Culpeper County (Va.) Circuit Court Court Records, 1793-1926 circa

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

Extent:
.23 cu. ft.
Creator:
Culpeper County (Va.) Circuit Court
Language:
English

Background

Scope and content:

The Culpeper County (Va.), Circuit Court, Court Records, 1793-1926 circa, includes miscellaneous court records of the following type: Bonds, Criminal, Deeds, Grants, and Judgments. The criminal causes related to free African Americans who stayed in Virginia beyond 12 months following their emancipation. Chancery causes previously included in this material have been removed and indexed with the Culpeper County (Va.) Chancery Causes, 1829-1913.

Biographical / historical:

Culpeper County probably was name for Catherine Culpeper, or for her mother, Margaret Lady Culpeper, or for Thomas Culpeper, second baron Culpeper of Thoresway, governor of Virginia from 1677 to 1683, or for their family, which long held proprietary right in the Northern Neck. It was formed from Orange County in 1749.

These records were returned by mail to the Culpeper County Courthouse on December 13, 1965 by Miss Agnes Morewood of Pittsfield, Massachusetts. The details of how Miss Morewood came to hold these records is unknown. Her great-uncle, Herman Melville, and his brother, Alan, had come to Virginia in the spring of 1864 on the eve of the Wilderness Campaign and, amongst other activities, joined a scouting party in search of Confederate partisan John Mosby in nearby Loudoun County. One theory holds that Melville or his brother acquired the records as souvenirs. See NAGARA Clearinghouse, 2008, vol 24 no 3, p. 18 for additional information on the documents.

Acquisition information:
These records came to the Library of Virginia in a transfer of court papers from Culpeper County Circuit Court.
Physical location:
Library of Virginia