graphite",".","Frederick Wilmer (F.W.) Richardson and his father, Ferdinand Dawson (F.D.) Richardson, held the positions of Clerk of Fairfax County Court and Fairfax Circuit Court, variously, from 1833 to 1935.\n","F.D. Richardson was born on November 9th, 1808. He began his career as an assistant or deputy clerk in 1826; he was County Court Clerk from 1833-1835, 1867-1869 and 1870-1880. F.D. served as Circuit Court Clerk from 1835-1880, apart from a hiatus during the Civil War.\n","Prior to the Civil War, F.D. was a Captain in the Virginia Militia. He was also an avid farmer, as evidenced by his farming journal found in this collection, and is listed as Recording Secretary on the 1848 Constitution of Fairfax Agricultural Society. Post-Civil War, F.D. was a founding member of Central Farmers' Club which began in February 1874. He was also Clerk to the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors throughout the 1870s.\n","Not much is known about F.D.'s activities during the Civil War. He voted for secession from the Union in 1861, and courthouse lore has it that he took George Washington's will down to Richmond for safe-keeping. Physical evidence places him in Richmond in December 1861 and January 1862. \n","F.D. died on October 13th, 1880. His wife and F.W.'s mother, Mary Posey (Grigsby) Richardson, died on December 12th, 1889.\n","F.W. Richardson was born on October 16th 1854. He married Amelia (Millie) Lee Buck in 1883 and had four children, Frederick Dawson (1884 - 1954), Marcus Bayly (1886 - 1917), Mary Buck (1889 - 1890) and Virginia Fairfax (1891 - 1988). \n","In 1871, F.W. became his father's deputy as Assistant Clerk in the Office of the Clerk of County Court. On his father's death, he became temporary Clerk of County and Circuit Courts. In 1881, F.W. was voted in as Clerk of County Court, a position he held until County Court was abolished in 1903. F.W. held the office of Clerk of Circuit Court from 1904 to 1935.\n","During his working life, F.W. held many other prominent positions within Fairfax County and his local community. He was Clerk of the Board of Supervisors from 1880 - 1935 and County Treasurer in the 1890s; according to the Fairfax Herald, he served as a Probate Judge in 1904 and 1906; he was also a notary public, a real estate buyer, a member of the Chamber of Commerce and a delegate to the Prison Association in 1908. He served on many boards and committees, notably the County Health Board, the Fairfax Confederate Monument Association and Confederate Reunion Committee in 1900, the Great War Memorial Fund Committee, the Bicentennial Committee, the Farmers' Institute Committee and the Homecoming Day committee. In 1917, F.W. served as clerk for the Local Board for the Selective Service System Draft (WWI military service), and was Secretary and President of the Town Hall Association, Secretary and President of the Cemetery Association, Secretary and Treasurer of Henry Masonic Lodge, President of the Democratic Club and Wilson Club in 1916, elected Providence Lodge Good Templars Officer in 1873, elected Fairfax Lyceum Recording and Corresponding Secretary in 1874 and elected to the Zion Church Vestry in 1931. He was also a member of the Red Cross.\n","In addition to his monumental public service, F.W. made large donations to the Confederate Reunion, Fairfax fairs and agricultural shows, roads, the War Relief Fund, the YMCA Fund, the Library building, the Fire Department and a new school building. He was much in demand as a public speaker, newspapers of the time list him as addressing Army draftees in 1917, the Civic League, the Rotary Club, Herndon Church of Christ and the Fairfax Lyceum.\n","Newspapers from F.W.'s time also record his active social life, attending many dinners and other functions, especially notable are the bank and Bar Association dinners. \n","The collection offers a little insight into F.W.'s personal life. He was financially astute, as his many tax returns, insurance papers, Christmas club and bank books show. The collection shows that F.W. held shares in the Silver Butte Mines Corporation, the Mercantile-Railway Building and Loan Association of Alexandria, Virginia Title Company, Falls Church Bank, Incorporated, Fairfax and Loudoun Light and Power Company and Baltimore Building and Loan Association of Baltimore City. He even assumed some financial responsibility for his sister, Madge Pierce, after her husband's death. In the collection are copies of deeds of lands bought by F.W. and his real estate partners, James Love (also a Judge) and R.W. Moore. F.W. also seems to have had some interest in the arts, he was Secretary of the Olio Theatrical Troop in 1874 and held some shares in the Cosmos Theatre Co., Inc.\n","F.W.'s son, Frederick Dawson, had a legal career and was very active in the business and social affairs of Fairfax County. His other son, Marcus Bayly worked for him as deputy clerk. Tragically, Marcus was killed when his car hit a streetcar in August 1917. Amongst F.W.'s papers was a newspaper cutting of the accident, this has been copied onto acid-free paper.\n","Elton Richardson Holbrook, F.W.'s nephew, also worked for F.W. as a deputy clerk; his signature appears on multiple papers. Unfortunately, he committed suicide in the 1931.\n","F.W. retired from Circuit Court in 1935 and was succeeded by John M. Whalen, a couple of whose papers appear in the collection. F.W. died on 23rd April, 1936.\n","Sources:  The collection, the Historical Newspaper Index at Fairfax County Public Library Virginia Room, correspondence from local historian, Lee Hubbard, Find a Grave","Series 1:  Personal, 1861-1936, contains personal papers from both F.D. and F.W. Richardson. F.D.'s papers include receipts from Richmond merchants dating to 1861 and 1862 showing that F.D. and another man listed as Howard were buying large quantities of foodstuffs, cooking, serving and eating implements, tobacco products and pipes and other sundries such as candle molds and needles. There is no evidence-based explanation for these purchases. A possible explanation is that F.D. was outfitting a Confederate unit, but this is conjecture. F.D.'s papers also include a farming journal, other bills and receipts, some court papers and claims on his estate.\n","F.W.'s papers include a number of deeds and other property papers, insurance certificates and papers, investments papers, bank books and checks, tax returns, masonic membership cards and papers, other club membership cards and papers and papers pertaining to his work on the local board of the Selective Service System Draft in 1917 during WWI. The most poignant of these papers are chits stating whether local men (identified by serial numbers) passed their physical examinations for the draft. Some of the serial numbers correspond to entries in the Local Board Selective Service System Draft Records Book 1917, found in the archives. These entries state whether the men were allowed exemption from service due to dependents or occupation. See Appendix IV for details.\n","Series 2:  Professional, 1881 - 1935, contains documents pertaining to F.W.'s position as Clerk of County and Circuit Court. These documents include land records such as deed, lease, bill of sale, contract, mortgage, survey and certificate of title paperwork and correspondence; personal property records such as sales and conditional sales contract, loan, lien and chattel mortgage paperwork and correspondence; copies of wills, administrator and executor appointments, inheritance tax and fees paperwork and correspondence; tax records such as delinquent tax lists, receipts, sales paperwork and general tax correspondence; term papers records for commonwealth and civil cases such as Justice of the Peace statements, warrants of arrest, bail paperwork, jury summonses, case proceedings, judgements, divorce notices, insane asylum commitment papers, motions and petitions, pardon and parole forms, lists of court costs and clerk's fees, lawyers correspondence and receipts; other court records such as a jail condition report, hunting and fishing licenses, corporation directors and officers lists, names for the WWI Memorial and election candidacy papers; clerk's office documents such as reports, budget, salary lists, bank account information and receipts and correspondence with the State Auditor, attorneys and others. This series also has documents pertaining to F.W.'s position as Clerk of the Board of Supervisors such as a record of the County Levy in 1914 and correspondence concerning Board matters and bills.\nOf particular note is the correspondence concerning Prohibition laws and the Reports of Clerks of Court showing the special importance given Prohibition cases. \n","Series 3:  Posthumous Papers, 1936 - 1943, contains paperwork created by/ for John Whalen, Clerk of Circuit Court. The documents include a docket of cases for the November term 1937, letters from Courthouse supply manufacturers, general correspondence and a postcard.\n","Click here to view Apendixes I through IV (See pages 8-11).","Unit 51, Top Shelf, Boxes 1-3; Oversize in Unit 26, Drawer #6\n","Frederick Wilmer (F.W.) Richardson, Ferdinand Dawson (F.D.) Richardson, Fairfax Circuit Court, C. Lee Moore (State Auditor of Public Accounts), Elton R. Holbrook (Deputy Clerk), John M. Whalen (Clerk after F.W.) Frank L. Ballenger(Secretary of the Board of Supervisors)","English\n"],"collection_title_tesim":["F.W. Richardson Papers, \n 1858-1943"],"collection_ssim":["F.W. Richardson Papers, \n 1858-1943"],"repository_ssm":["Fairfax Circuit Court Historic Records Center"],"repository_ssim":["Fairfax Circuit Court Historic Records Center"],"geogname_ssm":["Primarily Fairfax County."],"geogname_ssim":["Primarily Fairfax County."],"creator_ssm":["Fairfax Circuit Court Historic Records Center\n"],"creator_ssim":["Fairfax Circuit Court Historic Records Center\n"],"places_ssim":["Primarily Fairfax County."],"acqinfo_ssim":["Permanent Record of Fairfax Circuit Court Historic Records Center.\n"],"access_subjects_ssim":["Land and personal property, taxes, wills and estate paperwork, divorce, term papers, general court papers, election records, laws and acts, Board of Supervisors, Prohibition, WWI Exemption Board and Memorial, clerk's budget, salaries and reports, personal banking and insurance, Civil War, Reconstruction, WWI, Prohibition, Great Depression, life events of Richardson family","Deeds, certificates of title, wills, receipts, checkbook and checks, booklets, correspondence, farming journal, naturalization certificate, divorce notices, reports, tax bills and receipts, term papers and related paperwork, pardon, corporation papers, plats, blueprints, WWI Exemption Board chits, insurance certificates, promissory notes, election nomination papers, oaths of office, arrest and bond warrants, petitions, delinquent tax lists, vehicle insurance policies","State Auditor of Public Accounts, Deputy Clerk, Secretary of the Board of Supervisors","Paper, cardstock, leather, photographic material, ink, graphite"],"access_subjects_ssm":["Land and personal property, taxes, wills and estate paperwork, divorce, term papers, general court papers, election records, laws and acts, Board of Supervisors, Prohibition, WWI Exemption Board and Memorial, clerk's budget, salaries and reports, personal banking and insurance, Civil War, Reconstruction, WWI, Prohibition, Great Depression, life events of Richardson family","Deeds, certificates of title, wills, receipts, checkbook and checks, booklets, correspondence, farming journal, naturalization certificate, divorce notices, reports, tax bills and receipts, term papers and related paperwork, pardon, corporation papers, plats, blueprints, WWI Exemption Board chits, insurance certificates, promissory notes, election nomination papers, oaths of office, arrest and bond warrants, petitions, delinquent tax lists, vehicle insurance policies","State Auditor of Public Accounts, Deputy Clerk, Secretary of the Board of Supervisors","Paper, cardstock, leather, photographic material, ink, graphite"],"has_online_content_ssim":["false"],"physdesc_tesim":["."],"extent_ssm":["3.25 linear feet"],"extent_tesim":["3.25 linear feet"],"genreform_ssim":["Paper, cardstock, leather, photographic material, ink, graphite"],"bioghist_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eFrederick Wilmer (F.W.) Richardson and his father, Ferdinand Dawson (F.D.) Richardson, held the positions of Clerk of Fairfax County Court and Fairfax Circuit Court, variously, from 1833 to 1935.\n\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eF.D. Richardson was born on November 9th, 1808. He began his career as an assistant or deputy clerk in 1826; he was County Court Clerk from 1833-1835, 1867-1869 and 1870-1880. F.D. served as Circuit Court Clerk from 1835-1880, apart from a hiatus during the Civil War.\n\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003ePrior to the Civil War, F.D. was a Captain in the Virginia Militia. He was also an avid farmer, as evidenced by his farming journal found in this collection, and is listed as Recording Secretary on the 1848 Constitution of Fairfax Agricultural Society. Post-Civil War, F.D. was a founding member of Central Farmers' Club which began in February 1874. He was also Clerk to the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors throughout the 1870s.\n\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eNot much is known about F.D.'s activities during the Civil War. He voted for secession from the Union in 1861, and courthouse lore has it that he took George Washington's will down to Richmond for safe-keeping. Physical evidence places him in Richmond in December 1861 and January 1862. \n\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eF.D. died on October 13th, 1880. His wife and F.W.'s mother, Mary Posey (Grigsby) Richardson, died on December 12th, 1889.\n\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eF.W. Richardson was born on October 16th 1854. He married Amelia (Millie) Lee Buck in 1883 and had four children, Frederick Dawson (1884 - 1954), Marcus Bayly (1886 - 1917), Mary Buck (1889 - 1890) and Virginia Fairfax (1891 - 1988). \n\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eIn 1871, F.W. became his father's deputy as Assistant Clerk in the Office of the Clerk of County Court. On his father's death, he became temporary Clerk of County and Circuit Courts. In 1881, F.W. was voted in as Clerk of County Court, a position he held until County Court was abolished in 1903. F.W. held the office of Clerk of Circuit Court from 1904 to 1935.\n\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eDuring his working life, F.W. held many other prominent positions within Fairfax County and his local community. He was Clerk of the Board of Supervisors from 1880 - 1935 and County Treasurer in the 1890s; according to the Fairfax Herald, he served as a Probate Judge in 1904 and 1906; he was also a notary public, a real estate buyer, a member of the Chamber of Commerce and a delegate to the Prison Association in 1908. He served on many boards and committees, notably the County Health Board, the Fairfax Confederate Monument Association and Confederate Reunion Committee in 1900, the Great War Memorial Fund Committee, the Bicentennial Committee, the Farmers' Institute Committee and the Homecoming Day committee. In 1917, F.W. served as clerk for the Local Board for the Selective Service System Draft (WWI military service), and was Secretary and President of the Town Hall Association, Secretary and President of the Cemetery Association, Secretary and Treasurer of Henry Masonic Lodge, President of the Democratic Club and Wilson Club in 1916, elected Providence Lodge Good Templars Officer in 1873, elected Fairfax Lyceum Recording and Corresponding Secretary in 1874 and elected to the Zion Church Vestry in 1931. He was also a member of the Red Cross.\n\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eIn addition to his monumental public service, F.W. made large donations to the Confederate Reunion, Fairfax fairs and agricultural shows, roads, the War Relief Fund, the YMCA Fund, the Library building, the Fire Department and a new school building. He was much in demand as a public speaker, newspapers of the time list him as addressing Army draftees in 1917, the Civic League, the Rotary Club, Herndon Church of Christ and the Fairfax Lyceum.\n\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eNewspapers from F.W.'s time also record his active social life, attending many dinners and other functions, especially notable are the bank and Bar Association dinners. \n\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eThe collection offers a little insight into F.W.'s personal life. He was financially astute, as his many tax returns, insurance papers, Christmas club and bank books show. The collection shows that F.W. held shares in the Silver Butte Mines Corporation, the Mercantile-Railway Building and Loan Association of Alexandria, Virginia Title Company, Falls Church Bank, Incorporated, Fairfax and Loudoun Light and Power Company and Baltimore Building and Loan Association of Baltimore City. He even assumed some financial responsibility for his sister, Madge Pierce, after her husband's death. In the collection are copies of deeds of lands bought by F.W. and his real estate partners, James Love (also a Judge) and R.W. Moore. F.W. also seems to have had some interest in the arts, he was Secretary of the Olio Theatrical Troop in 1874 and held some shares in the Cosmos Theatre Co., Inc.\n\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eF.W.'s son, Frederick Dawson, had a legal career and was very active in the business and social affairs of Fairfax County. His other son, Marcus Bayly worked for him as deputy clerk. Tragically, Marcus was killed when his car hit a streetcar in August 1917. Amongst F.W.'s papers was a newspaper cutting of the accident, this has been copied onto acid-free paper.\n\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eElton Richardson Holbrook, F.W.'s nephew, also worked for F.W. as a deputy clerk; his signature appears on multiple papers. Unfortunately, he committed suicide in the 1931.\n\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eF.W. retired from Circuit Court in 1935 and was succeeded by John M. Whalen, a couple of whose papers appear in the collection. F.W. died on 23rd April, 1936.\n\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003e\u003ctitle render=\"bold\"\u003eSources:\u003c/title\u003e The collection, the Historical Newspaper Index at Fairfax County Public Library Virginia Room, correspondence from local historian, Lee Hubbard,\u003cextref type=\"simple\" href=\"https://www.findagrave.com/\"\u003eFind a Grave\u003c/extref\u003e\n\n\n\u003c/p\u003e"],"bioghist_heading_ssm":["Biographical Information\n"],"bioghist_tesim":["Frederick Wilmer (F.W.) Richardson and his father, Ferdinand Dawson (F.D.) Richardson, held the positions of Clerk of Fairfax County Court and Fairfax Circuit Court, variously, from 1833 to 1935.\n","F.D. Richardson was born on November 9th, 1808. He began his career as an assistant or deputy clerk in 1826; he was County Court Clerk from 1833-1835, 1867-1869 and 1870-1880. F.D. served as Circuit Court Clerk from 1835-1880, apart from a hiatus during the Civil War.\n","Prior to the Civil War, F.D. was a Captain in the Virginia Militia. He was also an avid farmer, as evidenced by his farming journal found in this collection, and is listed as Recording Secretary on the 1848 Constitution of Fairfax Agricultural Society. Post-Civil War, F.D. was a founding member of Central Farmers' Club which began in February 1874. He was also Clerk to the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors throughout the 1870s.\n","Not much is known about F.D.'s activities during the Civil War. He voted for secession from the Union in 1861, and courthouse lore has it that he took George Washington's will down to Richmond for safe-keeping. Physical evidence places him in Richmond in December 1861 and January 1862. \n","F.D. died on October 13th, 1880. His wife and F.W.'s mother, Mary Posey (Grigsby) Richardson, died on December 12th, 1889.\n","F.W. Richardson was born on October 16th 1854. He married Amelia (Millie) Lee Buck in 1883 and had four children, Frederick Dawson (1884 - 1954), Marcus Bayly (1886 - 1917), Mary Buck (1889 - 1890) and Virginia Fairfax (1891 - 1988). \n","In 1871, F.W. became his father's deputy as Assistant Clerk in the Office of the Clerk of County Court. On his father's death, he became temporary Clerk of County and Circuit Courts. In 1881, F.W. was voted in as Clerk of County Court, a position he held until County Court was abolished in 1903. F.W. held the office of Clerk of Circuit Court from 1904 to 1935.\n","During his working life, F.W. held many other prominent positions within Fairfax County and his local community. He was Clerk of the Board of Supervisors from 1880 - 1935 and County Treasurer in the 1890s; according to the Fairfax Herald, he served as a Probate Judge in 1904 and 1906; he was also a notary public, a real estate buyer, a member of the Chamber of Commerce and a delegate to the Prison Association in 1908. He served on many boards and committees, notably the County Health Board, the Fairfax Confederate Monument Association and Confederate Reunion Committee in 1900, the Great War Memorial Fund Committee, the Bicentennial Committee, the Farmers' Institute Committee and the Homecoming Day committee. In 1917, F.W. served as clerk for the Local Board for the Selective Service System Draft (WWI military service), and was Secretary and President of the Town Hall Association, Secretary and President of the Cemetery Association, Secretary and Treasurer of Henry Masonic Lodge, President of the Democratic Club and Wilson Club in 1916, elected Providence Lodge Good Templars Officer in 1873, elected Fairfax Lyceum Recording and Corresponding Secretary in 1874 and elected to the Zion Church Vestry in 1931. He was also a member of the Red Cross.\n","In addition to his monumental public service, F.W. made large donations to the Confederate Reunion, Fairfax fairs and agricultural shows, roads, the War Relief Fund, the YMCA Fund, the Library building, the Fire Department and a new school building. He was much in demand as a public speaker, newspapers of the time list him as addressing Army draftees in 1917, the Civic League, the Rotary Club, Herndon Church of Christ and the Fairfax Lyceum.\n","Newspapers from F.W.'s time also record his active social life, attending many dinners and other functions, especially notable are the bank and Bar Association dinners. \n","The collection offers a little insight into F.W.'s personal life. He was financially astute, as his many tax returns, insurance papers, Christmas club and bank books show. The collection shows that F.W. held shares in the Silver Butte Mines Corporation, the Mercantile-Railway Building and Loan Association of Alexandria, Virginia Title Company, Falls Church Bank, Incorporated, Fairfax and Loudoun Light and Power Company and Baltimore Building and Loan Association of Baltimore City. He even assumed some financial responsibility for his sister, Madge Pierce, after her husband's death. In the collection are copies of deeds of lands bought by F.W. and his real estate partners, James Love (also a Judge) and R.W. Moore. F.W. also seems to have had some interest in the arts, he was Secretary of the Olio Theatrical Troop in 1874 and held some shares in the Cosmos Theatre Co., Inc.\n","F.W.'s son, Frederick Dawson, had a legal career and was very active in the business and social affairs of Fairfax County. His other son, Marcus Bayly worked for him as deputy clerk. Tragically, Marcus was killed when his car hit a streetcar in August 1917. Amongst F.W.'s papers was a newspaper cutting of the accident, this has been copied onto acid-free paper.\n","Elton Richardson Holbrook, F.W.'s nephew, also worked for F.W. as a deputy clerk; his signature appears on multiple papers. Unfortunately, he committed suicide in the 1931.\n","F.W. retired from Circuit Court in 1935 and was succeeded by John M. Whalen, a couple of whose papers appear in the collection. F.W. died on 23rd April, 1936.\n","Sources:  The collection, the Historical Newspaper Index at Fairfax County Public Library Virginia Room, correspondence from local historian, Lee Hubbard, Find a Grave"],"scopecontent_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003e\u003ctitle render=\"bold\"\u003eSeries 1:\u003c/title\u003e Personal, 1861-1936, contains personal papers from both F.D. and F.W. Richardson. F.D.'s papers include receipts from Richmond merchants dating to 1861 and 1862 showing that F.D. and another man listed as Howard were buying large quantities of foodstuffs, cooking, serving and eating implements, tobacco products and pipes and other sundries such as candle molds and needles. There is no evidence-based explanation for these purchases. A possible explanation is that F.D. was outfitting a Confederate unit, but this is conjecture. F.D.'s papers also include a farming journal, other bills and receipts, some court papers and claims on his estate.\n\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eF.W.'s papers include a number of deeds and other property papers, insurance certificates and papers, investments papers, bank books and checks, tax returns, masonic membership cards and papers, other club membership cards and papers and papers pertaining to his work on the local board of the Selective Service System Draft in 1917 during WWI. The most poignant of these papers are chits stating whether local men (identified by serial numbers) passed their physical examinations for the draft. Some of the serial numbers correspond to entries in the Local Board Selective Service System Draft Records Book 1917, found in the archives. These entries state whether the men were allowed exemption from service due to dependents or occupation. See Appendix IV for details.\n\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003e\u003ctitle render=\"bold\"\u003eSeries 2:\u003c/title\u003e Professional, 1881 - 1935, contains documents pertaining to F.W.'s position as Clerk of County and Circuit Court. These documents include land records such as deed, lease, bill of sale, contract, mortgage, survey and certificate of title paperwork and correspondence; personal property records such as sales and conditional sales contract, loan, lien and chattel mortgage paperwork and correspondence; copies of wills, administrator and executor appointments, inheritance tax and fees paperwork and correspondence; tax records such as delinquent tax lists, receipts, sales paperwork and general tax correspondence; term papers records for commonwealth and civil cases such as Justice of the Peace statements, warrants of arrest, bail paperwork, jury summonses, case proceedings, judgements, divorce notices, insane asylum commitment papers, motions and petitions, pardon and parole forms, lists of court costs and clerk's fees, lawyers correspondence and receipts; other court records such as a jail condition report, hunting and fishing licenses, corporation directors and officers lists, names for the WWI Memorial and election candidacy papers; clerk's office documents such as reports, budget, salary lists, bank account information and receipts and correspondence with the State Auditor, attorneys and others. This series also has documents pertaining to F.W.'s position as Clerk of the Board of Supervisors such as a record of the County Levy in 1914 and correspondence concerning Board matters and bills.\nOf particular note is the correspondence concerning Prohibition laws and the Reports of Clerks of Court showing the special importance given Prohibition cases. \n\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003e\u003ctitle render=\"bold\"\u003eSeries 3:\u003c/title\u003e Posthumous Papers, 1936 - 1943, contains paperwork created by/ for John Whalen, Clerk of Circuit Court. The documents include a docket of cases for the November term 1937, letters from Courthouse supply manufacturers, general correspondence and a postcard.\n\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003e\u003cextref type=\"simple\" href=\"https://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/circuit/sites/circuit/files/assets/documents/pdf/hrc/the-fw-richardson-papers-1858-1943.pdf\"\u003eClick here to view Apendixes I through IV (See pages 8-11).\u003c/extref\u003e\n\u003c/p\u003e"],"scopecontent_heading_ssm":["Scope and Content\n"],"scopecontent_tesim":["Series 1:  Personal, 1861-1936, contains personal papers from both F.D. and F.W. Richardson. F.D.'s papers include receipts from Richmond merchants dating to 1861 and 1862 showing that F.D. and another man listed as Howard were buying large quantities of foodstuffs, cooking, serving and eating implements, tobacco products and pipes and other sundries such as candle molds and needles. There is no evidence-based explanation for these purchases. A possible explanation is that F.D. was outfitting a Confederate unit, but this is conjecture. F.D.'s papers also include a farming journal, other bills and receipts, some court papers and claims on his estate.