Access to original Botetourt County records is not granted without an appointment and without prior discussion with an archivist. Same day access to records is not possible. Advance notice of at least one week is required so that an archivist will have time to inspect the requested records. An archivist may determine that some materials cannot be served due to their physical state. The records were heavily water damaged and as a result are extremely fragile and can be severely moldy. Persons with mold or dust sensitivity may want to avoid research in these records. Patrons must consult with Archives Research Services prior to a visit to the Library of Virginia to view any original Botetourt County records.
These materials can be extremely fragile and moldy due to extensive water damage. An archivist may determine that a record is too fragile or damaged to be served. Patrons must consult with Archives Research Services prior to a visit to the Library of Virginia to view any original Botetourt County records.
Botetourt County (Va.) Township Records, 1870-1875. Local government records collection, Botetourt County Court Records. The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia 23219.
These items came to the Library of Virginia in transfers of court papers from Botetourt County.
Botetourt County was named for Norborne Berkeley, baron de Botetourt, the royal governor of Virginia from 1768 to 1770. It was formed from Augusta County in 1769, and part of Rockbridge County was added in 1785.
On 1970 December 15, a fire gutted the Botetourt County courthouse in Fincastle, Virginia. The court records were not burned but were heavily water damaged. Many of the court papers are extremely fragile today as a result of this water damage and some are not useable. Because of the near-loss of the Botetourt County records, the Virginia General Assembly passed the Virginia Public Records Act in 1975. The act mandated that deeds, wills, and other vital records be inventoried and microfilmed and copies of the film stored permanently in the Library of Virginia in Richmond for safekeeping. Counties could also choose to send court records to the Library of Virginia for storage and safekeeping as needed.
The 1870 Virginia Constitution required that each county in the state be divided into no less than three townships (see Article VII, section 2). Based on the New England administrative organization of a county, each township would elect the administration officials for the offices of supervisor, clerk, assessor, collector, commissioner of the roads, overseer of the poor, justice of the peace, and constable. The supervisors of each township would comprise the board of supervisors for the county, and would be responsible for auditing the county accounts, examining the assessors' books, regulating property valuation, and fixing the county levies. The Acts of Assembly provided that each township be divided into school and electoral districts (see Acts of Assembly 1869-1870, Chapter 39). A constitutional amendment in 1874 changed the townships into magisterial districts and each district elected one supervisor, three justices of the peace, one constable, and one overseer of the poor. The supervisors of the districts made up the county board of supervisors whose duties were identical as those set out in 1870. The published Acts of Assembly appended a list of township names by county following the acts for every year that townships existed in Virginia.
Botetourt County (Va.) Township Records, 1870-1875, consist of two volumes relating to the administrative functions of the township boards of the county.
Fincastle Township Record Book, 1870-1875, consists of 35 pages of minutes and accounts. Information recorded includes names of the township board members; division of the township into election precincts; division of the township into road districts; appointment of overseers of the roads; and accounts. Claims include road accounts, overseer of the poor services, officials' payments, and other township financial business. The final page of the volume seems to contain some unfinished township financial business dating 1872, but the page has been water damaged.
Buchanan Township Minute Book, 1870-1875, consists of 43 pages of minutes and accounts. Information recorded includes names of township board members; division of the township into election precincts; division of the township into road districts; rent of a room for the township clerk; purchase of a building for township offices; coordination with other township supervisors to ensure that the levy is collected in a similar way; appointment of road overseers; the hearing of road petitions; a contract to build two bridges; election official appointments. Claims against the township include road accounts and overseer of the poor accounts but most of the claims do not specify a reason. Pages 41-43 are accounts of the Botetourt County treasurer in account with Buchanan Township.