Montgomery County (Va.) Criminal Records, 1774-1827, 1850

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:
Montgomery County (Va.) Circuit Court
Language:
English

Background

Scope and content:

Montgomery County (Va.) Commonwealth Causes and Criminal Papers, 1774-1827,1850, are criminal court cases,1774-1850, and other criminal records,1778-1779.

Criminal Cases,1774-1850, undated contain about sixteen cases. Cases of note include Commonwealth vs. Romeo (enslaved), 1774, in which Romeo is accused of attempting to kill William Campbell, Romeo's enslaver. Also Commonwealth vs. Bob and Sam (enslaved), 1786. The two enslaved men confess to the murder of Joseph Baker, Bob and Sam's enslaver.

Also included are several cases of treason against people who publicly declared themselves as Tory or who refused to lift arms against the King of Great Britain. One such case, dated 1779 April, accuses John Henderson of entering into a conspiracy to seize the public magazines and use them to lay waste to Montgomery County.

There is also an 1850 subpoena from the case Commonwealth vs. Gilbert [digitized].

Criminal records,1778-1779, include Grand jury presentments, memorandum of expenses for taking prisoner "Augusta Goal" to, and depositions to unidentified treason case.

Biographical / historical:

Context for Records type:

Commonwealth causes are criminal court cases filed by the state government that consist primarily of warrants, summons, subpoenas, indictments, recognizances, and verdicts handed down by juries and other legal authorities in order to prosecute individuals who violated the penal code.

The commonwealth causes reveal an inconsistency in forms of conviction and punishment for white versus Black and multiracial individuals. Throughout the early nineteenth century, Virginia legislators revised the laws in ways that reduced the legal status of free Black and multiracial people to that of enslaved, thereby creating a legal system based on race. White Virginians and legislators feared insurrection and passed laws restricting the number of Black and multiracial people allowed to gather in groups. Enslavers could be fined for permitting their enslaved people to hire themselves out for work and enslaved people were jailed on these occasions. While public whipping originated as a form of punishment for all those convicted, in Virginia, it was retained for those who were Black, free or enslaved, and officially outlawed as a punishment for white criminals in 1848. Often, Black individuals served much longer penitentiary sentences while the cases of white men, who had committed the same or similar crimes, were dismissed.

Locality History Note: Montgomery County was formed from Fincastle County in 1776, and the county court first met on 7 January 1777. Part of Botetourt County was added in 1790. Part of Pulaski County was added in 1842. The county was named for Richard Montgomery, who was killed in the American assault on Quebec late in 1775.

Fincastle County was created from Botetourt County in 1772, and the county court first met on 5 January 1773. Fincastle County became extinct on 31 December 1776 when it was divided to form Montgomery, Washington and Kentucky Counties. The county was named probably for George, Viscount Fincastle, Lord Dunmore's son; for John Murray, fourth earl of Dunmore, Viscount Fincastle; or for the town of Fincastle, Virginia, which was established in 1772 and named for George, Viscount Fincastle.

Acquisition information:

Two folders of records came to the Library of Virginia in a transfer of court papers from Montgomery County in an undated accession.

Digital images of 1850 subpoena in Commonwealth vs. Gilbert came to the Library of Virginia in December 2024 under accession 54389.

Arrangement:

This collection is arranged

  • Series I: Criminal Records, 1774-1827,1850

Physical location:
Library of Virginia
Physical description:
2 folders, digital images