Accomack County (Va.) Court Records, 1697-1836

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

Summary

Creator:
Accomack County (Va.) Circuit Court.
Language:
English

Background

Scope and content:

Accomack County (Va.) Court Records, 1697-1836, consist of records organized into the local records series of Judgments, Court Records, Fiduciary Records, Land Records, Miscellaneous Records, Overseers of the Poor Records, and Tax and Fiscal Records.

Judgments consist of the following suits: Broadwater vs. Johnson, 1740. Rossaria vs. Folia, 1752. Beavans vs. Weldon, 1785.

Court Records consist of a list of actions, 1722-1723, and 1 page from a minute book, 1722.

Fiduciary Records consist of the petition of Martha Dennis for assignment of dower, 1697, and an administrator's account of Thomas Bagwell's estate,1786.

Land Records consists of the petition of William Parker for a mill, 1774.

Miscellaneous Records consists of a request for wool, 1836.

Overseers of the Poor Records consist of financial claims, 1779, and meeting minutes, 1788-1789.

Tax and Fiscal Records consists of county claims,1782, 1809.

Biographical / historical:

Accomack County was named for the Accomac Indians, who lived on the Eastern Shore at the time of the first English settlement in Virginia. The word means "on-the-other-side-of-water place" or "across the water." It was one of the original eight shires, or counties, first enumerated in 1634 and spelled Accomac without the k. The county's name was changed to Northampton County in 1643. The present county was formed from Northampton about 1663. In October 1670, the General Assembly temporarily reunited Accomack and Northampton Counties as Northampton County. In November 1673, Accomack County was again separated from Northampton. In early records, the county's name was spelled many ways. In 1940 the General Assembly adopted the present spelling, Accomack. The county gained a small part of the southern end of Smith's Island from Somerset County, Maryland, in 1879, after the United States had approved boundary changes between Virginia and Maryland that had been agreed to in 1877. The county seat is Accomac.

A significant number of loose records from the 1700s suffered extreme water and pest damage. Volumes that record deeds, court orders, and wills exist.

Acquisition information:
These items came to the Library of Virginia in a transfer of court papers from Accomack County.
Physical location:
Library of Virginia
Physical description:
1 box