\n","F.W.'s papers include a number of deeds and other property papers, insurance certificates and papers, investments papers, bank books and checks, tax returns, masonic membership cards and papers, other club membership cards and papers and papers pertaining to his work on the local board of the Selective Service System Draft in 1917 during WWI. The most poignant of these papers are chits stating whether local men (identified by serial numbers) passed their physical examinations for the draft. Some of the serial numbers correspond to entries in the Local Board Selective Service System Draft Records Book 1917, found in the archives. These entries state whether the men were allowed exemption from service due to dependents or occupation. See Appendix IV for details.\n","Series 2:  Professional, 1881 - 1935, contains documents pertaining to F.W.'s position as Clerk of County and Circuit Court. These documents include land records such as deed, lease, bill of sale, contract, mortgage, survey and certificate of title paperwork and correspondence; personal property records such as sales and conditional sales contract, loan, lien and chattel mortgage paperwork and correspondence; copies of wills, administrator and executor appointments, inheritance tax and fees paperwork and correspondence; tax records such as delinquent tax lists, receipts, sales paperwork and general tax correspondence; term papers records for commonwealth and civil cases such as Justice of the Peace statements, warrants of arrest, bail paperwork, jury summonses, case proceedings, judgements, divorce notices, insane asylum commitment papers, motions and petitions, pardon and parole forms, lists of court costs and clerk's fees, lawyers correspondence and receipts; other court records such as a jail condition report, hunting and fishing licenses, corporation directors and officers lists, names for the WWI Memorial and election candidacy papers; clerk's office documents such as reports, budget, salary lists, bank account information and receipts and correspondence with the State Auditor, attorneys and others. This series also has documents pertaining to F.W.'s position as Clerk of the Board of Supervisors such as a record of the County Levy in 1914 and correspondence concerning Board matters and bills.\nOf particular note is the correspondence concerning Prohibition laws and the Reports of Clerks of Court showing the special importance given Prohibition cases. \n","Series 3:  Posthumous Papers, 1936 - 1943, contains paperwork created by/ for John Whalen, Clerk of Circuit Court. The documents include a docket of cases for the November term 1937, letters from Courthouse supply manufacturers, general correspondence and a postcard.\n","Click here to view Apendixes I through IV (See pages 8-11)."],"physloc_html_tesm":["\u003cphysloc label=\"Shelf Location\"\u003eUnit 51, Top Shelf, Boxes 1-3; Oversize in Unit 26, Drawer #6\n\u003c/physloc\u003e"],"physloc_tesim":["Unit 51, Top Shelf, Boxes 1-3; Oversize in Unit 26, Drawer #6\n"],"names_coll_ssim":["Frederick Wilmer (F.W.) Richardson, Ferdinand Dawson (F.D.) Richardson, Fairfax Circuit Court, C. Lee Moore (State Auditor of Public Accounts), Elton R. Holbrook (Deputy Clerk), John M. Whalen (Clerk after F.W.) Frank L. Ballenger(Secretary of the Board of Supervisors)"],"names_ssim":["Frederick Wilmer (F.W.) Richardson, Ferdinand Dawson (F.D.) Richardson, Fairfax Circuit Court, C. Lee Moore (State Auditor of Public Accounts), Elton R. Holbrook (Deputy Clerk), John M. Whalen (Clerk after F.W.) Frank L. Ballenger(Secretary of the Board of Supervisors)"],"persname_ssim":["Frederick Wilmer (F.W.) Richardson, Ferdinand Dawson (F.D.) Richardson, Fairfax Circuit Court, C. Lee Moore (State Auditor of Public Accounts), Elton R. Holbrook (Deputy Clerk), John M. Whalen (Clerk after F.W.) Frank L. Ballenger(Secretary of the Board of Supervisors)"],"language_ssim":["English\n"],"total_component_count_is":149,"online_item_count_is":0,"component_level_isim":[0],"sort_isi":0,"timestamp":"2026-04-30T21:27:17.608Z"}]}},"label":"Breadcrumbs"}}},"links":{"self":"https://search.arvasarchive.org/catalog/vaffcr_vaffcr0005_c02_c01_c01"}},{"id":"vaffcr_Vaffcr00006_c02_c01","type":"Subseries","attributes":{"title":"Subseries 1: Notice of Candidates","breadcrumbs":{"id":"https://search.arvasarchive.org/catalog/vaffcr_Vaffcr00006_c02_c01#breadcrumbs","type":"document_value","attributes":{"value":{"ref_ssi":"vaffcr_Vaffcr00006_c02_c01","ref_ssm":["vaffcr_Vaffcr00006_c02_c01"],"id":"vaffcr_Vaffcr00006_c02_c01","ead_ssi":"vaffcr_Vaffcr00006","_root_":"vaffcr_Vaffcr00006","_nest_parent_":"vaffcr_Vaffcr00006_c02","parent_ssi":"vaffcr_Vaffcr00006_c02","parent_ssim":["vaffcr_Vaffcr00006","vaffcr_Vaffcr00006_c02"],"parent_ids_ssim":["vaffcr_Vaffcr00006","vaffcr_Vaffcr00006_c02"],"parent_unittitles_ssm":["Voting Records of Fairfax County, \n 1854-1936","Series 2: Elections, 1861 - 1936, undated"],"parent_unittitles_tesim":["Voting Records of Fairfax County, \n 1854-1936","Series 2: Elections, 1861 - 1936, undated"],"text":["Voting Records of Fairfax County, \n 1854-1936","Series 2: Elections, 1861 - 1936, undated","Subseries 1: Notice of Candidates"],"title_filing_ssi":"Subseries 1: Notice of Candidates\n\t","title_ssm":["Subseries 1: Notice of Candidates\n\t"],"title_tesim":["Subseries 1: Notice of Candidates\n\t"],"normalized_title_ssm":["Subseries 1: Notice of Candidates"],"component_level_isim":[2],"repository_ssim":["Fairfax Circuit Court Historic Records Center"],"collection_ssim":["Voting Records of Fairfax County, \n 1854-1936"],"has_online_content_ssim":["false"],"child_component_count_isi":8,"level_ssm":["Subseries"],"level_ssim":["Subseries"],"sort_isi":41,"_nest_path_":"/components#1/components#0","timestamp":"2026-04-30T21:27:17.608Z","collection":{"numFound":1,"start":0,"numFoundExact":true,"docs":[{"id":"vaffcr_Vaffcr00006","ead_ssi":"vaffcr_Vaffcr00006","_root_":"vaffcr_Vaffcr00006","_nest_parent_":"vaffcr_Vaffcr00006","ead_source_url_ssi":"data/fcc/Vaffcr00006.xml","title_ssm":["Voting Records of Fairfax County, \n 1854-1936\n"],"title_tesim":["Voting Records of Fairfax County, \n 1854-1936\n"],"level_ssm":["collection"],"level_ssim":["Collection"],"normalized_title_ssm":["Voting Records of Fairfax County, \n 1854-1936"],"text":["Voting Records of Fairfax County, \n 1854-1936","Fairfax County","Voting, elections, petitions, voter registration, capitation taxes, Presidential elections of 1892, 1896, 1900, 1904","Poll books, voting lists/tallies, correspondence, clerk's records, booklets, certificates, tax bills/receipts, ballots, election tickets, notices of candidates, petitions, oaths","Paper, cardstock, ink, graphite, staples and string binding","The Commonwealth of Virginia ratified its first constitution in 1776, following the signing of the Declaration of Independence. Since its ratification, there have been regular amendments and six major revisions to the state's constitution: 1830, 1851, 1864, 1870, 1902, and 1971. The current constitution as of 2017 is an amended version of the 1971 constitution. These revisions to the Virginia Constitution are representative of the \"political, social, regional, and racial climate of the times,\" according to the Virginia General Assembly.","The constitution of 1851 took significant steps in extending voting rights. In previous versions, only white male property holders could vote, but the 1851 revisions changed this law so that all white men were eligible to vote. Additionally, judges were to be elected rather than appointed and the position of Lieutenant Governor was created.","Article VII of the Constitution of Commonwealth of Virginia establishes the roles and duties of local government systems, with Section 4 of this article mandating, \"There shall be elected by the qualified voters of each county and city a treasurer, a sheriff, an attorney for the Commonwealth, a clerk, who shall be clerk of the court in the office of which deeds are recorded, and a commissioner of revenue.\" The elections of which records are found in this collection fall under this section of the Virginia constitution.","Later significant extensions of voting rights in Virginia include granting the right to vote to African Americans under the 15th amendment to the United States Constitution in 1869, and to women under the 19th amendment in 1920. Our records of voter registration indicate that both African Americans and women in Fairfax County were eager to exercise their civic duties following the ratification of these amendments.","The voting records of Fairfax County are kept at the Fairfax Circuit Court under Title 17.1, Chapter 2 (Clerks, Clerks' Offices and Records) of the Virginia Code, which states, \"The circuit court clerks shall have custody of and shall keep all court records, including books, evidence, records, maps, and papers, deposited in their offices or at such location otherwise designated by the clerk, as well as records stored in electronic format whether the storage media for such electronic records are on premises or elsewhere.\" The code also stipulates, \"None of the records or papers of a circuit court shall be removed by the clerk nor allowed by him to be removed out of the county or city wherein the clerk's office is kept.\"","Series 1:  Poll Books, 1854 - 1914, contains the poll books of Fairfax County pre- and post-1870. Poll books prior to 1870 list the year and precinct, the candidates, their position, and the names of the voters and the votes cast (there was no anonymity in voting). The nature of how poll books were written changed in 1870, when voting became anonymous. Post-1870 poll books are simply a list of electors for each precinct-a list of those who voted but no indication of who they voted for.  These documents have been grouped together due to the context in which they were used being the same.\n","The division of voting precincts also changed in 1870, when each precinct was assigned to a newly created district (also known as a township).  The six districts were Centreville, Dranesville, Falls Church, Lee, Mount Vernon, and Providence. Pre-1870 poll books are arranged alphabetical by precinct only; Post-1870 poll books are subdivided by precinct, then arranged alphabetically by township.  \n","The bulk of the series contains documents from 1854 to 1879. There are only two documents dating to after 1879, one from 1909 and another from 1914.\n","Series 2:  Elections, 1858-1936, contains documents relating to the administration and results of elections in Fairfax County. This includes notices of candidates from 1899 to 1901; various voter lists (lists of those with the right to suffrage in each district in 1861, list of voters in each district in 1866, and the registrar's notes of voter registration from 1902 to 1936); commissioners' oaths; election returns; election tickets; and a record of a contested election for Commissioner of Revenue in 1879.\n","The registrar's notes of voter registration starting in 1904 contain the earliest evidence in this collection that African Americans in Fairfax County were given the right to vote per the 15th Amendment to the United States Constitution, indicated by noting voter race (i.e. \"Color: Black\"). The registrar's notes after 1920 also contain the earliest evidence that women had gained the right to vote per the 19th Amendment, despite the Virginia General Assembly refusing its ratification until 1952, indicated by the division of registration lists into \"Male\" and \"Female\" columns.\n","The election returns from 1892 to 1911 contain the collection's only oversized documents, which are large tabular compilations of votes for the entire county. The largest of these tables is over 3.5 feet in length.\n","The election returns contain returns from votes for members of the Virginia Electoral College for the presidential elections of 1892, 1896, 1900, and 1904.\n","The records of the contested 1879 election of Richard F. Broadwater for Commissioner of Revenue are the only records in the collection of a contested election. The petitioners claimed that the election of Broadwater was \"undue and illegal\" and was the result of \"false returns\", demanding that the court either \"award a certificate of election to Amos Fox, who received the highest number of votes legally cast... or order a new election for the said office.\" Broadwater denied all allegations of fraud and there are no records of the election being annulled or a new election being held. \n","Series 3:  Petitions, 1873-1888 (three undated), contains the documentation of petitions to the Fairfax County Court. Most petitions regard the changing of election precincts or voting locations according to shifts in population distribution, or due to the inconvenience of current precincts/locations.\n","One 1888 petition from the people of Mt. Vernon asks Judge Sangster to appoint a new registrar, due to the \"inconvenience of the location of the present registrar...who lives in an out of the way place.\" The petition also asks that the court order a new registration of voters, \"as the old books, which have been in use nearly fifteen years, are so badly worn and mutilated as to be almost useless.\"","The series also contains what appears to be a draft of a petition, undated and unsigned. The petition asks for an \"alteration\" to the boundaries of the sixth magisterial district, and on the reverse seems to contain a crude map of said alterations.\n","Series 4:  Capitation Taxes, 1911-1926, contains lists of persons by district and precinct who had paid their capitation taxes (also called poll taxes) for the years noted, thereby ensuring their eligibility to vote. The lists categorize voters as \"White\" or \"Colored,\" and after 1920, women are included.","Although the U.S. Constitution, in Article I, Section 9, forbids the federal government from levying a capitation or other direct tax, this law did not apply to states until 1966, when the Supreme Court ruled that the poll tax as a prerequisite for voting in a state election was unconstitutional under the Fourteenth Amendment. Thus, beginning in the late nineteenth century, southern states including Virginia made payment of a poll tax a prerequisite to the exercise of suffrage. This requirement disqualified many African Americans who could not afford the tax or subjected their votes to influence by those who paid the tax for them.","Series 5:  Miscellaneous, 1854-1924, contains miscellaneous documents relating to voting and elections in Fairfax County. These documents include oaths of office, certifications of votes, commissions, records of election spending, receipts, records of appointments, notices of voter registration, lists of registrars, and notes taken during the Dranesville district convention of 1897.","The contents of the collection and the years it covers are scattered, with many years missing entirely and the collection as a whole seeming incomplete. This is a result of a combination of factors over the years, one being that many documents belonging in the collection were burned or discarded, having been thought to be useless. It also seems as though previous archivists pulled certain documents from other collections and placed them with the voting records, believing them to belong there, resulting in the contents seeming slightly arbitrary. Thus, many documents in Series 5 may seem to be random additions to the collection. For example, the collection contains over 100 records of election spending from 1903, one from 1921, and one 1923. There are no other records of election spending in the collection. Another example is that there is only one record in the collection of a district convention, which took place in Dranesville in 1897, although presumably there was more than one district convention in Fairfax County between 1854 and 1936. Any guess as to how, when, and why the courthouse came to be in possession of the documentation of this specific district convention would be conjecture.","Unit 39, Shelf 5\n","Fairfax Circuit Court, local courts","F.W. Richardson, F.D. Richardson, Judge J. Sangster","English\n"],"collection_title_tesim":["Voting Records of Fairfax County, \n 1854-1936"],"collection_ssim":["Voting Records of Fairfax County, \n 1854-1936"],"repository_ssm":["Fairfax Circuit Court Historic Records Center"],"repository_ssim":["Fairfax Circuit Court Historic Records Center"],"geogname_ssm":["Fairfax County"],"geogname_ssim":["Fairfax County"],"creator_ssm":["Fairfax Circuit Court Historic Records Center\n"],"creator_ssim":["Fairfax Circuit Court Historic Records Center\n"],"places_ssim":["Fairfax County"],"acqinfo_ssim":["Permanent Record of the Fairfax Circuit Court Historic Records Center.\n"],"access_subjects_ssim":["Voting, elections, petitions, voter registration, capitation taxes, Presidential elections of 1892, 1896, 1900, 1904","Poll books, voting lists/tallies, correspondence, clerk's records, booklets, certificates, tax bills/receipts, ballots, election tickets, notices of candidates, petitions, oaths","Paper, cardstock, ink, graphite, staples and string binding"],"access_subjects_ssm":["Voting, elections, petitions, voter registration, capitation taxes, Presidential elections of 1892, 1896, 1900, 1904","Poll books, voting lists/tallies, correspondence, clerk's records, booklets, certificates, tax bills/receipts, ballots, election tickets, notices of candidates, petitions, oaths","Paper, cardstock, ink, graphite, staples and string binding"],"has_online_content_ssim":["false"],"extent_ssm":["4.33 linear Feet"],"extent_tesim":["4.33 linear Feet"],"genreform_ssim":["Paper, cardstock, ink, graphite, staples and string binding"],"bioghist_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eThe Commonwealth of Virginia ratified its first constitution in 1776, following the signing of the Declaration of Independence. Since its ratification, there have been regular amendments and six major revisions to the state's constitution: 1830, 1851, 1864, 1870, 1902, and 1971. The current constitution as of 2017 is an amended version of the 1971 constitution. These revisions to the Virginia Constitution are representative of the \"political, social, regional, and racial climate of the times,\" according to the Virginia General Assembly.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eThe constitution of 1851 took significant steps in extending voting rights. In previous versions, only white male property holders could vote, but the 1851 revisions changed this law so that all white men were eligible to vote. Additionally, judges were to be elected rather than appointed and the position of Lieutenant Governor was created.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eArticle VII of the Constitution of Commonwealth of Virginia establishes the roles and duties of local government systems, with Section 4 of this article mandating, \"There shall be elected by the qualified voters of each county and city a treasurer, a sheriff, an attorney for the Commonwealth, a clerk, who shall be clerk of the court in the office of which deeds are recorded, and a commissioner of revenue.\" The elections of which records are found in this collection fall under this section of the Virginia constitution.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eLater significant extensions of voting rights in Virginia include granting the right to vote to African Americans under the 15th amendment to the United States Constitution in 1869, and to women under the 19th amendment in 1920. Our records of voter registration indicate that both African Americans and women in Fairfax County were eager to exercise their civic duties following the ratification of these amendments.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eThe voting records of Fairfax County are kept at the Fairfax Circuit Court under Title 17.1, Chapter 2 (Clerks, Clerks' Offices and Records) of the Virginia Code, which states, \"The circuit court clerks shall have custody of and shall keep all court records, including books, evidence, records, maps, and papers, deposited in their offices or at such location otherwise designated by the clerk, as well as records stored in electronic format whether the storage media for such electronic records are on premises or elsewhere.\" The code also stipulates, \"None of the records or papers of a circuit court shall be removed by the clerk nor allowed by him to be removed out of the county or city wherein the clerk's office is kept.\"\u003c/p\u003e"],"bioghist_heading_ssm":["Biographical Information\n"],"bioghist_tesim":["The Commonwealth of Virginia ratified its first constitution in 1776, following the signing of the Declaration of Independence. Since its ratification, there have been regular amendments and six major revisions to the state's constitution: 1830, 1851, 1864, 1870, 1902, and 1971. The current constitution as of 2017 is an amended version of the 1971 constitution. These revisions to the Virginia Constitution are representative of the \"political, social, regional, and racial climate of the times,\" according to the Virginia General Assembly.","The constitution of 1851 took significant steps in extending voting rights. In previous versions, only white male property holders could vote, but the 1851 revisions changed this law so that all white men were eligible to vote. Additionally, judges were to be elected rather than appointed and the position of Lieutenant Governor was created.","Article VII of the Constitution of Commonwealth of Virginia establishes the roles and duties of local government systems, with Section 4 of this article mandating, \"There shall be elected by the qualified voters of each county and city a treasurer, a sheriff, an attorney for the Commonwealth, a clerk, who shall be clerk of the court in the office of which deeds are recorded, and a commissioner of revenue.\" The elections of which records are found in this collection fall under this section of the Virginia constitution.","Later significant extensions of voting rights in Virginia include granting the right to vote to African Americans under the 15th amendment to the United States Constitution in 1869, and to women under the 19th amendment in 1920. Our records of voter registration indicate that both African Americans and women in Fairfax County were eager to exercise their civic duties following the ratification of these amendments.","The voting records of Fairfax County are kept at the Fairfax Circuit Court under Title 17.1, Chapter 2 (Clerks, Clerks' Offices and Records) of the Virginia Code, which states, \"The circuit court clerks shall have custody of and shall keep all court records, including books, evidence, records, maps, and papers, deposited in their offices or at such location otherwise designated by the clerk, as well as records stored in electronic format whether the storage media for such electronic records are on premises or elsewhere.\" The code also stipulates, \"None of the records or papers of a circuit court shall be removed by the clerk nor allowed by him to be removed out of the county or city wherein the clerk's office is kept.\""],"scopecontent_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003e\u003ctitle render=\"bold\"\u003eSeries 1:\u003c/title\u003e Poll Books, 1854 - 1914, contains the poll books of Fairfax County pre- and post-1870. Poll books prior to 1870 list the year and precinct, the candidates, their position, and the names of the voters and the votes cast (there was no anonymity in voting). The nature of how poll books were written changed in 1870, when voting became anonymous. Post-1870 poll books are simply a list of electors for each precinct-a list of those who voted but no indication of who they voted for.  These documents have been grouped together due to the context in which they were used being the same.\n\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eThe division of voting precincts also changed in 1870, when each precinct was assigned to a newly created district (also known as a township).  The six districts were Centreville, Dranesville, Falls Church, Lee, Mount Vernon, and Providence. Pre-1870 poll books are arranged alphabetical by precinct only; Post-1870 poll books are subdivided by precinct, then arranged alphabetically by township.  \n\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eThe bulk of the series contains documents from 1854 to 1879. There are only two documents dating to after 1879, one from 1909 and another from 1914.\n\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003e\u003ctitle render=\"bold\"\u003eSeries 2:\u003c/title\u003e Elections, 1858-1936, contains documents relating to the administration and results of elections in Fairfax County. This includes notices of candidates from 1899 to 1901; various voter lists (lists of those with the right to suffrage in each district in 1861, list of voters in each district in 1866, and the registrar's notes of voter registration from 1902 to 1936); commissioners' oaths; election returns; election tickets; and a record of a contested election for Commissioner of Revenue in 1879.\n\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eThe registrar's notes of voter registration starting in 1904 contain the earliest evidence in this collection that African Americans in Fairfax County were given the right to vote per the 15th Amendment to the United States Constitution, indicated by noting voter race (i.e. \"Color: Black\"). The registrar's notes after 1920 also contain the earliest evidence that women had gained the right to vote per the 19th Amendment, despite the Virginia General Assembly refusing its ratification until 1952, indicated by the division of registration lists into \"Male\" and \"Female\" columns.\n\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eThe election returns from 1892 to 1911 contain the collection's only oversized documents, which are large tabular compilations of votes for the entire county. The largest of these tables is over 3.5 feet in length.\n\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eThe election returns contain returns from votes for members of the Virginia Electoral College for the presidential elections of 1892, 1896, 1900, and 1904.\n\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eThe records of the contested 1879 election of Richard F. Broadwater for Commissioner of Revenue are the only records in the collection of a contested election. The petitioners claimed that the election of Broadwater was \"undue and illegal\" and was the result of \"false returns\", demanding that the court either \"award a certificate of election to Amos Fox, who received the highest number of votes legally cast... or order a new election for the said office.\" Broadwater denied all allegations of fraud and there are no records of the election being annulled or a new election being held. \n\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003e\u003ctitle render=\"bold\"\u003eSeries 3:\u003c/title\u003e Petitions, 1873-1888 (three undated), contains the documentation of petitions to the Fairfax County Court. Most petitions regard the changing of election precincts or voting locations according to shifts in population distribution, or due to the inconvenience of current precincts/locations.\n\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eOne 1888 petition from the people of Mt. Vernon asks Judge Sangster to appoint a new registrar, due to the \"inconvenience of the location of the present registrar...who lives in an out of the way place.\" The petition also asks that the court order a new registration of voters, \"as the old books, which have been in use nearly fifteen years, are so badly worn and mutilated as to be almost useless.\"\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eThe series also contains what appears to be a draft of a petition, undated and unsigned. The petition asks for an \"alteration\" to the boundaries of the sixth magisterial district, and on the reverse seems to contain a crude map of said alterations.\n\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003e\u003ctitle render=\"bold\"\u003eSeries 4: \u003c/title\u003eCapitation Taxes, 1911-1926, contains lists of persons by district and precinct who had paid their capitation taxes (also called poll taxes) for the years noted, thereby ensuring their eligibility to vote. The lists categorize voters as \"White\" or \"Colored,\" and after 1920, women are included.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eAlthough the U.S. Constitution, in Article I, Section 9, forbids the federal government from levying a capitation or other direct tax, this law did not apply to states until 1966, when the Supreme Court ruled that the poll tax as a prerequisite for voting in a state election was unconstitutional under the Fourteenth Amendment. Thus, beginning in the late nineteenth century, southern states including Virginia made payment of a poll tax a prerequisite to the exercise of suffrage. This requirement disqualified many African Americans who could not afford the tax or subjected their votes to influence by those who paid the tax for them.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003e\u003ctitle render=\"bold\"\u003eSeries 5:\u003c/title\u003e Miscellaneous, 1854-1924, contains miscellaneous documents relating to voting and elections in Fairfax County. These documents include oaths of office, certifications of votes, commissions, records of election spending, receipts, records of appointments, notices of voter registration, lists of registrars, and notes taken during the Dranesville district convention of 1897.