{"links":{"self":"https://arvasarchive.org/catalog.json?f%5Baccess_subjects%5D%5B%5D=Psychiatric+hospitals--Virginia.\u0026view=compact","last":"https://arvasarchive.org/catalog.json?f%5Baccess_subjects%5D%5B%5D=Psychiatric+hospitals--Virginia.\u0026page=1\u0026view=compact"},"meta":{"pages":{"current_page":1,"next_page":null,"prev_page":null,"total_pages":1,"limit_value":10,"offset_value":0,"total_count":10,"first_page?":true,"last_page?":true}},"data":[{"id":"vi_vi05118","type":"collection","attributes":{"title":"Albemarle County Health and Medical Records, 1858-1870","creator":{"id":"https://arvasarchive.org/catalog/vi_vi05118#creator","type":"document_value","attributes":{"value":"Albemarle County (Va.) Circuit Court","label":"Creator"}},"abstract_or_scope":{"id":"https://arvasarchive.org/catalog/vi_vi05118#abstract_or_scope","type":"document_value","attributes":{"value":"\u003cp\u003eAlbemarle County (Va.) Health and Medical Records, 1858-1870, consists of two folders: Mental Health Records and Smallpox Epidemic Records. \u003c/p\u003e","label":"Abstract Or Scope"}},"breadcrumbs":{"id":"https://arvasarchive.org/catalog/vi_vi05118#breadcrumbs","type":"document_value","attributes":{"value":{"id":"vi_vi05118","ead_ssi":"vi_vi05118","_root_":"vi_vi05118","_nest_parent_":"vi_vi05118","ead_source_url_ssi":"data/lva/vi05118.xml","title_ssm":["Albemarle County Health and Medical Records, 1858-1870"],"title_tesim":["Albemarle County Health and Medical Records, 1858-1870"],"normalized_title_ssm":["Albemarle County Health and Medical Records, 1858-1870"],"text":["Albemarle County Health and Medical Records, 1858-1870","1168184","Insanity--Jurisprudence--Virginia--Albemarle County.","Jails--Virginia--Albemarle County.","Mental illness--Virginia--Albemarle County.","Physicians--Virginia--Albemarle County.","Psychiatric hospitals--Virginia.","Public records--Virginia--Albemarle County.","Quarantine--Virginia--Albemarle County.","Slaves--Virginia--Albemarle County.","Smallpox--Virginia--Albemarle County.","Health and medical records--Virginia--Albemarle County.","Local government records--Virginia--Albemarle County.","Chronological by entry date.","Albemarle County was named for William Anne Keppel, second earl of Albemarle and governor of the Virginia colony from 1737-1754. The county was formed from Goochland County in 1744, and part of Louisa County and certain islands in the Fluvanna River, now called the James, were added later.","Mental Health Records may consist of a variety of documents that historically were referred to as lunacy papers in the courthouses of Virginia localities and municipalities.","Albemarle County (Va.) Health and Medical Records, 1858-1870, consists of two folders: Mental Health Records and Smallpox Epidemic Records.","Mental Health Records, 1858, 1867, 1868, contains three items: 6 Jul 1858 report regarding prisoner thought to be suffering from mental illness; 10 Oct 1867 letter from superintendent of Eastern Lunatic Asylum to committee of a patient regarding mental condition of patient who was released on bond; 5 Mar 1868 court order for committee of former patient to return the latter's estate to him, as he was declared \"fit to take care of his financial matters.\"","Smallpox Epidemic Records, 1863-1864, 1870, contains five items relating to smallpox outbreaks, especially as the disease affected prisoners in the local jail: 2 Jun 1863 small pox committee report--seeking to borrow $1,945.00 to cover the debt incurred by the small pox hospital. Property formerly of George W. Harris, near University of Virginia, sold to John Collier and then had been sold to the county for this purpose. Suggests a $3 levy on \"persons as are able to pay and the owners of slaves who are treated in the Hospital\" to offset the debt; 6 Jul 1863 account owed jail nurse for attending to patients there; 7 Jul 1863 jail account references \"unprecedented number of prisoners, several small pox and typhoid cases\"; 4 Jul 1864 committee report references previous 12 months \"the disease broke out with considerable violence\" seeking $4,000 from county to cover expenses; Apr 1870 order by town council of Charlottesville for establishing a quarantined hospital outside the town limits.","Albemarle County (Va.) 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The county was formed from Goochland County in 1744, and part of Louisa County and certain islands in the Fluvanna River, now called the James, were added later.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eMental Health Records may consist of a variety of documents that historically were referred to as lunacy papers in the courthouses of Virginia localities and municipalities.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n"],"bioghist_heading_ssm":["Historical Information"],"bioghist_tesim":["Albemarle County was named for William Anne Keppel, second earl of Albemarle and governor of the Virginia colony from 1737-1754. The county was formed from Goochland County in 1744, and part of Louisa County and certain islands in the Fluvanna River, now called the James, were added later.","Mental Health Records may consist of a variety of documents that historically were referred to as lunacy papers in the courthouses of Virginia localities and municipalities."],"scopecontent_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eAlbemarle County (Va.) Health and Medical Records, 1858-1870, consists of two folders: Mental Health Records and Smallpox Epidemic Records.