Accomack County (Va.) District Court Papers, 1789-1808

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.) District Court Papers, 1789-1808, consist of civil suits and commonwealth causes that were heard in the District Court of Accomack and Northampton Counties. The majority of cases in this record series relate to matters of debt. Documents commonly found in civil suits include declarations or narratios that explain the plaintiff's complaint, executions, affidavits, and depositions. Suits may include exhibits such as wills, plats, deeds, indentures, estate inventories, and business records. Names of slaves are commonly found in the District Court papers. Additional types of suits heard by the District Court include land ejectment suits and petitions for freedom made by slaves.

Additional records filed with the District Court papers include witness attendance payments, commonwealth claims, subpoenas, summons, judges' appointments, jury records, and copies of deeds, wills, and bonds recorded in the District Court. Also filed with the District Court papers was a copy of suit heard in the Adimiralty Court held in Williamburg, Virginia, in 1783 titled Berry Floyd and others versus Brigantine Sampson and others.

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.

The District Court was created in 1788. The purpose of the creation of the District Court was to alleviate congestion in the General Court which had caused unreasonable delays in the adjudication of common law cases. Virginia was divided into eighteen districts, each composed of several counties, plust the district of Kentucky. Courts were held in each district twice yearly and cases were heard from the several counties in that district. The District Court always met at the same place in each district, and its records were kept at that one location. The District Courts were abolished in 1808 and were replaced by the Superior Courts of Law.

The District Court for Accomack and Northampton counties met in the county courthouse of Accomack County.

Acquisition information:
These items came to the Library of Virginia in shipments of court papers from Accomack County under the accession number 44262.
Arrangement:

Chronological and then alphabetical by surname of plaintiff within each month.

Physical location:
Library of Virginia
Physical description:
6.65 cu. ft. (15 boxes)