Collections

Lancaster County (Va.) Apprenticeship Indentures, 1721-1888, are bonds and contracts of apprenticeship, showing the names of master and apprentice, the trade to be taught, details of the contract, the amount of the bond and the names of sureties.

Lancaster County (Va.) Bonds/Comissions/Oaths, 1721-1928 circa, typically consist of bonds, commissions, oaths, certificates, and appointments related to holding public office. Some collections can include ministers' bonds.

Lancaster County (Va.) Census of Tobacco Plants, 1727, is a list for Christ Church Parish that records the names of all tithable persons and how many plants they were growing. Slave names are given along with their owners. A total of the number of plants in the county is given at the end of the list. Some persons are described as "boy" and may be either slaves or boys between the age of 10 and 16.

Lancaster County (Va.) Deeds and Wills, 1661-1800, is a volume comprised of copies made of loose deeds and wills recorded in the county. The volume is divided into two sections: Deeds, 1699-1800, Leaves 1-51 and Wills, 1661-1795, Leaves 52-213. The types of deeds recorded in the volume include indentures (including land and apprentice indentures), a bill of sale and deeds of gift. An indenture is a deed to which two or more persons are parties, in which they enter into reciprocal and corresponding grants or obligations to each other; such a deed is cut or indented, along the top or side edge to resemble the teeth of a saw. Over time, the cutting became more commonly either a waving line or notching at the edge of the instrument. Apprentice indentures are bonds and contracts showing the names of the master and apprentice, the trade to be taught, details of the contract, amount of the bond and names of sureties as noted on page 37. A bill of sale is an instrument for the conversion of title to personal property. In this particular instance, one individual is giving nine hogshead to tobacco to another. A deed of gift is a deed of property that the grantee does not have to purchase. Older persons sometimes made deeds of gift to their children or grandchildren instead of making a will. The older person usually retained the right to use the property for the rest of their life or specified that the grantee would use the property for the grantor's benefit during the grantor's life time.

Lancaster County (Va.) Fiduciary Records, 1656-1927, include miscellaneous records filed in a local court by trustees, administrators, executors, guardians, and committees that related to the performance of their duties managing a person's estate. These records typically include the following; bonds, appraisements, audits, inventories, accounts, estate divisions, settlements, dowery records, etc. Information related to enslaved people are commonly found in these records.

Lancaster County (Va.) Free Negro and Slave Records include lists of free negroes (1813-1814, 1832, 1837-1841, 1851, 1853, 1857-1861, n.d.); patrol accounts (1785-1861); petitions, affidavits and certificates (1818, 1826, 1837, 1840, 1843-1844, 1851-1853, 1855); slave bills of sale (1789, 1802-1803, 1808, 1811, 1818, 1821, 1832-1834, 1840, 1853); and miscellaneous records (1751-1854).

Lancaster County (Va.) Mantua Township Records, 1871-1876, consist of one volume and several folders of papers relating to the administrative functions of the township boards of the county.

Lancaster County (Va.) Ministers' Returns, 1782-1852, records the original returns made by individual ministers of marriages performed within the county. The majority of these original returns are in the form of lists which record the date of marriage and the names of both parties. In the process of preparing and sending the returns, the name of the minsiter and the minister's denomination are also recorded. Once these items were transferred into the Library's archival collection, the staff numbered each return individually from 3062 to 3162 and the collection has now been processed into 2 folders, 1782-1820 and 1822-1852. In addition, there are a few marriage licenses (1800, 1822) and a ministers' bond (1810) found in and amongst these original returns. There are no listings in the returns for marriages in 1783, 1788, 1821, 1823 and 1824.

Lancaster County (Va.) Records, 1703-1918, consist of Bonds/Commissions Oaths (1860-1865); Overseer of the Poor records (1870-1877); court records including commonwealth causes and other criminal records (1889-1896 circa), chancery causes (1918), and judgments (1861-1898 circa); election records (1852-1918 circa) which includes lists of colored and white voters, 1867; deeds (1874-1900 circa); plats (1811-1950); fiduciary records (1886-1900 circa); and tax and fiscal records (1853-1898 circa ) including a Sheriff's Tax Book (1853-1856). Several boxes include a wide array of records including fiduciary records, board of supervisor records, bonds, jury records, organization records, public buildings and grounds records, and road and bridge records.

Lancaster County (Va.) Records, circa 1766-1913, consist of the following series: Election Records, Fiduciary Records, Land Records, Road and Bridge Records, Court Records (subfield series include Criminal Records, Judgments and Clerks' Records), Tax and Fiscal Records, Wills, Bonds/Commissions/Oaths and County Administrative Records (subfield series include Board of Supervisors Records: Road and Bridge Records.)