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eMental Health Records, 1858, 1867, 1868, contains three items: 6 Jul 1858 report regarding prisoner thought to be suffering from mental illness; 10 Oct 1867 letter from superintendent of Eastern Lunatic Asylum to committee of a patient regarding mental condition of patient who was released on bond; 5 Mar 1868 court order for committee of former patient to return the latter's estate to him, as he was declared \"fit to take care of his financial matters.\"\n\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eSmallpox Epidemic Records, 1863-1864, 1870, contains five items relating to smallpox outbreaks, especially as the disease affected prisoners in the local jail: 2 Jun 1863 small pox committee report--seeking to borrow $1,945.00 to cover the debt incurred by the small pox hospital. Property formerly of George W. Harris, near University of Virginia, sold to John Collier and then had been sold to the county for this purpose. Suggests a $3 levy on \"persons as are able to pay and the owners of slaves who are treated in the Hospital\" to offset the debt; 6 Jul 1863 account owed jail nurse for attending to patients there; 7 Jul 1863 jail account references \"unprecedented number of prisoners, several small pox and typhoid cases\"; 4 Jul 1864 committee report references previous 12 months \"the disease broke out with considerable violence\" seeking $4,000 from county to cover expenses; Apr 1870 order by town council of Charlottesville for establishing a quarantined hospital outside the town limits.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n"],"scopecontent_heading_ssm":["Scope and Content"],"scopecontent_tesim":["Albemarle County (Va.) Health and Medical Records, 1858-1870, consists of two folders: Mental Health Records and Smallpox Epidemic Records.","Mental Health Records, 1858, 1867, 1868, contains three items: 6 Jul 1858 report regarding prisoner thought to be suffering from mental illness; 10 Oct 1867 letter from superintendent of Eastern Lunatic Asylum to committee of a patient regarding mental condition of patient who was released on bond; 5 Mar 1868 court order for committee of former patient to return the latter's estate to him, as he was declared \"fit to take care of his financial matters.\"","Smallpox Epidemic Records, 1863-1864, 1870, contains five items relating to smallpox outbreaks, especially as the disease affected prisoners in the local jail: 2 Jun 1863 small pox committee report--seeking to borrow $1,945.00 to cover the debt incurred by the small pox hospital. Property formerly of George W. Harris, near University of Virginia, sold to John Collier and then had been sold to the county for this purpose. Suggests a $3 levy on \"persons as are able to pay and the owners of slaves who are treated in the Hospital\" to offset the debt; 6 Jul 1863 account owed jail nurse for attending to patients there; 7 Jul 1863 jail account references \"unprecedented number of prisoners, several small pox and typhoid cases\"; 4 Jul 1864 committee report references previous 12 months \"the disease broke out with considerable violence\" seeking $4,000 from county to cover expenses; Apr 1870 order by town council of Charlottesville for establishing a quarantined hospital outside the town limits."],"corpname_ssim":["Albemarle County (Va.) Circuit Court."],"names_ssim":["Albemarle County (Va.) 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The county was formed from Goochland County in 1744, and part of Louisa County and certain islands in the Fluvanna River, now called the James, were added later.","Mental Health Records may consist of a variety of documents that historically were referred to as lunacy papers in the courthouses of Virginia localities and municipalities.","Albemarle County (Va.) Health and Medical Records, 1858-1870, consists of two folders: Mental Health Records and Smallpox Epidemic Records.","Mental Health Records, 1858, 1867, 1868, contains three items: 6 Jul 1858 report regarding prisoner thought to be suffering from mental illness; 10 Oct 1867 letter from superintendent of Eastern Lunatic Asylum to committee of a patient regarding mental condition of patient who was released on bond; 5 Mar 1868 court order for committee of former patient to return the latter's estate to him, as he was declared \"fit to take care of his financial matters.\"","Smallpox Epidemic Records, 1863-1864, 1870, contains five items relating to smallpox outbreaks, especially as the disease affected prisoners in the local jail: 2 Jun 1863 small pox committee report--seeking to borrow $1,945.00 to cover the debt incurred by the small pox hospital. Property formerly of George W. Harris, near University of Virginia, sold to John Collier and then had been sold to the county for this purpose. Suggests a $3 levy on \"persons as are able to pay and the owners of slaves who are treated in the Hospital\" to offset the debt; 6 Jul 1863 account owed jail nurse for attending to patients there; 7 Jul 1863 jail account references \"unprecedented number of prisoners, several small pox and typhoid cases\"; 4 Jul 1864 committee report references previous 12 months \"the disease broke out with considerable violence\" seeking $4,000 from county to cover expenses; Apr 1870 order by town council of Charlottesville for establishing a quarantined hospital outside the town limits.","Albemarle County (Va.) 