There are no restrictions.
There are no restrictions.
Pittsylvania County (Va.) Overseers of the Poor Records, 1850, 1859-1865. Local Government Records Collection, Pittsylvania County Court Records. The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Va. 23219.
This item came to the Library of Virginia in shipments of court papers from Pittsylvania County.
Pittsylvania County was was named in honor of William Pitt, first earl of Chatham, the English statesman. It was formed from Halifax County in 1766. The county court first met on 26 June 1767. The county seat is Chatham.
In 1780 the Virginia General Assembly replaced the Anglican vestries and churchwardens of the colonial period with elected bodies called Overseers of the Poor. The Overseers provided food, clothing, shelter, and medical treatment for the persons who were too poor to support themselves or too ill to provide for their basic needs. They also bound out children whose parents could not support them or who failed to educate or instruct them, as well as orphans to become apprentices. The boys learned a trade and the girls learned domestic skills.
Pittsylvania County (Va.) Overseers of the Poor Records, 1850, 1859-1865, includes proceedings of the Overseers of the Poor. Information recorded includes collections and expenditures. The predominant information found involves individuals under the care of the Overseers of the Poor: name of inmates, race, length of care, how employed, number of days worked, and miscellaneous remarks related to physical or mental health.
The collection also includes a report concerning the sale of poor house in 1850.
Chronological
Additional Pittsylvania County Court Records can be found on microfilm at The Library of Virginia. See