Nottoway County (Va.) Township Records, 1870

Access and use

Location of collection:
Library of Virginia
The Library of Virginia
800 East Broad Street
Richmond, VA 23219
Contact for questions and access:
POC: Archives Reference Services
Phone: (804) 692-3888
Restrictions:

There are no restrictions.

Terms of access:

There are no restrictions.

Preferred citation:

Nottoway County (Va.) Township Records, 1870. Local government records collection, Nottoway County Court Records. The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia 23219.

Summary

Creator:
Nottoway County (Va.) Circuit Court.
Language:
English
Preferred citation:

Nottoway County (Va.) Township Records, 1870. Local government records collection, Nottoway County Court Records. The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia 23219.

Background

Scope and content:

Nottoway County (Va.) Township Records, 1870, consist of 2 pages of commissioners' reports on the division of the county into three townships (Haytokah, Blendon, and Bellefont) and the election of officers for each township.

Biographical / historical:

Nottoway County was named for the Nadowa Indian tribe. The word nadowa, anglicized to nottoway, means snake, or enemy. The county was formed from Amelia County in 1788.

The 1870 Virginia Constitution required that each county in the state be divided into no less than three townships (see Article VII, section 2). Based on the New England administrative organization of a county, each township would elect the administration officials for the offices of supervisor, clerk, assessor, collector, commissioner of the roads, overseer of the poor, justice of the peace, and constable. The supervisors of each township would comprise the board of supervisors for the county, and would be responsible for auditing the county accounts, examining the assessors' books, regulating property valuation, and fixing the county levies. The Acts of Assembly provided that each township be divided into school and electoral districts (see Acts of Assembly 1869-1870, Chapter 39). A constitutional amendment in 1874 changed the townships into magisterial districts and each district elected one supervisor, three justices of the peace, one constable, and one overseer of the poor. The supervisors of the districts made up the county board of supervisors whose duties were identical as those set out in 1870. The published Acts of Assembly appended a list of township names by county following the acts for every year that townships existed in Virginia.

Many records were destroyed or heavily mutilated in 1865 by Union troops during the Civil War. A few volumes that record deeds, court orders, and wills exist.

Acquisition information:
These items came to the Library of Virginia in transfers of court papers from Nottoway County.
Physical location:
State Records Center - Archives Annex, Library of Virginia
Physical description:
2 p.