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Circuit Court."],"acqinfo_ssim":["This item came to the Library of Virginia in a transfer of court papers from Albemarle County."],"access_subjects_ssim":["Insanity--Jurisprudence--Virginia--Albemarle County.","Jails--Virginia--Albemarle County.","Mental illness--Virginia--Albemarle County.","Physicians--Virginia--Albemarle County.","Psychiatric hospitals--Virginia.","Public records--Virginia--Albemarle County.","Quarantine--Virginia--Albemarle County.","Slaves--Virginia--Albemarle County.","Smallpox--Virginia--Albemarle County.","Health and medical records--Virginia--Albemarle County.","Local government records--Virginia--Albemarle County."],"access_subjects_ssm":["Insanity--Jurisprudence--Virginia--Albemarle County.","Jails--Virginia--Albemarle County.","Mental illness--Virginia--Albemarle County.","Physicians--Virginia--Albemarle County.","Psychiatric hospitals--Virginia.","Public records--Virginia--Albemarle County.","Quarantine--Virginia--Albemarle County.","Slaves--Virginia--Albemarle County.","Smallpox--Virginia--Albemarle County.","Health and medical records--Virginia--Albemarle County.","Local government records--Virginia--Albemarle County."],"has_online_content_ssim":["false"],"extent_ssm":["2 folders"],"extent_tesim":["2 folders"],"arrangement_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eChronological by entry date. \n\u003c/p\u003e\n    "],"arrangement_heading_ssm":["Arrangement"],"arrangement_tesim":["Chronological by entry date."],"bioghist_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eAlbemarle County was named for William Anne Keppel, second earl of Albemarle and governor of the Virginia colony from 1737-1754. The county was formed from Goochland County in 1744, and part of Louisa County and certain islands in the Fluvanna River, now called the James, were added later.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eMental Health Records may consist of a variety of documents that historically were referred to as lunacy papers in the courthouses of Virginia localities and municipalities.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n"],"bioghist_heading_ssm":["Historical Information"],"bioghist_tesim":["Albemarle County was named for William Anne Keppel, second earl of Albemarle and governor of the Virginia colony from 1737-1754. The county was formed from Goochland County in 1744, and part of Louisa County and certain islands in the Fluvanna River, now called the James, were added later.","Mental Health Records may consist of a variety of documents that historically were referred to as lunacy papers in the courthouses of Virginia localities and municipalities."],"scopecontent_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eAlbemarle County (Va.) Health and Medical Records, 1858-1870, consists of two folders: Mental Health Records and Smallpox Epidemic Records.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eMental Health Records, 1858, 1867, 1868, contains three items: 6 Jul 1858 report regarding prisoner thought to be suffering from mental illness; 10 Oct 1867 letter from superintendent of Eastern Lunatic Asylum to committee of a patient regarding mental condition of patient who was released on bond; 5 Mar 1868 court order for committee of former patient to return the latter's estate to him, as he was declared \"fit to take care of his financial matters.\"\n\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eSmallpox Epidemic Records, 1863-1864, 1870, contains five items relating to smallpox outbreaks, especially as the disease affected prisoners in the local jail: 2 Jun 1863 small pox committee report--seeking to borrow $1,945.00 to cover the debt incurred by the small pox hospital. Property formerly of George W. Harris, near University of Virginia, sold to John Collier and then had been sold to the county for this purpose. Suggests a $3 levy on \"persons as are able to pay and the owners of slaves who are treated in the Hospital\" to offset the debt; 6 Jul 1863 account owed jail nurse for attending to patients there; 7 Jul 1863 jail account references \"unprecedented number of prisoners, several small pox and typhoid cases\"; 4 Jul 1864 committee report references previous 12 months \"the disease broke out with considerable violence\" seeking $4,000 from county to cover expenses; Apr 1870 order by town council of Charlottesville for establishing a quarantined hospital outside the town limits.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n"],"scopecontent_heading_ssm":["Scope and Content"],"scopecontent_tesim":["Albemarle County (Va.) Health and Medical Records, 1858-1870, consists of two folders: Mental Health Records and Smallpox Epidemic Records.","Mental Health Records, 1858, 1867, 1868, contains three items: 6 Jul 1858 report regarding prisoner thought to be suffering from mental illness; 10 Oct 1867 letter from superintendent of Eastern Lunatic Asylum to committee of a patient regarding mental condition of patient who was released on bond; 5 Mar 1868 court order for committee of former patient to return the latter's estate to him, as he was declared \"fit to take care of his financial matters.