{"links":{"self":"https://search.arvasarchive.org/catalog.json?f%5Brepository%5D%5B%5D=Fairfax+Circuit+Court+Historic+Records+Center\u0026page=101\u0026view=compact","prev":"https://search.arvasarchive.org/catalog.json?f%5Brepository%5D%5B%5D=Fairfax+Circuit+Court+Historic+Records+Center\u0026page=100\u0026view=compact","next":"https://search.arvasarchive.org/catalog.json?f%5Brepository%5D%5B%5D=Fairfax+Circuit+Court+Historic+Records+Center\u0026page=102\u0026view=compact","last":"https://search.arvasarchive.org/catalog.json?f%5Brepository%5D%5B%5D=Fairfax+Circuit+Court+Historic+Records+Center\u0026page=105\u0026view=compact"},"meta":{"pages":{"current_page":101,"next_page":102,"prev_page":100,"total_pages":105,"limit_value":10,"offset_value":1000,"total_count":1048,"first_page?":false,"last_page?":false}},"data":[{"id":"vaffcr_Vaffcr00006_c02_c02_c02_c08","type":"File","attributes":{"title":"Unknown","breadcrumbs":{"id":"https://search.arvasarchive.org/catalog/vaffcr_Vaffcr00006_c02_c02_c02_c08#breadcrumbs","type":"document_value","attributes":{"value":{"ref_ssi":"vaffcr_Vaffcr00006_c02_c02_c02_c08","ref_ssm":["vaffcr_Vaffcr00006_c02_c02_c02_c08"],"id":"vaffcr_Vaffcr00006_c02_c02_c02_c08","ead_ssi":"vaffcr_Vaffcr00006","_root_":"vaffcr_Vaffcr00006","_nest_parent_":"vaffcr_Vaffcr00006_c02_c02_c02","parent_ssi":"vaffcr_Vaffcr00006_c02_c02_c02","parent_ssim":["vaffcr_Vaffcr00006","vaffcr_Vaffcr00006_c02","vaffcr_Vaffcr00006_c02_c02","vaffcr_Vaffcr00006_c02_c02_c02"],"parent_ids_ssim":["vaffcr_Vaffcr00006","vaffcr_Vaffcr00006_c02","vaffcr_Vaffcr00006_c02_c02","vaffcr_Vaffcr00006_c02_c02_c02"],"parent_unittitles_ssm":["Voting Records of Fairfax County, \n 1854-1936","Series 2: Elections, 1861 - 1936, undated","Subseries 2: Voter Lists","Sub-subseries 2: List of Voters"],"parent_unittitles_tesim":["Voting Records of Fairfax County, \n 1854-1936","Series 2: Elections, 1861 - 1936, undated","Subseries 2: Voter Lists","Sub-subseries 2: List of Voters"],"text":["Voting Records of Fairfax County, \n 1854-1936","Series 2: Elections, 1861 - 1936, undated","Subseries 2: Voter Lists","Sub-subseries 2: List of Voters","Unknown","box-folder 5:VR-050"],"title_filing_ssi":"Unknown\n\t\t\t","title_ssm":["Unknown\n\t\t\t"],"title_tesim":["Unknown\n\t\t\t"],"normalized_title_ssm":["Unknown"],"component_level_isim":[4],"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":0,"level_ssm":["File"],"level_ssim":["File"],"sort_isi":67,"containers_ssim":["box-folder 5:VR-050"],"_nest_path_":"/components#1/components#1/components#1/components#7","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_c02_c02_c08"}},{"id":"vaffcr_Vaffcr00006_c02_c02_c03_c22","type":"File","attributes":{"title":"Unknown, 1911","breadcrumbs":{"id":"https://search.arvasarchive.org/catalog/vaffcr_Vaffcr00006_c02_c02_c03_c22#breadcrumbs","type":"document_value","attributes":{"value":{"ref_ssi":"vaffcr_Vaffcr00006_c02_c02_c03_c22","ref_ssm":["vaffcr_Vaffcr00006_c02_c02_c03_c22"],"id":"vaffcr_Vaffcr00006_c02_c02_c03_c22","ead_ssi":"vaffcr_Vaffcr00006","_root_":"vaffcr_Vaffcr00006","_nest_parent_":"vaffcr_Vaffcr00006_c02_c02_c03","parent_ssi":"vaffcr_Vaffcr00006_c02_c02_c03","parent_ssim":["vaffcr_Vaffcr00006","vaffcr_Vaffcr00006_c02","vaffcr_Vaffcr00006_c02_c02","vaffcr_Vaffcr00006_c02_c02_c03"],"parent_ids_ssim":["vaffcr_Vaffcr00006","vaffcr_Vaffcr00006_c02","vaffcr_Vaffcr00006_c02_c02","vaffcr_Vaffcr00006_c02_c02_c03"],"parent_unittitles_ssm":["Voting Records of Fairfax County, \n 1854-1936","Series 2: Elections, 1861 - 1936, undated","Subseries 2: Voter Lists","Sub-subseries 3: Registrar's Notes"],"parent_unittitles_tesim":["Voting Records of Fairfax County, \n 1854-1936","Series 2: Elections, 1861 - 1936, undated","Subseries 2: Voter Lists","Sub-subseries 3: Registrar's Notes"],"text":["Voting Records of Fairfax County, \n 1854-1936","Series 2: Elections, 1861 - 1936, undated","Subseries 2: Voter Lists","Sub-subseries 3: Registrar's Notes","Unknown, 1911","box-folder 5: VR-057"],"title_filing_ssi":"Unknown, 1911\t\n\t\t\t","title_ssm":["Unknown, 1911\t\n\t\t\t"],"title_tesim":["Unknown, 1911\t\n\t\t\t"],"normalized_title_ssm":["Unknown, 1911"],"component_level_isim":[4],"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":0,"level_ssm":["File"],"level_ssim":["File"],"sort_isi":90,"containers_ssim":["box-folder 5: VR-057"],"_nest_path_":"/components#1/components#1/components#2/components#21","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_c02_c03_c22"}},{"id":"vaffcr_Vaffcr00006_c02_c02_c03_c23","type":"File","attributes":{"title":"Unknown, 1914","breadcrumbs":{"id":"https://search.arvasarchive.org/catalog/vaffcr_Vaffcr00006_c02_c02_c03_c23#breadcrumbs","type":"document_value","attributes":{"value":{"ref_ssi":"vaffcr_Vaffcr00006_c02_c02_c03_c23","ref_ssm":["vaffcr_Vaffcr00006_c02_c02_c03_c23"],"id":"vaffcr_Vaffcr00006_c02_c02_c03_c23","ead_ssi":"vaffcr_Vaffcr00006","_root_":"vaffcr_Vaffcr00006","_nest_parent_":"vaffcr_Vaffcr00006_c02_c02_c03","parent_ssi":"vaffcr_Vaffcr00006_c02_c02_c03","parent_ssim":["vaffcr_Vaffcr00006","vaffcr_Vaffcr00006_c02","vaffcr_Vaffcr00006_c02_c02","vaffcr_Vaffcr00006_c02_c02_c03"],"parent_ids_ssim":["vaffcr_Vaffcr00006","vaffcr_Vaffcr00006_c02","vaffcr_Vaffcr00006_c02_c02","vaffcr_Vaffcr00006_c02_c02_c03"],"parent_unittitles_ssm":["Voting Records of Fairfax County, \n 1854-1936","Series 2: Elections, 1861 - 1936, undated","Subseries 2: Voter Lists","Sub-subseries 3: Registrar's Notes"],"parent_unittitles_tesim":["Voting Records of Fairfax County, \n 1854-1936","Series 2: Elections, 1861 - 1936, undated","Subseries 2: Voter Lists","Sub-subseries 3: Registrar's Notes"],"text":["Voting Records of Fairfax County, \n 1854-1936","Series 2: Elections, 1861 - 1936, undated","Subseries 2: Voter Lists","Sub-subseries 3: Registrar's Notes","Unknown, 1914","box-folder 5: VR-057"],"title_filing_ssi":"Unknown, 1914\t\n\t\t\t","title_ssm":["Unknown, 1914\t\n\t\t\t"],"title_tesim":["Unknown, 1914\t\n\t\t\t"],"normalized_title_ssm":["Unknown, 1914"],"component_level_isim":[4],"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":0,"level_ssm":["File"],"level_ssim":["File"],"sort_isi":91,"containers_ssim":["box-folder 5: VR-057"],"_nest_path_":"/components#1/components#1/components#2/components#22","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_c02_c03_c23"}},{"id":"vaffcr_Vaffcr00006_c02_c02_c03_c24","type":"File","attributes":{"title":"Unknown, 1915","breadcrumbs":{"id":"https://search.arvasarchive.org/catalog/vaffcr_Vaffcr00006_c02_c02_c03_c24#breadcrumbs","type":"document_value","attributes":{"value":{"ref_ssi":"vaffcr_Vaffcr00006_c02_c02_c03_c24","ref_ssm":["vaffcr_Vaffcr00006_c02_c02_c03_c24"],"id":"vaffcr_Vaffcr00006_c02_c02_c03_c24","ead_ssi":"vaffcr_Vaffcr00006","_root_":"vaffcr_Vaffcr00006","_nest_parent_":"vaffcr_Vaffcr00006_c02_c02_c03","parent_ssi":"vaffcr_Vaffcr00006_c02_c02_c03","parent_ssim":["vaffcr_Vaffcr00006","vaffcr_Vaffcr00006_c02","vaffcr_Vaffcr00006_c02_c02","vaffcr_Vaffcr00006_c02_c02_c03"],"parent_ids_ssim":["vaffcr_Vaffcr00006","vaffcr_Vaffcr00006_c02","vaffcr_Vaffcr00006_c02_c02","vaffcr_Vaffcr00006_c02_c02_c03"],"parent_unittitles_ssm":["Voting Records of Fairfax County, \n 1854-1936","Series 2: Elections, 1861 - 1936, undated","Subseries 2: Voter Lists","Sub-subseries 3: Registrar's Notes"],"parent_unittitles_tesim":["Voting Records of Fairfax County, \n 1854-1936","Series 2: Elections, 1861 - 1936, undated","Subseries 2: Voter Lists","Sub-subseries 3: Registrar's Notes"],"text":["Voting Records of Fairfax County, \n 1854-1936","Series 2: Elections, 1861 - 1936, undated","Subseries 2: Voter Lists","Sub-subseries 3: Registrar's Notes","Unknown, 1915","box-folder 5: VR-057"],"title_filing_ssi":"Unknown, 1915\t\n\t\t\t","title_ssm":["Unknown, 1915\t\n\t\t\t"],"title_tesim":["Unknown, 1915\t\n\t\t\t"],"normalized_title_ssm":["Unknown, 1915"],"component_level_isim":[4],"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":0,"level_ssm":["File"],"level_ssim":["File"],"sort_isi":92,"containers_ssim":["box-folder 5: VR-057"],"_nest_path_":"/components#1/components#1/components#2/components#23","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_c02_c03_c24"}},{"id":"vaffcr_Vaffcr00006_c02_c02_c03_c25","type":"File","attributes":{"title":"Unknown, 1928","breadcrumbs":{"id":"https://search.arvasarchive.org/catalog/vaffcr_Vaffcr00006_c02_c02_c03_c25#breadcrumbs","type":"document_value","attributes":{"value":{"ref_ssi":"vaffcr_Vaffcr00006_c02_c02_c03_c25","ref_ssm":["vaffcr_Vaffcr00006_c02_c02_c03_c25"],"id":"vaffcr_Vaffcr00006_c02_c02_c03_c25","ead_ssi":"vaffcr_Vaffcr00006","_root_":"vaffcr_Vaffcr00006","_nest_parent_":"vaffcr_Vaffcr00006_c02_c02_c03","parent_ssi":"vaffcr_Vaffcr00006_c02_c02_c03","parent_ssim":["vaffcr_Vaffcr00006","vaffcr_Vaffcr00006_c02","vaffcr_Vaffcr00006_c02_c02","vaffcr_Vaffcr00006_c02_c02_c03"],"parent_ids_ssim":["vaffcr_Vaffcr00006","vaffcr_Vaffcr00006_c02","vaffcr_Vaffcr00006_c02_c02","vaffcr_Vaffcr00006_c02_c02_c03"],"parent_unittitles_ssm":["Voting Records of Fairfax County, \n 1854-1936","Series 2: Elections, 1861 - 1936, undated","Subseries 2: Voter Lists","Sub-subseries 3: Registrar's Notes"],"parent_unittitles_tesim":["Voting Records of Fairfax County, \n 1854-1936","Series 2: Elections, 1861 - 1936, undated","Subseries 2: Voter Lists","Sub-subseries 3: Registrar's Notes"],"text":["Voting Records of Fairfax County, \n 1854-1936","Series 2: Elections, 1861 - 1936, undated","Subseries 2: Voter Lists","Sub-subseries 3: Registrar's Notes","Unknown, 1928","box-folder 5: VR-057"],"title_filing_ssi":"Unknown, 1928\t\n\t\t\t","title_ssm":["Unknown, 1928\t\n\t\t\t"],"title_tesim":["Unknown, 1928\t\n\t\t\t"],"normalized_title_ssm":["Unknown, 1928"],"component_level_isim":[4],"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":0,"level_ssm":["File"],"level_ssim":["File"],"sort_isi":93,"containers_ssim":["box-folder 5: VR-057"],"_nest_path_":"/components#1/components#1/components#2/components#24","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_c02_c03_c25"}},{"id":"vaffcr_vaffcr00001_c213","type":"File","attributes":{"title":"Unnamed 1887","abstract_or_scope":{"id":"https://search.arvasarchive.org/catalog/vaffcr_vaffcr00001_c213#abstract_or_scope","type":"document_value","attributes":{"value":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eClifton and Centreville\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e","label":"Abstract Or Scope"}},"breadcrumbs":{"id":"https://search.arvasarchive.org/catalog/vaffcr_vaffcr00001_c213#breadcrumbs","type":"document_value","attributes":{"value":{"ref_ssi":"vaffcr_vaffcr00001_c213","ref_ssm":["vaffcr_vaffcr00001_c213"],"id":"vaffcr_vaffcr00001_c213","ead_ssi":"vaffcr_vaffcr00001","_root_":"vaffcr_vaffcr00001","_nest_parent_":"vaffcr_vaffcr00001","parent_ssi":"vaffcr_vaffcr00001","parent_ssim":["vaffcr_vaffcr00001"],"parent_ids_ssim":["vaffcr_vaffcr00001"],"parent_unittitles_ssm":["Fairfax County Road Petitions, 1844-1908\t, \n 1844-1854, 1856-1858, 1866-1908, non-inclusive"],"parent_unittitles_tesim":["Fairfax County Road Petitions, 1844-1908\t, \n 1844-1854, 1856-1858, 1866-1908, non-inclusive"],"text":["Fairfax County Road Petitions, 1844-1908\t, \n 1844-1854, 1856-1858, 1866-1908, non-inclusive","Unnamed 1887","box-folder 6: RP-213","Clifton and Centreville"],"title_filing_ssi":"Unnamed 1887\n","title_ssm":["Unnamed 1887\n"],"title_tesim":["Unnamed 1887\n"],"normalized_title_ssm":["Unnamed 1887"],"component_level_isim":[1],"repository_ssim":["Fairfax Circuit Court Historic Records Center"],"collection_ssim":["Fairfax County Road Petitions, 1844-1908\t, \n 1844-1854, 1856-1858, 1866-1908, non-inclusive"],"has_online_content_ssim":["false"],"child_component_count_isi":0,"level_ssm":["File"],"level_ssim":["File"],"sort_isi":213,"containers_ssim":["box-folder 6: RP-213"],"scopecontent_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003e\u003ctitle render=\"italic\"\u003eClifton and Centreville\u003c/title\u003e\n\u003c/p\u003e"],"scopecontent_tesim":["Clifton and Centreville"],"_nest_path_":"/components#212","timestamp":"2026-04-30T21:27:17.608Z","collection":{"numFound":1,"start":0,"numFoundExact":true,"docs":[{"id":"vaffcr_vaffcr00001","ead_ssi":"vaffcr_vaffcr00001","_root_":"vaffcr_vaffcr00001","_nest_parent_":"vaffcr_vaffcr00001","ead_source_url_ssi":"data/fcc/vaffcr00001.xml","title_ssm":["Fairfax County Road Petitions, 1844-1908\t, \n 1844-1854, 1856-1858, 1866-1908, non-inclusive\n"],"title_tesim":["Fairfax County Road Petitions, 1844-1908\t, \n 1844-1854, 1856-1858, 1866-1908, non-inclusive\n"],"level_ssm":["collection"],"level_ssim":["Collection"],"normalized_title_ssm":["Fairfax County Road Petitions, 1844-1908\t, \n 1844-1854, 1856-1858, 1866-1908, non-inclusive"],"text":["Fairfax County Road Petitions, 1844-1908\t, \n 1844-1854, 1856-1858, 1866-1908, non-inclusive","Fairfax County, Virginia","Roads, transportation, railroads, road repairs, road safety","Clerk of Circuit Court","Paper, iron gall ink, graphite pencil, watercolor",".","The collection is arranged chronologically by the year the petition was made, and then alphabetically by the main petitioner within each year.\n","Fairfax County was founded in 1742 from the northern part of Prince William County. Public transportation was, and continues to be, vital to Fairfax County's economy. Using the Code of Virginia, one can better understand how roads were authorized and developed.","Prior to the Byrd Road Act of 1932, roads were authorized by the court, and in the early 20th century, the Board of Supervisors.  According to Chapter LII of the 1860 Virginia Code, once a person applied for a county road to be opened or changed, the court proceeded by appointing road commissioners and otherwise ascertaining the practicality and usefulness of the proposed road, the benefit to the community and individual, and any damages to surrounding property. To establish any one road, no more than one acre could be taken from a single individual.  The road proposed is usually identified as being the road from \"Point A\" to \"Point B,\" the points being known areas of interest, i.e. mills, churches, stores, dams, turnpikes, and so on.","First, the circuit court received an application for a county road, usually from an individual with anywhere between one and upwards of 30 fellow petitioners. The court then directed one or more of the county's road commissioners to view the proposed land for the road and its surroundings and then report on the conveniences and inconveniences to both individuals and the public - especially if any yard, garden, or orchard needed to be taken for the proposed road. The commissioner's job was to report facts and circumstances that would help the court determine the expediency of establishing or altering the county road. The commissioner(s) could also offer their opinion either in favor of or against the proposed road and suggest alternate routes. A map, plat, or diagram had to accompany the road commissioner(s) report, and if the commissioner was not a surveyor, one had to be procured.","Citizens could also apply to discontinue a road, though it was far rarer. To do so, the person had to publish a notice of the intended application on the first day of the county court's term at the county courthouse door and in two public places in the neighborhood.","After it received all the reports and other evidence, the court then determined whether the road would be established or altered as proposed and who would maintain it.","Once the court received the commissioner's report, provided it was favorable to the proposed road, the court summoned the proprietors and tenants of the lands affected by the proposed road. Once the sheriff executed the summons, the court determined the matter of the road without a writ of ad quod damnum if the court had enough funds for a just compensation and if the proprietors and tenants accepted the compensation. (A writ of ad quod damnum is a law term from the English chancery ordering the sheriff to determine what damages a certain act will incur). But if any proprietor or tenant wished for a writ or the court saw good cause for it, the court awarded it. The writ of ad quod damnum commanded the sheriff to summon a jury of twelve freeholders to meet on the proprietors' and tenants' lands, view them, and ascertain a just compensation for the land damages. The jury also ascertained if the proposed road was one of more private convenience and, accordingly, if a lesser compensation was appropriate.","Once the court received the commissioner's report, provided it was favorable to the proposed road, the court summoned the proprietors and tenants of the lands affected by the proposed road. Once the sheriff executed the summons, the court determined the matter of the road without a writ of ad quod damnum if the court had enough funds for a just compensation and if the proprietors and tenants accepted the compensation. (A writ of ad quod damnum is a law term from the English chancery ordering the sheriff to determine what damages a certain act will incur). But if any proprietor or tenant wished for a writ or the court saw good cause for it, the court awarded it. The writ of ad quod damnum commanded the sheriff to summon a jury of twelve freeholders to meet on the proprietors' and tenants' lands, view them, and ascertain a just compensation for the land damages. The jury also ascertained if the proposed road was one of more private convenience and, accordingly, if a lesser compensation was appropriate.","This collection starts in 1844 and ends in 1908.  