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eThe contents of the collection and the years it covers are scattered, with many years missing entirely and the collection as a whole seeming incomplete. This is a result of a combination of factors over the years, one being that many documents belonging in the collection were burned or discarded, having been thought to be useless. It also seems as though previous archivists pulled certain documents from other collections and placed them with the voting records, believing them to belong there, resulting in the contents seeming slightly arbitrary. Thus, many documents in Series 5 may seem to be random additions to the collection. For example, the collection contains over 100 records of election spending from 1903, one from 1921, and one 1923. There are no other records of election spending in the collection. Another example is that there is only one record in the collection of a district convention, which took place in Dranesville in 1897, although presumably there was more than one district convention in Fairfax County between 1854 and 1936. Any guess as to how, when, and why the courthouse came to be in possession of the documentation of this specific district convention would be conjecture.\u003c/p\u003e"],"scopecontent_heading_ssm":["Scope and Content\n"],"scopecontent_tesim":["Series 1:  Poll Books, 1854 - 1914, contains the poll books of Fairfax County pre- and post-1870. Poll books prior to 1870 list the year and precinct, the candidates, their position, and the names of the voters and the votes cast (there was no anonymity in voting). The nature of how poll books were written changed in 1870, when voting became anonymous. Post-1870 poll books are simply a list of electors for each precinct-a list of those who voted but no indication of who they voted for.  These documents have been grouped together due to the context in which they were used being the same.\n","The division of voting precincts also changed in 1870, when each precinct was assigned to a newly created district (also known as a township).  The six districts were Centreville, Dranesville, Falls Church, Lee, Mount Vernon, and Providence. Pre-1870 poll books are arranged alphabetical by precinct only; Post-1870 poll books are subdivided by precinct, then arranged alphabetically by township.  \n","The bulk of the series contains documents from 1854 to 1879. There are only two documents dating to after 1879, one from 1909 and another from 1914.\n","Series 2:  Elections, 1858-1936, contains documents relating to the administration and results of elections in Fairfax County. This includes notices of candidates from 1899 to 1901; various voter lists (lists of those with the right to suffrage in each district in 1861, list of voters in each district in 1866, and the registrar's notes of voter registration from 1902 to 1936); commissioners' oaths; election returns; election tickets; and a record of a contested election for Commissioner of Revenue in 1879.\n","The registrar's notes of voter registration starting in 1904 contain the earliest evidence in this collection that African Americans in Fairfax County were given the right to vote per the 15th Amendment to the United States Constitution, indicated by noting voter race (i.e. \"Color: Black\"). The registrar's notes after 1920 also contain the earliest evidence that women had gained the right to vote per the 19th Amendment, despite the Virginia General Assembly refusing its ratification until 1952, indicated by the division of registration lists into \"Male\" and \"Female\" columns.\n","The election returns from 1892 to 1911 contain the collection's only oversized documents, which are large tabular compilations of votes for the entire county. The largest of these tables is over 3.5 feet in length.\n","The election returns contain returns from votes for members of the Virginia Electoral College for the presidential elections of 1892, 1896, 1900, and 1904.\n","The records of the contested 1879 election of Richard F. Broadwater for Commissioner of Revenue are the only records in the collection of a contested election. The petitioners claimed that the election of Broadwater was \"undue and illegal\" and was the result of \"false returns\", demanding that the court either \"award a certificate of election to Amos Fox, who received the highest number of votes legally cast... or order a new election for the said office.\" Broadwater denied all allegations of fraud and there are no records of the election being annulled or a new election being held. \n","Series 3:  Petitions, 1873-1888 (three undated), contains the documentation of petitions to the Fairfax County Court. Most petitions regard the changing of election precincts or voting locations according to shifts in population distribution, or due to the inconvenience of current precincts/locations.\n","One 1888 petition from the people of Mt. Vernon asks Judge Sangster to appoint a new registrar, due to the \"inconvenience of the location of the present registrar...who lives in an out of the way place.\" The petition also asks that the court order a new registration of voters, \"as the old books, which have been in use nearly fifteen years, are so badly worn and mutilated as to be almost useless.\"","The series also contains what appears to be a draft of a petition, undated and unsigned. The petition asks for an \"alteration\" to the boundaries of the sixth magisterial district, and on the reverse seems to contain a crude map of said alterations.\n","Series 4:  Capitation Taxes, 1911-1926, contains lists of persons by district and precinct who had paid their capitation taxes (also called poll taxes) for the years noted, thereby ensuring their eligibility to vote. The lists categorize voters as \"White\" or \"Colored,\" and after 1920, women are included.","Although the U.S. Constitution, in Article I, Section 9, forbids the federal government from levying a capitation or other direct tax, this law did not apply to states until 1966, when the Supreme Court ruled that the poll tax as a prerequisite for voting in a state election was unconstitutional under the Fourteenth Amendment. Thus, beginning in the late nineteenth century, southern states including Virginia made payment of a poll tax a prerequisite to the exercise of suffrage. This requirement disqualified many African Americans who could not afford the tax or subjected their votes to influence by those who paid the tax for them.","Series 5:  Miscellaneous, 1854-1924, contains miscellaneous documents relating to voting and elections in Fairfax County. These documents include oaths of office, certifications of votes, commissions, records of election spending, receipts, records of appointments, notices of voter registration, lists of registrars, and notes taken during the Dranesville district convention of 1897.","The contents of the collection and the years it covers are scattered, with many years missing entirely and the collection as a whole seeming incomplete. This is a result of a combination of factors over the years, one being that many documents belonging in the collection were burned or discarded, having been thought to be useless. It also seems as though previous archivists pulled certain documents from other collections and placed them with the voting records, believing them to belong there, resulting in the contents seeming slightly arbitrary. Thus, many documents in Series 5 may seem to be random additions to the collection. For example, the collection contains over 100 records of election spending from 1903, one from 1921, and one 1923. There are no other records of election spending in the collection. Another example is that there is only one record in the collection of a district convention, which took place in Dranesville in 1897, although presumably there was more than one district convention in Fairfax County between 1854 and 1936. Any guess as to how, when, and why the courthouse came to be in possession of the documentation of this specific district convention would be conjecture."],"physloc_html_tesm":["\u003cphysloc label=\"Shelf Location\"\u003eUnit 39, Shelf 5\n\u003c/physloc\u003e"],"physloc_tesim":["Unit 39, Shelf 5\n"],"names_coll_ssim":["Fairfax Circuit Court, local courts","F.W. Richardson, F.D. Richardson, Judge J. Sangster"],"names_ssim":["Fairfax Circuit Court, local courts","F.W. Richardson, F.D. Richardson, Judge J. Sangster"],"corpname_ssim":["Fairfax Circuit Court, local courts"],"persname_ssim":["F.W. Richardson, F.D. Richardson, Judge J. Sangster"],"language_ssim":["English\n"],"total_component_count_is":175,"online_item_count_is":0,"component_level_isim":[0],"sort_isi":0,"timestamp":"2026-04-30T21:27:17.608Z"}]}},"label":"Breadcrumbs"}}},"links":{"self":"https://search.arvasarchive.org/catalog/vaffcr_Vaffcr00006_c02_c01"}},{"id":"vaffcr_Vaffcr00006_c01_c01","type":"Subseries","attributes":{"title":"Subseries 1: Pre-1870","breadcrumbs":{"id":"https://search.arvasarchive.org/catalog/vaffcr_Vaffcr00006_c01_c01#breadcrumbs","type":"document_value","attributes":{"value":{"ref_ssi":"vaffcr_Vaffcr00006_c01_c01","ref_ssm":["vaffcr_Vaffcr00006_c01_c01"],"id":"vaffcr_Vaffcr00006_c01_c01","ead_ssi":"vaffcr_Vaffcr00006","_root_":"vaffcr_Vaffcr00006","_nest_parent_":"vaffcr_Vaffcr00006_c01","parent_ssi":"vaffcr_Vaffcr00006_c01","parent_ssim":["vaffcr_Vaffcr00006","vaffcr_Vaffcr00006_c01"],"parent_ids_ssim":["vaffcr_Vaffcr00006","vaffcr_Vaffcr00006_c01"],"parent_unittitles_ssm":["Voting Records of Fairfax County, \n 1854-1936","Series 1: Poll Books, 1854 - 1909"],"parent_unittitles_tesim":["Voting Records of Fairfax County, \n 1854-1936","Series 1: Poll Books, 1854 - 1909"],"text":["Voting Records of Fairfax County, \n 1854-1936","Series 1: Poll Books, 1854 - 1909","Subseries 1: Pre-1870"],"title_filing_ssi":"Subseries 1: Pre-1870\n\t","title_ssm":["Subseries 1: Pre-1870\n\t"],"title_tesim":["Subseries 1: Pre-1870\n\t"],"normalized_title_ssm":["Subseries 1: Pre-1870"],"component_level_isim":[2],"repository_ssim":["Fairfax Circuit Court Historic Records Center"],"collection_ssim":["Voting Records of Fairfax County, \n 1854-1936"],"has_online_content_ssim":["false"],"child_component_count_isi":18,"level_ssm":["Subseries"],"level_ssim":["Subseries"],"sort_isi":2,"_nest_path_":"/components#0/components#0","timestamp":"2026-04-30T21:27:17.608Z","collection":{"numFound":1,"start":0,"numFoundExact":true,"docs":[{"id":"vaffcr_Vaffcr00006","ead_ssi":"vaffcr_Vaffcr00006","_root_":"vaffcr_Vaffcr00006","_nest_parent_":"vaffcr_Vaffcr00006","ead_source_url_ssi":"data/fcc/Vaffcr00006.xml","title_ssm":["Voting Records of Fairfax County, \n 1854-1936\n"],"title_tesim":["Voting Records of Fairfax County, \n 1854-1936\n"],"level_ssm":["collection"],"level_ssim":["Collection"],"normalized_title_ssm":["Voting Records of Fairfax County, \n 1854-1936"],"text":["Voting Records of Fairfax County, \n 1854-1936","Fairfax County","Voting, elections, petitions, voter registration, capitation taxes, Presidential elections of 1892, 1896, 1900, 1904","Poll books, voting lists/tallies, correspondence, clerk's records, booklets, certificates, tax bills/receipts, ballots, election tickets, notices of candidates, petitions, oaths","Paper, cardstock, ink, graphite, staples and string binding","The Commonwealth of Virginia ratified its first constitution in 1776, following the signing of the Declaration of Independence. Since its ratification, there have been regular amendments and six major revisions to the state's constitution: 1830, 1851, 1864, 1870, 1902, and 1971. The current constitution as of 2017 is an amended version of the 1971 constitution. These revisions to the Virginia Constitution are representative of the \"political, social, regional, and racial climate of the times,\" according to the Virginia General Assembly.","The constitution of 1851 took significant steps in extending voting rights. In previous versions, only white male property holders could vote, but the 1851 revisions changed this law so that all white men were eligible to vote. Additionally, judges were to be elected rather than appointed and the position of Lieutenant Governor was created.","Article VII of the Constitution of Commonwealth of Virginia establishes the roles and duties of local government systems, with Section 4 of this article mandating, \"There shall be elected by the qualified voters of each county and city a treasurer, a sheriff, an attorney for the Commonwealth, a clerk, who shall be clerk of the court in the office of which deeds are recorded, and a commissioner of revenue.\" The elections of which records are found in this collection fall under this section of the Virginia constitution.","Later significant extensions of voting rights in Virginia include granting the right to vote to African Americans under the 15th amendment to the United States Constitution in 1869, and to women under the 19th amendment in 1920. Our records of voter registration indicate that both African Americans and women in Fairfax County were eager to exercise their civic duties following the ratification of these amendments.","The voting records of Fairfax County are kept at the Fairfax Circuit Court under Title 17.1, Chapter 2 (Clerks, Clerks' Offices and Records) of the Virginia Code, which states, \"The circuit court clerks shall have custody of and shall keep all court records, including books, evidence, records, maps, and papers, deposited in their offices or at such location otherwise designated by the clerk, as well as records stored in electronic format whether the storage media for such electronic records are on premises or elsewhere.\" The code also stipulates, \"None of the records or papers of a circuit court shall be removed by the clerk nor allowed by him to be removed out of the county or city wherein the clerk's office is kept.\"","Series 1:  Poll Books, 1854 - 1914, contains the poll books of Fairfax County pre- and post-1870. Poll books prior to 1870 list the year and precinct, the candidates, their position, and the names of the voters and the votes cast (there was no anonymity in voting). The nature of how poll books were written changed in 1870, when voting became anonymous. Post-1870 poll books are simply a list of electors for each precinct-a list of those who voted but no indication of who they voted for.  These documents have been grouped together due to the context in which they were used being the same.\n","The division of voting precincts also changed in 1870, when each precinct was assigned to a newly created district (also known as a township).  The six districts were Centreville, Dranesville, Falls Church, Lee, Mount Vernon, and Providence. Pre-1870 poll books are arranged alphabetical by precinct only; Post-1870 poll books are subdivided by precinct, then arranged alphabetically by township.  \n","The bulk of the series contains documents from 1854 to 1879. There are only two documents dating to after 1879, one from 1909 and another from 1914.\n","Series 2:  Elections, 1858-1936, contains documents relating to the administration and results of elections in Fairfax County. This includes notices of candidates from 1899 to 1901; various voter lists (lists of those with the right to suffrage in each district in 1861, list of voters in each district in 1866, and the registrar's notes of voter registration from 1902 to 1936); commissioners' oaths; election returns; election tickets; and a record of a contested election for Commissioner of Revenue in 1879.\n","The registrar's notes of voter registration starting in 1904 contain the earliest evidence in this collection that African Americans in Fairfax County were given the right to vote per the 15th Amendment to the United States Constitution, indicated by noting voter race (i.e. \"Color: Black\"). The registrar's notes after 1920 also contain the earliest evidence that women had gained the right to vote per the 19th Amendment, despite the Virginia General Assembly refusing its ratification until 1952, indicated by the division of registration lists into \"Male\" and \"Female\" columns.\n","The election returns from 1892 to 1911 contain the collection's only oversized documents, which are large tabular compilations of votes for the entire county. The largest of these tables is over 3.5 feet in length.\n","The election returns contain returns from votes for members of the Virginia Electoral College for the presidential elections of 1892, 1896, 1900, and 1904.\n","The records of the contested 1879 election of Richard F. Broadwater for Commissioner of Revenue are the only records in the collection of a contested election. The petitioners claimed that the election of Broadwater was \"undue and illegal\" and was the result of \"false returns\", demanding that the court either \"award a certificate of election to Amos Fox, who received the highest number of votes legally cast... or order a new election for the said office.\" Broadwater denied all allegations of fraud and there are no records of the election being annulled or a new election being held. \n","Series 3:  Petitions, 1873-1888 (three undated), contains the documentation of petitions to the Fairfax County Court. Most petitions regard the changing of election precincts or voting locations according to shifts in population distribution, or due to the inconvenience of current precincts/locations.\n","One 1888 petition from the people of Mt. Vernon asks Judge Sangster to appoint a new registrar, due to the \"inconvenience of the location of the present registrar...who lives in an out of the way place.\" The petition also asks that the court order a new registration of voters, \"as the old books, which have been in use nearly fifteen years, are so badly worn and mutilated as to be almost useless.\"","The series also contains what appears to be a draft of a petition, undated and unsigned. The petition asks for an \"alteration\" to the boundaries of the sixth magisterial district, and on the reverse seems to contain a crude map of said alterations.\n","Series 4:  Capitation Taxes, 1911-1926, contains lists of persons by district and precinct who had paid their capitation taxes (also called poll taxes) for the years noted, thereby ensuring their eligibility to vote. The lists categorize voters as \"White\" or \"Colored,\" and after 1920, women are included.","Although the U.S. Constitution, in Article I, Section 9, forbids the federal government from levying a capitation or other direct tax, this law did not apply to states until 1966, when the Supreme Court ruled that the poll tax as a prerequisite for voting in a state election was unconstitutional under the Fourteenth Amendment. Thus, beginning in the late nineteenth century, southern states including Virginia made payment of a poll tax a prerequisite to the exercise of suffrage. This requirement disqualified many African Americans who could not afford the tax or subjected their votes to influence by those who paid the tax for them.","Series 5:  Miscellaneous, 1854-1924, contains miscellaneous documents relating to voting and elections in Fairfax County. These documents include oaths of office, certifications of votes, commissions, records of election spending, receipts, records of appointments, notices of voter registration, lists of registrars, and notes taken during the Dranesville district convention of 1897.","The contents of the collection and the years it covers are scattered, with many years missing entirely and the collection as a whole seeming incomplete. This is a result of a combination of factors over the years, one being that many documents belonging in the collection were burned or discarded, having been thought to be useless. It also seems as though previous archivists pulled certain documents from other collections and placed them with the voting records, believing them to belong there, resulting in the contents seeming slightly arbitrary. Thus, many documents in Series 5 may seem to be random additions to the collection. For example, the collection contains over 100 records of election spending from 1903, one from 1921, and one 1923. There are no other records of election spending in the collection. Another example is that there is only one record in the collection of a district convention, which took place in Dranesville in 1897, although presumably there was more than one district convention in Fairfax County between 1854 and 1936. Any guess as to how, when, and why the courthouse came to be in possession of the documentation of this specific district convention would be conjecture.","Unit 39, Shelf 5\n","Fairfax Circuit Court, local courts","F.W. Richardson, F.D. Richardson, Judge J. Sangster","English\n"],"collection_title_tesim":["Voting Records of Fairfax County, \n 1854-1936"],"collection_ssim":["Voting Records of Fairfax County, \n 1854-1936"],"repository_ssm":["Fairfax Circuit Court Historic Records Center"],"repository_ssim":["Fairfax Circuit Court Historic Records Center"],"geogname_ssm":["Fairfax County"],"geogname_ssim":["Fairfax County"],"creator_ssm":["Fairfax Circuit Court Historic Records Center\n"],"creator_ssim":["Fairfax Circuit Court Historic Records Center\n"],"places_ssim":["Fairfax County"],"acqinfo_ssim":["Permanent Record of the Fairfax Circuit Court Historic Records Center.\n"],"access_subjects_ssim":["Voting, elections, petitions, voter registration, capitation taxes, Presidential elections of 1892, 1896, 1900, 1904","Poll books, voting lists/tallies, correspondence, clerk's records, booklets, certificates, tax bills/receipts, ballots, election tickets, notices of candidates, petitions, oaths","Paper, cardstock, ink, graphite, staples and string binding"],"access_subjects_ssm":["Voting, elections, petitions, voter registration, capitation taxes, Presidential elections of 1892, 1896, 1900, 1904","Poll books, voting lists/tallies, correspondence, clerk's records, booklets, certificates, tax bills/receipts, ballots, election tickets, notices of candidates, petitions, oaths","Paper, cardstock, ink, graphite, staples and string binding"],"has_online_content_ssim":["false"],"extent_ssm":["4.33 linear Feet"],"extent_tesim":["4.33 linear Feet"],"genreform_ssim":["Paper, cardstock, ink, graphite, staples and string binding"],"bioghist_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eThe Commonwealth of Virginia ratified its first constitution in 1776, following the signing of the Declaration of Independence. Since its ratification, there have been regular amendments and six major revisions to the state's constitution: 1830, 1851, 1864, 1870, 1902, and 1971. The current constitution as of 2017 is an amended version of the 1971 constitution. These revisions to the Virginia Constitution are representative of the \"political, social, regional, and racial climate of the times,\" according to the Virginia General Assembly.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eThe constitution of 1851 took significant steps in extending voting rights. In previous versions, only white male property holders could vote, but the 1851 revisions changed this law so that all white men were eligible to vote. Additionally, judges were to be elected rather than appointed and the position of Lieutenant Governor was created.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eArticle VII of the Constitution of Commonwealth of Virginia establishes the roles and duties of local government systems, with Section 4 of this article mandating, \"There shall be elected by the qualified voters of each county and city a treasurer, a sheriff, an attorney for the Commonwealth, a clerk, who shall be clerk of the court in the office of which deeds are recorded, and a commissioner of revenue.\" The elections of which records are found in this collection fall under this section of the Virginia constitution.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eLater significant extensions of voting rights in Virginia include granting the right to vote to African Americans under the 15th amendment to the United States Constitution in 1869, and to women under the 19th amendment in 1920. Our records of voter registration indicate that both African Americans and women in Fairfax County were eager to exercise their civic duties following the ratification of these amendments.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eThe voting records of Fairfax County are kept at the Fairfax Circuit Court under Title 17.1, Chapter 2 (Clerks, Clerks' Offices and Records) of the Virginia Code, which states, \"The circuit court clerks shall have custody of and shall keep all court records, including books, evidence, records, maps, and papers, deposited in their offices or at such location otherwise designated by the clerk, as well as records stored in electronic format whether the storage media for such electronic records are on premises or elsewhere.\" The code also stipulates, \"None of the records or papers of a circuit court shall be removed by the clerk nor allowed by him to be removed out of the county or city wherein the clerk's office is kept.\"\u003c/p\u003e"],"bioghist_heading_ssm":["Biographical Information\n"],"bioghist_tesim":["The Commonwealth of Virginia ratified its first constitution in 1776, following the signing of the Declaration of Independence. Since its ratification, there have been regular amendments and six major revisions to the state's constitution: 1830, 1851, 1864, 1870, 1902, and 1971. The current constitution as of 2017 is an amended version of the 1971 constitution. These revisions to the Virginia Constitution are representative of the \"political, social, regional, and racial climate of the times,\" according to the Virginia General Assembly.","The constitution of 1851 took significant steps in extending voting rights. In previous versions, only white male property holders could vote, but the 1851 revisions changed this law so that all white men were eligible to vote. Additionally, judges were to be elected rather than appointed and the position of Lieutenant Governor was created.","Article VII of the Constitution of Commonwealth of Virginia establishes the roles and duties of local government systems, with Section 4 of this article mandating, \"There shall be elected by the qualified voters of each county and city a treasurer, a sheriff, an attorney for the Commonwealth, a clerk, who shall be clerk of the court in the office of which deeds are recorded, and a commissioner of revenue.\" The elections of which records are found in this collection fall under this section of the Virginia constitution.","Later significant extensions of voting rights in Virginia include granting the right to vote to African Americans under the 15th amendment to the United States Constitution in 1869, and to women under the 19th amendment in 1920. Our records of voter registration indicate that both African Americans and women in Fairfax County were eager to exercise their civic duties following the ratification of these amendments.","The voting records of Fairfax County are kept at the Fairfax Circuit Court under Title 17.1, Chapter 2 (Clerks, Clerks' Offices and Records) of the Virginia Code, which states, \"The circuit court clerks shall have custody of and shall keep all court records, including books, evidence, records, maps, and papers, deposited in their offices or at such location otherwise designated by the clerk, as well as records stored in electronic format whether the storage media for such electronic records are on premises or elsewhere.\" The code also stipulates, \"None of the records or papers of a circuit court shall be removed by the clerk nor allowed by him to be removed out of the county or city wherein the clerk's office is kept.\""],"scopecontent_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003e\u003ctitle render=\"bold\"\u003eSeries 1:\u003c/title\u003e Poll Books, 1854 - 1914, contains the poll books of Fairfax County pre- and post-1870. Poll books prior to 1870 list the year and precinct, the candidates, their position, and the names of the voters and the votes cast (there was no anonymity in voting). The nature of how poll books were written changed in 1870, when voting became anonymous. Post-1870 poll books are simply a list of electors for each precinct-a list of those who voted but no indication of who they voted for.  These documents have been grouped together due to the context in which they were used being the same.\n\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eThe division of voting precincts also changed in 1870, when each precinct was assigned to a newly created district (also known as a township).  The six districts were Centreville, Dranesville, Falls Church, Lee, Mount Vernon, and Providence. Pre-1870 poll books are arranged alphabetical by precinct only; Post-1870 poll books are subdivided by precinct, then arranged alphabetically by township.  \n\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eThe bulk of the series contains documents from 1854 to 1879. There are only two documents dating to after 1879, one from 1909 and another from 1914.\n\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003e\u003ctitle render=\"bold\"\u003eSeries 2:\u003c/title\u003e Elections, 1858-1936, contains documents relating to the administration and results of elections in Fairfax County. This includes notices of candidates from 1899 to 1901; various voter lists (lists of those with the right to suffrage in each district in 1861, list of voters in each district in 1866, and the registrar's notes of voter registration from 1902 to 1936); commissioners' oaths; election returns; election tickets; and a record of a contested election for Commissioner of Revenue in 1879.