Albemarle County (Va.) Organization Records, 1815-1956

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:

Albemarle County (Va.) Organization Records, 1815-1956, [series or volume title]. Local government records collection, Albemarle County Court Records. The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Va. 23219.

Summary

Extent:
1 volume; 1.8 cubic ft (4 boxes).
Creator:
Albemarle County (Va.) Circuit Court
Language:
English
Preferred citation:

Albemarle County (Va.) Organization Records, 1815-1956, [series or volume title]. Local government records collection, Albemarle County Court Records. The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Va. 23219.

Background

Scope and content:

Albemarle County (Va.) Organization Records, 1815-1956 is comprised of various records created by groups in Albemarle County. Represented records consist of meeting minutes and unprocessed loose records.

Scope and Content: The organization records of the Charlottesville (Va.) Democratic Executive Committee consists of a minute book. The minutes document the committee's plans to lay off wards and organize Democratic primary elections in Charlottesville, 1888-1890. Also included are reports of the Democratic primary elections in Charlottesville in May 1888 and May 1889, newspaper clippings publicizing election rules and proceedings; a letter protesting voting irregularities in the 1891 May 7 primary election; and a calendar advertisement for C.W. Spooner and Son, Architects, Builders, and Artistic Workers in Wood, Charlottesville, 1889 and 1890.

Scope and Content:Includes boxes containing material identified as organization records. These records may be flat fliled or foldered but not fully processed.

Includes records from Mount Chapel Church (1873).

Includes records of the Northwestern Masonic Aid Association.

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: Charlottesville, in Albemarle County, was named for Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, the wife of King George III, and was established in 1762. The county seat of Albemarle County, Charlottesville was incorporated as a town in 1801 and as a city in 1888.

Lost Records Locality Note: All order books except the first and many loose papers between 1748 and 1781 were destroyed by British general Banastre Tarleton's raid on Charlottesville in 1781 during the Revolutionary War.

Acquisition information:
These records came to the Library of Virginia in a transfer of court papers from Albemarle County in an undated accession.
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.

The Charlottesville (Va.) Democratic Executive Committee Records were processed by Catherine OBrion in 2009.

Encoded by J. Taylor: June 2025; updated by J. Taylor: February 2026.

Arrangement:

This collection is arranged into two series:

  • Series I: Charlottesville (Va.) Democratic Executive Committee Records, 1888-1891
  • Series II: Albemarle County (Va.) Organization Records, circa 1815-1956 [UNPROCESSED]

Physical location:
Library of Virginia