The bulk of the collection is concentrated from 1867 through 1890, with a particularly prominent concentration from 1886 through 1890. No records from 1859 through 1865 exist.  Likewise, no road petition records exist prior to 1844 - both gaps in chronology are likely due to military activity during the Civil War. The Library of Virginia identifies Fairfax County as a \"Lost Records Locality,\" meaning this locality suffered significant losses of early records due to military action. Our records end in 1908 because the law changed in 1909, shifting responsibility for road petitions to the county's Board of Supervisors.","Most road petition folders include court summons and/or the original petition. These petitions usually include original signatures. Many also include reports from district road commissioners, plats, and letters of correspondence to the court. The reports from the road commissioners and the court summons are the most common documents, while the plats and letters are slightly rarer.","In addition to the main petitioner, month and year of the petition, and the road in question, each folder notes any additional petitioners if applicable and neighbors around the proposed road. The neighbors are particularly useful to see who lived near who, and how that changed over time. Some neighbor listings note someone's heirs, which indicates the property owner is deceased and their heirs owned the property. If a plat is included, it is noted on the folder and in the index.","One person of note from this collection is Margaret Hetzel. Her name appears in eight road petitions either as a main petitioner, an additional petitioner, or a neighbor. She appears to have been very active in the Fairfax community, even into her old age as her health declined and kept her from appearing in court. Her main concern in these road petitions was road safety. In several of the cases, she wrote directly to the judge urging him to grant the road petition because the existing road or route was unsafe.  She expressed concern over a very high hill, decaying bridges, and deeply rutted roads. And in road cases in 1892, 1893 and 1897, she freely gave her land and did not claim any damages. She seems to have been a woman committed to improving her community and far more involved in doing so than we might expect for the average 19th century woman.","Unit 40, Shelf 5\n","Fairfax Circuit Court","Richardson, F. D. (1808-1880)","English\n"],"collection_title_tesim":["Fairfax County Road Petitions, 1844-1908\t, \n 1844-1854, 1856-1858, 1866-1908, non-inclusive"],"collection_ssim":["Fairfax County Road Petitions, 1844-1908\t, \n 1844-1854, 1856-1858, 1866-1908, non-inclusive"],"repository_ssm":["Fairfax Circuit Court Historic Records Center"],"repository_ssim":["Fairfax Circuit Court Historic Records Center"],"geogname_ssm":["Fairfax County, Virginia"],"geogname_ssim":["Fairfax County, Virginia"],"creator_ssm":["Fairfax Circuit Court\n"],"creator_ssim":["Fairfax Circuit Court\n"],"places_ssim":["Fairfax County, Virginia"],"acqinfo_ssim":["Permanent Records of Fairfax Circuit Court.\n"],"access_subjects_ssim":["Roads, transportation, railroads, road repairs, road safety","Clerk of Circuit Court","Paper, iron gall ink, graphite pencil, watercolor"],"access_subjects_ssm":["Roads, transportation, railroads, road repairs, road safety","Clerk of Circuit Court","Paper, iron gall ink, graphite pencil, watercolor"],"has_online_content_ssim":["false"],"physdesc_tesim":["."],"extent_ssm":["5 linear feet"],"extent_tesim":["5 linear feet"],"genreform_ssim":["Paper, iron gall ink, graphite pencil, watercolor"],"arrangement_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eThe collection is arranged chronologically by the year the petition was made, and then alphabetically by the main petitioner within each year.\n\u003c/p\u003e"],"arrangement_heading_ssm":["Arrangement\n"],"arrangement_tesim":["The collection is arranged chronologically by the year the petition was made, and then alphabetically by the main petitioner within each year.\n"],"bioghist_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eFairfax County was founded in 1742 from the northern part of Prince William County. Public transportation was, and continues to be, vital to Fairfax County's economy. Using the Code of Virginia, one can better understand how roads were authorized and developed.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003ePrior to the Byrd Road Act of 1932, roads were authorized by the court, and in the early 20th century, the Board of Supervisors.  According to Chapter LII of the 1860 Virginia Code, once a person applied for a county road to be opened or changed, the court proceeded by appointing road commissioners and otherwise ascertaining the practicality and usefulness of the proposed road, the benefit to the community and individual, and any damages to surrounding property. To establish any one road, no more than one acre could be taken from a single individual.  The road proposed is usually identified as being the road from \"Point A\" to \"Point B,\" the points being known areas of interest, i.e. mills, churches, stores, dams, turnpikes, and so on.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eFirst, the circuit court received an application for a county road, usually from an individual with anywhere between one and upwards of 30 fellow petitioners. The court then directed one or more of the county's road commissioners to view the proposed land for the road and its surroundings and then report on the conveniences and inconveniences to both individuals and the public - especially if any yard, garden, or orchard needed to be taken for the proposed road. The commissioner's job was to report facts and circumstances that would help the court determine the expediency of establishing or altering the county road. The commissioner(s) could also offer their opinion either in favor of or against the proposed road and suggest alternate routes. A map, plat, or diagram had to accompany the road commissioner(s) report, and if the commissioner was not a surveyor, one had to be procured.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eCitizens could also apply to discontinue a road, though it was far rarer. To do so, the person had to publish a notice of the intended application on the first day of the county court's term at the county courthouse door and in two public places in the neighborhood.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eAfter it received all the reports and other evidence, the court then determined whether the road would be established or altered as proposed and who would maintain it.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eOnce the court received the commissioner's report, provided it was favorable to the proposed road, the court summoned the proprietors and tenants of the lands affected by the proposed road. Once the sheriff executed the summons, the court determined the matter of the road without a writ of ad quod damnum if the court had enough funds for a just compensation and if the proprietors and tenants accepted the compensation. (A writ of ad quod damnum is a law term from the English chancery ordering the sheriff to determine what damages a certain act will incur). But if any proprietor or tenant wished for a writ or the court saw good cause for it, the court awarded it. The writ of ad quod damnum commanded the sheriff to summon a jury of twelve freeholders to meet on the proprietors' and tenants' lands, view them, and ascertain a just compensation for the land damages. The jury also ascertained if the proposed road was one of more private convenience and, accordingly, if a lesser compensation was appropriate.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eOnce the court received the commissioner's report, provided it was favorable to the proposed road, the court summoned the proprietors and tenants of the lands affected by the proposed road. Once the sheriff executed the summons, the court determined the matter of the road without a writ of ad quod damnum if the court had enough funds for a just compensation and if the proprietors and tenants accepted the compensation. (A writ of ad quod damnum is a law term from the English chancery ordering the sheriff to determine what damages a certain act will incur). But if any proprietor or tenant wished for a writ or the court saw good cause for it, the court awarded it. The writ of ad quod damnum commanded the sheriff to summon a jury of twelve freeholders to meet on the proprietors' and tenants' lands, view them, and ascertain a just compensation for the land damages. The jury also ascertained if the proposed road was one of more private convenience and, accordingly, if a lesser compensation was appropriate.\u003c/p\u003e"],"bioghist_heading_ssm":["Biographical Information\n"],"bioghist_tesim":["Fairfax County was founded in 1742 from the northern part of Prince William County. Public transportation was, and continues to be, vital to Fairfax County's economy. Using the Code of Virginia, one can better understand how roads were authorized and developed.","Prior to the Byrd Road Act of 1932, roads were authorized by the court, and in the early 20th century, the Board of Supervisors.  According to Chapter LII of the 1860 Virginia Code, once a person applied for a county road to be opened or changed, the court proceeded by appointing road commissioners and otherwise ascertaining the practicality and usefulness of the proposed road, the benefit to the community and individual, and any damages to surrounding property. To establish any one road, no more than one acre could be taken from a single individual.  The road proposed is usually identified as being the road from \"Point A\" to \"Point B,\" the points being known areas of interest, i.e. mills, churches, stores, dams, turnpikes, and so on.","First, the circuit court received an application for a county road, usually from an individual with anywhere between one and upwards of 30 fellow petitioners. The court then directed one or more of the county's road commissioners to view the proposed land for the road and its surroundings and then report on the conveniences and inconveniences to both individuals and the public - especially if any yard, garden, or orchard needed to be taken for the proposed road. The commissioner's job was to report facts and circumstances that would help the court determine the expediency of establishing or altering the county road. The commissioner(s) could also offer their opinion either in favor of or against the proposed road and suggest alternate routes. A map, plat, or diagram had to accompany the road commissioner(s) report, and if the commissioner was not a surveyor, one had to be procured.","Citizens could also apply to discontinue a road, though it was far rarer. To do so, the person had to publish a notice of the intended application on the first day of the county court's term at the county courthouse door and in two public places in the neighborhood.","After it received all the reports and other evidence, the court then determined whether the road would be established or altered as proposed and who would maintain it.","Once the court received the commissioner's report, provided it was favorable to the proposed road, the court summoned the proprietors and tenants of the lands affected by the proposed road. Once the sheriff executed the summons, the court determined the matter of the road without a writ of ad quod damnum if the court had enough funds for a just compensation and if the proprietors and tenants accepted the compensation. (A writ of ad quod damnum is a law term from the English chancery ordering the sheriff to determine what damages a certain act will incur). But if any proprietor or tenant wished for a writ or the court saw good cause for it, the court awarded it. The writ of ad quod damnum commanded the sheriff to summon a jury of twelve freeholders to meet on the proprietors' and tenants' lands, view them, and ascertain a just compensation for the land damages. The jury also ascertained if the proposed road was one of more private convenience and, accordingly, if a lesser compensation was appropriate.","Once the court received the commissioner's report, provided it was favorable to the proposed road, the court summoned the proprietors and tenants of the lands affected by the proposed road. Once the sheriff executed the summons, the court determined the matter of the road without a writ of ad quod damnum if the court had enough funds for a just compensation and if the proprietors and tenants accepted the compensation. (A writ of ad quod damnum is a law term from the English chancery ordering the sheriff to determine what damages a certain act will incur). But if any proprietor or tenant wished for a writ or the court saw good cause for it, the court awarded it. The writ of ad quod damnum commanded the sheriff to summon a jury of twelve freeholders to meet on the proprietors' and tenants' lands, view them, and ascertain a just compensation for the land damages. The jury also ascertained if the proposed road was one of more private convenience and, accordingly, if a lesser compensation was appropriate."],"scopecontent_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eThis collection starts in 1844 and ends in 1908.  The bulk of the collection is concentrated from 1867 through 1890, with a particularly prominent concentration from 1886 through 1890. No records from 1859 through 1865 exist.  Likewise, no road petition records exist prior to 1844 - both gaps in chronology are likely due to military activity during the Civil War. The Library of Virginia identifies Fairfax County as a \"Lost Records Locality,\" meaning this locality suffered significant losses of early records due to military action. Our records end in 1908 because the law changed in 1909, shifting responsibility for road petitions to the county's Board of Supervisors.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eMost road petition folders include court summons and/or the original petition. These petitions usually include original signatures. Many also include reports from district road commissioners, plats, and letters of correspondence to the court. The reports from the road commissioners and the court summons are the most common documents, while the plats and letters are slightly rarer.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eIn addition to the main petitioner, month and year of the petition, and the road in question, each folder notes any additional petitioners if applicable and neighbors around the proposed road. The neighbors are particularly useful to see who lived near who, and how that changed over time. Some neighbor listings note someone's heirs, which indicates the property owner is deceased and their heirs owned the property. If a plat is included, it is noted on the folder and in the index.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eOne person of note from this collection is Margaret Hetzel. Her name appears in eight road petitions either as a main petitioner, an additional petitioner, or a neighbor. She appears to have been very active in the Fairfax community, even into her old age as her health declined and kept her from appearing in court. Her main concern in these road petitions was road safety. In several of the cases, she wrote directly to the judge urging him to grant the road petition because the existing road or route was unsafe.  She expressed concern over a very high hill, decaying bridges, and deeply rutted roads. And in road cases in 1892, 1893 and 1897, she freely gave her land and did not claim any damages. She seems to have been a woman committed to improving her community and far more involved in doing so than we might expect for the average 19th century woman.\u003c/p\u003e"],"scopecontent_heading_ssm":["Scope and Content\n"],"scopecontent_tesim":["This collection starts in 1844 and ends in 1908.  The bulk of the collection is concentrated from 1867 through 1890, with a particularly prominent concentration from 1886 through 1890. No records from 1859 through 1865 exist.  Likewise, no road petition records exist prior to 1844 - both gaps in chronology are likely due to military activity during the Civil War. The Library of Virginia identifies Fairfax County as a \"Lost Records Locality,\" meaning this locality suffered significant losses of early records due to military action. Our records end in 1908 because the law changed in 1909, shifting responsibility for road petitions to the county's Board of Supervisors.","Most road petition folders include court summons and/or the original petition. These petitions usually include original signatures. Many also include reports from district road commissioners, plats, and letters of correspondence to the court. The reports from the road commissioners and the court summons are the most common documents, while the plats and letters are slightly rarer.","In addition to the main petitioner, month and year of the petition, and the road in question, each folder notes any additional petitioners if applicable and neighbors around the proposed road. The neighbors are particularly useful to see who lived near who, and how that changed over time. Some neighbor listings note someone's heirs, which indicates the property owner is deceased and their heirs owned the property. If a plat is included, it is noted on the folder and in the index.","One person of note from this collection is Margaret Hetzel. Her name appears in eight road petitions either as a main petitioner, an additional petitioner, or a neighbor. She appears to have been very active in the Fairfax community, even into her old age as her health declined and kept her from appearing in court. Her main concern in these road petitions was road safety. In several of the cases, she wrote directly to the judge urging him to grant the road petition because the existing road or route was unsafe.  