\n\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eThe registrar's notes of voter registration starting in 1904 contain the earliest evidence in this collection that African Americans in Fairfax County were given the right to vote per the 15th Amendment to the United States Constitution, indicated by noting voter race (i.e. \"Color: Black\"). The registrar's notes after 1920 also contain the earliest evidence that women had gained the right to vote per the 19th Amendment, despite the Virginia General Assembly refusing its ratification until 1952, indicated by the division of registration lists into \"Male\" and \"Female\" columns.\n\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eThe election returns from 1892 to 1911 contain the collection's only oversized documents, which are large tabular compilations of votes for the entire county. The largest of these tables is over 3.5 feet in length.\n\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eThe election returns contain returns from votes for members of the Virginia Electoral College for the presidential elections of 1892, 1896, 1900, and 1904.\n\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eThe records of the contested 1879 election of Richard F. Broadwater for Commissioner of Revenue are the only records in the collection of a contested election. The petitioners claimed that the election of Broadwater was \"undue and illegal\" and was the result of \"false returns\", demanding that the court either \"award a certificate of election to Amos Fox, who received the highest number of votes legally cast... or order a new election for the said office.\" Broadwater denied all allegations of fraud and there are no records of the election being annulled or a new election being held. \n\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003e\u003ctitle render=\"bold\"\u003eSeries 3:\u003c/title\u003e Petitions, 1873-1888 (three undated), contains the documentation of petitions to the Fairfax County Court. Most petitions regard the changing of election precincts or voting locations according to shifts in population distribution, or due to the inconvenience of current precincts/locations.\n\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eOne 1888 petition from the people of Mt. Vernon asks Judge Sangster to appoint a new registrar, due to the \"inconvenience of the location of the present registrar...who lives in an out of the way place.\" The petition also asks that the court order a new registration of voters, \"as the old books, which have been in use nearly fifteen years, are so badly worn and mutilated as to be almost useless.\"\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eThe series also contains what appears to be a draft of a petition, undated and unsigned. The petition asks for an \"alteration\" to the boundaries of the sixth magisterial district, and on the reverse seems to contain a crude map of said alterations.\n\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003e\u003ctitle render=\"bold\"\u003eSeries 4: \u003c/title\u003eCapitation Taxes, 1911-1926, contains lists of persons by district and precinct who had paid their capitation taxes (also called poll taxes) for the years noted, thereby ensuring their eligibility to vote. The lists categorize voters as \"White\" or \"Colored,\" and after 1920, women are included.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eAlthough the U.S. Constitution, in Article I, Section 9, forbids the federal government from levying a capitation or other direct tax, this law did not apply to states until 1966, when the Supreme Court ruled that the poll tax as a prerequisite for voting in a state election was unconstitutional under the Fourteenth Amendment. Thus, beginning in the late nineteenth century, southern states including Virginia made payment of a poll tax a prerequisite to the exercise of suffrage. This requirement disqualified many African Americans who could not afford the tax or subjected their votes to influence by those who paid the tax for them.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003e\u003ctitle render=\"bold\"\u003eSeries 5:\u003c/title\u003e Miscellaneous, 1854-1924, contains miscellaneous documents relating to voting and elections in Fairfax County. These documents include oaths of office, certifications of votes, commissions, records of election spending, receipts, records of appointments, notices of voter registration, lists of registrars, and notes taken during the Dranesville district convention of 1897.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eThe contents of the collection and the years it covers are scattered, with many years missing entirely and the collection as a whole seeming incomplete. This is a result of a combination of factors over the years, one being that many documents belonging in the collection were burned or discarded, having been thought to be useless. It also seems as though previous archivists pulled certain documents from other collections and placed them with the voting records, believing them to belong there, resulting in the contents seeming slightly arbitrary. Thus, many documents in Series 5 may seem to be random additions to the collection. For example, the collection contains over 100 records of election spending from 1903, one from 1921, and one 1923. There are no other records of election spending in the collection. Another example is that there is only one record in the collection of a district convention, which took place in Dranesville in 1897, although presumably there was more than one district convention in Fairfax County between 1854 and 1936. Any guess as to how, when, and why the courthouse came to be in possession of the documentation of this specific district convention would be conjecture.\u003c/p\u003e"],"scopecontent_heading_ssm":["Scope and Content\n"],"scopecontent_tesim":["Series 1:  Poll Books, 1854 - 1914, contains the poll books of Fairfax County pre- and post-1870. Poll books prior to 1870 list the year and precinct, the candidates, their position, and the names of the voters and the votes cast (there was no anonymity in voting). The nature of how poll books were written changed in 1870, when voting became anonymous. Post-1870 poll books are simply a list of electors for each precinct-a list of those who voted but no indication of who they voted for.  These documents have been grouped together due to the context in which they were used being the same.\n","The division of voting precincts also changed in 1870, when each precinct was assigned to a newly created district (also known as a township).  The six districts were Centreville, Dranesville, Falls Church, Lee, Mount Vernon, and Providence. Pre-1870 poll books are arranged alphabetical by precinct only; Post-1870 poll books are subdivided by precinct, then arranged alphabetically by township.  \n","The bulk of the series contains documents from 1854 to 1879. There are only two documents dating to after 1879, one from 1909 and another from 1914.\n","Series 2:  Elections, 1858-1936, contains documents relating to the administration and results of elections in Fairfax County. This includes notices of candidates from 1899 to 1901; various voter lists (lists of those with the right to suffrage in each district in 1861, list of voters in each district in 1866, and the registrar's notes of voter registration from 1902 to 1936); commissioners' oaths; election returns; election tickets; and a record of a contested election for Commissioner of Revenue in 1879.\n","The registrar's notes of voter registration starting in 1904 contain the earliest evidence in this collection that African Americans in Fairfax County were given the right to vote per the 15th Amendment to the United States Constitution, indicated by noting voter race (i.e. \"Color: Black\"). The registrar's notes after 1920 also contain the earliest evidence that women had gained the right to vote per the 19th Amendment, despite the Virginia General Assembly refusing its ratification until 1952, indicated by the division of registration lists into \"Male\" and \"Female\" columns.\n","The election returns from 1892 to 1911 contain the collection's only oversized documents, which are large tabular compilations of votes for the entire county. The largest of these tables is over 3.5 feet in length.\n","The election returns contain returns from votes for members of the Virginia Electoral College for the presidential elections of 1892, 1896, 1900, and 1904.\n","The records of the contested 1879 election of Richard F. Broadwater for Commissioner of Revenue are the only records in the collection of a contested election. The petitioners claimed that the election of Broadwater was \"undue and illegal\" and was the result of \"false returns\", demanding that the court either \"award a certificate of election to Amos Fox, who received the highest number of votes legally cast... or order a new election for the said office.\" Broadwater denied all allegations of fraud and there are no records of the election being annulled or a new election being held. \n","Series 3:  Petitions, 1873-1888 (three undated), contains the documentation of petitions to the Fairfax County Court. Most petitions regard the changing of election precincts or voting locations according to shifts in population distribution, or due to the inconvenience of current precincts/locations.\n","One 1888 petition from the people of Mt. Vernon asks Judge Sangster to appoint a new registrar, due to the \"inconvenience of the location of the present registrar...who lives in an out of the way place.\" The petition also asks that the court order a new registration of voters, \"as the old books, which have been in use nearly fifteen years, are so badly worn and mutilated as to be almost useless.\"","The series also contains what appears to be a draft of a petition, undated and unsigned. The petition asks for an \"alteration\" to the boundaries of the sixth magisterial district, and on the reverse seems to contain a crude map of said alterations.\n","Series 4:  Capitation Taxes, 1911-1926, contains lists of persons by district and precinct who had paid their capitation taxes (also called poll taxes) for the years noted, thereby ensuring their eligibility to vote. The lists categorize voters as \"White\" or \"Colored,\" and after 1920, women are included.","Although the U.S. Constitution, in Article I, Section 9, forbids the federal government from levying a capitation or other direct tax, this law did not apply to states until 1966, when the Supreme Court ruled that the poll tax as a prerequisite for voting in a state election was unconstitutional under the Fourteenth Amendment. Thus, beginning in the late nineteenth century, southern states including Virginia made payment of a poll tax a prerequisite to the exercise of suffrage. This requirement disqualified many African Americans who could not afford the tax or subjected their votes to influence by those who paid the tax for them.","Series 5:  Miscellaneous, 1854-1924, contains miscellaneous documents relating to voting and elections in Fairfax County. These documents include oaths of office, certifications of votes, commissions, records of election spending, receipts, records of appointments, notices of voter registration, lists of registrars, and notes taken during the Dranesville district convention of 1897.","The contents of the collection and the years it covers are scattered, with many years missing entirely and the collection as a whole seeming incomplete. This is a result of a combination of factors over the years, one being that many documents belonging in the collection were burned or discarded, having been thought to be useless. It also seems as though previous archivists pulled certain documents from other collections and placed them with the voting records, believing them to belong there, resulting in the contents seeming slightly arbitrary. Thus, many documents in Series 5 may seem to be random additions to the collection. For example, the collection contains over 100 records of election spending from 1903, one from 1921, and one 1923. There are no other records of election spending in the collection. Another example is that there is only one record in the collection of a district convention, which took place in Dranesville in 1897, although presumably there was more than one district convention in Fairfax County between 1854 and 1936. Any guess as to how, when, and why the courthouse came to be in possession of the documentation of this specific district convention would be conjecture."],"physloc_html_tesm":["\u003cphysloc label=\"Shelf Location\"\u003eUnit 39, Shelf 5\n\u003c/physloc\u003e"],"physloc_tesim":["Unit 39, Shelf 5\n"],"names_coll_ssim":["Fairfax Circuit Court, local courts","F.W. Richardson, F.D. Richardson, Judge J. Sangster"],"names_ssim":["Fairfax Circuit Court, local courts","F.W. Richardson, F.D. Richardson, Judge J. Sangster"],"corpname_ssim":["Fairfax Circuit Court, local courts"],"persname_ssim":["F.W. Richardson, F.D. Richardson, Judge J. Sangster"],"language_ssim":["English\n"],"total_component_count_is":175,"online_item_count_is":0,"component_level_isim":[0],"sort_isi":0,"timestamp":"2026-04-30T21:27:17.608Z"}]}},"label":"Breadcrumbs"}}},"links":{"self":"https://search.arvasarchive.org/catalog/vaffcr_Vaffcr00006_c01_c01"}},{"id":"vaffcr_vaffcr00002_c01_c02","type":"Subseries","attributes":{"title":"Subseries 2: Confederate Pension Applications and Related Correspondence","breadcrumbs":{"id":"https://search.arvasarchive.org/catalog/vaffcr_vaffcr00002_c01_c02#breadcrumbs","type":"document_value","attributes":{"value":{"ref_ssi":"vaffcr_vaffcr00002_c01_c02","ref_ssm":["vaffcr_vaffcr00002_c01_c02"],"id":"vaffcr_vaffcr00002_c01_c02","ead_ssi":"vaffcr_vaffcr00002","_root_":"vaffcr_vaffcr00002","_nest_parent_":"vaffcr_vaffcr00002_c01","parent_ssi":"vaffcr_vaffcr00002_c01","parent_ssim":["vaffcr_vaffcr00002","vaffcr_vaffcr00002_c01"],"parent_ids_ssim":["vaffcr_vaffcr00002","vaffcr_vaffcr00002_c01"],"parent_unittitles_ssm":["Fairfax County Civil War Pensions, \n 1876-1943","Series 1: Applications"],"parent_unittitles_tesim":["Fairfax County Civil War Pensions, \n 1876-1943","Series 1: Applications"],"text":["Fairfax County Civil War Pensions, \n 1876-1943","Series 1: Applications","Subseries 2: Confederate Pension Applications and Related Correspondence"],"title_filing_ssi":"Subseries 2: Confederate Pension Applications and Related Correspondence\n\t","title_ssm":["Subseries 2: Confederate Pension Applications and Related Correspondence\n\t"],"title_tesim":["Subseries 2: Confederate Pension Applications and Related Correspondence\n\t"],"normalized_title_ssm":["Subseries 2: Confederate Pension Applications and Related Correspondence"],"component_level_isim":[2],"repository_ssim":["Fairfax Circuit Court Historic Records Center"],"collection_ssim":["Fairfax County Civil War Pensions, \n 1876-1943"],"has_online_content_ssim":["false"],"child_component_count_isi":13,"level_ssm":["Subseries"],"level_ssim":["Subseries"],"sort_isi":5,"_nest_path_":"/components#0/components#1","timestamp":"2026-04-30T21:27:17.608Z","collection":{"numFound":1,"start":0,"numFoundExact":true,"docs":[{"id":"vaffcr_vaffcr00002","ead_ssi":"vaffcr_vaffcr00002","_root_":"vaffcr_vaffcr00002","_nest_parent_":"vaffcr_vaffcr00002","ead_source_url_ssi":"data/fcc/vaffcr00002.xml","title_ssm":["Fairfax County Civil War Pensions, \n 1876-1943\n"],"title_tesim":["Fairfax County Civil War Pensions, \n 1876-1943\n"],"level_ssm":["collection"],"level_ssim":["Collection"],"normalized_title_ssm":["Fairfax County Civil War Pensions, \n 1876-1943"],"text":["Fairfax County Civil War Pensions, \n 1876-1943","Primarily Fairfax County ","Confederate and Union civil war pensions, disabilities","Pension applications, blank forms, letters, pension rolls, judges' orders, reports","Paper, cardstock, ink, graphite",".","In 1867, the State of Virginia began its first Confederate veteran aid program by offering artificial limbs to disabled veterans who had lost a limb as a result of war-time injuries. An act in 1872 allowed for artificial legs to be provided to veterans, and an amendment to this act also allowed African American veterans and 'employees' to receive legs. Beginning in 1873, the State offered commutations (one- time payments) to veterans whose artificial limbs were badly-fitting or unusable. Officially called Artificial Limb Commutations, these payments were eventually offered to veterans whose wounds completely disabled or paralyzed their limbs but did not result in amputations. Further acts in 1876 and 1882 provided aid for veterans who couldn't perform manual labor owing to wounds wholly or partly disabling their limbs, and finally, for wounds disabling any part of their body. These qualifying wounds included loss of eyesight. A final act passed in 1884 superseded the Artificial Limb Commutations with Aid to Citizens of Virginia Wounded and Maimed during the Late War. This act provided $60 to veterans with generally disabling wounds, and $60 to veterans for each limb or eye lost.\n","Realizing that a one-time payment would not provide permanent relief for the many disabled veterans who couldn't support themselves or their dependents, the General Assembly passed the first Confederate pension act in 1888. This act allowed a wounded veteran to apply for an annual pension if his total annual income was less than $300 and his personal and real property was valued at less than $1000. Widows whose husbands had died during the war, who remained unmarried and whose income and property values met the same requirements as those of veterans, were also entitled to apply.\n","The pension act of 1900 allowed veterans disabled owing to old age to apply. Widows whose husbands died after the war, and whose annual income was less than $100, were also eligible for application. This act dramatically increased the number of Confederate pensioners and, therefore, added to the strain on Virginia's economy; as a result of this, the General Assembly passed a further act in 1902 which placed more severe restrictions on income limits. Veterans and war-bereaved widows could not earn more than $150 per year or have more than $500 worth of real and personal property. In addition to this, widows whose husbands had died since the war had to have been married before May 1866. \n","Each subsequent act enlarged the eligibility quota. In 1908, former Confederate nurses, known as matrons, were included. Unlike the widows, the matrons had to be married to receive their pension. A further addition was the introduction of one-time disbursements of funeral expenses ($25). The 1912 act allowed women who had been widowed, remarried to another Confederate veteran and widowed again to apply. The 1924 and 1926 acts opened up pensions for former slaves and freemen who had acted for the Confederate Army as body servants, cooks, guards, hostlers, teamsters, blacksmiths, hospital and railroad workers, and who had buried the dead. Former Virginia residents who had moved to D.C. were also eligible under the 1924 act.","The required dates of marriage for widows also changed as time progressed. The 1912 act changed the date to before May 1868, the 1918 act to before May 1870, the 1922 act to before May 1877, the 1924 act to before December 31st 1882, the 1926 act to before 1886, and the 1927 act to before 1890. In response to inflation, the General Assembly gradually increased the maximum salary and property values allowed for eligibility. By 1926, the salary limit was $400, and the total property limit was $2000.\n","The Confederate commutation, aid and pension processes in Virginia relied on county circuit courts to collect, vet, accept or deny applications. The circuit court clerk collected applications and made a certified list of applicants, one of which was sent to the judge, one sent to the local pension board and one displayed on the courthouse door. The clerk also handed the applications to the court. From 1888 to 1900, county judges decided pension eligibility. In 1900, the pension act required counties to elect a five-person pension board to determine eligibility and send applications to the State Pension Board for further examination. In 1902, judges became the deciding authorities again, and the county pension board's purpose was relegated to assessing each applicant's eligibility and passing their recommendations to the deciding judge. Judges examined applications, determined eligibility and made an Order to certify or disallow a claim. The clerk then sent a list of allowed and certified pension claims to the State Pension Board, and, later, to the Auditor of Public Accounts. \n","The local pension board's commissioners other duties were to report the deaths of pensioners and discover and report pensioners who no longer met eligibility criteria, so that their names were removed from the State Pension Rolls, and their pensions not overpaid.\n","In 1958, the Federal Government also began issuing pensions to Confederate veterans and widows. The last Virginia Confederate veteran died in 1959; Virginia and the Federal Government continued to pay pensions to widows and unmarried children into the 21st century. In 2009, Virginia Code Section 51.1-900 (governing Confederate pensions) was repealed and Confederate pensions ceased to be. \n","Sources:  The collection, Google Books, Encyclopedia of Virginia, Library of Virginia\n","Series 1:  Applications, 1876 - 1943, contains one Union pension application, applications for Artificial Limb Commutation (Confederate), applications for aid (Confederate), Confederate pension applications and supporting paperwork\n","Series 2:  Confederate Pension Board of Fairfax Co., 1900 - 1933, contains oaths and appointment statements, reports and correspondence\n","Series 3:  Circuit Court and Pensions, 1902 - 1933, contains judges' orders, Confederate pensions rolls, correspondence with the State Pension Clerk and State Auditor of Public Accounts \n","Series 4:  Miscellaneous, 1902 - 1930, contains lists of applicants, correspondence and notices\n","Series 5:  Publications by State Auditor of Public Accounts, 1922, 1924, 1926\n","Series 6:  Roster of Confederate Pensioners of Virginia, 1909, 1916, 1917, 1919, 1920, 1921, 1925\n","Click here to view Apendixes I through II (See pages 4-8).","Unit 38, Drawer 2; Unit 52, Row 6\n","Confederate Pension Board of Fairfax Co., State Auditor of Public Accounts, State Pension Clerk, Fairfax County Circuit Court","English\n"],"collection_title_tesim":["Fairfax County Civil War Pensions, \n 1876-1943"],"collection_ssim":["Fairfax County Civil War Pensions, \n 1876-1943"],"repository_ssm":["Fairfax Circuit Court Historic Records Center"],"repository_ssim":["Fairfax Circuit Court Historic Records Center"],"geogname_ssm":["Primarily Fairfax County "],"geogname_ssim":["Primarily Fairfax County "],"creator_ssm":["Fairfax Circuit Court Historic Records Center\n"],"creator_ssim":["Fairfax Circuit Court Historic Records Center\n"],"places_ssim":["Primarily Fairfax County "],"acqinfo_ssim":["Permanent Record of the Fairfax Circuit Court Historic Records Center.\n"],"access_subjects_ssim":["Confederate and Union civil war pensions, disabilities","Pension applications, blank forms, letters, pension rolls, judges' orders, reports","Paper, cardstock, ink, graphite"],"access_subjects_ssm":["Confederate and Union civil war pensions, disabilities","Pension applications, blank forms, letters, pension rolls, judges' orders, reports","Paper, cardstock, ink, graphite"],"has_online_content_ssim":["false"],"physdesc_tesim":["."],"extent_ssm":["1 linear foot"],"extent_tesim":["1 linear foot"],"genreform_ssim":["Paper, cardstock, ink, graphite"],"bioghist_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eIn 1867, the State of Virginia began its first Confederate veteran aid program by offering artificial limbs to disabled veterans who had lost a limb as a result of war-time injuries. An act in 1872 allowed for artificial legs to be provided to veterans, and an amendment to this act also allowed African American veterans and 'employees' to receive legs. Beginning in 1873, the State offered commutations (one- time payments) to veterans whose artificial limbs were badly-fitting or unusable. Officially called Artificial Limb Commutations, these payments were eventually offered to veterans whose wounds completely disabled or paralyzed their limbs but did not result in amputations. Further acts in 1876 and 1882 provided aid for veterans who couldn't perform manual labor owing to wounds wholly or partly disabling their limbs, and finally, for wounds disabling any part of their body. These qualifying wounds included loss of eyesight. A final act passed in 1884 superseded the Artificial Limb Commutations with Aid to Citizens of Virginia Wounded and Maimed during the Late War. This act provided $60 to veterans with generally disabling wounds, and $60 to veterans for each limb or eye lost.\n\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eRealizing that a one-time payment would not provide permanent relief for the many disabled veterans who couldn't support themselves or their dependents, the General Assembly passed the first Confederate pension act in 1888. This act allowed a wounded veteran to apply for an annual pension if his total annual income was less than $300 and his personal and real property was valued at less than $1000. Widows whose husbands had died during the war, who remained unmarried and whose income and property values met the same requirements as those of veterans, were also entitled to apply.\n\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eThe pension act of 1900 allowed veterans disabled owing to old age to apply. Widows whose husbands died after the war, and whose annual income was less than $100, were also eligible for application. This act dramatically increased the number of Confederate pensioners and, therefore, added to the strain on Virginia's economy; as a result of this, the General Assembly passed a further act in 1902 which placed more severe restrictions on income limits. Veterans and war-bereaved widows could not earn more than $150 per year or have more than $500 worth of real and personal property. In addition to this, widows whose husbands had died since the war had to have been married before May 1866. \n\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eEach subsequent act enlarged the eligibility quota. In 1908, former Confederate nurses, known as matrons, were included. Unlike the widows, the matrons had to be married to receive their pension. A further addition was the introduction of one-time disbursements of funeral expenses ($25). The 1912 act allowed women who had been widowed, remarried to another Confederate veteran and widowed again to apply. The 1924 and 1926 acts opened up pensions for former slaves and freemen who had acted for the Confederate Army as body servants, cooks, guards, hostlers, teamsters, blacksmiths, hospital and railroad workers, and who had buried the dead. Former Virginia residents who had moved to D.C. were also eligible under the 1924 act.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eThe required dates of marriage for widows also changed as time progressed. The 1912 act changed the date to before May 1868, the 1918 act to before May 1870, the 1922 act to before May 1877, the 1924 act to before December 31st 1882, the 1926 act to before 1886, and the 1927 act to before 1890. In response to inflation, the General Assembly gradually increased the maximum salary and property values allowed for eligibility. By 1926, the salary limit was $400, and the total property limit was $2000.\n\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eThe Confederate commutation, aid and pension processes in Virginia relied on county circuit courts to collect, vet, accept or deny applications. The circuit court clerk collected applications and made a certified list of applicants, one of which was sent to the judge, one sent to the local pension board and one displayed on the courthouse door. The clerk also handed the applications to the court. From 1888 to 1900, county judges decided pension eligibility. In 1900, the pension act required counties to elect a five-person pension board to determine eligibility and send applications to the State Pension Board for further examination. In 1902, judges became the deciding authorities again, and the county pension board's purpose was relegated to assessing each applicant's eligibility and passing their recommendations to the deciding judge. Judges examined applications, determined eligibility and made an Order to certify or disallow a claim. The clerk then sent a list of allowed and certified pension claims to the State Pension Board, and, later, to the Auditor of Public Accounts. \n\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eThe local pension board's commissioners other duties were to report the deaths of pensioners and discover and report pensioners who no longer met eligibility criteria, so that their names were removed from the State Pension Rolls, and their pensions not overpaid.