Mathews County (Va.) Fiduciary Records, 1810-1903

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:

Mathews County (Va.) Fiduciary Records, 1810-1903, Local government records collection, Mathews County Court Records. The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Va. 23219.

Summary

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

Mathews County (Va.) Fiduciary Records, 1810-1903, Local government records collection, Mathews County Court Records. The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Va. 23219.

Background

Scope and content:

Mathews County (Va.) Fiduciary Records, 1810-1903, consist of Estate Accounts, Appraisements, Inventories, and Sales, as well as Guardian Accounts.

Biographical / historical:

Context for Records:Fiduciary Records include miscellaneous records filed in a local court by trustees, administrators, executors, guardians, and committees that related to the performance of their duties managing a person's estate. These records typically include the following; bonds, appraisements, audits, inventories, accounts, estate divisions, settlements, dowery records, etc. Information related to enslaved people are commonly found in these records.

Locality History: Mathews County was named for Thomas Mathews, of Norfolk, the Speaker of the Virginia House of Delegates when it was formed from Gloucester County by a statute passed on 16 December 1790 to take effect on 1 May 1791.

Lost Locality Note:Most Mathews County records were burned in Richmond on 3 April 1865, where they had been moved for safekeeping during the Civil War.

Acquisition information:
These records came to the Library of Virginia in 2024 under accession 54190 and undated shipments of court papers from Mathews County.
Processing information:

Series II: Minimally processed Fiduciary Records, 1848-1898, were transferred in accession 54190 under the title Mathews County Common Law Dead Papers and were processed using minimal processing standards: Locality records were organized by broad record category (election records, fiduciary records, etc.) with minimal other arrangement. These records have not been flattened, foldered, mended, or separated by individual record type (like estate papers, inventories, etc.).

Encoded by S. Walters: April 2012; updated by V. Brooks: January 2026

Arrangement:

For descriptive purposes, the collection has been divided into two series:

  • Series I: Processed Fiduciary Records, 1810-1903
  • Series II: Minimally Processed Fiduciary Records, 1857-1898

Chronological.

Unarranged.

Physical location:
State Records Center - Archives Annex, Library of Virginia
Physical description:
2.3 cu. ft. (5 boxes)