PUBLIC "-//Library of Virginia//TEXT (US::Vi::vi03231::A Guide to the Accomack County (Va.) Oaths of Allegiance and Justice of the Peace Appointments, 1757-1758 and 1761-1762)//EN" "vi03231.xml" A Guide to the Accomack County (Va.) Oaths of Allegiance and Justice of the Peace Appointments, 1757-1758 and 1761-1762 Accomack County (Va.) Oaths of Allegiance and Justice of the Peace Appointments, 1757-1758 and 1761-1762 1204975 Sarah Nerney Library of Virginia © 2010 By The Library of Virginia. All Rights Reserved.

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Machine-readable finding aid derived from MARC record, created by Sarah Nerney, 17 June 2010 Description is in English 2013-11-21 Converted to schema conforming EAD by dtd2schema.vh.xsl. A Guide to the Accomack County (Va.) Oaths of Allegiance and Justice of the Peace Appointments, 1757-1758 and 1761-1762 A Collection in the Library of Virginia 1204975 Sarah Nerney

Library of Virginia 2010 Greg Crawford Library of Virginia Descriptive Summary The Library of Virginia Accomack County (Va.) Oaths of Allegiance and Justice of the Peace Appointments, 1757-1758 and 1761-1762 1204975 Library of Virginia 3 leaves and 1 p. English Accomack County (Va.) Circuit Court. Administrative Information Access Restrictions

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Preferred Citation

Accomack County (Va.) Oaths of Allegiance and Justice of the Peace Appointments, 1757-1758 and 1761-1762. Local government records collection, Accomack County Court Records. The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia 23219.

Acquisition Information

These items came to the Library of Virginia in a transfer of court papers from Accomack County.

Historical Information

Accomack County was named for the Accomac Indians, who lived on the eastern Shore at the time of the first English settlement in Virginia. One of the original eight shires established in 1634, Accomac County (spelled without a k) became Northampton County in 1643. The present country was formed from Northampton about 1663. In 1940 the General Assembly adopted the county's present spelling.

Various test oaths and oaths of allegiance and supremacy were required over the years in an attempt to keep Roman Catholics out of office both in England and in her colonies. These particular oaths of allegiance stem from the act of George I titled "An Act for the further Security of his Majesty's Person and Government, and the Succession of the Crown in the Heirs of the late Princess Sophia, being Protestants, and for extinguishing the Hopes of the pretended Prince of Wales, and his open and secret Abettors." The oaths swear allegiance to the ruler of England as the principal authority, disavow the pope and his doctrines, and disavow transubstantiation.

A significant number of loose records from the 1700s suffered extreme water and pest damage. Volumes that record deeds, court orders, and wills exist.

 Scope and Content

Accomack County (Va.) Oaths of Allegiance and Justice of the Peace Appointments, 1757-1758 and 1761-1762, consist of two oaths of allegiance and two justice of the peace appointments. The oaths of allegiance are dated 1757-1758 and are signed by multiple men below the text of the oath. The justice of the peace appointments are dated 1761-1762 and appoint multiple men to be justices. The oaths of allegiance and appointments are related and contain many of the same names.

Adjunct Descriptive Data Related Material

Additional Accomack County Records can be found on microfilm at the Library of Virginia. Consult "A Guide to Virginia County and City Records on Microfilm" found on the Library of Virginia's web site.

Accomack County is one of Virginia's Lost Records Localities. Additional Accomack County Records may be found in the Virginia Lost Records Localities Collection at the Library of Virginia. Search the Lost Records Localities Digital Collection available at Virginia Memory.

For more information and a listing of lost records localities see Lost Records research note.

Index Terms Corporate Names: Accomack County (Va.). Circuit Court Subjects: Catholics -- United States. Oaths -- Virginia -- Accomack County. Public officers -- Virginia -- Accomack County. Geographical Names: Accomack County (Va.) -- History -- 18th century. Genre and Form Terms: Appointments -- Virginia -- Accomack County. Appointing -- Virginia -- Accomack County. Local government records -- Virginia -- Accomack County. Oaths -- Virginia -- Accomack County.