\n\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eIn 1958, the Federal Government also began issuing pensions to Confederate veterans and widows. The last Virginia Confederate veteran died in 1959; Virginia and the Federal Government continued to pay pensions to widows and unmarried children into the 21st century. In 2009, Virginia Code Section 51.1-900 (governing Confederate pensions) was repealed and Confederate pensions ceased to be. \n\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003e\u003ctitle render=\"bold\"\u003eSources:\u003c/title\u003e The collection, Google Books, Encyclopedia of Virginia, Library of Virginia\n\u003c/p\u003e"],"bioghist_heading_ssm":["Biographical/Historical Information \n"],"bioghist_tesim":["In 1867, the State of Virginia began its first Confederate veteran aid program by offering artificial limbs to disabled veterans who had lost a limb as a result of war-time injuries. An act in 1872 allowed for artificial legs to be provided to veterans, and an amendment to this act also allowed African American veterans and 'employees' to receive legs. Beginning in 1873, the State offered commutations (one- time payments) to veterans whose artificial limbs were badly-fitting or unusable. Officially called Artificial Limb Commutations, these payments were eventually offered to veterans whose wounds completely disabled or paralyzed their limbs but did not result in amputations. Further acts in 1876 and 1882 provided aid for veterans who couldn't perform manual labor owing to wounds wholly or partly disabling their limbs, and finally, for wounds disabling any part of their body. These qualifying wounds included loss of eyesight. A final act passed in 1884 superseded the Artificial Limb Commutations with Aid to Citizens of Virginia Wounded and Maimed during the Late War. This act provided $60 to veterans with generally disabling wounds, and $60 to veterans for each limb or eye lost.\n","Realizing that a one-time payment would not provide permanent relief for the many disabled veterans who couldn't support themselves or their dependents, the General Assembly passed the first Confederate pension act in 1888. This act allowed a wounded veteran to apply for an annual pension if his total annual income was less than $300 and his personal and real property was valued at less than $1000. Widows whose husbands had died during the war, who remained unmarried and whose income and property values met the same requirements as those of veterans, were also entitled to apply.\n","The pension act of 1900 allowed veterans disabled owing to old age to apply. Widows whose husbands died after the war, and whose annual income was less than $100, were also eligible for application. This act dramatically increased the number of Confederate pensioners and, therefore, added to the strain on Virginia's economy; as a result of this, the General Assembly passed a further act in 1902 which placed more severe restrictions on income limits. Veterans and war-bereaved widows could not earn more than $150 per year or have more than $500 worth of real and personal property. In addition to this, widows whose husbands had died since the war had to have been married before May 1866. \n","Each subsequent act enlarged the eligibility quota. In 1908, former Confederate nurses, known as matrons, were included. Unlike the widows, the matrons had to be married to receive their pension. A further addition was the introduction of one-time disbursements of funeral expenses ($25). The 1912 act allowed women who had been widowed, remarried to another Confederate veteran and widowed again to apply. The 1924 and 1926 acts opened up pensions for former slaves and freemen who had acted for the Confederate Army as body servants, cooks, guards, hostlers, teamsters, blacksmiths, hospital and railroad workers, and who had buried the dead. Former Virginia residents who had moved to D.C. were also eligible under the 1924 act.","The required dates of marriage for widows also changed as time progressed. The 1912 act changed the date to before May 1868, the 1918 act to before May 1870, the 1922 act to before May 1877, the 1924 act to before December 31st 1882, the 1926 act to before 1886, and the 1927 act to before 1890. In response to inflation, the General Assembly gradually increased the maximum salary and property values allowed for eligibility. By 1926, the salary limit was $400, and the total property limit was $2000.\n","The Confederate commutation, aid and pension processes in Virginia relied on county circuit courts to collect, vet, accept or deny applications. The circuit court clerk collected applications and made a certified list of applicants, one of which was sent to the judge, one sent to the local pension board and one displayed on the courthouse door. The clerk also handed the applications to the court. From 1888 to 1900, county judges decided pension eligibility. In 1900, the pension act required counties to elect a five-person pension board to determine eligibility and send applications to the State Pension Board for further examination. In 1902, judges became the deciding authorities again, and the county pension board's purpose was relegated to assessing each applicant's eligibility and passing their recommendations to the deciding judge. Judges examined applications, determined eligibility and made an Order to certify or disallow a claim. The clerk then sent a list of allowed and certified pension claims to the State Pension Board, and, later, to the Auditor of Public Accounts. \n","The local pension board's commissioners other duties were to report the deaths of pensioners and discover and report pensioners who no longer met eligibility criteria, so that their names were removed from the State Pension Rolls, and their pensions not overpaid.\n","In 1958, the Federal Government also began issuing pensions to Confederate veterans and widows. The last Virginia Confederate veteran died in 1959; Virginia and the Federal Government continued to pay pensions to widows and unmarried children into the 21st century. In 2009, Virginia Code Section 51.1-900 (governing Confederate pensions) was repealed and Confederate pensions ceased to be. \n","Sources:  The collection, Google Books, Encyclopedia of Virginia, Library of Virginia\n"],"scopecontent_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003e\u003ctitle render=\"bold\"\u003eSeries 1:\u003c/title\u003e Applications, 1876 - 1943, contains one Union pension application, applications for Artificial Limb Commutation (Confederate), applications for aid (Confederate), Confederate pension applications and supporting paperwork\n\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003e\u003ctitle render=\"bold\"\u003eSeries 2: \u003c/title\u003eConfederate Pension Board of Fairfax Co., 1900 - 1933, contains oaths and appointment statements, reports and correspondence\n\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003e\u003ctitle render=\"bold\"\u003eSeries 3: \u003c/title\u003eCircuit Court and Pensions, 1902 - 1933, contains judges' orders, Confederate pensions rolls, correspondence with the State Pension Clerk and State Auditor of Public Accounts \n\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003e\u003ctitle render=\"bold\"\u003eSeries 4:\u003c/title\u003e Miscellaneous, 1902 - 1930, contains lists of applicants, correspondence and notices\n\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003e\u003ctitle render=\"bold\"\u003eSeries 5: \u003c/title\u003ePublications by State Auditor of Public Accounts, 1922, 1924, 1926\n\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003e\u003ctitle render=\"bold\"\u003eSeries 6: \u003c/title\u003eRoster of Confederate Pensioners of Virginia, 1909, 1916, 1917, 1919, 1920, 1921, 1925\n\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003e\u003cextref type=\"simple\" href=\"https://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/circuit/sites/circuit/files/assets/documents/pdf/hrc/fairfax-county-civil-war-pensions-1876-1943.pdf\"\u003eClick here to view Apendixes I through II (See pages 4-8).\u003c/extref\u003e\n\u003c/p\u003e"],"scopecontent_heading_ssm":["Scope and Content\n"],"scopecontent_tesim":["Series 1:  Applications, 1876 - 1943, contains one Union pension application, applications for Artificial Limb Commutation (Confederate), applications for aid (Confederate), Confederate pension applications and supporting paperwork\n","Series 2:  Confederate Pension Board of Fairfax Co., 1900 - 1933, contains oaths and appointment statements, reports and correspondence\n","Series 3:  Circuit Court and Pensions, 1902 - 1933, contains judges' orders, Confederate pensions rolls, correspondence with the State Pension Clerk and State Auditor of Public Accounts \n","Series 4:  Miscellaneous, 1902 - 1930, contains lists of applicants, correspondence and notices\n","Series 5:  Publications by State Auditor of Public Accounts, 1922, 1924, 1926\n","Series 6:  Roster of Confederate Pensioners of Virginia, 1909, 1916, 1917, 1919, 1920, 1921, 1925\n","Click here to view Apendixes I through II (See pages 4-8)."],"physloc_html_tesm":["\u003cphysloc label=\"Shelf Location\"\u003eUnit 38, Drawer 2; Unit 52, Row 6\n\u003c/physloc\u003e"],"physloc_tesim":["Unit 38, Drawer 2; Unit 52, Row 6\n"],"names_coll_ssim":["Confederate Pension Board of Fairfax Co., State Auditor of Public Accounts, State Pension Clerk, Fairfax County Circuit Court"],"names_ssim":["Confederate Pension Board of Fairfax Co., State Auditor of Public Accounts, State Pension Clerk, Fairfax County Circuit Court"],"corpname_ssim":["Confederate Pension Board of Fairfax Co., State Auditor of Public Accounts, State Pension Clerk, Fairfax County Circuit Court"],"language_ssim":["English\n"],"total_component_count_is":34,"online_item_count_is":0,"component_level_isim":[0],"sort_isi":0,"timestamp":"2026-04-30T21:27:17.608Z"}]}},"label":"Breadcrumbs"}}},"links":{"self":"https://search.arvasarchive.org/catalog/vaffcr_vaffcr00002_c01_c02"}},{"id":"vaffcr_vaffcr0005_c02_c01_c02","type":"Subseries","attributes":{"title":"Subseries 2: Personal Property Records","breadcrumbs":{"id":"https://search.arvasarchive.org/catalog/vaffcr_vaffcr0005_c02_c01_c02#breadcrumbs","type":"document_value","attributes":{"value":{"ref_ssi":"vaffcr_vaffcr0005_c02_c01_c02","ref_ssm":["vaffcr_vaffcr0005_c02_c01_c02"],"id":"vaffcr_vaffcr0005_c02_c01_c02","ead_ssi":"vaffcr_vaffcr0005","_root_":"vaffcr_vaffcr0005","_nest_parent_":"vaffcr_vaffcr0005_c02_c01","parent_ssi":"vaffcr_vaffcr0005_c02_c01","parent_ssim":["vaffcr_vaffcr0005","vaffcr_vaffcr0005_c02","vaffcr_vaffcr0005_c02_c01"],"parent_ids_ssim":["vaffcr_vaffcr0005","vaffcr_vaffcr0005_c02","vaffcr_vaffcr0005_c02_c01"],"parent_unittitles_ssm":["F.W. Richardson Papers, \n 1858-1943","Box 2","Series 2: Professional"],"parent_unittitles_tesim":["F.W. Richardson Papers, \n 1858-1943","Box 2","Series 2: Professional"],"text":["F.W. Richardson Papers, \n 1858-1943","Box 2","Series 2: Professional","Subseries 2: Personal Property Records"],"title_filing_ssi":"Subseries 2: Personal Property Records\n\t\t","title_ssm":["Subseries 2: Personal Property Records\n\t\t"],"title_tesim":["Subseries 2: Personal Property Records\n\t\t"],"normalized_title_ssm":["Subseries 2: Personal Property Records"],"component_level_isim":[3],"repository_ssim":["Fairfax Circuit Court Historic Records Center"],"collection_ssim":["F.W. Richardson Papers, \n 1858-1943"],"has_online_content_ssim":["false"],"child_component_count_isi":5,"level_ssm":["Subseries"],"level_ssim":["Subseries"],"sort_isi":76,"_nest_path_":"/components#1/components#0/components#1","timestamp":"2026-04-30T21:27:17.608Z","collection":{"numFound":1,"start":0,"numFoundExact":true,"docs":[{"id":"vaffcr_vaffcr0005","ead_ssi":"vaffcr_vaffcr0005","_root_":"vaffcr_vaffcr0005","_nest_parent_":"vaffcr_vaffcr0005","ead_source_url_ssi":"data/fcc/vaffcr0005.xml","title_ssm":["F.W. Richardson Papers, \n 1858-1943\n"],"title_tesim":["F.W. Richardson Papers, \n 1858-1943\n"],"level_ssm":["collection"],"level_ssim":["Collection"],"normalized_title_ssm":["F.W. Richardson Papers, \n 1858-1943"],"text":["F.W. Richardson Papers, \n 1858-1943","Primarily Fairfax County.","Land and personal property, taxes, wills and estate paperwork, divorce, term papers, general court papers, election records, laws and acts, Board of Supervisors, Prohibition, WWI Exemption Board and Memorial, clerk's budget, salaries and reports, personal banking and insurance, Civil War, Reconstruction, WWI, Prohibition, Great Depression, life events of Richardson family","Deeds, certificates of title, wills, receipts, checkbook and checks, booklets, correspondence, farming journal, naturalization certificate, divorce notices, reports, tax bills and receipts, term papers and related paperwork, pardon, corporation papers, plats, blueprints, WWI Exemption Board chits, insurance certificates, promissory notes, election nomination papers, oaths of office, arrest and bond warrants, petitions, delinquent tax lists, vehicle insurance policies","State Auditor of Public Accounts, Deputy Clerk, Secretary of the Board of Supervisors","Paper, cardstock, leather, photographic material, ink, graphite",".","Frederick Wilmer (F.W.) Richardson and his father, Ferdinand Dawson (F.D.) Richardson, held the positions of Clerk of Fairfax County Court and Fairfax Circuit Court, variously, from 1833 to 1935.\n","F.D. Richardson was born on November 9th, 1808. He began his career as an assistant or deputy clerk in 1826; he was County Court Clerk from 1833-1835, 1867-1869 and 1870-1880. F.D. served as Circuit Court Clerk from 1835-1880, apart from a hiatus during the Civil War.\n","Prior to the Civil War, F.D. was a Captain in the Virginia Militia. He was also an avid farmer, as evidenced by his farming journal found in this collection, and is listed as Recording Secretary on the 1848 Constitution of Fairfax Agricultural Society. Post-Civil War, F.D. was a founding member of Central Farmers' Club which began in February 1874. He was also Clerk to the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors throughout the 1870s.\n","Not much is known about F.D.'s activities during the Civil War. He voted for secession from the Union in 1861, and courthouse lore has it that he took George Washington's will down to Richmond for safe-keeping. Physical evidence places him in Richmond in December 1861 and January 1862. \n","F.D. died on October 13th, 1880. His wife and F.W.'s mother, Mary Posey (Grigsby) Richardson, died on December 12th, 1889.\n","F.W. Richardson was born on October 16th 1854. He married Amelia (Millie) Lee Buck in 1883 and had four children, Frederick Dawson (1884 - 1954), Marcus Bayly (1886 - 1917), Mary Buck (1889 - 1890) and Virginia Fairfax (1891 - 1988). \n","In 1871, F.W. became his father's deputy as Assistant Clerk in the Office of the Clerk of County Court. On his father's death, he became temporary Clerk of County and Circuit Courts. In 1881, F.W. was voted in as Clerk of County Court, a position he held until County Court was abolished in 1903. F.W. held the office of Clerk of Circuit Court from 1904 to 1935.\n","During his working life, F.W. held many other prominent positions within Fairfax County and his local community. He was Clerk of the Board of Supervisors from 1880 - 1935 and County Treasurer in the 1890s; according to the Fairfax Herald, he served as a Probate Judge in 1904 and 1906; he was also a notary public, a real estate buyer, a member of the Chamber of Commerce and a delegate to the Prison Association in 1908. He served on many boards and committees, notably the County Health Board, the Fairfax Confederate Monument Association and Confederate Reunion Committee in 1900, the Great War Memorial Fund Committee, the Bicentennial Committee, the Farmers' Institute Committee and the Homecoming Day committee. In 1917, F.W. served as clerk for the Local Board for the Selective Service System Draft (WWI military service), and was Secretary and President of the Town Hall Association, Secretary and President of the Cemetery Association, Secretary and Treasurer of Henry Masonic Lodge, President of the Democratic Club and Wilson Club in 1916, elected Providence Lodge Good Templars Officer in 1873, elected Fairfax Lyceum Recording and Corresponding Secretary in 1874 and elected to the Zion Church Vestry in 1931. He was also a member of the Red Cross.\n","In addition to his monumental public service, F.W. made large donations to the Confederate Reunion, Fairfax fairs and agricultural shows, roads, the War Relief Fund, the YMCA Fund, the Library building, the Fire Department and a new school building. He was much in demand as a public speaker, newspapers of the time list him as addressing Army draftees in 1917, the Civic League, the Rotary Club, Herndon Church of Christ and the Fairfax Lyceum.\n","Newspapers from F.W.'s time also record his active social life, attending many dinners and other functions, especially notable are the bank and Bar Association dinners. \n","The collection offers a little insight into F.W.'s personal life. He was financially astute, as his many tax returns, insurance papers, Christmas club and bank books show. The collection shows that F.W. held shares in the Silver Butte Mines Corporation, the Mercantile-Railway Building and Loan Association of Alexandria, Virginia Title Company, Falls Church Bank, Incorporated, Fairfax and Loudoun Light and Power Company and Baltimore Building and Loan Association of Baltimore City. He even assumed some financial responsibility for his sister, Madge Pierce, after her husband's death. In the collection are copies of deeds of lands bought by F.W. and his real estate partners, James Love (also a Judge) and R.W. Moore. F.W. also seems to have had some interest in the arts, he was Secretary of the Olio Theatrical Troop in 1874 and held some shares in the Cosmos Theatre Co., Inc.\n","F.W.'s son, Frederick Dawson, had a legal career and was very active in the business and social affairs of Fairfax County. His other son, Marcus Bayly worked for him as deputy clerk. Tragically, Marcus was killed when his car hit a streetcar in August 1917. Amongst F.W.'s papers was a newspaper cutting of the accident, this has been copied onto acid-free paper.\n","Elton Richardson Holbrook, F.W.'s nephew, also worked for F.W. as a deputy clerk; his signature appears on multiple papers. Unfortunately, he committed suicide in the 1931.\n","F.W. retired from Circuit Court in 1935 and was succeeded by John M. Whalen, a couple of whose papers appear in the collection. F.W. died on 23rd April, 1936.\n","Sources:  The collection, the Historical Newspaper Index at Fairfax County Public Library Virginia Room, correspondence from local historian, Lee Hubbard, Find a Grave","Series 1:  Personal, 1861-1936, contains personal papers from both F.D. and F.W. Richardson. F.D.'s papers include receipts from Richmond merchants dating to 1861 and 1862 showing that F.D. and another man listed as Howard were buying large quantities of foodstuffs, cooking, serving and eating implements, tobacco products and pipes and other sundries such as candle molds and needles. There is no evidence-based explanation for these purchases. A possible explanation is that F.D. was outfitting a Confederate unit, but this is conjecture. F.D.'s papers also include a farming journal, other bills and receipts, some court papers and claims on his estate.\n","F.W.'s papers include a number of deeds and other property papers, insurance certificates and papers, investments papers, bank books and checks, tax returns, masonic membership cards and papers, other club membership cards and papers and papers pertaining to his work on the local board of the Selective Service System Draft in 1917 during WWI. The most poignant of these papers are chits stating whether local men (identified by serial numbers) passed their physical examinations for the draft. Some of the serial numbers correspond to entries in the Local Board Selective Service System Draft Records Book 1917, found in the archives. These entries state whether the men were allowed exemption from service due to dependents or occupation. See Appendix IV for details.\n","Series 2:  Professional, 1881 - 1935, contains documents pertaining to F.W.'s position as Clerk of County and Circuit Court. These documents include land records such as deed, lease, bill of sale, contract, mortgage, survey and certificate of title paperwork and correspondence; personal property records such as sales and conditional sales contract, loan, lien and chattel mortgage paperwork and correspondence; copies of wills, administrator and executor appointments, inheritance tax and fees paperwork and correspondence; tax records such as delinquent tax lists, receipts, sales paperwork and general tax correspondence; term papers records for commonwealth and civil cases such as Justice of the Peace statements, warrants of arrest, bail paperwork, jury summonses, case proceedings, judgements, divorce notices, insane asylum commitment papers, motions and petitions, pardon and parole forms, lists of court costs and clerk's fees, lawyers correspondence and receipts; other court records such as a jail condition report, hunting and fishing licenses, corporation directors and officers lists, names for the WWI Memorial and election candidacy papers; clerk's office documents such as reports, budget, salary lists, bank account information and receipts and correspondence with the State Auditor, attorneys and others. This series also has documents pertaining to F.W.'s position as Clerk of the Board of Supervisors such as a record of the County Levy in 1914 and correspondence concerning Board matters and bills.\nOf particular note is the correspondence concerning Prohibition laws and the Reports of Clerks of Court showing the special importance given Prohibition cases. \n","Series 3:  Posthumous Papers, 1936 - 1943, contains paperwork created by/ for John Whalen, Clerk of Circuit Court. The documents include a docket of cases for the November term 1937, letters from Courthouse supply manufacturers, general correspondence and a postcard.\n","Click here to view Apendixes I through IV (See pages 8-11).","Unit 51, Top Shelf, Boxes 1-3; Oversize in Unit 26, Drawer #6\n","Frederick Wilmer (F.W.) Richardson, Ferdinand Dawson (F.D.) Richardson, Fairfax Circuit Court, C. Lee Moore (State Auditor of Public Accounts), Elton R. Holbrook (Deputy Clerk), John M. Whalen (Clerk after F.W.) Frank L. Ballenger(Secretary of the Board of Supervisors)","English\n"],"collection_title_tesim":["F.W. Richardson Papers, \n 1858-1943"],"collection_ssim":["F.W. Richardson Papers, \n 1858-1943"],"repository_ssm":["Fairfax Circuit Court Historic Records Center"],"repository_ssim":["Fairfax Circuit Court Historic Records Center"],"geogname_ssm":["Primarily Fairfax County."],"geogname_ssim":["Primarily Fairfax County."],"creator_ssm":["Fairfax Circuit Court Historic Records Center\n"],"creator_ssim":["Fairfax Circuit Court Historic Records Center\n"],"places_ssim":["Primarily Fairfax County."],"acqinfo_ssim":["Permanent Record of Fairfax Circuit Court Historic Records Center.\n"],"access_subjects_ssim":["Land and personal property, taxes, wills and estate paperwork, divorce, term papers, general court papers, election records, laws and acts, Board of Supervisors, Prohibition, WWI Exemption Board and Memorial, clerk's budget, salaries and reports, personal banking and insurance, Civil War, Reconstruction, WWI, Prohibition, Great Depression, life events of Richardson family","Deeds, certificates of title, wills, receipts, checkbook and checks, booklets, correspondence, farming journal, naturalization certificate, divorce notices, reports, tax bills and receipts, term papers and related paperwork, pardon, corporation papers, plats, blueprints, WWI Exemption Board chits, insurance certificates, promissory notes, election nomination papers, oaths of office, arrest and bond warrants, petitions, delinquent tax lists, vehicle insurance policies","State Auditor of Public Accounts, Deputy Clerk, Secretary of the Board of Supervisors","Paper, cardstock, leather, photographic material, ink, graphite"],"access_subjects_ssm":["Land and personal property, taxes, wills and estate paperwork, divorce, term papers, general court papers, election records, laws and acts, Board of Supervisors, Prohibition, WWI Exemption Board and Memorial, clerk's budget, salaries and reports, personal banking and insurance, Civil War, Reconstruction, WWI, Prohibition, Great Depression, life events of Richardson family","Deeds, certificates of title, wills, receipts, checkbook and checks, booklets, correspondence, farming journal, naturalization certificate, divorce notices, reports, tax bills and receipts, term papers and related paperwork, pardon, corporation papers, plats, blueprints, WWI Exemption Board chits, insurance certificates, promissory notes, election nomination papers, oaths of office, arrest and bond warrants, petitions, delinquent tax lists, vehicle insurance policies","State Auditor of Public Accounts, Deputy Clerk, Secretary of the Board of Supervisors","Paper, cardstock, leather, photographic material, ink, graphite"],"has_online_content_ssim":["false"],"physdesc_tesim":["."],"extent_ssm":["3.25 linear feet"],"extent_tesim":["3.25 linear feet"],"genreform_ssim":["Paper, cardstock, leather, photographic material, ink, graphite"],"bioghist_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eFrederick Wilmer (F.W.) Richardson and his father, Ferdinand Dawson (F.D.) Richardson, held the positions of Clerk of Fairfax County Court and Fairfax Circuit Court, variously, from 1833 to 1935.\n\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eF.D. Richardson was born on November 9th, 1808. He began his career as an assistant or deputy clerk in 1826; he was County Court Clerk from 1833-1835, 1867-1869 and 1870-1880. F.D. served as Circuit Court Clerk from 1835-1880, apart from a hiatus during the Civil War.\n\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003ePrior to the Civil War, F.D. was a Captain in the Virginia Militia. He was also an avid farmer, as evidenced by his farming journal found in this collection, and is listed as Recording Secretary on the 1848 Constitution of Fairfax Agricultural Society. Post-Civil War, F.D. was a founding member of Central Farmers' Club which began in February 1874. He was also Clerk to the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors throughout the 1870s.\n\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eNot much is known about F.D.'s activities during the Civil War. He voted for secession from the Union in 1861, and courthouse lore has it that he took George Washington's will down to Richmond for safe-keeping. Physical evidence places him in Richmond in December 1861 and January 1862. \n\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eF.D. died on October 13th, 1880. His wife and F.W.'s mother, Mary Posey (Grigsby) Richardson, died on December 12th, 1889.\n\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eF.W. Richardson was born on October 16th 1854. He married Amelia (Millie) Lee Buck in 1883 and had four children, Frederick Dawson (1884 - 1954), Marcus Bayly (1886 - 1917), Mary Buck (1889 - 1890) and Virginia Fairfax (1891 - 1988). \n\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eIn 1871, F.W. became his father's deputy as Assistant Clerk in the Office of the Clerk of County Court. On his father's death, he became temporary Clerk of County and Circuit Courts. In 1881, F.W. was voted in as Clerk of County Court, a position he held until County Court was abolished in 1903. F.W. held the office of Clerk of Circuit Court from 1904 to 1935.\n\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eDuring his working life, F.W. held many other prominent positions within Fairfax County and his local community. He was Clerk of the Board of Supervisors from 1880 - 1935 and County Treasurer in the 1890s; according to the Fairfax Herald, he served as a Probate Judge in 1904 and 1906; he was also a notary public, a real estate buyer, a member of the Chamber of Commerce and a delegate to the Prison Association in 1908. He served on many boards and committees, notably the County Health Board, the Fairfax Confederate Monument Association and Confederate Reunion Committee in 1900, the Great War Memorial Fund Committee, the Bicentennial Committee, the Farmers' Institute Committee and the Homecoming Day committee. In 1917, F.W. served as clerk for the Local Board for the Selective Service System Draft (WWI military service), and was Secretary and President of the Town Hall Association, Secretary and President of the Cemetery Association, Secretary and Treasurer of Henry Masonic Lodge, President of the Democratic Club and Wilson Club in 1916, elected Providence Lodge Good Templars Officer in 1873, elected Fairfax Lyceum Recording and Corresponding Secretary in 1874 and elected to the Zion Church Vestry in 1931. He was also a member of the Red Cross.\n\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eIn addition to his monumental public service, F.W. made large donations to the Confederate Reunion, Fairfax fairs and agricultural shows, roads, the War Relief Fund, the YMCA Fund, the Library building, the Fire Department and a new school building. He was much in demand as a public speaker, newspapers of the time list him as addressing Army draftees in 1917, the Civic League, the Rotary Club, Herndon Church of Christ and the Fairfax Lyceum.