\"","Smallpox Epidemic Records, 1863-1864, 1870, contains five items relating to smallpox outbreaks, especially as the disease affected prisoners in the local jail: 2 Jun 1863 small pox committee report--seeking to borrow $1,945.00 to cover the debt incurred by the small pox hospital. Property formerly of George W. Harris, near University of Virginia, sold to John Collier and then had been sold to the county for this purpose. Suggests a $3 levy on \"persons as are able to pay and the owners of slaves who are treated in the Hospital\" to offset the debt; 6 Jul 1863 account owed jail nurse for attending to patients there; 7 Jul 1863 jail account references \"unprecedented number of prisoners, several small pox and typhoid cases\"; 4 Jul 1864 committee report references previous 12 months \"the disease broke out with considerable violence\" seeking $4,000 from county to cover expenses; Apr 1870 order by town council of Charlottesville for establishing a quarantined hospital outside the town limits."],"corpname_ssim":["Albemarle County (Va.) Circuit Court."],"names_ssim":["Albemarle County (Va.) Circuit Court."],"language_ssim":["English"],"total_component_count_is":0,"online_item_count_is":0,"component_level_isim":[0],"sort_isi":0,"timestamp":"2026-07-23T21:13:33.340Z"}]}},"label":"Breadcrumbs"}}},"links":{"self":"https://arvasarchive.org/catalog/vi_vi05118"}},{"id":"vi_vi05117","type":"collection","attributes":{"title":"Amelia County (Va.) Health and Medical Records, 1795-1902","creator":{"id":"https://arvasarchive.org/catalog/vi_vi05117#creator","type":"document_value","attributes":{"value":"Amelia County (Va.) Circuit Court","label":"Creator"}},"abstract_or_scope":{"id":"https://arvasarchive.org/catalog/vi_vi05117#abstract_or_scope","type":"document_value","attributes":{"value":"\u003cp\u003eAmelia County (Va.) Health and Medical Records, 1795-1902, consists of two folders: Mental Health Records and Smallpox Epidemic Records.\u003c/p\u003e","label":"Abstract Or Scope"}},"breadcrumbs":{"id":"https://arvasarchive.org/catalog/vi_vi05117#breadcrumbs","type":"document_value","attributes":{"value":{"id":"vi_vi05117","ead_ssi":"vi_vi05117","_root_":"vi_vi05117","_nest_parent_":"vi_vi05117","ead_source_url_ssi":"data/lva/vi05117.xml","title_ssm":["Amelia County (Va.) Health and Medical Records, 1795-1902"],"title_tesim":["Amelia County (Va.) Health and Medical Records, 1795-1902"],"normalized_title_ssm":["Amelia County (Va.) Health and Medical Records, 1795-1902"],"text":["Amelia County (Va.) Health and Medical Records, 1795-1902","1160450","African Americans--Mental health--Virginia--Amelia County.","Insanity--Virginia--Amelia County.","Mental Illness--Virginia--Amelia County.","Physicians--Virginia--Amelia County.","Psychiatric hospitals--Virginia.","Public health administration--Virginia.","Public Records--Virginia--Amelia County.","Smallpox--Virginia--Amelia County.","Health and medical records--Virginia--Amelia County.","Local government records--Virginia--Amelia County.","2 folders.","Chronological by entry date, then alphabetically by last name of individual.","Mental Health Records may consist of a variety of documents that historically were referred to as lunacy papers in the courthouses of Virginia localities and municipalities.","During its session begun in November 1769, the House of Burgesses passed an act establishing a hospital in Williamsburg for the mentally ill. The Eastern Lunatic Asylum (now Eastern State Hospital) was the first institution in America constructed as a mental hospital. The first patients were admitted in October 1773.","In January 1825 the Virginia General Assembly passed legislation providing for the construction of an asylum in the western part of the state. The institution, which became known as Western Lunatic Asylum, was constructed close to the town of Staunton, west of the Blue Ridge Mountains, and was the second mental health facility built in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The buildings and surrounding gardens were designed to embrace the idea of \"moral therapy\" for mentally ill patients by providing an aesthetically pleasing and tranquil atmosphere in which patients lived comfortably, exercised and worked outdoors.","Western Lunatic Asylum opened in 1828, accepting both male and female patients suffering from a variety of mental disorders. It should be noted that the hospital underwent a short-lived name change between 1861 and 1865, when it was known as Central Lunatic Asylum. (It should not be confused with an asylum of the same name later built in Petersburg, Virginia to house African American patients). From 1865 to 1894 the name was again Western Lunatic Asylum. However, in 1894 the General Assembly passed legislation changing the name to Western State Hospital.","Amelia County was named for Amelia Sophia Eleanora, daughter of King George II. It was formed from Prince George and Brunswick Counties by an act passed in 1734 to take effect on 25 March 1735. The county court first met on 9 May 1735. The county seat is Amelia.","Amelia County (Va.) Health and Medical Records, 1795-1902, consists of two folders: Mental Health Records and Smallpox Epidemic Records.","Mental Health Records, 1795-1902, is comprised of nine cases which may include warrants, orders, depositions, reports, etc. for or by justices of the peace regarding the mental condition of individuals who were released to the recognizance of a family member or ordered to be committed to a mental hospital. Includes references to Western Lunatic Asylum and Eastern Lunatic Asylum. The earliest items date from 1795 and pertain to the mental state of Henry Anderson, who owned 2,000 acres of land in Amelia County, including the land on which the courthouse stood and from which he received income from the rent of the courthouse building. The latest items date from 1902 and include the deposition of Richard Anderson regarding the mental state of his relative, Charles Anderson. The latter is described as colored in the