She expressed concern over a very high hill, decaying bridges, and deeply rutted roads. And in road cases in 1892, 1893 and 1897, she freely gave her land and did not claim any damages. She seems to have been a woman committed to improving her community and far more involved in doing so than we might expect for the average 19th century woman."],"physloc_html_tesm":["\u003cphysloc label=\"Shelf Location\"\u003eUnit 40, Shelf 5\n\u003c/physloc\u003e"],"physloc_tesim":["Unit 40, Shelf 5\n"],"names_coll_ssim":["Fairfax Circuit Court","Richardson, F. D. (1808-1880)"],"names_ssim":["Fairfax Circuit Court","Richardson, F. D. (1808-1880)"],"corpname_ssim":["Fairfax Circuit Court"],"persname_ssim":["Richardson, F. D. (1808-1880)"],"language_ssim":["English\n"],"total_component_count_is":360,"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_vaffcr00001_c213"}},{"id":"vaffcr_vaffcr00001_c138","type":"File","attributes":{"title":"Unnamed December, 1877","abstract_or_scope":{"id":"https://search.arvasarchive.org/catalog/vaffcr_vaffcr00001_c138#abstract_or_scope","type":"document_value","attributes":{"value":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eRoad from Bull Run to Fox Mill\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e","label":"Abstract Or Scope"}},"breadcrumbs":{"id":"https://search.arvasarchive.org/catalog/vaffcr_vaffcr00001_c138#breadcrumbs","type":"document_value","attributes":{"value":{"ref_ssi":"vaffcr_vaffcr00001_c138","ref_ssm":["vaffcr_vaffcr00001_c138"],"id":"vaffcr_vaffcr00001_c138","ead_ssi":"vaffcr_vaffcr00001","_root_":"vaffcr_vaffcr00001","_nest_parent_":"vaffcr_vaffcr00001","parent_ssi":"vaffcr_vaffcr00001","parent_ssim":["vaffcr_vaffcr00001"],"parent_ids_ssim":["vaffcr_vaffcr00001"],"parent_unittitles_ssm":["Fairfax County Road Petitions, 1844-1908\t, \n 1844-1854, 1856-1858, 1866-1908, non-inclusive"],"parent_unittitles_tesim":["Fairfax County Road Petitions, 1844-1908\t, \n 1844-1854, 1856-1858, 1866-1908, non-inclusive"],"text":["Fairfax County Road Petitions, 1844-1908\t, \n 1844-1854, 1856-1858, 1866-1908, non-inclusive","Unnamed December, 1877","box-folder 4: RP-138","Road from Bull Run to Fox Mill"],"title_filing_ssi":"Unnamed December, 1877\n","title_ssm":["Unnamed December, 1877\n"],"title_tesim":["Unnamed December, 1877\n"],"normalized_title_ssm":["Unnamed December, 1877"],"component_level_isim":[1],"repository_ssim":["Fairfax Circuit Court Historic Records Center"],"collection_ssim":["Fairfax County Road Petitions, 1844-1908\t, \n 1844-1854, 1856-1858, 1866-1908, non-inclusive"],"has_online_content_ssim":["false"],"child_component_count_isi":0,"level_ssm":["File"],"level_ssim":["File"],"sort_isi":138,"containers_ssim":["box-folder 4: RP-138"],"scopecontent_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003e\u003ctitle render=\"italic\"\u003eRoad from Bull Run to Fox Mill\u003c/title\u003e\n\u003c/p\u003e"],"scopecontent_tesim":["Road from Bull Run to Fox Mill"],"_nest_path_":"/components#137","timestamp":"2026-04-30T21:27:17.608Z","collection":{"numFound":1,"start":0,"numFoundExact":true,"docs":[{"id":"vaffcr_vaffcr00001","ead_ssi":"vaffcr_vaffcr00001","_root_":"vaffcr_vaffcr00001","_nest_parent_":"vaffcr_vaffcr00001","ead_source_url_ssi":"data/fcc/vaffcr00001.xml","title_ssm":["Fairfax County Road Petitions, 1844-1908\t, \n 1844-1854, 1856-1858, 1866-1908, non-inclusive\n"],"title_tesim":["Fairfax County Road Petitions, 1844-1908\t, \n 1844-1854, 1856-1858, 1866-1908, non-inclusive\n"],"level_ssm":["collection"],"level_ssim":["Collection"],"normalized_title_ssm":["Fairfax County Road Petitions, 1844-1908\t, \n 1844-1854, 1856-1858, 1866-1908, non-inclusive"],"text":["Fairfax County Road Petitions, 1844-1908\t, \n 1844-1854, 1856-1858, 1866-1908, non-inclusive","Fairfax County, Virginia","Roads, transportation, railroads, road repairs, road safety","Clerk of Circuit Court","Paper, iron gall ink, graphite pencil, watercolor",".","The collection is arranged chronologically by the year the petition was made, and then alphabetically by the main petitioner within each year.\n","Fairfax County was founded in 1742 from the northern part of Prince William County. Public transportation was, and continues to be, vital to Fairfax County's economy. Using the Code of Virginia, one can better understand how roads were authorized and developed.","Prior to the Byrd Road Act of 1932, roads were authorized by the court, and in the early 20th century, the Board of Supervisors.  According to Chapter LII of the 1860 Virginia Code, once a person applied for a county road to be opened or changed, the court proceeded by appointing road commissioners and otherwise ascertaining the practicality and usefulness of the proposed road, the benefit to the community and individual, and any damages to surrounding property. To establish any one road, no more than one acre could be taken from a single individual.  The road proposed is usually identified as being the road from \"Point A\" to \"Point B,\" the points being known areas of interest, i.e. mills, churches, stores, dams, turnpikes, and so on.","First, the circuit court received an application for a county road, usually from an individual with anywhere between one and upwards of 30 fellow petitioners. The court then directed one or more of the county's road commissioners to view the proposed land for the road and its surroundings and then report on the conveniences and inconveniences to both individuals and the public - especially if any yard, garden, or orchard needed to be taken for the proposed road. The commissioner's job was to report facts and circumstances that would help the court determine the expediency of establishing or altering the county road. The commissioner(s) could also offer their opinion either in favor of or against the proposed road and suggest alternate routes. A map, plat, or diagram had to accompany the road commissioner(s) report, and if the commissioner was not a surveyor, one had to be procured.","Citizens could also apply to discontinue a road, though it was far rarer. To do so, the person had to publish a notice of the intended application on the first day of the county court's term at the county courthouse door and in two public places in the neighborhood.","After it received all the reports and other evidence, the court then determined whether the road would be established or altered as proposed and who would maintain it.","Once the court received the commissioner's report, provided it was favorable to the proposed road, the court summoned the proprietors and tenants of the lands affected by the proposed road. Once the sheriff executed the summons, the court determined the matter of the road without a writ of ad quod damnum if the court had enough funds for a just compensation and if the proprietors and tenants accepted the compensation. (A writ of ad quod damnum is a law term from the English chancery ordering the sheriff to determine what damages a certain act will incur). But if any proprietor or tenant wished for a writ or the court saw good cause for it, the court awarded it. The writ of ad quod damnum commanded the sheriff to summon a jury of twelve freeholders to meet on the proprietors' and tenants' lands, view them, and ascertain a just compensation for the land damages. The jury also ascertained if the proposed road was one of more private convenience and, accordingly, if a lesser compensation was appropriate.","Once the court received the commissioner's report, provided it was favorable to the proposed road, the court summoned the proprietors and tenants of the lands affected by the proposed road. Once the sheriff executed the summons, the court determined the matter of the road without a writ of ad quod damnum if the court had enough funds for a just compensation and if the proprietors and tenants accepted the compensation. (A writ of ad quod damnum is a law term from the English chancery ordering the sheriff to determine what damages a certain act will incur). But if any proprietor or tenant wished for a writ or the court saw good cause for it, the court awarded it. The writ of ad quod damnum commanded the sheriff to summon a jury of twelve freeholders to meet on the proprietors' and tenants' lands, view them, and ascertain a just compensation for the land damages. The jury also ascertained if the proposed road was one of more private convenience and, accordingly, if a lesser compensation was appropriate.","This collection starts in 1844 and ends in 1908.  The bulk of the collection is concentrated from 1867 through 1890, with a particularly prominent concentration from 1886 through 1890. No records from 1859 through 1865 exist.  Likewise, no road petition records exist prior to 1844 - both gaps in chronology are likely due to military activity during the Civil War. The Library of Virginia identifies Fairfax County as a \"Lost Records Locality,\" meaning this locality suffered significant losses of early records due to military action. Our records end in 1908 because the law changed in 1909, shifting responsibility for road petitions to the county's Board of Supervisors.","Most road petition folders include court summons and/or the original petition. These petitions usually include original signatures. Many also include reports from district road commissioners, plats, and letters of correspondence to the court. The reports from the road commissioners and the court summons are the most common documents, while the plats and letters are slightly rarer.","In addition to the main petitioner, month and year of the petition, and the road in question, each folder notes any additional petitioners if applicable and neighbors around the proposed road. The neighbors are particularly useful to see who lived near who, and how that changed over time. Some neighbor listings note someone's heirs, which indicates the property owner is deceased and their heirs owned the property. If a plat is included, it is noted on the folder and in the index.","One person of note from this collection is Margaret Hetzel. Her name appears in eight road petitions either as a main petitioner, an additional petitioner, or a neighbor. She appears to have been very active in the Fairfax community, even into her old age as her health declined and kept her from appearing in court. Her main concern in these road petitions was road safety. In several of the cases, she wrote directly to the judge urging him to grant the road petition because the existing road or route was unsafe.  She expressed concern over a very high hill, decaying bridges, and deeply rutted roads. And in road cases in 1892, 1893 and 1897, she freely gave her land and did not claim any damages. She seems to have been a woman committed to improving her community and far more involved in doing so than we might expect for the average 19th century woman.","Unit 40, Shelf 5\n","Fairfax Circuit Court","Richardson, F. D. (1808-1880)","English\n"],"collection_title_tesim":["Fairfax County Road Petitions, 1844-1908\t, \n 1844-1854, 1856-1858, 1866-1908, non-inclusive"],"collection_ssim":["Fairfax County Road Petitions, 1844-1908\t, \n 1844-1854, 1856-1858, 1866-1908, non-inclusive"],"repository_ssm":["Fairfax Circuit Court Historic Records Center"],"repository_ssim":["Fairfax Circuit Court Historic Records Center"],"geogname_ssm":["Fairfax County, Virginia"],"geogname_ssim":["Fairfax County, Virginia"],"creator_ssm":["Fairfax Circuit Court\n"],"creator_ssim":["Fairfax Circuit Court\n"],"places_ssim":["Fairfax County, Virginia"],"acqinfo_ssim":["Permanent Records of Fairfax Circuit Court.\n"],"access_subjects_ssim":["Roads, transportation, railroads, road repairs, road safety","Clerk of Circuit Court","Paper, iron gall ink, graphite pencil, watercolor"],"access_subjects_ssm":["Roads, transportation, railroads, road repairs, road safety","Clerk of Circuit Court","Paper, iron gall ink, graphite pencil, watercolor"],"has_online_content_ssim":["false"],"physdesc_tesim":["."],"extent_ssm":["5 linear feet"],"extent_tesim":["5 linear feet"],"genreform_ssim":["Paper, iron gall ink, graphite pencil, watercolor"],"arrangement_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eThe collection is arranged chronologically by the year the petition was made, and then alphabetically by the main petitioner within each year.\n\u003c/p\u003e"],"arrangement_heading_ssm":["Arrangement\n"],"arrangement_tesim":["The collection is arranged chronologically by the year the petition was made, and then alphabetically by the main petitioner within each year.\n"],"bioghist_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eFairfax County was founded in 1742 from the northern part of Prince William County. Public transportation was, and continues to be, vital to Fairfax County's economy. Using the Code of Virginia, one can better understand how roads were authorized and developed.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003ePrior to the Byrd Road Act of 1932, roads were authorized by the court, and in the early 20th century, the Board of Supervisors.  According to Chapter LII of the 1860 Virginia Code, once a person applied for a county road to be opened or changed, the court proceeded by appointing road commissioners and otherwise ascertaining the practicality and usefulness of the proposed road, the benefit to the community and individual, and any damages to surrounding property. To establish any one road, no more than one acre could be taken from a single individual.  The road proposed is usually identified as being the road from \"Point A\" to \"Point B,\" the points being known areas of interest, i.e. mills, churches, stores, dams, turnpikes, and so on.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eFirst, the circuit court received an application for a county road, usually from an individual with anywhere between one and upwards of 30 fellow petitioners. The court then directed one or more of the county's road commissioners to view the proposed land for the road and its surroundings and then report on the conveniences and inconveniences to both individuals and the public - especially if any yard, garden, or orchard needed to be taken for the proposed road. The commissioner's job was to report facts and circumstances that would help the court determine the expediency of establishing or altering the county road. The commissioner(s) could also offer their opinion either in favor of or against the proposed road and suggest alternate routes. A map, plat, or diagram had to accompany the road commissioner(s) report, and if the commissioner was not a surveyor, one had to be procured.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eCitizens could also apply to discontinue a road, though it was far rarer. To do so, the person had to publish a notice of the intended application on the first day of the county court's term at the county courthouse door and in two public places in the neighborhood.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eAfter it received all the reports and other evidence, the court then determined whether the road would be established or altered as proposed and who would maintain it.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eOnce the court received the commissioner's report, provided it was favorable to the proposed road, the court summoned the proprietors and tenants of the lands affected by the proposed road. Once the sheriff executed the summons, the court determined the matter of the road without a writ of ad quod damnum if the court had enough funds for a just compensation and if the proprietors and tenants accepted the compensation. (A writ of ad quod damnum is a law term from the English chancery ordering the sheriff to determine what damages a certain act will incur). But if any proprietor or tenant wished for a writ or the court saw good cause for it, the court awarded it. The writ of ad quod damnum commanded the sheriff to summon a jury of twelve freeholders to meet on the proprietors' and tenants' lands, view them, and ascertain a just compensation for the land damages. The jury also ascertained if the proposed road was one of more private convenience and, accordingly, if a lesser compensation was appropriate.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eOnce the court received the commissioner's report, provided it was favorable to the proposed road, the court summoned the proprietors and tenants of the lands affected by the proposed road. Once the sheriff executed the summons, the court determined the matter of the road without a writ of ad quod damnum if the court had enough funds for a just compensation and if the proprietors and tenants accepted the compensation. (A writ of ad quod damnum is a law term from the English chancery ordering the sheriff to determine what damages a certain act will incur). But if any proprietor or tenant wished for a writ or the court saw good cause for it, the court awarded it. The writ of ad quod damnum commanded the sheriff to summon a jury of twelve freeholders to meet on the proprietors' and tenants' lands, view them, and ascertain a just compensation for the land damages. The jury also ascertained if the proposed road was one of more private convenience and, accordingly, if a lesser compensation was appropriate.