\n\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eNewspapers from F.W.'s time also record his active social life, attending many dinners and other functions, especially notable are the bank and Bar Association dinners. \n\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eThe collection offers a little insight into F.W.'s personal life. He was financially astute, as his many tax returns, insurance papers, Christmas club and bank books show. The collection shows that F.W. held shares in the Silver Butte Mines Corporation, the Mercantile-Railway Building and Loan Association of Alexandria, Virginia Title Company, Falls Church Bank, Incorporated, Fairfax and Loudoun Light and Power Company and Baltimore Building and Loan Association of Baltimore City. He even assumed some financial responsibility for his sister, Madge Pierce, after her husband's death. In the collection are copies of deeds of lands bought by F.W. and his real estate partners, James Love (also a Judge) and R.W. Moore. F.W. also seems to have had some interest in the arts, he was Secretary of the Olio Theatrical Troop in 1874 and held some shares in the Cosmos Theatre Co., Inc.\n\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eF.W.'s son, Frederick Dawson, had a legal career and was very active in the business and social affairs of Fairfax County. His other son, Marcus Bayly worked for him as deputy clerk. Tragically, Marcus was killed when his car hit a streetcar in August 1917. Amongst F.W.'s papers was a newspaper cutting of the accident, this has been copied onto acid-free paper.\n\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eElton Richardson Holbrook, F.W.'s nephew, also worked for F.W. as a deputy clerk; his signature appears on multiple papers. Unfortunately, he committed suicide in the 1931.\n\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eF.W. retired from Circuit Court in 1935 and was succeeded by John M. Whalen, a couple of whose papers appear in the collection. F.W. died on 23rd April, 1936.\n\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003e\u003ctitle render=\"bold\"\u003eSources:\u003c/title\u003e The collection, the Historical Newspaper Index at Fairfax County Public Library Virginia Room, correspondence from local historian, Lee Hubbard,\u003cextref type=\"simple\" href=\"https://www.findagrave.com/\"\u003eFind a Grave\u003c/extref\u003e\n\n\n\u003c/p\u003e"],"bioghist_heading_ssm":["Biographical Information\n"],"bioghist_tesim":["Frederick Wilmer (F.W.) Richardson and his father, Ferdinand Dawson (F.D.) Richardson, held the positions of Clerk of Fairfax County Court and Fairfax Circuit Court, variously, from 1833 to 1935.\n","F.D. Richardson was born on November 9th, 1808. He began his career as an assistant or deputy clerk in 1826; he was County Court Clerk from 1833-1835, 1867-1869 and 1870-1880. F.D. served as Circuit Court Clerk from 1835-1880, apart from a hiatus during the Civil War.\n","Prior to the Civil War, F.D. was a Captain in the Virginia Militia. He was also an avid farmer, as evidenced by his farming journal found in this collection, and is listed as Recording Secretary on the 1848 Constitution of Fairfax Agricultural Society. Post-Civil War, F.D. was a founding member of Central Farmers' Club which began in February 1874. He was also Clerk to the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors throughout the 1870s.\n","Not much is known about F.D.'s activities during the Civil War. He voted for secession from the Union in 1861, and courthouse lore has it that he took George Washington's will down to Richmond for safe-keeping. Physical evidence places him in Richmond in December 1861 and January 1862. \n","F.D. died on October 13th, 1880. His wife and F.W.'s mother, Mary Posey (Grigsby) Richardson, died on December 12th, 1889.\n","F.W. Richardson was born on October 16th 1854. He married Amelia (Millie) Lee Buck in 1883 and had four children, Frederick Dawson (1884 - 1954), Marcus Bayly (1886 - 1917), Mary Buck (1889 - 1890) and Virginia Fairfax (1891 - 1988). \n","In 1871, F.W. became his father's deputy as Assistant Clerk in the Office of the Clerk of County Court. On his father's death, he became temporary Clerk of County and Circuit Courts. In 1881, F.W. was voted in as Clerk of County Court, a position he held until County Court was abolished in 1903. F.W. held the office of Clerk of Circuit Court from 1904 to 1935.\n","During his working life, F.W. held many other prominent positions within Fairfax County and his local community. He was Clerk of the Board of Supervisors from 1880 - 1935 and County Treasurer in the 1890s; according to the Fairfax Herald, he served as a Probate Judge in 1904 and 1906; he was also a notary public, a real estate buyer, a member of the Chamber of Commerce and a delegate to the Prison Association in 1908. He served on many boards and committees, notably the County Health Board, the Fairfax Confederate Monument Association and Confederate Reunion Committee in 1900, the Great War Memorial Fund Committee, the Bicentennial Committee, the Farmers' Institute Committee and the Homecoming Day committee. In 1917, F.W. served as clerk for the Local Board for the Selective Service System Draft (WWI military service), and was Secretary and President of the Town Hall Association, Secretary and President of the Cemetery Association, Secretary and Treasurer of Henry Masonic Lodge, President of the Democratic Club and Wilson Club in 1916, elected Providence Lodge Good Templars Officer in 1873, elected Fairfax Lyceum Recording and Corresponding Secretary in 1874 and elected to the Zion Church Vestry in 1931. He was also a member of the Red Cross.\n","In addition to his monumental public service, F.W. made large donations to the Confederate Reunion, Fairfax fairs and agricultural shows, roads, the War Relief Fund, the YMCA Fund, the Library building, the Fire Department and a new school building. He was much in demand as a public speaker, newspapers of the time list him as addressing Army draftees in 1917, the Civic League, the Rotary Club, Herndon Church of Christ and the Fairfax Lyceum.\n","Newspapers from F.W.'s time also record his active social life, attending many dinners and other functions, especially notable are the bank and Bar Association dinners. \n","The collection offers a little insight into F.W.'s personal life. He was financially astute, as his many tax returns, insurance papers, Christmas club and bank books show. The collection shows that F.W. held shares in the Silver Butte Mines Corporation, the Mercantile-Railway Building and Loan Association of Alexandria, Virginia Title Company, Falls Church Bank, Incorporated, Fairfax and Loudoun Light and Power Company and Baltimore Building and Loan Association of Baltimore City. He even assumed some financial responsibility for his sister, Madge Pierce, after her husband's death. In the collection are copies of deeds of lands bought by F.W. and his real estate partners, James Love (also a Judge) and R.W. Moore. F.W. also seems to have had some interest in the arts, he was Secretary of the Olio Theatrical Troop in 1874 and held some shares in the Cosmos Theatre Co., Inc.\n","F.W.'s son, Frederick Dawson, had a legal career and was very active in the business and social affairs of Fairfax County. His other son, Marcus Bayly worked for him as deputy clerk. Tragically, Marcus was killed when his car hit a streetcar in August 1917. Amongst F.W.'s papers was a newspaper cutting of the accident, this has been copied onto acid-free paper.\n","Elton Richardson Holbrook, F.W.'s nephew, also worked for F.W. as a deputy clerk; his signature appears on multiple papers. Unfortunately, he committed suicide in the 1931.\n","F.W. retired from Circuit Court in 1935 and was succeeded by John M. Whalen, a couple of whose papers appear in the collection. F.W. died on 23rd April, 1936.\n","Sources:  The collection, the Historical Newspaper Index at Fairfax County Public Library Virginia Room, correspondence from local historian, Lee Hubbard, Find a Grave"],"scopecontent_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003e\u003ctitle render=\"bold\"\u003eSeries 1:\u003c/title\u003e Personal, 1861-1936, contains personal papers from both F.D. and F.W. Richardson. F.D.'s papers include receipts from Richmond merchants dating to 1861 and 1862 showing that F.D. and another man listed as Howard were buying large quantities of foodstuffs, cooking, serving and eating implements, tobacco products and pipes and other sundries such as candle molds and needles. There is no evidence-based explanation for these purchases. A possible explanation is that F.D. was outfitting a Confederate unit, but this is conjecture. F.D.'s papers also include a farming journal, other bills and receipts, some court papers and claims on his estate.\n\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eF.W.'s papers include a number of deeds and other property papers, insurance certificates and papers, investments papers, bank books and checks, tax returns, masonic membership cards and papers, other club membership cards and papers and papers pertaining to his work on the local board of the Selective Service System Draft in 1917 during WWI. The most poignant of these papers are chits stating whether local men (identified by serial numbers) passed their physical examinations for the draft. Some of the serial numbers correspond to entries in the Local Board Selective Service System Draft Records Book 1917, found in the archives. These entries state whether the men were allowed exemption from service due to dependents or occupation. See Appendix IV for details.\n\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003e\u003ctitle render=\"bold\"\u003eSeries 2:\u003c/title\u003e Professional, 1881 - 1935, contains documents pertaining to F.W.'s position as Clerk of County and Circuit Court. These documents include land records such as deed, lease, bill of sale, contract, mortgage, survey and certificate of title paperwork and correspondence; personal property records such as sales and conditional sales contract, loan, lien and chattel mortgage paperwork and correspondence; copies of wills, administrator and executor appointments, inheritance tax and fees paperwork and correspondence; tax records such as delinquent tax lists, receipts, sales paperwork and general tax correspondence; term papers records for commonwealth and civil cases such as Justice of the Peace statements, warrants of arrest, bail paperwork, jury summonses, case proceedings, judgements, divorce notices, insane asylum commitment papers, motions and petitions, pardon and parole forms, lists of court costs and clerk's fees, lawyers correspondence and receipts; other court records such as a jail condition report, hunting and fishing licenses, corporation directors and officers lists, names for the WWI Memorial and election candidacy papers; clerk's office documents such as reports, budget, salary lists, bank account information and receipts and correspondence with the State Auditor, attorneys and others. This series also has documents pertaining to F.W.'s position as Clerk of the Board of Supervisors such as a record of the County Levy in 1914 and correspondence concerning Board matters and bills.\nOf particular note is the correspondence concerning Prohibition laws and the Reports of Clerks of Court showing the special importance given Prohibition cases. \n\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003e\u003ctitle render=\"bold\"\u003eSeries 3:\u003c/title\u003e Posthumous Papers, 1936 - 1943, contains paperwork created by/ for John Whalen, Clerk of Circuit Court. The documents include a docket of cases for the November term 1937, letters from Courthouse supply manufacturers, general correspondence and a postcard.\n\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003e\u003cextref type=\"simple\" href=\"https://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/circuit/sites/circuit/files/assets/documents/pdf/hrc/the-fw-richardson-papers-1858-1943.pdf\"\u003eClick here to view Apendixes I through IV (See pages 8-11).\u003c/extref\u003e\n\u003c/p\u003e"],"scopecontent_heading_ssm":["Scope and Content\n"],"scopecontent_tesim":["Series 1:  Personal, 1861-1936, contains personal papers from both F.D. and F.W. Richardson. F.D.'s papers include receipts from Richmond merchants dating to 1861 and 1862 showing that F.D. and another man listed as Howard were buying large quantities of foodstuffs, cooking, serving and eating implements, tobacco products and pipes and other sundries such as candle molds and needles. There is no evidence-based explanation for these purchases. A possible explanation is that F.D. was outfitting a Confederate unit, but this is conjecture. F.D.'s papers also include a farming journal, other bills and receipts, some court papers and claims on his estate.\n","F.W.'s papers include a number of deeds and other property papers, insurance certificates and papers, investments papers, bank books and checks, tax returns, masonic membership cards and papers, other club membership cards and papers and papers pertaining to his work on the local board of the Selective Service System Draft in 1917 during WWI. The most poignant of these papers are chits stating whether local men (identified by serial numbers) passed their physical examinations for the draft. Some of the serial numbers correspond to entries in the Local Board Selective Service System Draft Records Book 1917, found in the archives. These entries state whether the men were allowed exemption from service due to dependents or occupation. See Appendix IV for details.\n","Series 2:  Professional, 1881 - 1935, contains documents pertaining to F.W.'s position as Clerk of County and Circuit Court. These documents include land records such as deed, lease, bill of sale, contract, mortgage, survey and certificate of title paperwork and correspondence; personal property records such as sales and conditional sales contract, loan, lien and chattel mortgage paperwork and correspondence; copies of wills, administrator and executor appointments, inheritance tax and fees paperwork and correspondence; tax records such as delinquent tax lists, receipts, sales paperwork and general tax correspondence; term papers records for commonwealth and civil cases such as Justice of the Peace statements, warrants of arrest, bail paperwork, jury summonses, case proceedings, judgements, divorce notices, insane asylum commitment papers, motions and petitions, pardon and parole forms, lists of court costs and clerk's fees, lawyers correspondence and receipts; other court records such as a jail condition report, hunting and fishing licenses, corporation directors and officers lists, names for the WWI Memorial and election candidacy papers; clerk's office documents such as reports, budget, salary lists, bank account information and receipts and correspondence with the State Auditor, attorneys and others. This series also has documents pertaining to F.W.'s position as Clerk of the Board of Supervisors such as a record of the County Levy in 1914 and correspondence concerning Board matters and bills.\nOf particular note is the correspondence concerning Prohibition laws and the Reports of Clerks of Court showing the special importance given Prohibition cases. \n","Series 3:  Posthumous Papers, 1936 - 1943, contains paperwork created by/ for John Whalen, Clerk of Circuit Court. The documents include a docket of cases for the November term 1937, letters from Courthouse supply manufacturers, general correspondence and a postcard.\n","Click here to view Apendixes I through IV (See pages 8-11)."],"physloc_html_tesm":["\u003cphysloc label=\"Shelf Location\"\u003eUnit 51, Top Shelf, Boxes 1-3; Oversize in Unit 26, Drawer #6\n\u003c/physloc\u003e"],"physloc_tesim":["Unit 51, Top Shelf, Boxes 1-3; Oversize in Unit 26, Drawer #6\n"],"names_coll_ssim":["Frederick Wilmer (F.W.) Richardson, Ferdinand Dawson (F.D.) Richardson, Fairfax Circuit Court, C. Lee Moore (State Auditor of Public Accounts), Elton R. Holbrook (Deputy Clerk), John M. Whalen (Clerk after F.W.) Frank L. Ballenger(Secretary of the Board of Supervisors)"],"names_ssim":["Frederick Wilmer (F.W.) Richardson, Ferdinand Dawson (F.D.) Richardson, Fairfax Circuit Court, C. Lee Moore (State Auditor of Public Accounts), Elton R. Holbrook (Deputy Clerk), John M. Whalen (Clerk after F.W.) Frank L. Ballenger(Secretary of the Board of Supervisors)"],"persname_ssim":["Frederick Wilmer (F.W.) Richardson, Ferdinand Dawson (F.D.) Richardson, Fairfax Circuit Court, C. Lee Moore (State Auditor of Public Accounts), Elton R. Holbrook (Deputy Clerk), John M. Whalen (Clerk after F.W.) Frank L. Ballenger(Secretary of the Board of Supervisors)"],"language_ssim":["English\n"],"total_component_count_is":149,"online_item_count_is":0,"component_level_isim":[0],"sort_isi":0,"timestamp":"2026-04-30T21:27:17.608Z"}]}},"label":"Breadcrumbs"}}},"links":{"self":"https://search.arvasarchive.org/catalog/vaffcr_vaffcr0005_c02_c01_c02"}},{"id":"vaffcr_Vaffcr00006_c01_c02","type":"Subseries","attributes":{"title":"Subseries 2: Post-1870","breadcrumbs":{"id":"https://search.arvasarchive.org/catalog/vaffcr_Vaffcr00006_c01_c02#breadcrumbs","type":"document_value","attributes":{"value":{"ref_ssi":"vaffcr_Vaffcr00006_c01_c02","ref_ssm":["vaffcr_Vaffcr00006_c01_c02"],"id":"vaffcr_Vaffcr00006_c01_c02","ead_ssi":"vaffcr_Vaffcr00006","_root_":"vaffcr_Vaffcr00006","_nest_parent_":"vaffcr_Vaffcr00006_c01","parent_ssi":"vaffcr_Vaffcr00006_c01","parent_ssim":["vaffcr_Vaffcr00006","vaffcr_Vaffcr00006_c01"],"parent_ids_ssim":["vaffcr_Vaffcr00006","vaffcr_Vaffcr00006_c01"],"parent_unittitles_ssm":["Voting Records of Fairfax County, \n 1854-1936","Series 1: Poll Books, 1854 - 1909"],"parent_unittitles_tesim":["Voting Records of Fairfax County, \n 1854-1936","Series 1: Poll Books, 1854 - 1909"],"text":["Voting Records of Fairfax County, \n 1854-1936","Series 1: Poll Books, 1854 - 1909","Subseries 2: Post-1870"],"title_filing_ssi":"Subseries 2: Post-1870\n\t","title_ssm":["Subseries 2: Post-1870\n\t"],"title_tesim":["Subseries 2: Post-1870\n\t"],"normalized_title_ssm":["Subseries 2: Post-1870"],"component_level_isim":[2],"repository_ssim":["Fairfax Circuit Court Historic Records Center"],"collection_ssim":["Voting Records of Fairfax County, \n 1854-1936"],"has_online_content_ssim":["false"],"child_component_count_isi":18,"level_ssm":["Subseries"],"level_ssim":["Subseries"],"sort_isi":21,"_nest_path_":"/components#0/components#1","timestamp":"2026-04-30T21:27:17.608Z","collection":{"numFound":1,"start":0,"numFoundExact":true,"docs":[{"id":"vaffcr_Vaffcr00006","ead_ssi":"vaffcr_Vaffcr00006","_root_":"vaffcr_Vaffcr00006","_nest_parent_":"vaffcr_Vaffcr00006","ead_source_url_ssi":"data/fcc/Vaffcr00006.xml","title_ssm":["Voting Records of Fairfax County, \n 1854-1936\n"],"title_tesim":["Voting Records of Fairfax County, \n 1854-1936\n"],"level_ssm":["collection"],"level_ssim":["Collection"],"normalized_title_ssm":["Voting Records of Fairfax County, \n 1854-1936"],"text":["Voting Records of Fairfax County, \n 1854-1936","Fairfax County","Voting, elections, petitions, voter registration, capitation taxes, Presidential elections of 1892, 1896, 1900, 1904","Poll books, voting lists/tallies, correspondence, clerk's records, booklets, certificates, tax bills/receipts, ballots, election tickets, notices of candidates, petitions, oaths","Paper, cardstock, ink, graphite, staples and string binding","The Commonwealth of Virginia ratified its first constitution in 1776, following the signing of the Declaration of Independence. Since its ratification, there have been regular amendments and six major revisions to the state's constitution: 1830, 1851, 1864, 1870, 1902, and 1971. The current constitution as of 2017 is an amended version of the 1971 constitution. These revisions to the Virginia Constitution are representative of the \"political, social, regional, and racial climate of the times,\" according to the Virginia General Assembly.","The constitution of 1851 took significant steps in extending voting rights. In previous versions, only white male property holders could vote, but the 1851 revisions changed this law so that all white men were eligible to vote. Additionally, judges were to be elected rather than appointed and the position of Lieutenant Governor was created.","Article VII of the Constitution of Commonwealth of Virginia establishes the roles and duties of local government systems, with Section 4 of this article mandating, \"There shall be elected by the qualified voters of each county and city a treasurer, a sheriff, an attorney for the Commonwealth, a clerk, who shall be clerk of the court in the office of which deeds are recorded, and a commissioner of revenue.\" The elections of which records are found in this collection fall under this section of the Virginia constitution.","Later significant extensions of voting rights in Virginia include granting the right to vote to African Americans under the 15th amendment to the United States Constitution in 1869, and to women under the 19th amendment in 1920. Our records of voter registration indicate that both African Americans and women in Fairfax County were eager to exercise their civic duties following the ratification of these amendments.","The voting records of Fairfax County are kept at the Fairfax Circuit Court under Title 17.1, Chapter 2 (Clerks, Clerks' Offices and Records) of the Virginia Code, which states, \"The circuit court clerks shall have custody of and shall keep all court records, including books, evidence, records, maps, and papers, deposited in their offices or at such location otherwise designated by the clerk, as well as records stored in electronic format whether the storage media for such electronic records are on premises or elsewhere.\" The code also stipulates, \"None of the records or papers of a circuit court shall be removed by the clerk nor allowed by him to be removed out of the county or city wherein the clerk's office is kept.\"","Series 1:  Poll Books, 1854 - 1914, contains the poll books of Fairfax County pre- and post-1870. Poll books prior to 1870 list the year and precinct, the candidates, their position, and the names of the voters and the votes cast (there was no anonymity in voting). The nature of how poll books were written changed in 1870, when voting became anonymous. Post-1870 poll books are simply a list of electors for each precinct-a list of those who voted but no indication of who they voted for.  These documents have been grouped together due to the context in which they were used being the same.\n","The division of voting precincts also changed in 1870, when each precinct was assigned to a newly created district (also known as a township).  The six districts were Centreville, Dranesville, Falls Church, Lee, Mount Vernon, and Providence. Pre-1870 poll books are arranged alphabetical by precinct only; Post-1870 poll books are subdivided by precinct, then arranged alphabetically by township.  \n","The bulk of the series contains documents from 1854 to 1879. There are only two documents dating to after 1879, one from 1909 and another from 1914.\n","Series 2:  Elections, 1858-1936, contains documents relating to the administration and results of elections in Fairfax County. This includes notices of candidates from 1899 to 1901; various voter lists (lists of those with the right to suffrage in each district in 1861, list of voters in each district in 1866, and the registrar's notes of voter registration from 1902 to 1936); commissioners' oaths; election returns; election tickets; and a record of a contested election for Commissioner of Revenue in 1879.\n","The registrar's notes of voter registration starting in 1904 contain the earliest evidence in this collection that African Americans in Fairfax County were given the right to vote per the 15th Amendment to the United States Constitution, indicated by noting voter race (i.e. \"Color: Black\"). The registrar's notes after 1920 also contain the earliest evidence that women had gained the right to vote per the 19th Amendment, despite the Virginia General Assembly refusing its ratification until 1952, indicated by the division of registration lists into \"Male\" and \"Female\" columns.\n","The election returns from 1892 to 1911 contain the collection's only oversized documents, which are large tabular compilations of votes for the entire county. The largest of these tables is over 3.5 feet in length.\n","The election returns contain returns from votes for members of the Virginia Electoral College for the presidential elections of 1892, 1896, 1900, and 1904.\n","The records of the contested 1879 election of Richard F. Broadwater for Commissioner of Revenue are the only records in the collection of a contested election. The petitioners claimed that the election of Broadwater was \"undue and illegal\" and was the result of \"false returns\", demanding that the court either \"award a certificate of election to Amos Fox, who received the highest number of votes legally cast... or order a new election for the said office.\" Broadwater denied all allegations of fraud and there are no records of the election being annulled or a new election being held. \n","Series 3:  Petitions, 1873-1888 (three undated), contains the documentation of petitions to the Fairfax County Court. Most petitions regard the changing of election precincts or voting locations according to shifts in population distribution, or due to the inconvenience of current precincts/locations.\n","One 1888 petition from the people of Mt. Vernon asks Judge Sangster to appoint a new registrar, due to the \"inconvenience of the location of the present registrar...who lives in an out of the way place.\" The petition also asks that the court order a new registration of voters, \"as the old books, which have been in use nearly fifteen years, are so badly worn and mutilated as to be almost useless.\"","The series also contains what appears to be a draft of a petition, undated and unsigned. The petition asks for an \"alteration\" to the boundaries of the sixth magisterial district, and on the reverse seems to contain a crude map of said alterations.\n","Series 4:  Capitation Taxes, 1911-1926, contains lists of persons by district and precinct who had paid their capitation taxes (also called poll taxes) for the years noted, thereby ensuring their eligibility to vote. The lists categorize voters as \"White\" or \"Colored,\" and after 1920, women are included.","Although the U.S. Constitution, in Article I, Section 9, forbids the federal government from levying a capitation or other direct tax, this law did not apply to states until 1966, when the Supreme Court ruled that the poll tax as a prerequisite for voting in a state election was unconstitutional under the Fourteenth Amendment. Thus, beginning in the late nineteenth century, southern states including Virginia made payment of a poll tax a prerequisite to the exercise of suffrage. This requirement disqualified many African Americans who could not afford the tax or subjected their votes to influence by those who paid the tax for them.","Series 5:  Miscellaneous, 1854-1924, contains miscellaneous documents relating to voting and elections in Fairfax County. These documents include oaths of office, certifications of votes, commissions, records of election spending, receipts, records of appointments, notices of voter registration, lists of registrars, and notes taken during the Dranesville district convention of 1897.","The contents of the collection and the years it covers are scattered, with many years missing entirely and the collection as a whole seeming incomplete. This is a result of a combination of factors over the years, one being that many documents belonging in the collection were burned or discarded, having been thought to be useless. It also seems as though previous archivists pulled certain documents from other collections and placed them with the voting records, believing them to belong there, resulting in the contents seeming slightly arbitrary. Thus, many documents in Series 5 may seem to be random additions to the collection. For example, the collection contains over 100 records of election spending from 1903, one from 1921, and one 1923. There are no other records of election spending in the collection. Another example is that there is only one record in the collection of a district convention, which took place in Dranesville in 1897, although presumably there was more than one district convention in Fairfax County between 1854 and 1936. Any guess as to how, when, and why the courthouse came to be in possession of the documentation of this specific district convention would be conjecture.","Unit 39, Shelf 5\n","Fairfax Circuit Court, local courts","F.W. Richardson, F.D. Richardson, Judge J. Sangster","English\n"],"collection_title_tesim":["Voting Records of Fairfax County, \n 1854-1936"],"collection_ssim":["Voting Records of Fairfax County, \n 1854-1936"],"repository_ssm":["Fairfax Circuit Court Historic Records Center"],"repository_ssim":["Fairfax Circuit Court Historic Records Center"],"geogname_ssm":["Fairfax County"],"geogname_ssim":["Fairfax County"],"creator_ssm":["Fairfax Circuit Court Historic Records Center\n"],"creator_ssim":["Fairfax Circuit Court Historic Records Center\n"],"places_ssim":["Fairfax County"],"acqinfo_ssim":["Permanent Record of the Fairfax Circuit Court Historic Records Center.