Richmond County (Va.) Township Records, 1871-1875

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:

Richmond County (Va.) Township Records, 1871-1875. Local government records collection, Richmond County Court Records. The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia 23219.

Summary

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

Richmond County (Va.) Township Records, 1871-1875. Local government records collection, Richmond County Court Records. The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia 23219.

Background

Scope and content:

Richmond County (Va.) Township Records, 1871-1875, consist of three volumes of minutes and accounts and one bundle of receipts relating to the administrative functions of the township boards of the county.

Marshall Township Board Minutes, 1871-1875, consist of minutes and accounts. Information recorded includes division of the township into road districts, appointment of road overseers, township levy rates, establishment of rates allowable for road work, accounts allowed against the township board, road overseer reports and accounts, and accounts settled between the collector and treasurer, and between those two and the clerk.

Marshall Township Check Book, 1871-1875, consists of checks and stubs written to individuals from the treasurer of Marshall Township for services provided the township including overseer of the poor, clerk, stationery and books, road accounts, copying land books, and other unspecified services.

Stonewall Township Minutes, 1871-1875, consist of minutes and accounts. Information recorded includes election return, school tax, road districts, road overseer bonds, accounts allowed against the township board, establishment of tax and levy rates, establishment of rates allowable for road work, appointment of election judges, bridge repairs, and payments to county officials.

Farnham Township board vouchers, 1872 circa, consist of receipts for work or services provided the township for which payment is due from the board. Also included is some information about taxes. This group of records is unprocessed.

Biographical / historical:

Richmond County may have been named for Richmond borough in Surrey, England, or for Charles Lennox, first duke of Richmond and a son of King Charles II. It was formed from Old Rappahannock County in 1692. The county seat is Warsaw.

Some volumes were burned and mutilated through unknown causes; in addition, the will books prior to 1699 were missing as early as 1793, and order books for the period 1794-1816 are also missing. Numerous loose records prior to 1781 are missing as well.

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.

Acquisition information:
These items came to the Library of Virginia in transfers of court papers from Richmond County.
Physical location:
State Records Center - Archives Annex, Library of Virginia
Physical description:
2 v. and 1 microfilm reel and 1 unprocessed bundle.