Rockingham County (Va.) Organization Records, 1775-1913

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:

Rockingham County (Va.) Organization Records, 1775-1913 [series or volume title]. Local government records collection, Rockingham County Court Records. The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia 23219.

Summary

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

Rockingham County (Va.) Organization Records, 1775-1913 [series or volume title]. Local government records collection, Rockingham County Court Records. The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia 23219.

Background

Scope and content:

Rockingham County (Va.) Organization Records, 1775-1913, is comprised of various records created by groups in Northumberland County. Represented records largely consist of unprocessed loose records. These records typically consist of appointments of trustees, minutes, and miscellaneous records of religious organizations, fraternal organizations, independent associations, and cooperatives.

Includes boxes containing material identified as organization records. These records may be flat filed or foldered but not fully processed.

Includes organization records from 1845-1913.

Includes church records from 1775-1849.

Biographical / historical:

Context for Record Type: Organization Records, both volumes and loose records, are in some cases transferred to the Library of Virginia as components of court record transfers. These organization records in some cases were simply stored in the local court building for safe keeping by business owners. In other cases, organization records (particularly ledgers, account books, etc.) may have been filed in a court case as an exhibit. These organization record exhibits appeared both in chancery causes and in judgments, these records serving as exhibits for business dissolution cases, debt suits, and contract disputes.

Locality History: Rockingham County was formed from Augusta County in 1778 and is named for Charles Watson-Wentworth, second marquis of Rockingham, who supported the colonists in their disputes with Great Britain. The county seat is the city of Harrisonburg.

Lost Locality Notes:A courthouse fire in 1787 destroyed primarily wills and estate records. In June 1864 during the Civil War, court records (mostly volumes) were removed from the courthouse and loaded on a wagon to be taken to place of safety on or beyond the Blue Ridge. The wagon was overtaken by Union troops near Port Republic and set afire, which was put out by local citizens. Many order books, deed books, will books, and fiduciary books, however, were lost or severely damaged by the fire. The loose records that remained at the courthouse were undamaged. Pre-1865 records including deeds and wills were rerecorded following an act of assembly passed in November 1884.

Acquisition information:
These items came to the Library of Virginia in a transfer of papers from Rockingham County in 2003 under accession number 40981.
Processing information:

Prior to 2025, the various organization records in this collection were originally described as individual records, but they have been consolidated into one large organization record for the locality. Since 2025, these records additionally include identified but not processed records.

Encoded by E. Woodward: 2021; updated by J. Taylor: October 2025; updated by J. Taylor: February 2026.

Arrangement:

This collection is arranged into one series:

  • Series I: Rockingham County (Va.) Organization Records, 1775-1913 [UNPROCESSED]

Physical location:
Library of Virginia
Physical description:
0.9 cubic feet (2 boxes)