\u003c/p\u003e"],"bioghist_heading_ssm":["Biographical Information\n"],"bioghist_tesim":["Fairfax County was founded in 1742 from the northern part of Prince William County. Public transportation was, and continues to be, vital to Fairfax County's economy. Using the Code of Virginia, one can better understand how roads were authorized and developed.","Prior to the Byrd Road Act of 1932, roads were authorized by the court, and in the early 20th century, the Board of Supervisors.  According to Chapter LII of the 1860 Virginia Code, once a person applied for a county road to be opened or changed, the court proceeded by appointing road commissioners and otherwise ascertaining the practicality and usefulness of the proposed road, the benefit to the community and individual, and any damages to surrounding property. To establish any one road, no more than one acre could be taken from a single individual.  The road proposed is usually identified as being the road from \"Point A\" to \"Point B,\" the points being known areas of interest, i.e. mills, churches, stores, dams, turnpikes, and so on.","First, the circuit court received an application for a county road, usually from an individual with anywhere between one and upwards of 30 fellow petitioners. The court then directed one or more of the county's road commissioners to view the proposed land for the road and its surroundings and then report on the conveniences and inconveniences to both individuals and the public - especially if any yard, garden, or orchard needed to be taken for the proposed road. The commissioner's job was to report facts and circumstances that would help the court determine the expediency of establishing or altering the county road. The commissioner(s) could also offer their opinion either in favor of or against the proposed road and suggest alternate routes. A map, plat, or diagram had to accompany the road commissioner(s) report, and if the commissioner was not a surveyor, one had to be procured.","Citizens could also apply to discontinue a road, though it was far rarer. To do so, the person had to publish a notice of the intended application on the first day of the county court's term at the county courthouse door and in two public places in the neighborhood.","After it received all the reports and other evidence, the court then determined whether the road would be established or altered as proposed and who would maintain it.","Once the court received the commissioner's report, provided it was favorable to the proposed road, the court summoned the proprietors and tenants of the lands affected by the proposed road. Once the sheriff executed the summons, the court determined the matter of the road without a writ of ad quod damnum if the court had enough funds for a just compensation and if the proprietors and tenants accepted the compensation. (A writ of ad quod damnum is a law term from the English chancery ordering the sheriff to determine what damages a certain act will incur). But if any proprietor or tenant wished for a writ or the court saw good cause for it, the court awarded it. The writ of ad quod damnum commanded the sheriff to summon a jury of twelve freeholders to meet on the proprietors' and tenants' lands, view them, and ascertain a just compensation for the land damages. The jury also ascertained if the proposed road was one of more private convenience and, accordingly, if a lesser compensation was appropriate.","Once the court received the commissioner's report, provided it was favorable to the proposed road, the court summoned the proprietors and tenants of the lands affected by the proposed road. Once the sheriff executed the summons, the court determined the matter of the road without a writ of ad quod damnum if the court had enough funds for a just compensation and if the proprietors and tenants accepted the compensation. (A writ of ad quod damnum is a law term from the English chancery ordering the sheriff to determine what damages a certain act will incur). But if any proprietor or tenant wished for a writ or the court saw good cause for it, the court awarded it. The writ of ad quod damnum commanded the sheriff to summon a jury of twelve freeholders to meet on the proprietors' and tenants' lands, view them, and ascertain a just compensation for the land damages. The jury also ascertained if the proposed road was one of more private convenience and, accordingly, if a lesser compensation was appropriate."],"scopecontent_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eThis collection starts in 1844 and ends in 1908.  The bulk of the collection is concentrated from 1867 through 1890, with a particularly prominent concentration from 1886 through 1890. No records from 1859 through 1865 exist.  Likewise, no road petition records exist prior to 1844 - both gaps in chronology are likely due to military activity during the Civil War. The Library of Virginia identifies Fairfax County as a \"Lost Records Locality,\" meaning this locality suffered significant losses of early records due to military action. Our records end in 1908 because the law changed in 1909, shifting responsibility for road petitions to the county's Board of Supervisors.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eMost road petition folders include court summons and/or the original petition. These petitions usually include original signatures. Many also include reports from district road commissioners, plats, and letters of correspondence to the court. The reports from the road commissioners and the court summons are the most common documents, while the plats and letters are slightly rarer.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eIn addition to the main petitioner, month and year of the petition, and the road in question, each folder notes any additional petitioners if applicable and neighbors around the proposed road. The neighbors are particularly useful to see who lived near who, and how that changed over time. Some neighbor listings note someone's heirs, which indicates the property owner is deceased and their heirs owned the property. If a plat is included, it is noted on the folder and in the index.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eOne person of note from this collection is Margaret Hetzel. Her name appears in eight road petitions either as a main petitioner, an additional petitioner, or a neighbor. She appears to have been very active in the Fairfax community, even into her old age as her health declined and kept her from appearing in court. Her main concern in these road petitions was road safety. In several of the cases, she wrote directly to the judge urging him to grant the road petition because the existing road or route was unsafe.  She expressed concern over a very high hill, decaying bridges, and deeply rutted roads. And in road cases in 1892, 1893 and 1897, she freely gave her land and did not claim any damages. She seems to have been a woman committed to improving her community and far more involved in doing so than we might expect for the average 19th century woman.\u003c/p\u003e"],"scopecontent_heading_ssm":["Scope and Content\n"],"scopecontent_tesim":["This collection starts in 1844 and ends in 1908.  The bulk of the collection is concentrated from 1867 through 1890, with a particularly prominent concentration from 1886 through 1890. No records from 1859 through 1865 exist.  Likewise, no road petition records exist prior to 1844 - both gaps in chronology are likely due to military activity during the Civil War. The Library of Virginia identifies Fairfax County as a \"Lost Records Locality,\" meaning this locality suffered significant losses of early records due to military action. Our records end in 1908 because the law changed in 1909, shifting responsibility for road petitions to the county's Board of Supervisors.","Most road petition folders include court summons and/or the original petition. These petitions usually include original signatures. Many also include reports from district road commissioners, plats, and letters of correspondence to the court. The reports from the road commissioners and the court summons are the most common documents, while the plats and letters are slightly rarer.","In addition to the main petitioner, month and year of the petition, and the road in question, each folder notes any additional petitioners if applicable and neighbors around the proposed road. The neighbors are particularly useful to see who lived near who, and how that changed over time. Some neighbor listings note someone's heirs, which indicates the property owner is deceased and their heirs owned the property. If a plat is included, it is noted on the folder and in the index.","One person of note from this collection is Margaret Hetzel. Her name appears in eight road petitions either as a main petitioner, an additional petitioner, or a neighbor. She appears to have been very active in the Fairfax community, even into her old age as her health declined and kept her from appearing in court. Her main concern in these road petitions was road safety. In several of the cases, she wrote directly to the judge urging him to grant the road petition because the existing road or route was unsafe.  She expressed concern over a very high hill, decaying bridges, and deeply rutted roads. And in road cases in 1892, 1893 and 1897, she freely gave her land and did not claim any damages. She seems to have been a woman committed to improving her community and far more involved in doing so than we might expect for the average 19th century woman."],"physloc_html_tesm":["\u003cphysloc label=\"Shelf Location\"\u003eUnit 40, Shelf 5\n\u003c/physloc\u003e"],"physloc_tesim":["Unit 40, Shelf 5\n"],"names_coll_ssim":["Fairfax Circuit Court","Richardson, F. D. (1808-1880)"],"names_ssim":["Fairfax Circuit Court","Richardson, F. D. (1808-1880)"],"corpname_ssim":["Fairfax Circuit Court"],"persname_ssim":["Richardson, F. D. 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Public transportation was, and continues to be, vital to Fairfax County's economy. Using the Code of Virginia, one can better understand how roads were authorized and developed.","Prior to the Byrd Road Act of 1932, roads were authorized by the court, and in the early 20th century, the Board of Supervisors.  According to Chapter LII of the 1860 Virginia Code, once a person applied for a county road to be opened or changed, the court proceeded by appointing road commissioners and otherwise ascertaining the practicality and usefulness of the proposed road, the benefit to the community and individual, and any damages to surrounding property. To establish any one road, no more than one acre could be taken from a single individual.  The road proposed is usually identified as being the road from \"Point A\" to \"Point B,\" the points being known areas of interest, i.e. mills, churches, stores, dams, turnpikes, and so on.","First, the circuit court received an application for a county road, usually from an individual with anywhere between one and upwards of 30 fellow petitioners. The court then directed one or more of the county's road commissioners to view the proposed land for the road and its surroundings and then report on the conveniences and inconveniences to both individuals and the public - especially if any yard, garden, or orchard needed to be taken for the proposed road. The commissioner's job was to report facts and circumstances that would help the court determine the expediency of establishing or altering the county road. The commissioner(s) could also offer their opinion either in favor of or against the proposed road and suggest alternate routes. A map, plat, or diagram had to accompany the road commissioner(s) report, and if the commissioner was not a surveyor, one had to be procured.","Citizens could also apply to discontinue a road, though it was far rarer. To do so, the person had to publish a notice of the intended application on the first day of the county court's term at the county courthouse door and in two public places in the neighborhood.","After it received all the reports and other evidence, the court then determined whether the road would be established or altered as proposed and who would maintain it.","Once the court received the commissioner's report, provided it was favorable to the proposed road, the court summoned the proprietors and tenants of the lands affected by the proposed road. Once the sheriff executed the summons, the court determined the matter of the road without a writ of ad quod damnum if the court had enough funds for a just compensation and if the proprietors and tenants accepted the compensation. (A writ of ad quod damnum is a law term from the English chancery ordering the sheriff to determine what damages a certain act will incur). But if any proprietor or tenant wished for a writ or the court saw good cause for it, the court awarded it. The writ of ad quod damnum commanded the sheriff to summon a jury of twelve freeholders to meet on the proprietors' and tenants' lands, view them, and ascertain a just compensation for the land damages. The jury also ascertained if the proposed road was one of more private convenience and, accordingly, if a lesser compensation was appropriate.","Once the court received the commissioner's report, provided it was favorable to the proposed road, the court summoned the proprietors and tenants of the lands affected by the proposed road. Once the sheriff executed the summons, the court determined the matter of the road without a writ of ad quod damnum if the court had enough funds for a just compensation and if the proprietors and tenants accepted the compensation. (A writ of ad quod damnum is a law term from the English chancery ordering the sheriff to determine what damages a certain act will incur). But if any proprietor or tenant wished for a writ or the court saw good cause for it, the court awarded it. The writ of ad quod damnum commanded the sheriff to summon a jury of twelve freeholders to meet on the proprietors' and tenants' lands, view them, and ascertain a just compensation for the land damages. The jury also ascertained if the proposed road was one of more private convenience and, accordingly, if a lesser compensation was appropriate.","This collection starts in 1844 and ends in 1908.  The bulk of the collection is concentrated from 1867 through 1890, with a particularly prominent concentration from 1886 through 1890. No records from 1859 through 1865 exist.  Likewise, no road petition records exist prior to 1844 - both gaps in chronology are likely due to military activity during the Civil War. The Library of Virginia identifies Fairfax County as a \"Lost Records Locality,\" meaning this locality suffered significant losses of early records due to military action. Our records end in 1908 because the law changed in 1909, shifting responsibility for road petitions to the county's Board of Supervisors.","Most road petition folders include court summons and/or the original petition. These petitions usually include original signatures. Many also include reports from district road commissioners, plats, and letters of correspondence to the court. The reports from the road commissioners and the court summons are the most common documents, while the plats and letters are slightly rarer.","In addition to the main petitioner, month and year of the petition, and the road in question, each folder notes any additional petitioners if applicable and neighbors around the proposed road. The neighbors are particularly useful to see who lived near who, and how that changed over time. Some neighbor listings note someone's heirs, which indicates the property owner is deceased and their heirs owned the property. If a plat is included, it is noted on the folder and in the index.","One person of note from this collection is Margaret Hetzel. Her name appears in eight road petitions either as a main petitioner, an additional petitioner, or a neighbor. She appears to have been very active in the Fairfax community, even into her old age as her health declined and kept her from appearing in court. Her main concern in these road petitions was road safety. In several of the cases, she wrote directly to the judge urging him to grant the road petition because the existing road or route was unsafe.  She expressed concern over a very high hill, decaying bridges, and deeply rutted roads. And in road cases in 1892, 1893 and 1897, she freely gave her land and did not claim any damages. She seems to have been a woman committed to improving her community and far more involved in doing so than we might expect for the average 19th century woman.","Unit 40, Shelf 5\n","Fairfax Circuit Court","Richardson, F. D. (1808-1880)","English\n"],"collection_title_tesim":["Fairfax County Road Petitions, 1844-1908\t, \n 1844-1854, 1856-1858, 1866-1908, non-inclusive"],"collection_ssim":["Fairfax County Road Petitions, 1844-1908\t, \n 1844-1854, 1856-1858, 1866-1908, non-inclusive"],"repository_ssm":["Fairfax Circuit Court Historic Records Center"],"repository_ssim":["Fairfax Circuit Court Historic Records Center"],"geogname_ssm":["Fairfax County, Virginia"],"geogname_ssim":["Fairfax County, Virginia"],"creator_ssm":["Fairfax Circuit Court\n"],"creator_ssim":["Fairfax Circuit Court\n"],"places_ssim":["Fairfax County, Virginia"],"acqinfo_ssim":["Permanent Records of Fairfax Circuit Court.