Manchester (Va.) Maury Cemetery Committee Minute Book, 1907-1910

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:
Richmond (Va.) Circuit Court.
Language:
English

Background

Scope and content:

Manchester (Va.) Maury Cemetery Committee Minute Book, 1907-1910, was a volume kept and used to record the dealings of the Cemetery Committee as part of the City Council. On page eight, section 16, of the city charter, is found the following: "to provide in or near the said city, lands to be appropriated, improved and kept in order as places for the burial of the dead." As historian Benjamin Weisiger III indicates in his book, there were a number of small private cemeteries in town before the opening of Maury Cemetery in 1874. "In February 1872, the town trustees started looking into purchasing land outside of the town for a Cemetery. In April 1872, an ordinance was passed forbidding burial within the town limits. By 1877, all burials were moved outside the city and a suitable are in Maury was set aside for those previously buried in the center of town."

At some point, the committee was formed to deal with all cemetery-related matters. Loose documents, including undated as well as receipts and resolutions from 1908 and 1909, were filmed at the beginning of the volume. The volume deals largely with such issues as road improvements for "a portion of the cemetery set apart for colored people and constructing a fence between the road for the colored cemetery and the alms house." Included in the volume are bills, reports of the cemetery superintendent, resolutions, receipts and minutes of the committee's meetings.

Biographical / historical:

Manchester was established as a town by the General Assembly in November 1769. According to this act, "the honorable William Byrd hath lately laid out a parcel of his lands at Rocky Ridge, at the falls of the James River, in the county of Chesterfield, in lots and streets for a town." Directors and trustees were appointed and the town was named Manchester. The town was incorporated on February 27, 1834. On March 20, 1874, a city charter was approved by the General Assembly and the city was divided into 4 wards. Three members from each ward served on the City Council, the main governing body of the city along with the mayor. On April 15, 1910, the city of Manchester was officially annexed to the City of Richmond with the provisos that a free bridge would be constructed to connect Manchester with Richmond and that Manchester would retain a courthouse. Today the area is also known as South Richmond. The town of Manchester was named probably for Manchester Parish in Chesterfield County. The parish in turn was named either for George Montague, fourth duke of Manchester, or for the town of Manchester, England.

According to the city's charter, "the city council shall have authority to...appoint such committees, as they may deem proper for the regulations of their proceedings and for the convenient transaction of business."

Acquisition information:

This original volume came to the Library of Virginia in a shipment of court papers from the City of Richmond.

Reel 1000 was generated by Backstage Library Works through the Library of Virginia's Circuit Court Records Preservation Program.

Arrangement:

Arranged chronologically.

Physical location:
State Records Center - Archives Annex, Library of Virginia
Physical description:
1 v. (79 p.); 1 microfilm reel