deposition.","Smallpox Epidemic Records, 1837-1865, contain five items related to meetings and resolutions of justices of the peace dealing with localized smallpox outbreaks.","Library of Virginia","Amelia County (Va.) Circuit Court.","Eastern State Hospital (Va.).","Western State Hospital (Va.).","English"],"collection_title_tesim":["Amelia County (Va.) Health and Medical Records, 1795-1902"],"collection_ssim":["Amelia County (Va.) Health and Medical Records, 1795-1902"],"level_ssm":["collection"],"level_ssim":["Collection"],"unitid_ssm":["1160450"],"unitid_tesim":["1160450"],"repository_ssm":["Library of Virginia"],"repository_ssim":["Library of Virginia"],"creator_ssm":["Amelia County (Va.) Circuit Court"],"creator_ssim":["Amelia County (Va.) Circuit Court"],"creator_corpname_ssim":["Amelia County (Va.) Circuit Court.","Eastern State Hospital (Va.).","Western State Hospital (Va.)."],"creators_ssim":["Amelia County (Va.) 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The Eastern Lunatic Asylum (now Eastern State Hospital) was the first institution in America constructed as a mental hospital. The first patients were admitted in October 1773.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eIn January 1825 the Virginia General Assembly passed legislation providing for the construction of an asylum in the western part of the state. The institution, which became known as Western Lunatic Asylum, was constructed close to the town of Staunton, west of the Blue Ridge Mountains, and was the second mental health facility built in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The buildings and surrounding gardens were designed to embrace the idea of \"moral therapy\" for mentally ill patients by providing an aesthetically pleasing and tranquil atmosphere in which patients lived comfortably, exercised and worked outdoors.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eWestern Lunatic Asylum opened in 1828, accepting both male and female patients suffering from a variety of mental disorders. It should be noted that the hospital underwent a short-lived name change between 1861 and 1865, when it was known as Central Lunatic Asylum. (It should not be confused with an asylum of the same name later built in Petersburg, Virginia to house African American patients). From 1865 to 1894 the name was again Western Lunatic Asylum. However, in 1894 the General Assembly passed legislation changing the name to Western State Hospital.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eAmelia County was named for Amelia Sophia Eleanora, daughter of King George II. It was formed from Prince George and Brunswick Counties by an act passed in 1734 to take effect on 25 March 1735. The county court first met on 9 May 1735. The county seat is Amelia.\u003c/p\u003e\n    "],"bioghist_heading_ssm":["Historical Information"],"bioghist_tesim":["Mental Health Records may consist of a variety of documents that historically were referred to as lunacy papers in the courthouses of Virginia localities and municipalities.","During its session begun in November 1769, the House of Burgesses passed an act establishing a hospital in Williamsburg for the mentally ill. The Eastern Lunatic Asylum (now Eastern State Hospital) was the first institution in America constructed as a mental hospital. The first patients were admitted in October 1773.","In January 1825 the Virginia General Assembly passed legislation providing for the construction of an asylum in the western part of the state. The institution, which became known as Western Lunatic Asylum, was constructed close to the town of Staunton, west of the Blue Ridge Mountains, and was the second mental health facility built in the Commonwealth of Virginia. 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Health and Medical Records, 1802-1909, consists of warrants, orders, petitions, depositions, reports, etc. for or by justices of the peace and others regarding the mental condition of individuals who were released to the recognizance of a family member or who were committed to a mental hospital. 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Circuit Court.","Eastern State Hospital (Va.)."],"creators_ssim":["Caroline County (Va.) Circuit Court.","Eastern State Hospital (Va.)."],"acqinfo_ssim":["This item came to the Library of Virginia in a transfer of court papers from Caroline County."],"access_subjects_ssim":["Insanity--Jurisprudence--Virginia--Caroline County.","Mental health facilities--Virginia.","Mental illness--Virginia--Caroline County.","Psychiatric hospitals--Virginia.","Public records--Virginia--Caroline County.","Slaves--Virginia--Caroline County.","Health and medical records--Virginia--Caroline County.","Local government records--Virginia--Caroline County."],"access_subjects_ssm":["Insanity--Jurisprudence--Virginia--Caroline County.","Mental health facilities--Virginia.","Mental illness--Virginia--Caroline County.","Psychiatric hospitals--Virginia.","Public records--Virginia--Caroline County.","Slaves--Virginia--Caroline County.","Health and medical records--Virginia--Caroline County.","Local government records--Virginia--Caroline County."],"has_online_content_ssim":["false"],"extent_ssm":[".23 cu. ft."],"extent_tesim":[".23 cu. ft."],"arrangement_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eChronological by entry date. \n\u003c/p\u003e\n    "],"arrangement_heading_ssm":["Arrangement"],"arrangement_tesim":["Chronological by entry date."],"bioghist_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eMental Health Records may consist of a variety of documents that historically were referred to as lunacy papers in the courthouses of Virginia localities and municipalities.