\n"],"access_subjects_ssim":["Voting, elections, petitions, voter registration, capitation taxes, Presidential elections of 1892, 1896, 1900, 1904","Poll books, voting lists/tallies, correspondence, clerk's records, booklets, certificates, tax bills/receipts, ballots, election tickets, notices of candidates, petitions, oaths","Paper, cardstock, ink, graphite, staples and string binding"],"access_subjects_ssm":["Voting, elections, petitions, voter registration, capitation taxes, Presidential elections of 1892, 1896, 1900, 1904","Poll books, voting lists/tallies, correspondence, clerk's records, booklets, certificates, tax bills/receipts, ballots, election tickets, notices of candidates, petitions, oaths","Paper, cardstock, ink, graphite, staples and string binding"],"has_online_content_ssim":["false"],"extent_ssm":["4.33 linear Feet"],"extent_tesim":["4.33 linear Feet"],"genreform_ssim":["Paper, cardstock, ink, graphite, staples and string binding"],"bioghist_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eThe Commonwealth of Virginia ratified its first constitution in 1776, following the signing of the Declaration of Independence. Since its ratification, there have been regular amendments and six major revisions to the state's constitution: 1830, 1851, 1864, 1870, 1902, and 1971. The current constitution as of 2017 is an amended version of the 1971 constitution. These revisions to the Virginia Constitution are representative of the \"political, social, regional, and racial climate of the times,\" according to the Virginia General Assembly.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eThe constitution of 1851 took significant steps in extending voting rights. In previous versions, only white male property holders could vote, but the 1851 revisions changed this law so that all white men were eligible to vote. Additionally, judges were to be elected rather than appointed and the position of Lieutenant Governor was created.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eArticle VII of the Constitution of Commonwealth of Virginia establishes the roles and duties of local government systems, with Section 4 of this article mandating, \"There shall be elected by the qualified voters of each county and city a treasurer, a sheriff, an attorney for the Commonwealth, a clerk, who shall be clerk of the court in the office of which deeds are recorded, and a commissioner of revenue.\" The elections of which records are found in this collection fall under this section of the Virginia constitution.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eLater significant extensions of voting rights in Virginia include granting the right to vote to African Americans under the 15th amendment to the United States Constitution in 1869, and to women under the 19th amendment in 1920. Our records of voter registration indicate that both African Americans and women in Fairfax County were eager to exercise their civic duties following the ratification of these amendments.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eThe voting records of Fairfax County are kept at the Fairfax Circuit Court under Title 17.1, Chapter 2 (Clerks, Clerks' Offices and Records) of the Virginia Code, which states, \"The circuit court clerks shall have custody of and shall keep all court records, including books, evidence, records, maps, and papers, deposited in their offices or at such location otherwise designated by the clerk, as well as records stored in electronic format whether the storage media for such electronic records are on premises or elsewhere.\" The code also stipulates, \"None of the records or papers of a circuit court shall be removed by the clerk nor allowed by him to be removed out of the county or city wherein the clerk's office is kept.\"\u003c/p\u003e"],"bioghist_heading_ssm":["Biographical Information\n"],"bioghist_tesim":["The Commonwealth of Virginia ratified its first constitution in 1776, following the signing of the Declaration of Independence. Since its ratification, there have been regular amendments and six major revisions to the state's constitution: 1830, 1851, 1864, 1870, 1902, and 1971. The current constitution as of 2017 is an amended version of the 1971 constitution. These revisions to the Virginia Constitution are representative of the \"political, social, regional, and racial climate of the times,\" according to the Virginia General Assembly.","The constitution of 1851 took significant steps in extending voting rights. In previous versions, only white male property holders could vote, but the 1851 revisions changed this law so that all white men were eligible to vote. Additionally, judges were to be elected rather than appointed and the position of Lieutenant Governor was created.","Article VII of the Constitution of Commonwealth of Virginia establishes the roles and duties of local government systems, with Section 4 of this article mandating, \"There shall be elected by the qualified voters of each county and city a treasurer, a sheriff, an attorney for the Commonwealth, a clerk, who shall be clerk of the court in the office of which deeds are recorded, and a commissioner of revenue.\" The elections of which records are found in this collection fall under this section of the Virginia constitution.","Later significant extensions of voting rights in Virginia include granting the right to vote to African Americans under the 15th amendment to the United States Constitution in 1869, and to women under the 19th amendment in 1920. Our records of voter registration indicate that both African Americans and women in Fairfax County were eager to exercise their civic duties following the ratification of these amendments.","The voting records of Fairfax County are kept at the Fairfax Circuit Court under Title 17.1, Chapter 2 (Clerks, Clerks' Offices and Records) of the Virginia Code, which states, \"The circuit court clerks shall have custody of and shall keep all court records, including books, evidence, records, maps, and papers, deposited in their offices or at such location otherwise designated by the clerk, as well as records stored in electronic format whether the storage media for such electronic records are on premises or elsewhere.\" The code also stipulates, \"None of the records or papers of a circuit court shall be removed by the clerk nor allowed by him to be removed out of the county or city wherein the clerk's office is kept.\""],"scopecontent_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003e\u003ctitle render=\"bold\"\u003eSeries 1:\u003c/title\u003e Poll Books, 1854 - 1914, contains the poll books of Fairfax County pre- and post-1870. Poll books prior to 1870 list the year and precinct, the candidates, their position, and the names of the voters and the votes cast (there was no anonymity in voting). The nature of how poll books were written changed in 1870, when voting became anonymous. Post-1870 poll books are simply a list of electors for each precinct-a list of those who voted but no indication of who they voted for.  These documents have been grouped together due to the context in which they were used being the same.\n\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eThe division of voting precincts also changed in 1870, when each precinct was assigned to a newly created district (also known as a township).  The six districts were Centreville, Dranesville, Falls Church, Lee, Mount Vernon, and Providence. Pre-1870 poll books are arranged alphabetical by precinct only; Post-1870 poll books are subdivided by precinct, then arranged alphabetically by township.  \n\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eThe bulk of the series contains documents from 1854 to 1879. There are only two documents dating to after 1879, one from 1909 and another from 1914.\n\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003e\u003ctitle render=\"bold\"\u003eSeries 2:\u003c/title\u003e Elections, 1858-1936, contains documents relating to the administration and results of elections in Fairfax County. This includes notices of candidates from 1899 to 1901; various voter lists (lists of those with the right to suffrage in each district in 1861, list of voters in each district in 1866, and the registrar's notes of voter registration from 1902 to 1936); commissioners' oaths; election returns; election tickets; and a record of a contested election for Commissioner of Revenue in 1879.\n\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eThe registrar's notes of voter registration starting in 1904 contain the earliest evidence in this collection that African Americans in Fairfax County were given the right to vote per the 15th Amendment to the United States Constitution, indicated by noting voter race (i.e. \"Color: Black\"). The registrar's notes after 1920 also contain the earliest evidence that women had gained the right to vote per the 19th Amendment, despite the Virginia General Assembly refusing its ratification until 1952, indicated by the division of registration lists into \"Male\" and \"Female\" columns.\n\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eThe election returns from 1892 to 1911 contain the collection's only oversized documents, which are large tabular compilations of votes for the entire county. The largest of these tables is over 3.5 feet in length.\n\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eThe election returns contain returns from votes for members of the Virginia Electoral College for the presidential elections of 1892, 1896, 1900, and 1904.\n\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eThe records of the contested 1879 election of Richard F. Broadwater for Commissioner of Revenue are the only records in the collection of a contested election. The petitioners claimed that the election of Broadwater was \"undue and illegal\" and was the result of \"false returns\", demanding that the court either \"award a certificate of election to Amos Fox, who received the highest number of votes legally cast... or order a new election for the said office.\" Broadwater denied all allegations of fraud and there are no records of the election being annulled or a new election being held. \n\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003e\u003ctitle render=\"bold\"\u003eSeries 3:\u003c/title\u003e Petitions, 1873-1888 (three undated), contains the documentation of petitions to the Fairfax County Court. Most petitions regard the changing of election precincts or voting locations according to shifts in population distribution, or due to the inconvenience of current precincts/locations.\n\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eOne 1888 petition from the people of Mt. Vernon asks Judge Sangster to appoint a new registrar, due to the \"inconvenience of the location of the present registrar...who lives in an out of the way place.\" The petition also asks that the court order a new registration of voters, \"as the old books, which have been in use nearly fifteen years, are so badly worn and mutilated as to be almost useless.\"\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eThe series also contains what appears to be a draft of a petition, undated and unsigned. The petition asks for an \"alteration\" to the boundaries of the sixth magisterial district, and on the reverse seems to contain a crude map of said alterations.\n\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003e\u003ctitle render=\"bold\"\u003eSeries 4: \u003c/title\u003eCapitation Taxes, 1911-1926, contains lists of persons by district and precinct who had paid their capitation taxes (also called poll taxes) for the years noted, thereby ensuring their eligibility to vote. The lists categorize voters as \"White\" or \"Colored,\" and after 1920, women are included.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eAlthough the U.S. Constitution, in Article I, Section 9, forbids the federal government from levying a capitation or other direct tax, this law did not apply to states until 1966, when the Supreme Court ruled that the poll tax as a prerequisite for voting in a state election was unconstitutional under the Fourteenth Amendment. Thus, beginning in the late nineteenth century, southern states including Virginia made payment of a poll tax a prerequisite to the exercise of suffrage. This requirement disqualified many African Americans who could not afford the tax or subjected their votes to influence by those who paid the tax for them.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003e\u003ctitle render=\"bold\"\u003eSeries 5:\u003c/title\u003e Miscellaneous, 1854-1924, contains miscellaneous documents relating to voting and elections in Fairfax County. These documents include oaths of office, certifications of votes, commissions, records of election spending, receipts, records of appointments, notices of voter registration, lists of registrars, and notes taken during the Dranesville district convention of 1897.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eThe contents of the collection and the years it covers are scattered, with many years missing entirely and the collection as a whole seeming incomplete. This is a result of a combination of factors over the years, one being that many documents belonging in the collection were burned or discarded, having been thought to be useless. It also seems as though previous archivists pulled certain documents from other collections and placed them with the voting records, believing them to belong there, resulting in the contents seeming slightly arbitrary. Thus, many documents in Series 5 may seem to be random additions to the collection. For example, the collection contains over 100 records of election spending from 1903, one from 1921, and one 1923. There are no other records of election spending in the collection. Another example is that there is only one record in the collection of a district convention, which took place in Dranesville in 1897, although presumably there was more than one district convention in Fairfax County between 1854 and 1936. Any guess as to how, when, and why the courthouse came to be in possession of the documentation of this specific district convention would be conjecture.\u003c/p\u003e"],"scopecontent_heading_ssm":["Scope and Content\n"],"scopecontent_tesim":["Series 1:  Poll Books, 1854 - 1914, contains the poll books of Fairfax County pre- and post-1870. Poll books prior to 1870 list the year and precinct, the candidates, their position, and the names of the voters and the votes cast (there was no anonymity in voting). The nature of how poll books were written changed in 1870, when voting became anonymous. Post-1870 poll books are simply a list of electors for each precinct-a list of those who voted but no indication of who they voted for.  These documents have been grouped together due to the context in which they were used being the same.\n","The division of voting precincts also changed in 1870, when each precinct was assigned to a newly created district (also known as a township).  The six districts were Centreville, Dranesville, Falls Church, Lee, Mount Vernon, and Providence. Pre-1870 poll books are arranged alphabetical by precinct only; Post-1870 poll books are subdivided by precinct, then arranged alphabetically by township.  \n","The bulk of the series contains documents from 1854 to 1879. There are only two documents dating to after 1879, one from 1909 and another from 1914.\n","Series 2:  Elections, 1858-1936, contains documents relating to the administration and results of elections in Fairfax County. This includes notices of candidates from 1899 to 1901; various voter lists (lists of those with the right to suffrage in each district in 1861, list of voters in each district in 1866, and the registrar's notes of voter registration from 1902 to 1936); commissioners' oaths; election returns; election tickets; and a record of a contested election for Commissioner of Revenue in 1879.\n","The registrar's notes of voter registration starting in 1904 contain the earliest evidence in this collection that African Americans in Fairfax County were given the right to vote per the 15th Amendment to the United States Constitution, indicated by noting voter race (i.e. \"Color: Black\"). The registrar's notes after 1920 also contain the earliest evidence that women had gained the right to vote per the 19th Amendment, despite the Virginia General Assembly refusing its ratification until 1952, indicated by the division of registration lists into \"Male\" and \"Female\" columns.\n","The election returns from 1892 to 1911 contain the collection's only oversized documents, which are large tabular compilations of votes for the entire county. The largest of these tables is over 3.5 feet in length.\n","The election returns contain returns from votes for members of the Virginia Electoral College for the presidential elections of 1892, 1896, 1900, and 1904.\n","The records of the contested 1879 election of Richard F. Broadwater for Commissioner of Revenue are the only records in the collection of a contested election. The petitioners claimed that the election of Broadwater was \"undue and illegal\" and was the result of \"false returns\", demanding that the court either \"award a certificate of election to Amos Fox, who received the highest number of votes legally cast... or order a new election for the said office.\" Broadwater denied all allegations of fraud and there are no records of the election being annulled or a new election being held. \n","Series 3:  Petitions, 1873-1888 (three undated), contains the documentation of petitions to the Fairfax County Court. Most petitions regard the changing of election precincts or voting locations according to shifts in population distribution, or due to the inconvenience of current precincts/locations.\n","One 1888 petition from the people of Mt. Vernon asks Judge Sangster to appoint a new registrar, due to the \"inconvenience of the location of the present registrar...who lives in an out of the way place.\" The petition also asks that the court order a new registration of voters, \"as the old books, which have been in use nearly fifteen years, are so badly worn and mutilated as to be almost useless.\"","The series also contains what appears to be a draft of a petition, undated and unsigned. The petition asks for an \"alteration\" to the boundaries of the sixth magisterial district, and on the reverse seems to contain a crude map of said alterations.\n","Series 4:  Capitation Taxes, 1911-1926, contains lists of persons by district and precinct who had paid their capitation taxes (also called poll taxes) for the years noted, thereby ensuring their eligibility to vote. The lists categorize voters as \"White\" or \"Colored,\" and after 1920, women are included.","Although the U.S. Constitution, in Article I, Section 9, forbids the federal government from levying a capitation or other direct tax, this law did not apply to states until 1966, when the Supreme Court ruled that the poll tax as a prerequisite for voting in a state election was unconstitutional under the Fourteenth Amendment. Thus, beginning in the late nineteenth century, southern states including Virginia made payment of a poll tax a prerequisite to the exercise of suffrage. This requirement disqualified many African Americans who could not afford the tax or subjected their votes to influence by those who paid the tax for them.","Series 5:  Miscellaneous, 1854-1924, contains miscellaneous documents relating to voting and elections in Fairfax County. These documents include oaths of office, certifications of votes, commissions, records of election spending, receipts, records of appointments, notices of voter registration, lists of registrars, and notes taken during the Dranesville district convention of 1897.","The contents of the collection and the years it covers are scattered, with many years missing entirely and the collection as a whole seeming incomplete. This is a result of a combination of factors over the years, one being that many documents belonging in the collection were burned or discarded, having been thought to be useless. It also seems as though previous archivists pulled certain documents from other collections and placed them with the voting records, believing them to belong there, resulting in the contents seeming slightly arbitrary. Thus, many documents in Series 5 may seem to be random additions to the collection. For example, the collection contains over 100 records of election spending from 1903, one from 1921, and one 1923. There are no other records of election spending in the collection. Another example is that there is only one record in the collection of a district convention, which took place in Dranesville in 1897, although presumably there was more than one district convention in Fairfax County between 1854 and 1936. Any guess as to how, when, and why the courthouse came to be in possession of the documentation of this specific district convention would be conjecture."],"physloc_html_tesm":["\u003cphysloc label=\"Shelf Location\"\u003eUnit 39, Shelf 5\n\u003c/physloc\u003e"],"physloc_tesim":["Unit 39, Shelf 5\n"],"names_coll_ssim":["Fairfax Circuit Court, local courts","F.W. Richardson, F.D. Richardson, Judge J. Sangster"],"names_ssim":["Fairfax Circuit Court, local courts","F.W. Richardson, F.D. Richardson, Judge J. Sangster"],"corpname_ssim":["Fairfax Circuit Court, local courts"],"persname_ssim":["F.W. Richardson, F.D. Richardson, Judge J. Sangster"],"language_ssim":["English\n"],"total_component_count_is":175,"online_item_count_is":0,"component_level_isim":[0],"sort_isi":0,"timestamp":"2026-04-30T21:27:17.608Z"}]}},"label":"Breadcrumbs"}}},"links":{"self":"https://search.arvasarchive.org/catalog/vaffcr_Vaffcr00006_c01_c02"}},{"id":"vaffcr_vaffcr0005_c01_c01_c02","type":"Subseries","attributes":{"title":"Subseries 2: Property Papers","breadcrumbs":{"id":"https://search.arvasarchive.org/catalog/vaffcr_vaffcr0005_c01_c01_c02#breadcrumbs","type":"document_value","attributes":{"value":{"ref_ssi":"vaffcr_vaffcr0005_c01_c01_c02","ref_ssm":["vaffcr_vaffcr0005_c01_c01_c02"],"id":"vaffcr_vaffcr0005_c01_c01_c02","ead_ssi":"vaffcr_vaffcr0005","_root_":"vaffcr_vaffcr0005","_nest_parent_":"vaffcr_vaffcr0005_c01_c01","parent_ssi":"vaffcr_vaffcr0005_c01_c01","parent_ssim":["vaffcr_vaffcr0005","vaffcr_vaffcr0005_c01","vaffcr_vaffcr0005_c01_c01"],"parent_ids_ssim":["vaffcr_vaffcr0005","vaffcr_vaffcr0005_c01","vaffcr_vaffcr0005_c01_c01"],"parent_unittitles_ssm":["F.W. Richardson Papers, \n 1858-1943","Box 1","Series 1: Personal"],"parent_unittitles_tesim":["F.W. Richardson Papers, \n 1858-1943","Box 1","Series 1: Personal"],"text":["F.W. Richardson Papers, \n 1858-1943","Box 1","Series 1: Personal","Subseries 2: Property Papers"],"title_filing_ssi":"Subseries 2: Property Papers\n\t\t","title_ssm":["Subseries 2: Property Papers\n\t\t"],"title_tesim":["Subseries 2: Property Papers\n\t\t"],"normalized_title_ssm":["Subseries 2: Property Papers"],"component_level_isim":[3],"repository_ssim":["Fairfax Circuit Court Historic Records Center"],"collection_ssim":["F.W. Richardson Papers, \n 1858-1943"],"has_online_content_ssim":["false"],"child_component_count_isi":3,"level_ssm":["Subseries"],"level_ssim":["Subseries"],"sort_isi":10,"_nest_path_":"/components#0/components#0/components#1","timestamp":"2026-04-30T21:27:17.608Z","collection":{"numFound":1,"start":0,"numFoundExact":true,"docs":[{"id":"vaffcr_vaffcr0005","ead_ssi":"vaffcr_vaffcr0005","_root_":"vaffcr_vaffcr0005","_nest_parent_":"vaffcr_vaffcr0005","ead_source_url_ssi":"data/fcc/vaffcr0005.xml","title_ssm":["F.W. Richardson Papers, \n 1858-1943\n"],"title_tesim":["F.W. Richardson Papers, \n 1858-1943\n"],"level_ssm":["collection"],"level_ssim":["Collection"],"normalized_title_ssm":["F.W. Richardson Papers, \n 1858-1943"],"text":["F.W. Richardson Papers, \n 1858-1943","Primarily Fairfax County.","Land and personal property, taxes, wills and estate paperwork, divorce, term papers, general court papers, election records, laws and acts, Board of Supervisors, Prohibition, WWI Exemption Board and Memorial, clerk's budget, salaries and reports, personal banking and insurance, Civil War, Reconstruction, WWI, Prohibition, Great Depression, life events of Richardson family","Deeds, certificates of title, wills, receipts, checkbook and checks, booklets, correspondence, farming journal, naturalization certificate, divorce notices, reports, tax bills and receipts, term papers and related paperwork, pardon, corporation papers, plats, blueprints, WWI Exemption Board chits, insurance certificates, promissory notes, election nomination papers, oaths of office, arrest and bond warrants, petitions, delinquent tax lists, vehicle insurance policies","State Auditor of Public Accounts, Deputy Clerk, Secretary of the Board of Supervisors","Paper, cardstock, leather, photographic material, ink, graphite",".","Frederick Wilmer (F.W.) Richardson and his father, Ferdinand Dawson (F.D.) Richardson, held the positions of Clerk of Fairfax County Court and Fairfax Circuit Court, variously, from 1833 to 1935.\n","F.D. Richardson was born on November 9th, 1808. He began his career as an assistant or deputy clerk in 1826; he was County Court Clerk from 1833-1835, 1867-1869 and 1870-1880. F.D. served as Circuit Court Clerk from 1835-1880, apart from a hiatus during the Civil War.\n","Prior to the Civil War, F.D. was a Captain in the Virginia Militia. He was also an avid farmer, as evidenced by his farming journal found in this collection, and is listed as Recording Secretary on the 1848 Constitution of Fairfax Agricultural Society. Post-Civil War, F.D. was a founding member of Central Farmers' Club which began in February 1874. He was also Clerk to the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors throughout the 1870s.\n","Not much is known about F.D.'s activities during the Civil War. He voted for secession from the Union in 1861, and courthouse lore has it that he took George Washington's will down to Richmond for safe-keeping. Physical evidence places him in Richmond in December 1861 and January 1862. \n","F.D. died on October 13th, 1880. His wife and F.W.'s mother, Mary Posey (Grigsby) Richardson, died on December 12th, 1889.\n","F.W. Richardson was born on October 16th 1854. He married Amelia (Millie) Lee Buck in 1883 and had four children, Frederick Dawson (1884 - 1954), Marcus Bayly (1886 - 1917), Mary Buck (1889 - 1890) and Virginia Fairfax (1891 - 1988). \n","In 1871, F.W. became his father's deputy as Assistant Clerk in the Office of the Clerk of County Court. On his father's death, he became temporary Clerk of County and Circuit Courts. In 1881, F.W. was voted in as Clerk of County Court, a position he held until County Court was abolished in 1903. F.W. held the office of Clerk of Circuit Court from 1904 to 1935.\n","During his working life, F.W. held many other prominent positions within Fairfax County and his local community. He was Clerk of the Board of Supervisors from 1880 - 1935 and County Treasurer in the 1890s; according to the Fairfax Herald, he served as a Probate Judge in 1904 and 1906; he was also a notary public, a real estate buyer, a member of the Chamber of Commerce and a delegate to the Prison Association in 1908. He served on many boards and committees, notably the County Health Board, the Fairfax Confederate Monument Association and Confederate Reunion Committee in 1900, the Great War Memorial Fund Committee, the Bicentennial Committee, the Farmers' Institute Committee and the Homecoming Day committee. In 1917, F.W. served as clerk for the Local Board for the Selective Service System Draft (WWI military service), and was Secretary and President of the Town Hall Association, Secretary and President of the Cemetery Association, Secretary and Treasurer of Henry Masonic Lodge, President of the Democratic Club and Wilson Club in 1916, elected Providence Lodge Good Templars Officer in 1873, elected Fairfax Lyceum Recording and Corresponding Secretary in 1874 and elected to the Zion Church Vestry in 1931. He was also a member of the Red Cross.\n","In addition to his monumental public service, F.W. made large donations to the Confederate Reunion, Fairfax fairs and agricultural shows, roads, the War Relief Fund, the YMCA Fund, the Library building, the Fire Department and a new school building. He was much in demand as a public speaker, newspapers of the time list him as addressing Army draftees in 1917, the Civic League, the Rotary Club, Herndon Church of Christ and the Fairfax Lyceum.\n","Newspapers from F.W.'s time also record his active social life, attending many dinners and other functions, especially notable are the bank and Bar Association dinners. \n","The collection offers a little insight into F.W.'s personal life. He was financially astute, as his many tax returns, insurance papers, Christmas club and bank books show. The collection shows that F.W. held shares in the Silver Butte Mines Corporation, the Mercantile-Railway Building and Loan Association of Alexandria, Virginia Title Company, Falls Church Bank, Incorporated, Fairfax and Loudoun Light and Power Company and Baltimore Building and Loan Association of Baltimore City. He even assumed some financial responsibility for his sister, Madge Pierce, after her husband's death. In the collection are copies of deeds of lands bought by F.W. and his real estate partners, James Love (also a Judge) and R.W. Moore. F.W. also seems to have had some interest in the arts, he was Secretary of the Olio Theatrical Troop in 1874 and held some shares in the Cosmos Theatre Co., Inc.