Powhatan County (Va.) Commonwealth Causes, 1850-1881

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

Background

Scope and content:

Powhatan county (Va.) Commonwealth Causes, 1850-1881, are criminal court cases and indictments handed down by grand juries in order to prosecute individuals who violated the penal code. The majority of the commonwealth causes involve Free African Americans indicted for remaining in the Commonweath more than one year. One commonwealth cause is a murder case that involves individuals associated with the Ku Klux Klan.

An indictment is the official, written description of the crime that an accused individual is suspected of committing, which is approved by a grand jury and presented to a court in order to begin legal proceedings. Due to this process, indictments are often referred to as "presentments."

Biographical / historical:

Powhatan County was named for the paramount chief of the Powhatan Indians in the tidewater of Virginia in the late sixteenth and early years of the seventeenth century. It was formed from Cumberland County in 1777, and part of Chesterfield County was added in 1850. The county seat is Powhatan.

In 1806, the General Assembly passed a law to suppress the manumissions of slaves by tying emancipation with deportation. The law stated that all emancipated slaves, freed after May 1, 1806, who remained in the Commonwealth more than a year would forfeit their right to freedom and be sold by the Overseers of the Poor for the benefit of the parish.

Acquisition information:
These items came to the Library of Virginia in shipments of court papers from Powhatan County.
Physical location:
Library of Virginia
Physical description:
.45 cu. ft. (1 box)