\n"],"access_subjects_ssim":["Roads, transportation, railroads, road repairs, road safety","Clerk of Circuit Court","Paper, iron gall ink, graphite pencil, watercolor"],"access_subjects_ssm":["Roads, transportation, railroads, road repairs, road safety","Clerk of Circuit Court","Paper, iron gall ink, graphite pencil, watercolor"],"has_online_content_ssim":["false"],"physdesc_tesim":["."],"extent_ssm":["5 linear feet"],"extent_tesim":["5 linear feet"],"genreform_ssim":["Paper, iron gall ink, graphite pencil, watercolor"],"arrangement_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eThe collection is arranged chronologically by the year the petition was made, and then alphabetically by the main petitioner within each year.\n\u003c/p\u003e"],"arrangement_heading_ssm":["Arrangement\n"],"arrangement_tesim":["The collection is arranged chronologically by the year the petition was made, and then alphabetically by the main petitioner within each year.\n"],"bioghist_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eFairfax County was founded in 1742 from the northern part of Prince William County. Public transportation was, and continues to be, vital to Fairfax County's economy. Using the Code of Virginia, one can better understand how roads were authorized and developed.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003ePrior to the Byrd Road Act of 1932, roads were authorized by the court, and in the early 20th century, the Board of Supervisors.  According to Chapter LII of the 1860 Virginia Code, once a person applied for a county road to be opened or changed, the court proceeded by appointing road commissioners and otherwise ascertaining the practicality and usefulness of the proposed road, the benefit to the community and individual, and any damages to surrounding property. To establish any one road, no more than one acre could be taken from a single individual.  The road proposed is usually identified as being the road from \"Point A\" to \"Point B,\" the points being known areas of interest, i.e. mills, churches, stores, dams, turnpikes, and so on.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eFirst, the circuit court received an application for a county road, usually from an individual with anywhere between one and upwards of 30 fellow petitioners. The court then directed one or more of the county's road commissioners to view the proposed land for the road and its surroundings and then report on the conveniences and inconveniences to both individuals and the public - especially if any yard, garden, or orchard needed to be taken for the proposed road. The commissioner's job was to report facts and circumstances that would help the court determine the expediency of establishing or altering the county road. The commissioner(s) could also offer their opinion either in favor of or against the proposed road and suggest alternate routes. A map, plat, or diagram had to accompany the road commissioner(s) report, and if the commissioner was not a surveyor, one had to be procured.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eCitizens could also apply to discontinue a road, though it was far rarer. To do so, the person had to publish a notice of the intended application on the first day of the county court's term at the county courthouse door and in two public places in the neighborhood.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eAfter it received all the reports and other evidence, the court then determined whether the road would be established or altered as proposed and who would maintain it.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eOnce the court received the commissioner's report, provided it was favorable to the proposed road, the court summoned the proprietors and tenants of the lands affected by the proposed road. Once the sheriff executed the summons, the court determined the matter of the road without a writ of ad quod damnum if the court had enough funds for a just compensation and if the proprietors and tenants accepted the compensation. (A writ of ad quod damnum is a law term from the English chancery ordering the sheriff to determine what damages a certain act will incur). But if any proprietor or tenant wished for a writ or the court saw good cause for it, the court awarded it. The writ of ad quod damnum commanded the sheriff to summon a jury of twelve freeholders to meet on the proprietors' and tenants' lands, view them, and ascertain a just compensation for the land damages. The jury also ascertained if the proposed road was one of more private convenience and, accordingly, if a lesser compensation was appropriate.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eOnce the court received the commissioner's report, provided it was favorable to the proposed road, the court summoned the proprietors and tenants of the lands affected by the proposed road. Once the sheriff executed the summons, the court determined the matter of the road without a writ of ad quod damnum if the court had enough funds for a just compensation and if the proprietors and tenants accepted the compensation. (A writ of ad quod damnum is a law term from the English chancery ordering the sheriff to determine what damages a certain act will incur). But if any proprietor or tenant wished for a writ or the court saw good cause for it, the court awarded it. The writ of ad quod damnum commanded the sheriff to summon a jury of twelve freeholders to meet on the proprietors' and tenants' lands, view them, and ascertain a just compensation for the land damages. The jury also ascertained if the proposed road was one of more private convenience and, accordingly, if a lesser compensation was appropriate.\u003c/p\u003e"],"bioghist_heading_ssm":["Biographical Information\n"],"bioghist_tesim":["Fairfax County was founded in 1742 from the northern part of Prince William County. Public transportation was, and continues to be, vital to Fairfax County's economy. Using the Code of Virginia, one can better understand how roads were authorized and developed.","Prior to the Byrd Road Act of 1932, roads were authorized by the court, and in the early 20th century, the Board of Supervisors.  According to Chapter LII of the 1860 Virginia Code, once a person applied for a county road to be opened or changed, the court proceeded by appointing road commissioners and otherwise ascertaining the practicality and usefulness of the proposed road, the benefit to the community and individual, and any damages to surrounding property. To establish any one road, no more than one acre could be taken from a single individual.  The road proposed is usually identified as being the road from \"Point A\" to \"Point B,\" the points being known areas of interest, i.e. mills, churches, stores, dams, turnpikes, and so on.","First, the circuit court received an application for a county road, usually from an individual with anywhere between one and upwards of 30 fellow petitioners. The court then directed one or more of the county's road commissioners to view the proposed land for the road and its surroundings and then report on the conveniences and inconveniences to both individuals and the public - especially if any yard, garden, or orchard needed to be taken for the proposed road. The commissioner's job was to report facts and circumstances that would help the court determine the expediency of establishing or altering the county road. The commissioner(s) could also offer their opinion either in favor of or against the proposed road and suggest alternate routes. A map, plat, or diagram had to accompany the road commissioner(s) report, and if the commissioner was not a surveyor, one had to be procured.","Citizens could also apply to discontinue a road, though it was far rarer. To do so, the person had to publish a notice of the intended application on the first day of the county court's term at the county courthouse door and in two public places in the neighborhood.","After it received all the reports and other evidence, the court then determined whether the road would be established or altered as proposed and who would maintain it.","Once the court received the commissioner's report, provided it was favorable to the proposed road, the court summoned the proprietors and tenants of the lands affected by the proposed road. Once the sheriff executed the summons, the court determined the matter of the road without a writ of ad quod damnum if the court had enough funds for a just compensation and if the proprietors and tenants accepted the compensation. (A writ of ad quod damnum is a law term from the English chancery ordering the sheriff to determine what damages a certain act will incur). But if any proprietor or tenant wished for a writ or the court saw good cause for it, the court awarded it. The writ of ad quod damnum commanded the sheriff to summon a jury of twelve freeholders to meet on the proprietors' and tenants' lands, view them, and ascertain a just compensation for the land damages. The jury also ascertained if the proposed road was one of more private convenience and, accordingly, if a lesser compensation was appropriate.","Once the court received the commissioner's report, provided it was favorable to the proposed road, the court summoned the proprietors and tenants of the lands affected by the proposed road. Once the sheriff executed the summons, the court determined the matter of the road without a writ of ad quod damnum if the court had enough funds for a just compensation and if the proprietors and tenants accepted the compensation. (A writ of ad quod damnum is a law term from the English chancery ordering the sheriff to determine what damages a certain act will incur). But if any proprietor or tenant wished for a writ or the court saw good cause for it, the court awarded it. The writ of ad quod damnum commanded the sheriff to summon a jury of twelve freeholders to meet on the proprietors' and tenants' lands, view them, and ascertain a just compensation for the land damages. The jury also ascertained if the proposed road was one of more private convenience and, accordingly, if a lesser compensation was appropriate."],"scopecontent_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eThis collection starts in 1844 and ends in 1908.  The bulk of the collection is concentrated from 1867 through 1890, with a particularly prominent concentration from 1886 through 1890. No records from 1859 through 1865 exist.  Likewise, no road petition records exist prior to 1844 - both gaps in chronology are likely due to military activity during the Civil War. The Library of Virginia identifies Fairfax County as a \"Lost Records Locality,\" meaning this locality suffered significant losses of early records due to military action. Our records end in 1908 because the law changed in 1909, shifting responsibility for road petitions to the county's Board of Supervisors.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eMost road petition folders include court summons and/or the original petition. These petitions usually include original signatures. Many also include reports from district road commissioners, plats, and letters of correspondence to the court. The reports from the road commissioners and the court summons are the most common documents, while the plats and letters are slightly rarer.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eIn addition to the main petitioner, month and year of the petition, and the road in question, each folder notes any additional petitioners if applicable and neighbors around the proposed road. The neighbors are particularly useful to see who lived near who, and how that changed over time. Some neighbor listings note someone's heirs, which indicates the property owner is deceased and their heirs owned the property. If a plat is included, it is noted on the folder and in the index.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eOne person of note from this collection is Margaret Hetzel. Her name appears in eight road petitions either as a main petitioner, an additional petitioner, or a neighbor. She appears to have been very active in the Fairfax community, even into her old age as her health declined and kept her from appearing in court. Her main concern in these road petitions was road safety. In several of the cases, she wrote directly to the judge urging him to grant the road petition because the existing road or route was unsafe.  She expressed concern over a very high hill, decaying bridges, and deeply rutted roads. And in road cases in 1892, 1893 and 1897, she freely gave her land and did not claim any damages. She seems to have been a woman committed to improving her community and far more involved in doing so than we might expect for the average 19th century woman.\u003c/p\u003e"],"scopecontent_heading_ssm":["Scope and Content\n"],"scopecontent_tesim":["This collection starts in 1844 and ends in 1908.  The bulk of the collection is concentrated from 1867 through 1890, with a particularly prominent concentration from 1886 through 1890. No records from 1859 through 1865 exist.  Likewise, no road petition records exist prior to 1844 - both gaps in chronology are likely due to military activity during the Civil War. The Library of Virginia identifies Fairfax County as a \"Lost Records Locality,\" meaning this locality suffered significant losses of early records due to military action. Our records end in 1908 because the law changed in 1909, shifting responsibility for road petitions to the county's Board of Supervisors.","Most road petition folders include court summons and/or the original petition. These petitions usually include original signatures. Many also include reports from district road commissioners, plats, and letters of correspondence to the court. The reports from the road commissioners and the court summons are the most common documents, while the plats and letters are slightly rarer.","In addition to the main petitioner, month and year of the petition, and the road in question, each folder notes any additional petitioners if applicable and neighbors around the proposed road. The neighbors are particularly useful to see who lived near who, and how that changed over time. Some neighbor listings note someone's heirs, which indicates the property owner is deceased and their heirs owned the property. If a plat is included, it is noted on the folder and in the index.","One person of note from this collection is Margaret Hetzel. Her name appears in eight road petitions either as a main petitioner, an additional petitioner, or a neighbor. She appears to have been very active in the Fairfax community, even into her old age as her health declined and kept her from appearing in court. Her main concern in these road petitions was road safety. In several of the cases, she wrote directly to the judge urging him to grant the road petition because the existing road or route was unsafe.  She expressed concern over a very high hill, decaying bridges, and deeply rutted roads. And in road cases in 1892, 1893 and 1897, she freely gave her land and did not claim any damages. She seems to have been a woman committed to improving her community and far more involved in doing so than we might expect for the average 19th century woman."],"physloc_html_tesm":["\u003cphysloc label=\"Shelf Location\"\u003eUnit 40, Shelf 5\n\u003c/physloc\u003e"],"physloc_tesim":["Unit 40, Shelf 5\n"],"names_coll_ssim":["Fairfax Circuit Court","Richardson, F. D. (1808-1880)"],"names_ssim":["Fairfax Circuit Court","Richardson, F. D. (1808-1880)"],"corpname_ssim":["Fairfax Circuit Court"],"persname_ssim":["Richardson, F. D. 