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eDuring its session begun in November 1769, the Virginia House of Burgesses passed an act establishing a hospital in Williamsburg for the mentally ill. The Eastern Lunatic Asylum (now Eastern State Hospital) was the first institution in America constructed as a mental hospital. The first patients were admitted in October 1773.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eCaroline County was named for Caroline of Anspach, wife of King George II. It was formed from Essex, King and Queen, and King William Counties on 1 May 1728, and additional parts of King and Queen County were added in 1742 and in 1763. The county seat is Bowling Green.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n"],"bioghist_heading_ssm":["Historical Information"],"bioghist_tesim":["Mental Health Records may consist of a variety of documents that historically were referred to as lunacy papers in the courthouses of Virginia localities and municipalities.","During its session begun in November 1769, the Virginia House of Burgesses passed an act establishing a hospital in Williamsburg for the mentally ill. The Eastern Lunatic Asylum (now Eastern State Hospital) was the first institution in America constructed as a mental hospital. The first patients were admitted in October 1773.","Caroline County was named for Caroline of Anspach, wife of King George II. It was formed from Essex, King and Queen, and King William Counties on 1 May 1728, and additional parts of King and Queen County were added in 1742 and in 1763. The county seat is Bowling Green."],"scopecontent_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eCaroline County (Va.) Health and Medical Records, 1802-1909, consists of warrants, orders, petitions, depositions, reports, etc. for or by justices of the peace and others regarding the mental condition of individuals who were released to the recognizance of a family member or who were committed to a mental hospital. Fiduciary records such as estate inventories of a person judged insane may also be present.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eCases of interest: William Redd (1802) Estate inventory references 22 unnamed enslaved people, and the hospital in Williamsburg; James West (1808) Estate inventory references seven-year-old enslaved boy, whose name is Arthur.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n"],"scopecontent_heading_ssm":["Scope and Content"],"scopecontent_tesim":["Caroline County (Va.) Health and Medical Records, 1802-1909, consists of warrants, orders, petitions, depositions, reports, etc. for or by justices of the peace and others regarding the mental condition of individuals who were released to the recognizance of a family member or who were committed to a mental hospital. Fiduciary records such as estate inventories of a person judged insane may also be present.","Cases of interest: William Redd (1802) Estate inventory references 22 unnamed enslaved people, and the hospital in Williamsburg; James West (1808) Estate inventory references seven-year-old enslaved boy, whose name is Arthur."],"corpname_ssim":["Caroline County (Va.) Circuit Court.","Eastern State Hospital (Va.)."],"names_ssim":["Caroline County (Va.) Circuit Court.","Eastern State Hospital (Va.)."],"language_ssim":["English"],"total_component_count_is":0,"online_item_count_is":0,"component_level_isim":[0],"sort_isi":0,"timestamp":"2026-07-23T21:13:33.340Z"}]}},"label":"Breadcrumbs"}}},"links":{"self":"https://arvasarchive.org/catalog/vi_vi05120"}},{"id":"vi_vi05123","type":"collection","attributes":{"title":"Chesterfield County Health and Medical Records, 1780-1904","creator":{"id":"https://arvasarchive.org/catalog/vi_vi05123#creator","type":"document_value","attributes":{"value":"Chesterfield County (Va.) Circuit Court","label":"Creator"}},"abstract_or_scope":{"id":"https://arvasarchive.org/catalog/vi_vi05123#abstract_or_scope","type":"document_value","attributes":{"value":"\u003cp\u003e Chesterfield County (Va.) Health and Medical Records, 1780-1904, consist of .225cf of Mental Health Records and Smallpox Epidemic Records. \u003c/p\u003e","label":"Abstract Or Scope"}},"breadcrumbs":{"id":"https://arvasarchive.org/catalog/vi_vi05123#breadcrumbs","type":"document_value","attributes":{"value":{"id":"vi_vi05123","ead_ssi":"vi_vi05123","_root_":"vi_vi05123","_nest_parent_":"vi_vi05123","ead_source_url_ssi":"data/lva/vi05123.xml","title_ssm":["Chesterfield County Health and Medical Records, 1780-1904"],"title_tesim":["Chesterfield County Health and Medical Records, 1780-1904"],"normalized_title_ssm":["Chesterfield County Health and Medical Records, 1780-1904"],"text":["Chesterfield County Health and Medical Records, 1780-1904","0007770387","African Americans--Mental Health--Virginia--Chesterfield County.","County courts--Virginia--Chesterfield County.","Insanity--Jurisprudence--Virginia--Chesterfield County.","Jails--Virginia--Chesterfield County.","Medical laws and legislation--Virginia--Chesterfield County.","Mental illness--Virginia--Chesterfield County.","Physicians--Virginia--Chesterfield County.","Psychiatric hospitals--Virginia.","Public health--Virginia.","Public health administration--Virginia.","Public records--Virginia--Chesterfield County.","Slaves--Virginia--Chesterfield County.","Smallpox--Virginia--Chesterfield