Chesterfield County (Va.) Circuit Court

Chesterfield County was named for Philip Dormer Stanhope, fourth early of Chesterfield, British salesman and diplomat, and was formed from Henrico County in 1749.

From the guide to the Chesterfield County (Va.) School Receipts and Jolly Club Account Book, 1914-1923, (The Library of Virginia)

Chesterfield County was named for Philip Dormer Stanhope, fourth earl of Chesterfield, Brtitish statesman and diplomat, and was formed from Henrico County in 1749.

From the guide to the Chesterfield County (Va.) Organization Records, 1892-1937, (The Library of Virginia)

Chesterfield County was named for Philip Dormer Stanhope, fourth earl of Chesterfield, British statesman and diplomat, and was formed from Henrico County in 1749.

From the guide to the Chesterfield County (Va.) Criminal Causes, 1751-1909, (The Library of Virginia)

Chesterfield County was named for Philip Dormer Stanhope, fourth earl of Chesterfield, British statesman and diplomat, and was formed from Henrico County in 1749. Its area is 446 square miles, and the county seat is Chesterfield.

The separate office of coroner appeared in Virginia about 1660. The judicial duty of the office is to hold inquisitions in cases when persons meet sudden, violent, unnatural or suspicious death, or death without medical attendance. The coroner would summon a jury to assist him in determining cause of death. Prior to November 1877, the jurors numbered twelve. Between November 1877 and March 1926, the jurors numbered six. The jury viewed the body of the deceased and heard the testimony of witnesses. The coroner was required to write down witness testimony. After seeing and hearing the evidence, the jury delivered in writing to the coroner their conclusion concerning cause of death referred to as inquisition. After March 1926, only the coroner determined cause of death. He could require physicians to assist him with determining cause of death. If a criminal act was determined to be the cause of death, the coroner was to deliver the guilty person to the sheriff and the coroner's inquests would be used as evidence in the criminal trial.

From the guide to the Chesterfield County (Va.) Coroners' Inquisitions, 1783-1914 (bulk 1800-1904), (The Library of Virginia)

Chesterfield County was named for Philip Dormer Stanhope, fourth earl of Chesterfield, British statesman and diplomat, and was formed from Henrico County in 1749.

The Farmers Alliance began in Texas in 1876 and expanded to Virginia in the 1880s. By 1890, there were more than 30,000 members in 85 branches in Virginia. The Alliance worked to promote higher commodity prices through collective action by groups of individual farmers.

From the guide to the Virginia State Farmers Alliance County Secretary's Book, 1889-1894, (The Library of Virginia)

Chesterfield County was named for Philip Dormer Stanhope, fourth earl of Chesterfield, British statesman and diplomat, and was formed from Henrico County in 1749.

These records were replevined by the Library of Virginia following the trial entitled Commonwealth of Virginia vs. Larry I. Vass heard in Henrico County Circuit Court in November 1972.

From the guide to the Chesterfield County (Va.) Court Records, 1814-1848, (The Library of Virginia)

On 1832 June 7, Congress enacted pension legislation extending benefits more universally than under any previous legislation. This act provided for full pay for life for all officers and enlisted men who served at least 2 years in the Continental Line, the state troops or militia, the navy or marines. Men who served less than 2 years but at least 6 months were granted pensions of less than full pay. Benefits were payable effective March 4, 1831, without regard to financial need or disability and widows or children of Revolutionary War veterans were entitled to collect any unpaid benefits due from the last payment to a veteran until his death.

Chesterfield County was named for Philip Dormer Stanhope, fourth earl of Chesterfield, Brtitish statesman and diplomat, and was formed from Henrico County in 1749.

From the guide to the Chesterfield County (Va.) Declarations for Revolutionary War Pensions, 1818-1856, (The Library of Virginia)

Chesterfield County was formed in 1749 from Henrico County.

In seventeenth- and eighteenth-century Virginia, the term "tithable" referred to a person who paid (or for whom someone else paid) one of the taxes imposed by the General Assembly for the support of civil government in the colony. In colonial Virginia, a poll tax or capitation tax was assessed on free white males, African American slaves, and Native American servants (both male and female), all age sixteen or older. Owners and masters paid the taxes levied on their slaves and servants. For a more detailed history of tithables, consult "Colonial tithables" found on the Library of Virginia's web site.

From the guide to the Chesterfield County (Va.), List of Tithables, 1747-1821., (The Library of Virginia)

Chesterfield County was formed in 1749 from Henrico County.