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Wells on Warrenton and Alexandria Turnpike to Sudley Mills\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e","label":"Abstract Or Scope"}},"breadcrumbs":{"id":"https://search.arvasarchive.org/catalog/vaffcr_vaffcr00001_c101#breadcrumbs","type":"document_value","attributes":{"value":{"ref_ssi":"vaffcr_vaffcr00001_c101","ref_ssm":["vaffcr_vaffcr00001_c101"],"id":"vaffcr_vaffcr00001_c101","ead_ssi":"vaffcr_vaffcr00001","_root_":"vaffcr_vaffcr00001","_nest_parent_":"vaffcr_vaffcr00001","parent_ssi":"vaffcr_vaffcr00001","parent_ssim":["vaffcr_vaffcr00001"],"parent_ids_ssim":["vaffcr_vaffcr00001"],"parent_unittitles_ssm":["Fairfax County Road Petitions, 1844-1908\t, \n 1844-1854, 1856-1858, 1866-1908, non-inclusive"],"parent_unittitles_tesim":["Fairfax County Road Petitions, 1844-1908\t, \n 1844-1854, 1856-1858, 1866-1908, non-inclusive"],"text":["Fairfax County Road Petitions, 1844-1908\t, \n 1844-1854, 1856-1858, 1866-1908, non-inclusive","Unnamed November, 1872","box-folder 3: RP-101","Road from J. Wells on Warrenton and Alexandria Turnpike to Sudley Mills"],"title_filing_ssi":"Unnamed November, 1872\n","title_ssm":["Unnamed November, 1872\n"],"title_tesim":["Unnamed November, 1872\n"],"normalized_title_ssm":["Unnamed November, 1872"],"component_level_isim":[1],"repository_ssim":["Fairfax Circuit Court Historic Records Center"],"collection_ssim":["Fairfax County Road Petitions, 1844-1908\t, \n 1844-1854, 1856-1858, 1866-1908, non-inclusive"],"has_online_content_ssim":["false"],"child_component_count_isi":0,"level_ssm":["File"],"level_ssim":["File"],"sort_isi":101,"containers_ssim":["box-folder 3: RP-101"],"scopecontent_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003e\u003ctitle render=\"italic\"\u003eRoad from J. Wells on Warrenton and Alexandria Turnpike to Sudley Mills\u003c/title\u003e\n\u003c/p\u003e"],"scopecontent_tesim":["Road from J. Wells on Warrenton and Alexandria Turnpike to Sudley Mills"],"_nest_path_":"/components#100","timestamp":"2026-04-30T21:27:17.608Z","collection":{"numFound":1,"start":0,"numFoundExact":true,"docs":[{"id":"vaffcr_vaffcr00001","ead_ssi":"vaffcr_vaffcr00001","_root_":"vaffcr_vaffcr00001","_nest_parent_":"vaffcr_vaffcr00001","ead_source_url_ssi":"data/fcc/vaffcr00001.xml","title_ssm":["Fairfax County Road Petitions, 1844-1908\t, \n 1844-1854, 1856-1858, 1866-1908, non-inclusive\n"],"title_tesim":["Fairfax County Road Petitions, 1844-1908\t, \n 1844-1854, 1856-1858, 1866-1908, non-inclusive\n"],"level_ssm":["collection"],"level_ssim":["Collection"],"normalized_title_ssm":["Fairfax County Road Petitions, 1844-1908\t, \n 1844-1854, 1856-1858, 1866-1908, non-inclusive"],"text":["Fairfax County Road Petitions, 1844-1908\t, \n 1844-1854, 1856-1858, 1866-1908, non-inclusive","Fairfax County, Virginia","Roads, transportation, railroads, road repairs, road safety","Clerk of Circuit Court","Paper, iron gall ink, graphite pencil, watercolor",".","The collection is arranged chronologically by the year the petition was made, and then alphabetically by the main petitioner within each year.\n","Fairfax County was founded in 1742 from the northern part of Prince William County. Public transportation was, and continues to be, vital to Fairfax County's economy. Using the Code of Virginia, one can better understand how roads were authorized and developed.","Prior to the Byrd Road Act of 1932, roads were authorized by the court, and in the early 20th century, the Board of Supervisors.  According to Chapter LII of the 1860 Virginia Code, once a person applied for a county road to be opened or changed, the court proceeded by appointing road commissioners and otherwise ascertaining the practicality and usefulness of the proposed road, the benefit to the community and individual, and any damages to surrounding property. To establish any one road, no more than one acre could be taken from a single individual.  The road proposed is usually identified as being the road from \"Point A\" to \"Point B,\" the points being known areas of interest, i.e. mills, churches, stores, dams, turnpikes, and so on.","First, the circuit court received an application for a county road, usually from an individual with anywhere between one and upwards of 30 fellow petitioners. The court then directed one or more of the county's road commissioners to view the proposed land for the road and its surroundings and then report on the conveniences and inconveniences to both individuals and the public - especially if any yard, garden, or orchard needed to be taken for the proposed road. The commissioner's job was to report facts and circumstances that would help the court determine the expediency of establishing or altering the county road. The commissioner(s) could also offer their opinion either in favor of or against the proposed road and suggest alternate routes. A map, plat, or diagram had to accompany the road commissioner(s) report, and if the commissioner was not a surveyor, one had to be procured.","Citizens could also apply to discontinue a road, though it was far rarer. To do so, the person had to publish a notice of the intended application on the first day of the county court's term at the county courthouse door and in two public places in the neighborhood.","After it received all the reports and other evidence, the court then determined whether the road would be established or altered as proposed and who would maintain it.","Once the court received the commissioner's report, provided it was favorable to the proposed road, the court summoned the proprietors and tenants of the lands affected by the proposed road. Once the sheriff executed the summons, the court determined the matter of the road without a writ of ad quod damnum if the court had enough funds for a just compensation and if the proprietors and tenants accepted the compensation. (A writ of ad quod damnum is a law term from the English chancery ordering the sheriff to determine what damages a certain act will incur). But if any proprietor or tenant wished for a writ or the court saw good cause for it, the court awarded it. The writ of ad quod damnum commanded the sheriff to summon a jury of twelve freeholders to meet on the proprietors' and tenants' lands, view them, and ascertain a just compensation for the land damages. The jury also ascertained if the proposed road was one of more private convenience and, accordingly, if a lesser compensation was appropriate.","Once the court received the commissioner's report, provided it was favorable to the proposed road, the court summoned the proprietors and tenants of the lands affected by the proposed road. Once the sheriff executed the summons, the court determined the matter of the road without a writ of ad quod damnum if the court had enough funds for a just compensation and if the proprietors and tenants accepted the compensation. (A writ of ad quod damnum is a law term from the English chancery ordering the sheriff to determine what damages a certain act will incur). But if any proprietor or tenant wished for a writ or the court saw good cause for it, the court awarded it. The writ of ad quod damnum commanded the sheriff to summon a jury of twelve freeholders to meet on the proprietors' and tenants' lands, view them, and ascertain a just compensation for the land damages. The jury also ascertained if the proposed road was one of more private convenience and, accordingly, if a lesser compensation was appropriate.","This collection starts in 1844 and ends in 1908.  The bulk of the collection is concentrated from 1867 through 1890, with a particularly prominent concentration from 1886 through 1890. No records from 1859 through 1865 exist.  Likewise, no road petition records exist prior to 1844 - both gaps in chronology are likely due to military activity during the Civil War. The Library of Virginia identifies Fairfax County as a \"Lost Records Locality,\" meaning this locality suffered significant losses of early records due to military action. Our records end in 1908 because the law changed in 1909, shifting responsibility for road petitions to the county's Board of Supervisors.","Most road petition folders include court summons and/or the original petition. These petitions usually include original signatures. Many also include reports from district road commissioners, plats, and letters of correspondence to the court. The reports from the road commissioners and the court summons are the most common documents, while the plats and letters are slightly rarer.","In addition to the main petitioner, month and year of the petition, and the road in question, each folder notes any additional petitioners if applicable and neighbors around the proposed road. The neighbors are particularly useful to see who lived near who, and how that changed over time. Some neighbor listings note someone's heirs, which indicates the property owner is deceased and their heirs owned the property. If a plat is included, it is noted on the folder and in the index.","One person of note from this collection is Margaret Hetzel. Her name appears in eight road petitions either as a main petitioner, an additional petitioner, or a neighbor. She appears to have been very active in the Fairfax community, even into her old age as her health declined and kept her from appearing in court. Her main concern in these road petitions was road safety. In several of the cases, she wrote directly to the judge urging him to grant the road petition because the existing road or route was unsafe.  She expressed concern over a very high hill, decaying bridges, and deeply rutted roads. And in road cases in 1892, 1893 and 1897, she freely gave her land and did not claim any damages. She seems to have been a woman committed to improving her community and far more involved in doing so than we might expect for the average 19th century woman.","Unit 40, Shelf 5\n","Fairfax Circuit Court","Richardson, F. D. (1808-1880)","English\n"],"collection_title_tesim":["Fairfax County Road Petitions, 1844-1908\t, \n 1844-1854, 1856-1858, 1866-1908, non-inclusive"],"collection_ssim":["Fairfax County Road Petitions, 1844-1908\t, \n 1844-1854, 1856-1858, 1866-1908, non-inclusive"],"repository_ssm":["Fairfax Circuit Court Historic Records Center"],"repository_ssim":["Fairfax Circuit Court Historic Records Center"],"geogname_ssm":["Fairfax County, Virginia"],"geogname_ssim":["Fairfax County, Virginia"],"creator_ssm":["Fairfax Circuit Court\n"],"creator_ssim":["Fairfax Circuit Court\n"],"places_ssim":["Fairfax County, Virginia"],"acqinfo_ssim":["Permanent Records of Fairfax Circuit Court.\n"],"access_subjects_ssim":["Roads, transportation, railroads, road repairs, road safety","Clerk of Circuit Court","Paper, iron gall ink, graphite pencil, watercolor"],"access_subjects_ssm":["Roads, transportation, railroads, road repairs, road safety","Clerk of Circuit Court","Paper, iron gall ink, graphite pencil, watercolor"],"has_online_content_ssim":["false"],"physdesc_tesim":["."],"extent_ssm":["5 linear feet"],"extent_tesim":["5 linear feet"],"genreform_ssim":["Paper, iron gall ink, graphite pencil, watercolor"],"arrangement_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eThe collection is arranged chronologically by the year the petition was made, and then alphabetically by the main petitioner within each year.\n\u003c/p\u003e"],"arrangement_heading_ssm":["Arrangement\n"],"arrangement_tesim":["The collection is arranged chronologically by the year the petition was made, and then alphabetically by the main petitioner within each year.\n"],"bioghist_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eFairfax County was founded in 1742 from the northern part of Prince William County. Public transportation was, and continues to be, vital to Fairfax County's economy. Using the Code of Virginia, one can better understand how roads were authorized and developed.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003ePrior to the Byrd Road Act of 1932, roads were authorized by the court, and in the early 20th century, the Board of Supervisors.  According to Chapter LII of the 1860 Virginia Code, once a person applied for a county road to be opened or changed, the court proceeded by appointing road commissioners and otherwise ascertaining the practicality and usefulness of the proposed road, the benefit to the community and individual, and any damages to surrounding property. To establish any one road, no more than one acre could be taken from a single individual.  The road proposed is usually identified as being the road from \"Point A\" to \"Point B,\" the points being known areas of interest, i.e. mills, churches, stores, dams, turnpikes, and so on.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eFirst, the circuit court received an application for a county road, usually from an individual with anywhere between one and upwards of 30 fellow petitioners. The court then directed one or more of the county's road commissioners to view the proposed land for the road and its surroundings and then report on the conveniences and inconveniences to both individuals and the public - especially if any yard, garden, or orchard needed to be taken for the proposed road. The commissioner's job was to report facts and circumstances that would help the court determine the expediency of establishing or altering the county road. The commissioner(s) could also offer their opinion either in favor of or against the proposed road and suggest alternate routes. A map, plat, or diagram had to accompany the road commissioner(s) report, and if the commissioner was not a surveyor, one had to be procured.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eCitizens could also apply to discontinue a road, though it was far rarer. To do so, the person had to publish a notice of the intended application on the first day of the county court's term at the county courthouse door and in two public places in the neighborhood.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eAfter it received all the reports and other evidence, the court then determined whether the road would be established or altered as proposed and who would maintain it.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eOnce the court received the commissioner's report, provided it was favorable to the proposed road, the court summoned the proprietors and tenants of the lands affected by the proposed road. Once the sheriff executed the summons, the court determined the matter of the road without a writ of ad quod damnum if the court had enough funds for a just compensation and if the proprietors and tenants accepted the compensation. (A writ of ad quod damnum is a law term from the English chancery ordering the sheriff to determine what damages a certain act will incur). But if any proprietor or tenant wished for a writ or the court saw good cause for it, the court awarded it. The writ of ad quod damnum commanded the sheriff to summon a jury of twelve freeholders to meet on the proprietors' and tenants' lands, view them, and ascertain a just compensation for the land damages. The jury also ascertained if the proposed road was one of more private convenience and, accordingly, if a lesser compensation was appropriate.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eOnce the court received the commissioner's report, provided it was favorable to the proposed road, the court summoned the proprietors and tenants of the lands affected by the proposed road. Once the sheriff executed the summons, the court determined the matter of the road without a writ of ad quod damnum if the court had enough funds for a just compensation and if the proprietors and tenants accepted the compensation. (A writ of ad quod damnum is a law term from the English chancery ordering the sheriff to determine what damages a certain act will incur). But if any proprietor or tenant wished for a writ or the court saw good cause for it, the court awarded it. The writ of ad quod damnum commanded the sheriff to summon a jury of twelve freeholders to meet on the proprietors' and tenants' lands, view them, and ascertain a just compensation for the land damages. The jury also ascertained if the proposed road was one of more private convenience and, accordingly, if a lesser compensation was appropriate.\u003c/p\u003e"],"bioghist_heading_ssm":["Biographical Information\n"],"bioghist_tesim":["Fairfax County was founded in 1742 from the northern part of Prince William County. Public transportation was, and continues to be, vital to Fairfax County's economy. Using the Code of Virginia, one can better understand how roads were authorized and developed.","Prior to the Byrd Road Act of 1932, roads were authorized by the court, and in the early 20th century, the Board of Supervisors.  According to Chapter LII of the 1860 Virginia Code, once a person applied for a county road to be opened or changed, the court proceeded by appointing road commissioners and otherwise ascertaining the practicality and usefulness of the proposed road, the benefit to the community and individual, and any damages to surrounding property. To establish any one road, no more than one acre could be taken from a single individual.  