County.","Smallpox prevention.","Health and Medical--Virginia--Chesterfield County.","Local government records--Virginia--Chesterfield County.","Chronological by year, then alphabetically by last name of individual.","Mental Health Records may consist of a variety of documents that historically were referred to as lunacy papers in the courthouses of Virginia localities and municipalities.","A fiduciary is an individual who enters into a confidential and legal relationship which binds them to act on behalf of another. Guardians are legally invested to take care of another person, and of the property and rights of that person. Thus, some records referred to as insanity papers are housed with fiduciary records and not with mental health records.","By 1792, Virginia's General Assembly enacted very strict laws governing the practice of inoculation. The new act required a license from the county court to administer vaccinations. It also included a penalty of $1,500 or six months of imprisonment for anyone willfully spreading smallpox in a manner other than that specified by the act.","During its session begun in November 1769, the House of Burgesses passed an act establishing a hospital in Williamsburg for the mentally ill. The Eastern Lunatic Asylum (now Eastern State Hospital) was the first institution in America constructed as a mental hospital. The first patients were admitted in October 1773.","In January 1825 the Virginia General Assembly passed legislation providing for the construction of an asylum in the western part of the state. The institution, which became known as Western Lunatic Asylum, was constructed close to the town of Staunton, west of the Blue Ridge Mountains, and was the second mental health facility built in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The buildings and surrounding gardens were designed to embrace the idea of \"moral therapy\" for mentally ill patients by providing an aesthetically pleasing and tranquil atmosphere in which patients lived comfortably, exercised and worked outdoors.","Western Lunatic Asylum opened in 1828, accepting both male and female patients suffering from a variety of mental disorders. It should be noted that the hospital underwent a short-lived name change between 1861 and 1865, when it was known as Central Lunatic Asylum. (It should not be confused with an asylum of the same name later built in Petersburg, Virginia to house African American patients). From 1865 to 1894 the name was again Western Lunatic Asylum. However, in 1894 the General Assembly passed legislation changing the name to Western State Hospital.","In March 1882 a 300 acre tract of land was purchased by the City of Petersburg and given to the state for the purpose of constructing a permanent mental health facility for African Americans. Construction of the new facility near Petersburg was completed in early spring 1885. This later included a special building to house the criminally insane apart from the rest of the hospital population. An early institutional history notes that treatment at Central Lunatic Asylum during the 1890s was humane and emphasized the value of work and the benefits of recreation. However, practices at the facility also included seclusion, mechanical restraints, and the administering of hypnotics.","In 1894, Central Lunatic Asylum was officially renamed Central State Hospital. This piece of legislation also altered the names of the other mental health facilities in Virginia in and attempt to inspire a more positive image of the institutions, and of mental health treatment in general. It is important to note that another state institution located in Staunton, Virginia went by the name Central Lunatic Asylum between the years of 1861 and 1865. Its name later was changed to Western Lunatic Asylum, and is a separate facility with no connection to the Richmond/Petersburg hospital for African Americans.","In March 1884 the Virginia General Assembly appointed a board of commissioners to select a site for a new lunatic asylum for white citizens to be built west of New River near Marion, Virginia. Dr. Harvey Black became the first superintendent of Southwestern Lunatic Asylum when it opened in May 1887. Dr. Robert J. Preston and Dr. John S. Apperson served as assistant physicians, and Mr. C.W. White was appointed as steward to oversee the day-to-day business operations of the hospital. The patient population grew steadily and over time several buildings were added to the hospital's campus including a tuberculosis treatment building, a building for the criminally insane, the Davis Clinic, and the Harmon Building. For much of its early history, the hospital was mostly self-sufficient through the utilization of its own farm for meat, milk, and vegetables. Other early hospital superintendents include Dr. Robert J. Preston (1888-1906), Dr. Daniel Trigg (1906-1908), Dr. J.C. King (1908-1915), Dr. E.H. Henderson (1915-1927), and Dr. George A. Wright (1927-1937). The hospital has gone through two name changes in its history. In 1894 the General Assembly passed legislation changing the name from Southwestern Lunatic Asylum to Southwestern State Hospital. In 1988, the name was changed to Southwestern Virginia Mental Health Institute.","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 county seat is Chesterfield Court House. Part of Henrico County was added to Chesterfield in 1922.","Chesterfield County (Va.) Health and Medical Records, 1780-1904, consist of .225cf of Mental Health Records and Smallpox Epidemic Records.","Mental Health Records, 1780-1904, n.d. consists of 4 folders, and may include warrants, orders, petitions, depositions, reports, etc. for or by justices of the peace and others regarding the mental condition of individuals who were released to the recognizance of a family member or who were committed to a mental hospital.  