\n","F.W.'s son, Frederick Dawson, had a legal career and was very active in the business and social affairs of Fairfax County. His other son, Marcus Bayly worked for him as deputy clerk. Tragically, Marcus was killed when his car hit a streetcar in August 1917. Amongst F.W.'s papers was a newspaper cutting of the accident, this has been copied onto acid-free paper.\n","Elton Richardson Holbrook, F.W.'s nephew, also worked for F.W. as a deputy clerk; his signature appears on multiple papers. Unfortunately, he committed suicide in the 1931.\n","F.W. retired from Circuit Court in 1935 and was succeeded by John M. Whalen, a couple of whose papers appear in the collection. F.W. died on 23rd April, 1936.\n","Sources:  The collection, the Historical Newspaper Index at Fairfax County Public Library Virginia Room, correspondence from local historian, Lee Hubbard, Find a Grave","Series 1:  Personal, 1861-1936, contains personal papers from both F.D. and F.W. Richardson. F.D.'s papers include receipts from Richmond merchants dating to 1861 and 1862 showing that F.D. and another man listed as Howard were buying large quantities of foodstuffs, cooking, serving and eating implements, tobacco products and pipes and other sundries such as candle molds and needles. There is no evidence-based explanation for these purchases. A possible explanation is that F.D. was outfitting a Confederate unit, but this is conjecture. F.D.'s papers also include a farming journal, other bills and receipts, some court papers and claims on his estate.\n","F.W.'s papers include a number of deeds and other property papers, insurance certificates and papers, investments papers, bank books and checks, tax returns, masonic membership cards and papers, other club membership cards and papers and papers pertaining to his work on the local board of the Selective Service System Draft in 1917 during WWI. The most poignant of these papers are chits stating whether local men (identified by serial numbers) passed their physical examinations for the draft. Some of the serial numbers correspond to entries in the Local Board Selective Service System Draft Records Book 1917, found in the archives. These entries state whether the men were allowed exemption from service due to dependents or occupation. See Appendix IV for details.\n","Series 2:  Professional, 1881 - 1935, contains documents pertaining to F.W.'s position as Clerk of County and Circuit Court. These documents include land records such as deed, lease, bill of sale, contract, mortgage, survey and certificate of title paperwork and correspondence; personal property records such as sales and conditional sales contract, loan, lien and chattel mortgage paperwork and correspondence; copies of wills, administrator and executor appointments, inheritance tax and fees paperwork and correspondence; tax records such as delinquent tax lists, receipts, sales paperwork and general tax correspondence; term papers records for commonwealth and civil cases such as Justice of the Peace statements, warrants of arrest, bail paperwork, jury summonses, case proceedings, judgements, divorce notices, insane asylum commitment papers, motions and petitions, pardon and parole forms, lists of court costs and clerk's fees, lawyers correspondence and receipts; other court records such as a jail condition report, hunting and fishing licenses, corporation directors and officers lists, names for the WWI Memorial and election candidacy papers; clerk's office documents such as reports, budget, salary lists, bank account information and receipts and correspondence with the State Auditor, attorneys and others. This series also has documents pertaining to F.W.'s position as Clerk of the Board of Supervisors such as a record of the County Levy in 1914 and correspondence concerning Board matters and bills.\nOf particular note is the correspondence concerning Prohibition laws and the Reports of Clerks of Court showing the special importance given Prohibition cases. \n","Series 3:  Posthumous Papers, 1936 - 1943, contains paperwork created by/ for John Whalen, Clerk of Circuit Court. The documents include a docket of cases for the November term 1937, letters from Courthouse supply manufacturers, general correspondence and a postcard.\n","Click here to view Apendixes I through IV (See pages 8-11).","Unit 51, Top Shelf, Boxes 1-3; Oversize in Unit 26, Drawer #6\n","Frederick Wilmer (F.W.) Richardson, Ferdinand Dawson (F.D.) Richardson, Fairfax Circuit Court, C. Lee Moore (State Auditor of Public Accounts), Elton R. Holbrook (Deputy Clerk), John M. Whalen (Clerk after F.W.) Frank L. Ballenger(Secretary of the Board of Supervisors)","English\n"],"collection_title_tesim":["F.W. Richardson Papers, \n 1858-1943"],"collection_ssim":["F.W. Richardson Papers, \n 1858-1943"],"repository_ssm":["Fairfax Circuit Court Historic Records Center"],"repository_ssim":["Fairfax Circuit Court Historic Records Center"],"geogname_ssm":["Primarily Fairfax County."],"geogname_ssim":["Primarily Fairfax County."],"creator_ssm":["Fairfax Circuit Court Historic Records Center\n"],"creator_ssim":["Fairfax Circuit Court Historic Records Center\n"],"places_ssim":["Primarily Fairfax County."],"acqinfo_ssim":["Permanent Record of Fairfax Circuit Court Historic Records Center.\n"],"access_subjects_ssim":["Land and personal property, taxes, wills and estate paperwork, divorce, term papers, general court papers, election records, laws and acts, Board of Supervisors, Prohibition, WWI Exemption Board and Memorial, clerk's budget, salaries and reports, personal banking and insurance, Civil War, Reconstruction, WWI, Prohibition, Great Depression, life events of Richardson family","Deeds, certificates of title, wills, receipts, checkbook and checks, booklets, correspondence, farming journal, naturalization certificate, divorce notices, reports, tax bills and receipts, term papers and related paperwork, pardon, corporation papers, plats, blueprints, WWI Exemption Board chits, insurance certificates, promissory notes, election nomination papers, oaths of office, arrest and bond warrants, petitions, delinquent tax lists, vehicle insurance policies","State Auditor of Public Accounts, Deputy Clerk, Secretary of the Board of Supervisors","Paper, cardstock, leather, photographic material, ink, graphite"],"access_subjects_ssm":["Land and personal property, taxes, wills and estate paperwork, divorce, term papers, general court papers, election records, laws and acts, Board of Supervisors, Prohibition, WWI Exemption Board and Memorial, clerk's budget, salaries and reports, personal banking and insurance, Civil War, Reconstruction, WWI, Prohibition, Great Depression, life events of Richardson family","Deeds, certificates of title, wills, receipts, checkbook and checks, booklets, correspondence, farming journal, naturalization certificate, divorce notices, reports, tax bills and receipts, term papers and related paperwork, pardon, corporation papers, plats, blueprints, WWI Exemption Board chits, insurance certificates, promissory notes, election nomination papers, oaths of office, arrest and bond warrants, petitions, delinquent tax lists, vehicle insurance policies","State Auditor of Public Accounts, Deputy Clerk, Secretary of the Board of Supervisors","Paper, cardstock, leather, photographic material, ink, graphite"],"has_online_content_ssim":["false"],"physdesc_tesim":["."],"extent_ssm":["3.25 linear feet"],"extent_tesim":["3.25 linear feet"],"genreform_ssim":["Paper, cardstock, leather, photographic material, ink, graphite"],"bioghist_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eFrederick Wilmer (F.W.) Richardson and his father, Ferdinand Dawson (F.D.) Richardson, held the positions of Clerk of Fairfax County Court and Fairfax Circuit Court, variously, from 1833 to 1935.\n\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eF.D. Richardson was born on November 9th, 1808. He began his career as an assistant or deputy clerk in 1826; he was County Court Clerk from 1833-1835, 1867-1869 and 1870-1880. F.D. served as Circuit Court Clerk from 1835-1880, apart from a hiatus during the Civil War.\n\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003ePrior to the Civil War, F.D. was a Captain in the Virginia Militia. He was also an avid farmer, as evidenced by his farming journal found in this collection, and is listed as Recording Secretary on the 1848 Constitution of Fairfax Agricultural Society. Post-Civil War, F.D. was a founding member of Central Farmers' Club which began in February 1874. He was also Clerk to the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors throughout the 1870s.\n\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eNot much is known about F.D.'s activities during the Civil War. He voted for secession from the Union in 1861, and courthouse lore has it that he took George Washington's will down to Richmond for safe-keeping. Physical evidence places him in Richmond in December 1861 and January 1862. \n\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eF.D. died on October 13th, 1880. His wife and F.W.'s mother, Mary Posey (Grigsby) Richardson, died on December 12th, 1889.\n\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eF.W. Richardson was born on October 16th 1854. He married Amelia (Millie) Lee Buck in 1883 and had four children, Frederick Dawson (1884 - 1954), Marcus Bayly (1886 - 1917), Mary Buck (1889 - 1890) and Virginia Fairfax (1891 - 1988). \n\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eIn 1871, F.W. became his father's deputy as Assistant Clerk in the Office of the Clerk of County Court. On his father's death, he became temporary Clerk of County and Circuit Courts. In 1881, F.W. was voted in as Clerk of County Court, a position he held until County Court was abolished in 1903. F.W. held the office of Clerk of Circuit Court from 1904 to 1935.\n\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eDuring his working life, F.W. held many other prominent positions within Fairfax County and his local community. He was Clerk of the Board of Supervisors from 1880 - 1935 and County Treasurer in the 1890s; according to the Fairfax Herald, he served as a Probate Judge in 1904 and 1906; he was also a notary public, a real estate buyer, a member of the Chamber of Commerce and a delegate to the Prison Association in 1908. He served on many boards and committees, notably the County Health Board, the Fairfax Confederate Monument Association and Confederate Reunion Committee in 1900, the Great War Memorial Fund Committee, the Bicentennial Committee, the Farmers' Institute Committee and the Homecoming Day committee. In 1917, F.W. served as clerk for the Local Board for the Selective Service System Draft (WWI military service), and was Secretary and President of the Town Hall Association, Secretary and President of the Cemetery Association, Secretary and Treasurer of Henry Masonic Lodge, President of the Democratic Club and Wilson Club in 1916, elected Providence Lodge Good Templars Officer in 1873, elected Fairfax Lyceum Recording and Corresponding Secretary in 1874 and elected to the Zion Church Vestry in 1931. He was also a member of the Red Cross.\n\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eIn addition to his monumental public service, F.W. made large donations to the Confederate Reunion, Fairfax fairs and agricultural shows, roads, the War Relief Fund, the YMCA Fund, the Library building, the Fire Department and a new school building. He was much in demand as a public speaker, newspapers of the time list him as addressing Army draftees in 1917, the Civic League, the Rotary Club, Herndon Church of Christ and the Fairfax Lyceum.\n\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eNewspapers from F.W.'s time also record his active social life, attending many dinners and other functions, especially notable are the bank and Bar Association dinners. \n\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eThe collection offers a little insight into F.W.'s personal life. He was financially astute, as his many tax returns, insurance papers, Christmas club and bank books show. The collection shows that F.W. held shares in the Silver Butte Mines Corporation, the Mercantile-Railway Building and Loan Association of Alexandria, Virginia Title Company, Falls Church Bank, Incorporated, Fairfax and Loudoun Light and Power Company and Baltimore Building and Loan Association of Baltimore City. He even assumed some financial responsibility for his sister, Madge Pierce, after her husband's death. In the collection are copies of deeds of lands bought by F.W. and his real estate partners, James Love (also a Judge) and R.W. Moore. F.W. also seems to have had some interest in the arts, he was Secretary of the Olio Theatrical Troop in 1874 and held some shares in the Cosmos Theatre Co., Inc.\n\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eF.W.'s son, Frederick Dawson, had a legal career and was very active in the business and social affairs of Fairfax County. His other son, Marcus Bayly worked for him as deputy clerk. Tragically, Marcus was killed when his car hit a streetcar in August 1917. Amongst F.W.'s papers was a newspaper cutting of the accident, this has been copied onto acid-free paper.\n\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eElton Richardson Holbrook, F.W.'s nephew, also worked for F.W. as a deputy clerk; his signature appears on multiple papers. Unfortunately, he committed suicide in the 1931.\n\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eF.W. retired from Circuit Court in 1935 and was succeeded by John M. Whalen, a couple of whose papers appear in the collection. F.W. died on 23rd April, 1936.\n\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003e\u003ctitle render=\"bold\"\u003eSources:\u003c/title\u003e The collection, the Historical Newspaper Index at Fairfax County Public Library Virginia Room, correspondence from local historian, Lee Hubbard,\u003cextref type=\"simple\" href=\"https://www.findagrave.com/\"\u003eFind a Grave\u003c/extref\u003e\n\n\n\u003c/p\u003e"],"bioghist_heading_ssm":["Biographical Information\n"],"bioghist_tesim":["Frederick Wilmer (F.W.) Richardson and his father, Ferdinand Dawson (F.D.) Richardson, held the positions of Clerk of Fairfax County Court and Fairfax Circuit Court, variously, from 1833 to 1935.\n","F.D. Richardson was born on November 9th, 1808. He began his career as an assistant or deputy clerk in 1826; he was County Court Clerk from 1833-1835, 1867-1869 and 1870-1880. F.D. served as Circuit Court Clerk from 1835-1880, apart from a hiatus during the Civil War.\n","Prior to the Civil War, F.D. was a Captain in the Virginia Militia. He was also an avid farmer, as evidenced by his farming journal found in this collection, and is listed as Recording Secretary on the 1848 Constitution of Fairfax Agricultural Society. Post-Civil War, F.D. was a founding member of Central Farmers' Club which began in February 1874. He was also Clerk to the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors throughout the 1870s.\n","Not much is known about F.D.'s activities during the Civil War. He voted for secession from the Union in 1861, and courthouse lore has it that he took George Washington's will down to Richmond for safe-keeping. Physical evidence places him in Richmond in December 1861 and January 1862. \n","F.D. died on October 13th, 1880. His wife and F.W.'s mother, Mary Posey (Grigsby) Richardson, died on December 12th, 1889.\n","F.W. Richardson was born on October 16th 1854. He married Amelia (Millie) Lee Buck in 1883 and had four children, Frederick Dawson (1884 - 1954), Marcus Bayly (1886 - 1917), Mary Buck (1889 - 1890) and Virginia Fairfax (1891 - 1988). \n","In 1871, F.W. became his father's deputy as Assistant Clerk in the Office of the Clerk of County Court. On his father's death, he became temporary Clerk of County and Circuit Courts. In 1881, F.W. was voted in as Clerk of County Court, a position he held until County Court was abolished in 1903. F.W. held the office of Clerk of Circuit Court from 1904 to 1935.\n","During his working life, F.W. held many other prominent positions within Fairfax County and his local community. He was Clerk of the Board of Supervisors from 1880 - 1935 and County Treasurer in the 1890s; according to the Fairfax Herald, he served as a Probate Judge in 1904 and 1906; he was also a notary public, a real estate buyer, a member of the Chamber of Commerce and a delegate to the Prison Association in 1908. He served on many boards and committees, notably the County Health Board, the Fairfax Confederate Monument Association and Confederate Reunion Committee in 1900, the Great War Memorial Fund Committee, the Bicentennial Committee, the Farmers' Institute Committee and the Homecoming Day committee. In 1917, F.W. served as clerk for the Local Board for the Selective Service System Draft (WWI military service), and was Secretary and President of the Town Hall Association, Secretary and President of the Cemetery Association, Secretary and Treasurer of Henry Masonic Lodge, President of the Democratic Club and Wilson Club in 1916, elected Providence Lodge Good Templars Officer in 1873, elected Fairfax Lyceum Recording and Corresponding Secretary in 1874 and elected to the Zion Church Vestry in 1931. He was also a member of the Red Cross.\n","In addition to his monumental public service, F.W. made large donations to the Confederate Reunion, Fairfax fairs and agricultural shows, roads, the War Relief Fund, the YMCA Fund, the Library building, the Fire Department and a new school building. He was much in demand as a public speaker, newspapers of the time list him as addressing Army draftees in 1917, the Civic League, the Rotary Club, Herndon Church of Christ and the Fairfax Lyceum.\n","Newspapers from F.W.'s time also record his active social life, attending many dinners and other functions, especially notable are the bank and Bar Association dinners. \n","The collection offers a little insight into F.W.'s personal life. He was financially astute, as his many tax returns, insurance papers, Christmas club and bank books show. The collection shows that F.W. held shares in the Silver Butte Mines Corporation, the Mercantile-Railway Building and Loan Association of Alexandria, Virginia Title Company, Falls Church Bank, Incorporated, Fairfax and Loudoun Light and Power Company and Baltimore Building and Loan Association of Baltimore City. He even assumed some financial responsibility for his sister, Madge Pierce, after her husband's death. In the collection are copies of deeds of lands bought by F.W. and his real estate partners, James Love (also a Judge) and R.W. Moore. F.W. also seems to have had some interest in the arts, he was Secretary of the Olio Theatrical Troop in 1874 and held some shares in the Cosmos Theatre Co., Inc.\n","F.W.'s son, Frederick Dawson, had a legal career and was very active in the business and social affairs of Fairfax County. His other son, Marcus Bayly worked for him as deputy clerk. Tragically, Marcus was killed when his car hit a streetcar in August 1917. Amongst F.W.'s papers was a newspaper cutting of the accident, this has been copied onto acid-free paper.\n","Elton Richardson Holbrook, F.W.'s nephew, also worked for F.W. as a deputy clerk; his signature appears on multiple papers. Unfortunately, he committed suicide in the 1931.\n","F.W. retired from Circuit Court in 1935 and was succeeded by John M. Whalen, a couple of whose papers appear in the collection. F.W. died on 23rd April, 1936.\n","Sources:  The collection, the Historical Newspaper Index at Fairfax County Public Library Virginia Room, correspondence from local historian, Lee Hubbard, Find a Grave"],"scopecontent_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003e\u003ctitle render=\"bold\"\u003eSeries 1:\u003c/title\u003e Personal, 1861-1936, contains personal papers from both F.D. and F.W. Richardson. F.D.'s papers include receipts from Richmond merchants dating to 1861 and 1862 showing that F.D. and another man listed as Howard were buying large quantities of foodstuffs, cooking, serving and eating implements, tobacco products and pipes and other sundries such as candle molds and needles. There is no evidence-based explanation for these purchases. A possible explanation is that F.D. was outfitting a Confederate unit, but this is conjecture. F.D.'s papers also include a farming journal, other bills and receipts, some court papers and claims on his estate.\n\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eF.W.'s papers include a number of deeds and other property papers, insurance certificates and papers, investments papers, bank books and checks, tax returns, masonic membership cards and papers, other club membership cards and papers and papers pertaining to his work on the local board of the Selective Service System Draft in 1917 during WWI. The most poignant of these papers are chits stating whether local men (identified by serial numbers) passed their physical examinations for the draft. Some of the serial numbers correspond to entries in the Local Board Selective Service System Draft Records Book 1917, found in the archives. These entries state whether the men were allowed exemption from service due to dependents or occupation. See Appendix IV for details.\n\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003e\u003ctitle render=\"bold\"\u003eSeries 2:\u003c/title\u003e Professional, 1881 - 1935, contains documents pertaining to F.W.'s position as Clerk of County and Circuit Court. These documents include land records such as deed, lease, bill of sale, contract, mortgage, survey and certificate of title paperwork and correspondence; personal property records such as sales and conditional sales contract, loan, lien and chattel mortgage paperwork and correspondence; copies of wills, administrator and executor appointments, inheritance tax and fees paperwork and correspondence; tax records such as delinquent tax lists, receipts, sales paperwork and general tax correspondence; term papers records for commonwealth and civil cases such as Justice of the Peace statements, warrants of arrest, bail paperwork, jury summonses, case proceedings, judgements, divorce notices, insane asylum commitment papers, motions and petitions, pardon and parole forms, lists of court costs and clerk's fees, lawyers correspondence and receipts; other court records such as a jail condition report, hunting and fishing licenses, corporation directors and officers lists, names for the WWI Memorial and election candidacy papers; clerk's office documents such as reports, budget, salary lists, bank account information and receipts and correspondence with the State Auditor, attorneys and others. This series also has documents pertaining to F.W.'s position as Clerk of the Board of Supervisors such as a record of the County Levy in 1914 and correspondence concerning Board matters and bills.\nOf particular note is the correspondence concerning Prohibition laws and the Reports of Clerks of Court showing the special importance given Prohibition cases. \n\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003e\u003ctitle render=\"bold\"\u003eSeries 3:\u003c/title\u003e Posthumous Papers, 1936 - 1943, contains paperwork created by/ for John Whalen, Clerk of Circuit Court. The documents include a docket of cases for the November term 1937, letters from Courthouse supply manufacturers, general correspondence and a postcard.\n\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003e\u003cextref type=\"simple\" href=\"https://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/circuit/sites/circuit/files/assets/documents/pdf/hrc/the-fw-richardson-papers-1858-1943.pdf\"\u003eClick here to view Apendixes I through IV (See pages 8-11).\u003c/extref\u003e\n\u003c/p\u003e"],"scopecontent_heading_ssm":["Scope and Content\n"],"scopecontent_tesim":["Series 1:  Personal, 1861-1936, contains personal papers from both F.D. and F.W. Richardson. F.D.'s papers include receipts from Richmond merchants dating to 1861 and 1862 showing that F.D. and another man listed as Howard were buying large quantities of foodstuffs, cooking, serving and eating implements, tobacco products and pipes and other sundries such as candle molds and needles. There is no evidence-based explanation for these purchases. A possible explanation is that F.D. was outfitting a Confederate unit, but this is conjecture. F.D.'s papers also include a farming journal, other bills and receipts, some court papers and claims on his estate.\n","F.W.'s papers include a number of deeds and other property papers, insurance certificates and papers, investments papers, bank books and checks, tax returns, masonic membership cards and papers, other club membership cards and papers and papers pertaining to his work on the local board of the Selective Service System Draft in 1917 during WWI. The most poignant of these papers are chits stating whether local men (identified by serial numbers) passed their physical examinations for the draft. Some of the serial numbers correspond to entries in the Local Board Selective Service System Draft Records Book 1917, found in the archives. These entries state whether the men were allowed exemption from service due to dependents or occupation. See Appendix IV for details.\n","Series 2:  Professional, 1881 - 1935, contains documents pertaining to F.W.'s position as Clerk of County and Circuit Court. These documents include land records such as deed, lease, bill of sale, contract, mortgage, survey and certificate of title paperwork and correspondence; personal property records such as sales and conditional sales contract, loan, lien and chattel mortgage paperwork and correspondence; copies of wills, administrator and executor appointments, inheritance tax and fees paperwork and correspondence; tax records such as delinquent tax lists, receipts, sales paperwork and general tax correspondence; term papers records for commonwealth and civil cases such as Justice of the Peace statements, warrants of arrest, bail paperwork, jury summonses, case proceedings, judgements, divorce notices, insane asylum commitment papers, motions and petitions, pardon and parole forms, lists of court costs and clerk's fees, lawyers correspondence and receipts; other court records such as a jail condition report, hunting and fishing licenses, corporation directors and officers lists, names for the WWI Memorial and election candidacy papers; clerk's office documents such as reports, budget, salary lists, bank account information and receipts and correspondence with the State Auditor, attorneys and others. This series also has documents pertaining to F.W.'s position as Clerk of the Board of Supervisors such as a record of the County Levy in 1914 and correspondence concerning Board matters and bills.\nOf particular note is the correspondence concerning Prohibition laws and the Reports of Clerks of Court showing the special importance given Prohibition cases. \n","Series 3:  Posthumous Papers, 1936 - 1943, contains paperwork created by/ for John Whalen, Clerk of Circuit Court. The documents include a docket of cases for the November term 1937, letters from Courthouse supply manufacturers, general correspondence and a postcard.\n","Click here to view Apendixes I through IV (See pages 8-11)."],"physloc_html_tesm":["\u003cphysloc label=\"Shelf Location\"\u003eUnit 51, Top Shelf, Boxes 1-3; Oversize in Unit 26, Drawer #6\n\u003c/physloc\u003e"],"physloc_tesim":["Unit 51, Top Shelf, Boxes 1-3; Oversize in Unit 26, Drawer #6\n"],"names_coll_ssim":["Frederick Wilmer (F.W.) Richardson, Ferdinand Dawson (F.D.) Richardson, Fairfax Circuit Court, C. Lee Moore (State Auditor of Public Accounts), Elton R. Holbrook (Deputy Clerk), John M. Whalen (Clerk after F.W.) Frank L. Ballenger(Secretary of the Board of Supervisors)"],"names_ssim":["Frederick Wilmer (F.W.) Richardson, Ferdinand Dawson (F.D.) Richardson, Fairfax Circuit Court, C. Lee Moore (State Auditor of Public Accounts), Elton R. Holbrook (Deputy Clerk), John M. Whalen (Clerk after F.W.) Frank L. Ballenger(Secretary of the Board of Supervisors)"],"persname_ssim":["Frederick Wilmer (F.W.) Richardson, Ferdinand Dawson (F.D.) Richardson, Fairfax Circuit Court, C. Lee Moore (State Auditor of Public Accounts), Elton R. Holbrook (Deputy Clerk), John M. Whalen (Clerk after F.W.) Frank L. Ballenger(Secretary of the Board of Supervisors)"],"language_ssim":["English\n"],"total_component_count_is":149,"online_item_count_is":0,"component_level_isim":[0],"sort_isi":0,"timestamp":"2026-04-30T21:27:17.608Z"}]}},"label":"Breadcrumbs"}}},"links":{"self":"https://search.arvasarchive.org/catalog/vaffcr_vaffcr0005_c01_c01_c02"}}],"included":[{"type":"facet","id":"repository_ssim","attributes":{"label":"Repository","items":[{"attributes":{"label":"Fairfax Circuit Court Historic Records Center","value":"Fairfax Circuit Court Historic Records Center","hits":32},"links":{"remove":"https://search.arvasarchive.org/catalog.json?f%5Blevel%5D%5B%5D=Subseries\u0026f%5Brepository%5D%5B%5D=Fairfax+Circuit+Court+Historic+Records+Center"}}]},"links":{"self":"https://search.arvasarchive.org/catalog/facet/repository_ssim.json?f%5Blevel%5D%5B%5D=Subseries\u0026f%5Brepository%5D%5B%5D=Fairfax+Circuit+Court+Historic+Records+Center"}},{"type":"facet","id":"collection_ssim","attributes":{"label":"Collection","items":[{"attributes":{"label":"F.W. 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