Fauquier County (Va.) Circuit Court.

Fauquier County was formed in 1759 from Prince William County.

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.

From the guide to the Fauquier County (Va.) Register of Free Negroes, 1817-1865, (The Library of Virginia)

Fauquier County was named for Francis Fauquier, lieutenant governor of Virginia from 1758 to 1768. It was formed from Prince William County in 1759.

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 Fauquier County (Va.) Township Records, 1870-1875, (The Library of Virginia)

Fauquier County was named for Francis Fauquier, lieutenant governor of Virginia from 1758 to 1768. It was formed from Prince William County in 1759. The county seat is Warrenton.

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 Fauquier County (Va.) General Voter Registration, 1902-1903, (The Library of Virginia)

An act of the General Assembly passed 9 February 1811 authorized formation of the Rappahannock Company for the purpose of opening and improving navigation of the Rappahannock River from the basin at Fredericksburg to the mouth of Carter's Run in Fauquier County. Construction on the canal was intermittent over the next thirty years due to natural and financial obstacles. Wellington Gordon was hired as contractor to complete the project but resigned in 1847 November after a severe flood caused serious damage to the canal. Caffrey and Carpenter was one of the companies contracted by Gordon to work on the Rappahannock Canal.

From the guide to the Caffrey and Carpenter versus Wellington Gordon exhibit book, 1847-1854, (The Library of Virginia)

Fauquier County was created in 1759 from Prince William 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 Fauquier County (Va.) Lists of Tithables and Taxable Property, 1759, 1766-1768, 1775, 1777-1778, 1781, 1783, 1787, 1800, and undated., (The Library of Virginia)

Chancery Causes are cases of equity. According to Black's Law Dictionary they are "administered according to fairness as contrasted with the strictly formulated rules of common law." A judge, not a jury, determines the outcome of the case.

Fauquier County was formed in 1759 from Prince William County. It was named for Francis Fauquier, royal lieutenant governor of Virginia from 1758 to 1768.

From the guide to the Fauquier County (Va.) Chancery Causes, 1759-1919, (The Library of Virginia)

Fauquier County was named for Francis Fauquier, lieutenant governor of Virginia from 1758 to 1768. It was formed from Prince William County in 1759. The county seat is Warrenton.

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.

From the guide to the Fauquier County (Va.) Board of Overseers of the Poor Minutes, 1804-1845, (The Library of Virginia)

Fauquier County was formed in 1759 from Prince William County. The county was named for Francis Fauquier, lieutenant governor of Virginia from 1758-1768.

From the guide to the Fauquier County (Va.) Judgments and Office Judgments, 1829-1904 (bulk 1833-1904), (The Library of Virginia)