Virginia. Board of Immigration. Office of the Secretary.

An act of the General Assembly, approved March 29, 1873, focused on the desirability of inviting the "migratory population" of other states to establish homes and invest capital, and to advise and inform inhabitants of distant countries of the advantages of climate, soil and products to be found in Virginia. The act provided funds to prepare a geographical and political summary, and set up a Board of Immigration made up of the Governor, the Lieutenant Governor, the Secretary of the Commonwealth, the Adjutant General, and the Treasurer, with the Secretary of the Commonwealth designated as the Secretary of the Board of Immigration.

The duties of the Secretary of the Board were to keep a record of the proceedings and to keep a separate account of all transactions, with a formal report required annually to the General Assembly.

An act of March 2, 1875 repealed the act of 1873, changed the make-up of the Board to the Governor, Speaker of the House, Secretary of the Commonwealth, and the Auditor of Public Accounts. The Register of the Land Office was designated Secretary to the Board.

An act of the General Assembly, approved April 2, 1879, created a commissioner and bureau of immigration, to be known as the Bureau of Immigration of Virginia. The commissioner of agriculture for the state became the chairman of the board with the title Commissioner of Immigration for Virginia. Currently, immigration falls under the Department of Agriculture.

The records in this series are limited, principally, to the period when the Register of the Land Office was acting in the capacity of Secretary to the Board of Immigration.