From the guide to the Chesterfield County (Va.) Public Buildings and Grounds, 1805-1807, 1842, (The Library of Virginia)

The ejectment suit was heard in multiple jurisdictions. It originated in King and Queen County District Court in 1806. It was transferred to King William County Superior Court of Law in 1808. It was transferred again in 1809 to Hanover County Superior Court of Law. It was transferred to Chesterfield County Superior Court of Law in 1811 where it was dismissed in 1813.

From the guide to the Chesterfield County Judgment College of William and Mary versus John W. Tomlin, 1813, (The Library of Virginia)

Chesterfield County was named for Philip Dormer Stanhope, fourth earl of Chesterfield, British statesman and diplomat, and was formed from Henrico County in 1749.

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.

From the guide to the Chesterfield County (Va.) Township Records, 1870-1876, (The Library of Virginia)

Chesterfield County was formed in 1749 from Henrico County.

From the guide to the Chesterfield County (Va.) Will Books, 1749-1795, (The Library of Virginia)

On February 21, 1818, the Virginia legislature passed a school bill which appropriated $45,000 annually from the Literary Fund for the education of poor children. (The Literary Fund was established in 1810 with passage of a bill to appropriate "certain escheats, confiscated, and forfeited lands" for the "encouragement of learning.") Under the provisions of the 1818 School Act, each county court was required to appoint five to fifteen commissioners to establish and/or administer schools for children of the poor. A more comprehensive public school system was established by the legislature in 1870.

Chesterfield County was named for Philip Dormer Stanhope, fourth earl of Chesterfield, British statesman and diplomat, and was formed from Henrico County in 1749.

From the guide to the Chesterfield County (Va.) School Board Records, 1820-1902, (The Library of Virginia)

Chesterfield County was named for Philip Dormer Stanhope, fourth earl of Chesterfield, British statesman and diplomat, and was formed from Henrico County in 1749.

The 1902 voter registration books were created following the passage of the 1902 Virginia state constitution. The purpose of the 1902 state constitution was to maintain white suffrage while eliminating African-American voters by means of literacy tests as well as property and poll tax requirements.

From the guide to the Chesterfield County (Va.) Index for Registered Voters, 1902-1913, (The Library of Virginia)

Chesterfield County was named for Philip Dormer Stanhope, forth earl of Chesterfield, British statesman and diplomat, and was formed from Henrico County in 1749.

Lists of free negroes were compiled by the commissioner of the revenue for tax purposes.

An act passed by the Virginia legislature in 1803 required every free negro or mulatto to be registered and numbered in a book to be kept by the county clerk. Some clerks recorded additional information not required by law.

An act passed in 1806 required freed slaves to leave the state within a year. An additional act passed in 1831 allowed free negroes convicted of remaining illegally in the state to be sold into slavery by the sheriff.

From the guide to the Chesterfield County (Va.) Free Negro and Slave Records, 1760-1862, (The Library of Virginia)

Chesterfield County was named for Philip Dormer Stanhope, forth earl of Chesterfield, British statesman and diplomat, and was formed from Henrico County in 1749.

Throughout the Civil War, the principal responsibility for Virginia's indigent soldiers' families lay with the locality. The Virginia State Convention in 1861 gave the responsibility entirely to counties and incorporated towns and authorized whatever actions had already been taken. Acts of Assembly in 1862 and 1863 expanded the localities' powers to provide for their needy, and in 1863 some minimal state assistance was added in. At first relief was provided as money, but as the monetary system collapsed, relief was distributed in kind. Agents of the court maintained lists of eligible families, gathered goods for distribution and paid for them, and impressed supplies if necessary. Virginia was unique amongst the southern states in that it assigned the provisioning of needy families almost solely to the locality.

From the guide to the Chesterfield County (Va.) Lists of Provisions for Confederate Soldiers' Families, 1863-1864, (The Library of Virginia)

Chesterfield County was named for Philip Dormer Stanhope, fourth earl of Chesterfield, British statesman and diplomat, and was formed from Henrico County in 1749.

The Tobacco Growers Cooperative Association was a non-profit association of tobacco farmers organized in North Carolina in 1921, and administered by a board of twenty-five directors in Raleigh. It was organized "for the purpose of promoting, fostering, and encouraging the business of marketing tobacco cooperatively: for reducing speculation; for stabilizing the local tobacco markets; for cooperatively and collectively handling the problems of tobacco growers, and for other pertinent purposes."

From the guide to the Tobacco Growers Cooperative Association Contract Book, 1923-1925, (The Library of Virginia)