The road proposed is usually identified as being the road from \"Point A\" to \"Point B,\" the points being known areas of interest, i.e. mills, churches, stores, dams, turnpikes, and so on.","First, the circuit court received an application for a county road, usually from an individual with anywhere between one and upwards of 30 fellow petitioners. The court then directed one or more of the county's road commissioners to view the proposed land for the road and its surroundings and then report on the conveniences and inconveniences to both individuals and the public - especially if any yard, garden, or orchard needed to be taken for the proposed road. The commissioner's job was to report facts and circumstances that would help the court determine the expediency of establishing or altering the county road. The commissioner(s) could also offer their opinion either in favor of or against the proposed road and suggest alternate routes. A map, plat, or diagram had to accompany the road commissioner(s) report, and if the commissioner was not a surveyor, one had to be procured.","Citizens could also apply to discontinue a road, though it was far rarer. To do so, the person had to publish a notice of the intended application on the first day of the county court's term at the county courthouse door and in two public places in the neighborhood.","After it received all the reports and other evidence, the court then determined whether the road would be established or altered as proposed and who would maintain it.","Once the court received the commissioner's report, provided it was favorable to the proposed road, the court summoned the proprietors and tenants of the lands affected by the proposed road. Once the sheriff executed the summons, the court determined the matter of the road without a writ of ad quod damnum if the court had enough funds for a just compensation and if the proprietors and tenants accepted the compensation. (A writ of ad quod damnum is a law term from the English chancery ordering the sheriff to determine what damages a certain act will incur). But if any proprietor or tenant wished for a writ or the court saw good cause for it, the court awarded it. The writ of ad quod damnum commanded the sheriff to summon a jury of twelve freeholders to meet on the proprietors' and tenants' lands, view them, and ascertain a just compensation for the land damages. The jury also ascertained if the proposed road was one of more private convenience and, accordingly, if a lesser compensation was appropriate.","Once the court received the commissioner's report, provided it was favorable to the proposed road, the court summoned the proprietors and tenants of the lands affected by the proposed road. Once the sheriff executed the summons, the court determined the matter of the road without a writ of ad quod damnum if the court had enough funds for a just compensation and if the proprietors and tenants accepted the compensation. (A writ of ad quod damnum is a law term from the English chancery ordering the sheriff to determine what damages a certain act will incur). But if any proprietor or tenant wished for a writ or the court saw good cause for it, the court awarded it. The writ of ad quod damnum commanded the sheriff to summon a jury of twelve freeholders to meet on the proprietors' and tenants' lands, view them, and ascertain a just compensation for the land damages. The jury also ascertained if the proposed road was one of more private convenience and, accordingly, if a lesser compensation was appropriate."],"scopecontent_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eThis collection starts in 1844 and ends in 1908.  The bulk of the collection is concentrated from 1867 through 1890, with a particularly prominent concentration from 1886 through 1890. No records from 1859 through 1865 exist.  Likewise, no road petition records exist prior to 1844 - both gaps in chronology are likely due to military activity during the Civil War. The Library of Virginia identifies Fairfax County as a \"Lost Records Locality,\" meaning this locality suffered significant losses of early records due to military action. Our records end in 1908 because the law changed in 1909, shifting responsibility for road petitions to the county's Board of Supervisors.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eMost road petition folders include court summons and/or the original petition. These petitions usually include original signatures. Many also include reports from district road commissioners, plats, and letters of correspondence to the court. The reports from the road commissioners and the court summons are the most common documents, while the plats and letters are slightly rarer.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eIn addition to the main petitioner, month and year of the petition, and the road in question, each folder notes any additional petitioners if applicable and neighbors around the proposed road. The neighbors are particularly useful to see who lived near who, and how that changed over time. Some neighbor listings note someone's heirs, which indicates the property owner is deceased and their heirs owned the property. If a plat is included, it is noted on the folder and in the index.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eOne person of note from this collection is Margaret Hetzel. Her name appears in eight road petitions either as a main petitioner, an additional petitioner, or a neighbor. She appears to have been very active in the Fairfax community, even into her old age as her health declined and kept her from appearing in court. Her main concern in these road petitions was road safety. In several of the cases, she wrote directly to the judge urging him to grant the road petition because the existing road or route was unsafe.  She expressed concern over a very high hill, decaying bridges, and deeply rutted roads. And in road cases in 1892, 1893 and 1897, she freely gave her land and did not claim any damages. She seems to have been a woman committed to improving her community and far more involved in doing so than we might expect for the average 19th century woman.\u003c/p\u003e"],"scopecontent_heading_ssm":["Scope and Content\n"],"scopecontent_tesim":["This collection starts in 1844 and ends in 1908.  The bulk of the collection is concentrated from 1867 through 1890, with a particularly prominent concentration from 1886 through 1890. No records from 1859 through 1865 exist.  Likewise, no road petition records exist prior to 1844 - both gaps in chronology are likely due to military activity during the Civil War. The Library of Virginia identifies Fairfax County as a \"Lost Records Locality,\" meaning this locality suffered significant losses of early records due to military action. Our records end in 1908 because the law changed in 1909, shifting responsibility for road petitions to the county's Board of Supervisors.","Most road petition folders include court summons and/or the original petition. These petitions usually include original signatures. Many also include reports from district road commissioners, plats, and letters of correspondence to the court. The reports from the road commissioners and the court summons are the most common documents, while the plats and letters are slightly rarer.","In addition to the main petitioner, month and year of the petition, and the road in question, each folder notes any additional petitioners if applicable and neighbors around the proposed road. The neighbors are particularly useful to see who lived near who, and how that changed over time. Some neighbor listings note someone's heirs, which indicates the property owner is deceased and their heirs owned the property. If a plat is included, it is noted on the folder and in the index.","One person of note from this collection is Margaret Hetzel. Her name appears in eight road petitions either as a main petitioner, an additional petitioner, or a neighbor. She appears to have been very active in the Fairfax community, even into her old age as her health declined and kept her from appearing in court. Her main concern in these road petitions was road safety. In several of the cases, she wrote directly to the judge urging him to grant the road petition because the existing road or route was unsafe.  She expressed concern over a very high hill, decaying bridges, and deeply rutted roads. And in road cases in 1892, 1893 and 1897, she freely gave her land and did not claim any damages. She seems to have been a woman committed to improving her community and far more involved in doing so than we might expect for the average 19th century woman."],"physloc_html_tesm":["\u003cphysloc label=\"Shelf Location\"\u003eUnit 40, Shelf 5\n\u003c/physloc\u003e"],"physloc_tesim":["Unit 40, Shelf 5\n"],"names_coll_ssim":["Fairfax Circuit Court","Richardson, F. D. (1808-1880)"],"names_ssim":["Fairfax Circuit Court","Richardson, F. D. (1808-1880)"],"corpname_ssim":["Fairfax Circuit Court"],"persname_ssim":["Richardson, F. D. (1808-1880)"],"language_ssim":["English\n"],"total_component_count_is":360,"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_vaffcr00001_c101"}},{"id":"vaffcr_vaffcr00001_c283","type":"File","attributes":{"title":"Unnamed November, 1894","abstract_or_scope":{"id":"https://search.arvasarchive.org/catalog/vaffcr_vaffcr00001_c283#abstract_or_scope","type":"document_value","attributes":{"value":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eRoad from Falls Church to Little River Turnpike\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e","label":"Abstract Or Scope"}},"breadcrumbs":{"id":"https://search.arvasarchive.org/catalog/vaffcr_vaffcr00001_c283#breadcrumbs","type":"document_value","attributes":{"value":{"ref_ssi":"vaffcr_vaffcr00001_c283","ref_ssm":["vaffcr_vaffcr00001_c283"],"id":"vaffcr_vaffcr00001_c283","ead_ssi":"vaffcr_vaffcr00001","_root_":"vaffcr_vaffcr00001","_nest_parent_":"vaffcr_vaffcr00001","parent_ssi":"vaffcr_vaffcr00001","parent_ssim":["vaffcr_vaffcr00001"],"parent_ids_ssim":["vaffcr_vaffcr00001"],"parent_unittitles_ssm":["Fairfax County Road Petitions, 1844-1908\t, \n 1844-1854, 1856-1858, 1866-1908, non-inclusive"],"parent_unittitles_tesim":["Fairfax County Road Petitions, 1844-1908\t, \n 1844-1854, 1856-1858, 1866-1908, non-inclusive"],"text":["Fairfax County Road Petitions, 1844-1908\t, \n 1844-1854, 1856-1858, 1866-1908, non-inclusive","Unnamed November, 1894","box-folder 8: RP-282","Road from Falls Church to Little River Turnpike"],"title_filing_ssi":"Unnamed November, 1894\n","title_ssm":["Unnamed November, 1894\n"],"title_tesim":["Unnamed November, 1894\n"],"normalized_title_ssm":["Unnamed November, 1894"],"component_level_isim":[1],"repository_ssim":["Fairfax Circuit Court Historic Records Center"],"collection_ssim":["Fairfax County Road Petitions, 1844-1908\t, \n 1844-1854, 1856-1858, 1866-1908, non-inclusive"],"has_online_content_ssim":["false"],"child_component_count_isi":0,"level_ssm":["File"],"level_ssim":["File"],"sort_isi":283,"containers_ssim":["box-folder 8: RP-282"],"scopecontent_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003e\u003ctitle render=\"italic\"\u003eRoad from Falls Church to Little River Turnpike\u003c/title\u003e\n\u003c/p\u003e"],"scopecontent_tesim":["Road from Falls Church to Little River Turnpike"],"_nest_path_":"/components#282","timestamp":"2026-04-30T21:27:17.608Z","collection":{"numFound":1,"start":0,"numFoundExact":true,"docs":[{"id":"vaffcr_vaffcr00001","ead_ssi":"vaffcr_vaffcr00001","_root_":"vaffcr_vaffcr00001","_nest_parent_":"vaffcr_vaffcr00001","ead_source_url_ssi":"data/fcc/vaffcr00001.xml","title_ssm":["Fairfax County Road Petitions, 1844-1908\t, \n 1844-1854, 1856-1858, 1866-1908, non-inclusive\n"],"title_tesim":["Fairfax County Road Petitions, 1844-1908\t, \n 1844-1854, 1856-1858, 1866-1908, non-inclusive\n"],"level_ssm":["collection"],"level_ssim":["Collection"],"normalized_title_ssm":["Fairfax County Road Petitions, 1844-1908\t, \n 1844-1854, 1856-1858, 1866-1908, non-inclusive"],"text":["Fairfax County Road Petitions, 1844-1908\t, \n 1844-1854, 1856-1858, 1866-1908, non-inclusive","Fairfax County, Virginia","Roads, transportation, railroads, road repairs, road safety","Clerk of Circuit Court","Paper, iron gall ink, graphite pencil, watercolor",".","The collection is arranged chronologically by the year the petition was made, and then alphabetically by the main petitioner within each year.\n","Fairfax County was founded in 1742 from the northern part of Prince William County. Public transportation was, and continues to be, vital to Fairfax County's economy. Using the Code of Virginia, one can better understand how roads were authorized and developed.","Prior to the Byrd Road Act of 1932, roads were authorized by the court, and in the early 20th century, the Board of Supervisors.  According to Chapter LII of the 1860 Virginia Code, once a person applied for a county road to be opened or changed, the court proceeded by appointing road commissioners and otherwise ascertaining the practicality and usefulness of the proposed road, the benefit to the community and individual, and any damages to surrounding property. To establish any one road, no more than one acre could be taken from a single individual.  The road proposed is usually identified as being the road from \"Point A\" to \"Point B,\" the points being known areas of interest, i.e. mills, churches, stores, dams, turnpikes, and so on.","First, the circuit court received an application for a county road, usually from an individual with anywhere between one and upwards of 30 fellow petitioners. The court then directed one or more of the county's road commissioners to view the proposed land for the road and its surroundings and then report on the conveniences and inconveniences to both individuals and the public - especially if any yard, garden, or orchard needed to be taken for the proposed road. The commissioner's job was to report facts and circumstances that would help the court determine the expediency of establishing or altering the county road. The commissioner(s) could also offer their opinion either in favor of or against the proposed road and suggest alternate routes. A map, plat, or diagram had to accompany the road commissioner(s) report, and if the commissioner was not a surveyor, one had to be procured.","Citizens could also apply to discontinue a road, though it was far rarer. To do so, the person had to publish a notice of the intended application on the first day of the county court's term at the county courthouse door and in two public places in the neighborhood.","After it received all the reports and other evidence, the court then determined whether the road would be established or altered as proposed and who would maintain it.","Once the court received the commissioner's report, provided it was favorable to the proposed road, the court summoned the proprietors and tenants of the lands affected by the proposed road. Once the sheriff executed the summons, the court determined the matter of the road without a writ of ad quod damnum if the court had enough funds for a just compensation and if the proprietors and tenants accepted the compensation. (A writ of ad quod damnum is a law term from the English chancery ordering the sheriff to determine what damages a certain act will incur). But if any proprietor or tenant wished for a writ or the court saw good cause for it, the court awarded it. The writ of ad quod damnum commanded the sheriff to summon a jury of twelve freeholders to meet on the proprietors' and tenants' lands, view them, and ascertain a just compensation for the land damages. The jury also ascertained if the proposed road was one of more private convenience and, accordingly, if a lesser compensation was appropriate.","Once the court received the commissioner's report, provided it was favorable to the proposed road, the court summoned the proprietors and tenants of the lands affected by the proposed road. Once the sheriff executed the summons, the court determined the matter of the road without a writ of ad quod damnum if the court had enough funds for a just compensation and if the proprietors and tenants accepted the compensation. (A writ of ad quod damnum is a law term from the English chancery ordering the sheriff to determine what damages a certain act will incur). But if any proprietor or tenant wished for a writ or the court saw good cause for it, the court awarded it. The writ of ad quod damnum commanded the sheriff to summon a jury of twelve freeholders to meet on the proprietors' and tenants' lands, view them, and ascertain a just compensation for the land damages. The jury also ascertained if the proposed road was one of more private convenience and, accordingly, if a lesser compensation was appropriate.","This collection starts in 1844 and ends in 1908.  The bulk of the collection is concentrated from 1867 through 1890, with a particularly prominent concentration from 1886 through 1890. No records from 1859 through 1865 exist.  Likewise, no road petition records exist prior to 1844 - both gaps in chronology are likely due to military activity during the Civil War. The Library of Virginia identifies Fairfax County as a \"Lost Records Locality,\" meaning this locality suffered significant losses of early records due to military action. Our records end in 1908 because the law changed in 1909, shifting responsibility for road petitions to the county's Board of Supervisors.","Most road petition folders include court summons and/or the original petition. These petitions usually include original signatures. Many also include reports from district road commissioners, plats, and letters of correspondence to the court. The reports from the road commissioners and the court summons are the most common documents, while the plats and letters are slightly rarer.","In addition to the main petitioner, month and year of the petition, and the road in question, each folder notes any additional petitioners if applicable and neighbors around the proposed road. The neighbors are particularly useful to see who lived near who, and how that changed over time. Some neighbor listings note someone's heirs, which indicates the property owner is deceased and their heirs owned the property. If a plat is included, it is noted on the folder and in the index.","One person of note from this collection is Margaret Hetzel. Her name appears in eight road petitions either as a main petitioner, an additional petitioner, or a neighbor. She appears to have been very active in the Fairfax community, even into her old age as her health declined and kept her from appearing in court. Her main concern in these road petitions was road safety. In several of the cases, she wrote directly to the judge urging him to grant the road petition because the existing road or route was unsafe.  She expressed concern over a very high hill, decaying bridges, and deeply rutted roads. And in road cases in 1892, 1893 and 1897, she freely gave her land and did not claim any damages. She seems to have been a woman committed to improving her community and far more involved in doing so than we might expect for the average 19th century woman.","Unit 40, Shelf 5\n","Fairfax Circuit Court","Richardson, F. D. (1808-1880)","English\n"],"collection_title_tesim":["Fairfax County Road Petitions, 1844-1908\t, \n 1844-1854, 1856-1858, 1866-1908, non-inclusive"],"collection_ssim":["Fairfax County Road Petitions, 1844-1908\t, \n 1844-1854, 1856-1858, 1866-1908, non-inclusive"],"repository_ssm":["Fairfax Circuit Court Historic Records Center"],"repository_ssim":["Fairfax Circuit Court Historic Records Center"],"geogname_ssm":["Fairfax County, Virginia"],"geogname_ssim":["Fairfax County, Virginia"],"creator_ssm":["Fairfax Circuit Court\n"],"creator_ssim":["Fairfax Circuit Court\n"],"places_ssim":["Fairfax County, Virginia"],"acqinfo_ssim":["Permanent Records of Fairfax Circuit Court.\n"],"access_subjects_ssim":["Roads, transportation, railroads, road repairs, road safety","Clerk of Circuit Court","Paper, iron gall ink, graphite pencil, watercolor"],"access_subjects_ssm":["Roads, transportation, railroads, road repairs, road safety","Clerk of Circuit Court","Paper, iron gall ink, graphite pencil, watercolor"],"has_online_content_ssim":["false"],"physdesc_tesim":["."],"extent_ssm":["5 linear feet"],"extent_tesim":["5 linear feet"],"genreform_ssim":["Paper, iron gall ink, graphite pencil, watercolor"],"arrangement_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eThe collection is arranged chronologically by the year the petition was made, and then alphabetically by the main petitioner within each year.\n\u003c/p\u003e"],"arrangement_heading_ssm":["Arrangement\n"],"arrangement_tesim":["The collection is arranged chronologically by the year the petition was made, and then alphabetically by the main petitioner within each year.\n"],"bioghist_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eFairfax County was founded in 1742 from the northern part of Prince William County. Public transportation was, and continues to be, vital to Fairfax County's economy. Using the Code of Virginia, one can better understand how roads were authorized and developed.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003ePrior to the Byrd Road Act of 1932, roads were authorized by the court, and in the early 20th century, the Board of Supervisors.  According to Chapter LII of the 1860 Virginia Code, once a person applied for a county road to be opened or changed, the court proceeded by appointing road commissioners and otherwise ascertaining the practicality and usefulness of the proposed road, the benefit to the community and individual, and any damages to surrounding property. To establish any one road, no more than one acre could be taken from a single individual.  The road proposed is usually identified as being the road from \"Point A\" to \"Point B,\" the points being known areas of interest, i.e. mills, churches, stores, dams, turnpikes, and so on.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eFirst, the circuit court received an application for a county road, usually from an individual with anywhere between one and upwards of 30 fellow petitioners. The court then directed one or more of the county's road commissioners to view the proposed land for the road and its surroundings and then report on the conveniences and inconveniences to both individuals and the public - especially if any yard, garden, or orchard needed to be taken for the proposed road. The commissioner's job was to report facts and circumstances that would help the court determine the expediency of establishing or altering the county road. The commissioner(s) could also offer their opinion either in favor of or against the proposed road and suggest alternate routes. A map, plat, or diagram had to accompany the road commissioner(s) report, and if the commissioner was not a surveyor, one had to be procured.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eCitizens could also apply to discontinue a road, though it was far rarer. To do so, the person had to publish a notice of the intended application on the first day of the county court's term at the county courthouse door and in two public places in the neighborhood.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eAfter it received all the reports and other evidence, the court then determined whether the road would be established or altered as proposed and who would maintain it.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eOnce the court received the commissioner's report, provided it was favorable to the proposed road, the court summoned the proprietors and tenants of the lands affected by the proposed road. Once the sheriff executed the summons, the court determined the matter of the road without a writ of ad quod damnum if the court had enough funds for a just compensation and if the proprietors and tenants accepted the compensation. (A writ of ad quod damnum is a law term from the English chancery ordering the sheriff to determine what damages a certain act will incur). But if any proprietor or tenant wished for a writ or the court saw good cause for it, the court awarded it. The writ of ad quod damnum commanded the sheriff to summon a jury of twelve freeholders to meet on the proprietors' and tenants' lands, view them, and ascertain a just compensation for the land damages. The jury also ascertained if the proposed road was one of more private convenience and, accordingly, if a lesser compensation was appropriate.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eOnce the court received the commissioner's report, provided it was favorable to the proposed road, the court summoned the proprietors and tenants of the lands affected by the proposed road. Once the sheriff executed the summons, the court determined the matter of the road without a writ of ad quod damnum if the court had enough funds for a just compensation and if the proprietors and tenants accepted the compensation. (A writ of ad quod damnum is a law term from the English chancery ordering the sheriff to determine what damages a certain act will incur). But if any proprietor or tenant wished for a writ or the court saw good cause for it, the court awarded it. The writ of ad quod damnum commanded the sheriff to summon a jury of twelve freeholders to meet on the proprietors' and tenants' lands, view them, and ascertain a just compensation for the land damages. The jury also ascertained if the proposed road was one of more private convenience and, accordingly, if a lesser compensation was appropriate.\u003c/p\u003e"],"bioghist_heading_ssm":["Biographical Information\n"],"bioghist_tesim":["Fairfax County was founded in 1742 from the northern part of Prince William County. Public transportation was, and continues to be, vital to Fairfax County's economy. Using the Code of Virginia, one can better understand how roads were authorized and developed.","Prior to the Byrd Road Act of 1932, roads were authorized by the court, and in the early 20th century, the Board of Supervisors.  According to Chapter LII of the 1860 Virginia Code, once a person applied for a county road to be opened or changed, the court proceeded by appointing road commissioners and otherwise ascertaining the practicality and usefulness of the proposed road, the benefit to the community and individual, and any damages to surrounding property. To establish any one road, no more than one acre could be taken from a single individual.  The road proposed is usually identified as being the road from \"Point A\" to \"Point B,\" the points being known areas of interest, i.e. mills, churches, stores, dams, turnpikes, and so on.","First, the circuit court received an application for a county road, usually from an individual with anywhere between one and upwards of 30 fellow petitioners. The court then directed one or more of the county's road commissioners to view the proposed land for the road and its surroundings and then report on the conveniences and inconveniences to both individuals and the public - especially if any yard, garden, or orchard needed to be taken for the proposed road. The commissioner's job was to report facts and circumstances that would help the court determine the expediency of establishing or altering the county road. The commissioner(s) could also offer their opinion either in favor of or against the proposed road and suggest alternate routes. A map, plat, or diagram had to accompany the road commissioner(s) report, and if the commissioner was not a surveyor, one had to be procured.","Citizens could also apply to discontinue a road, though it was far rarer. To do so, the person had to publish a notice of the intended application on the first day of the county court's term at the county courthouse door and in two public places in the neighborhood.","After it received all the reports and other evidence, the court then determined whether the road would be established or altered as proposed and who would maintain it.","Once the court received the commissioner's report, provided it was favorable to the proposed road, the court summoned the proprietors and tenants of the lands affected by the proposed road. Once the sheriff executed the summons, the court determined the matter of the road without a writ of ad quod damnum if the court had enough funds for a just compensation and if the proprietors and tenants accepted the compensation. (A writ of ad quod damnum is a law term from the English chancery ordering the sheriff to determine what damages a certain act will incur). But if any proprietor or tenant wished for a writ or the court saw good cause for it, the court awarded it. The writ of ad quod damnum commanded the sheriff to summon a jury of twelve freeholders to meet on the proprietors' and tenants' lands, view them, and ascertain a just compensation for the land damages. The jury also ascertained if the proposed road was one of more private convenience and, accordingly, if a lesser compensation was appropriate.","Once the court received the commissioner's report, provided it was favorable to the proposed road, the court summoned the proprietors and tenants of the lands affected by the proposed road. Once the sheriff executed the summons, the court determined the matter of the road without a writ of ad quod damnum if the court had enough funds for a just compensation and if the proprietors and tenants accepted the compensation. (A writ of ad quod damnum is a law term from the English chancery ordering the sheriff to determine what damages a certain act will incur). But if any proprietor or tenant wished for a writ or the court saw good cause for it, the court awarded it. The writ of ad quod damnum commanded the sheriff to summon a jury of twelve freeholders to meet on the proprietors' and tenants' lands, view them, and ascertain a just compensation for the land damages. The jury also ascertained if the proposed road was one of more private convenience and, accordingly, if a lesser compensation was appropriate."],"scopecontent_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eThis collection starts in 1844 and ends in 1908.  The bulk of the collection is concentrated from 1867 through 1890, with a particularly prominent concentration from 1886 through 1890. No records from 1859 through 1865 exist.  Likewise, no road petition records exist prior to 1844 - both gaps in chronology are likely due to military activity during the Civil War. The Library of Virginia identifies Fairfax County as a \"Lost Records Locality,\" meaning this locality suffered significant losses of early records due to military action. Our records end in 1908 because the law changed in 1909, shifting responsibility for road petitions to the county's Board of Supervisors.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eMost road petition folders include court summons and/or the original petition. These petitions usually include original signatures. Many also include reports from district road commissioners, plats, and letters of correspondence to the court. The reports from the road commissioners and the court summons are the most common documents, while the plats and letters are slightly rarer.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eIn addition to the main petitioner, month and year of the petition, and the road in question, each folder notes any additional petitioners if applicable and neighbors around the proposed road. The neighbors are particularly useful to see who lived near who, and how that changed over time. Some neighbor listings note someone's heirs, which indicates the property owner is deceased and their heirs owned the property. If a plat is included, it is noted on the folder and in the index.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eOne person of note from this collection is Margaret Hetzel. Her name appears in eight road petitions either as a main petitioner, an additional petitioner, or a neighbor. She appears to have been very active in the Fairfax community, even into her old age as her health declined and kept her from appearing in court. Her main concern in these road petitions was road safety. In several of the cases, she wrote directly to the judge urging him to grant the road petition because the existing road or route was unsafe.  She expressed concern over a very high hill, decaying bridges, and deeply rutted roads. And in road cases in 1892, 1893 and 1897, she freely gave her land and did not claim any damages. She seems to have been a woman committed to improving her community and far more involved in doing so than we might expect for the average 19th century woman.\u003c/p\u003e"],"scopecontent_heading_ssm":["Scope and Content\n"],"scopecontent_tesim":["This collection starts in 1844 and ends in 1908.  The bulk of the collection is concentrated from 1867 through 1890, with a particularly prominent concentration from 1886 through 1890. No records from 1859 through 1865 exist.  Likewise, no road petition records exist prior to 1844 - both gaps in chronology are likely due to military activity during the Civil War. The Library of Virginia identifies Fairfax County as a \"Lost Records Locality,\" meaning this locality suffered significant losses of early records due to military action. Our records end in 1908 because the law changed in 1909, shifting responsibility for road petitions to the county's Board of Supervisors.","Most road petition folders include court summons and/or the original petition. These petitions usually include original signatures. Many also include reports from district road commissioners, plats, and letters of correspondence to the court. The reports from the road commissioners and the court summons are the most common documents, while the plats and letters are slightly rarer.","In addition to the main petitioner, month and year of the petition, and the road in question, each folder notes any additional petitioners if applicable and neighbors around the proposed road. The neighbors are particularly useful to see who lived near who, and how that changed over time. Some neighbor listings note someone's heirs, which indicates the property owner is deceased and their heirs owned the property. If a plat is included, it is noted on the folder and in the index.","One person of note from this collection is Margaret Hetzel. Her name appears in eight road petitions either as a main petitioner, an additional petitioner, or a neighbor. She appears to have been very active in the Fairfax community, even into her old age as her health declined and kept her from appearing in court. Her main concern in these road petitions was road safety. In several of the cases, she wrote directly to the judge urging him to grant the road petition because the existing road or route was unsafe.  She expressed concern over a very high hill, decaying bridges, and deeply rutted roads. And in road cases in 1892, 1893 and 1897, she freely gave her land and did not claim any damages. She seems to have been a woman committed to improving her community and far more involved in doing so than we might expect for the average 19th century woman."],"physloc_html_tesm":["\u003cphysloc label=\"Shelf Location\"\u003eUnit 40, Shelf 5\n\u003c/physloc\u003e"],"physloc_tesim":["Unit 40, Shelf 5\n"],"names_coll_ssim":["Fairfax Circuit Court","Richardson, F. D. (1808-1880)"],"names_ssim":["Fairfax Circuit Court","Richardson, F. D. (1808-1880)"],"corpname_ssim":["Fairfax Circuit Court"],"persname_ssim":["Richardson, F. D. 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Richardson, F.D. Richardson, Judge J. Sangster","value":"F.W. Richardson, F.D. Richardson, Judge J. 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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)","value":"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)","hits":1},"links":{"self":"https://search.arvasarchive.org/catalog.json?f%5Bnames%5D%5B%5D=Frederick+Wilmer+%28F.W.%29+Richardson%2C+Ferdinand+Dawson+%28F.D.%29+Richardson%2C+Fairfax+Circuit+Court%2C+C.+Lee+Moore+%28State+Auditor+of+Public+Accounts%29%2C+Elton+R.+Holbrook+%28Deputy+Clerk%29%2C+John+M.+Whalen+%28Clerk+after+F.W.%29+Frank+L.+Ballenger%28Secretary+of+the+Board+of+Supervisors%29\u0026f%5Brepository%5D%5B%5D=Fairfax+Circuit+Court+Historic+Records+Center\u0026view=compact"}},{"attributes":{"label":"Richardson, F. D. 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