Includes references to several mental hospitals. Fiduciary records such as estate inventories of a person judged insane may also be present.","Smallpox Epidemic Records, 1829, 1836-1837, consist of three folders relating to smallpox hospitals and expenses associated with them regarding treatment of smallpox outbreaks in Chesterfield County. Minutes of a meeting of justices of the peace in 1829 provide details of establishing a makeshift hospital at the home of Mr. Frances Watkins, appointing a physician and manager and outlining their duties, fees to be assessed to patients, and proposals for universal vaccination. A hospital near the town of Manchester was established to house patients during an outbreak between Nov. 1836 and April 1837. In addition to several bills and receipts related to hospital supplies and patient treatment are two reports and a letter from the physician to the justices near the close of the outbreak. One detailed hospital statement lists names of patients admitted, the majority of whom were enslaved or free African Americans, and includes the number of days hospitalized and whether a patient survived. Another report lists payments to be made to various personnel, as well as bills to be paid by owners for enslaved people treated, including the number of days treated and burial expenses if applicable. One physician's report also included payments to five free African American nurses, including Katy Cheatham, whose petition to remain in the Commonwealth was granted in 1840 largely due to her commendable service during the 1837 outbreak.","Chesterfield County (Va.) Circuit Court.","Central Lunatic Asylum for Colored Insane, Virginia.","Central State Hospital (Petersburg, Va.).","Eastern State Hospital (Va.).","Southwestern Lunatic Asylum (Marion, Va.).","Southwestern State Hospital (Marion, Va.).","Western State Hospital (Va.).","English"],"collection_title_tesim":["Chesterfield County Health and Medical Records, 1780-1904"],"collection_ssim":["Chesterfield County Health and Medical Records, 1780-1904"],"level_ssm":["collection"],"level_ssim":["Collection"],"unitid_ssm":["0007770387"],"unitid_tesim":["0007770387"],"repository_ssm":["Library of Virginia"],"repository_ssim":["Library of Virginia"],"creator_ssm":["Chesterfield County (Va.) Circuit Court"],"creator_ssim":["Chesterfield County (Va.) Circuit Court"],"creator_corpname_ssim":["Chesterfield County (Va.) Circuit Court.","Central Lunatic Asylum for Colored Insane, Virginia.","Central State Hospital (Petersburg, Va.).","Eastern State Hospital (Va.).","Southwestern Lunatic Asylum (Marion, Va.).","Southwestern State Hospital (Marion, Va.).","Western State Hospital (Va.)."],"creators_ssim":["Chesterfield County (Va.) Circuit Court.","Central Lunatic Asylum for Colored Insane, Virginia.","Central State Hospital (Petersburg, Va.).","Eastern State Hospital (Va.).","Southwestern Lunatic Asylum (Marion, Va.).","Southwestern State Hospital (Marion, Va.).","Western State Hospital (Va.)."],"acqinfo_ssim":["This collection came to the Library of Virginia in a transfer of court papers from Chesterfield County Circuit Court."],"access_subjects_ssim":["African Americans--Mental Health--Virginia--Chesterfield County.","County courts--Virginia--Chesterfield County.","Insanity--Jurisprudence--Virginia--Chesterfield County.","Jails--Virginia--Chesterfield County.","Medical laws and legislation--Virginia--Chesterfield County.","Mental illness--Virginia--Chesterfield County.","Physicians--Virginia--Chesterfield County.","Psychiatric hospitals--Virginia.","Public health--Virginia.","Public health administration--Virginia.","Public records--Virginia--Chesterfield County.","Slaves--Virginia--Chesterfield County.","Smallpox--Virginia--Chesterfield County.","Smallpox prevention.","Health and Medical--Virginia--Chesterfield County.","Local government records--Virginia--Chesterfield County."],"access_subjects_ssm":["African Americans--Mental Health--Virginia--Chesterfield County.","County courts--Virginia--Chesterfield County.","Insanity--Jurisprudence--Virginia--Chesterfield County.","Jails--Virginia--Chesterfield County.","Medical laws and legislation--Virginia--Chesterfield County.","Mental illness--Virginia--Chesterfield County.","Physicians--Virginia--Chesterfield County.","Psychiatric hospitals--Virginia.","Public health--Virginia.","Public health administration--Virginia.","Public records--Virginia--Chesterfield County.","Slaves--Virginia--Chesterfield County.","Smallpox--Virginia--Chesterfield County.","Smallpox prevention.","Health and Medical--Virginia--Chesterfield County.","Local government records--Virginia--Chesterfield County."],"has_online_content_ssim":["false"],"extent_ssm":[".225 cf (1/2 hollinger)"],"extent_tesim":[".225 cf (1/2 hollinger)"],"arrangement_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eChronological by year, then alphabetically by last name of individual.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n    "],"arrangement_heading_ssm":["Arrangement"],"arrangement_tesim":["Chronological by year, then alphabetically by last name of individual."],"bioghist_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eMental Health Records may consist of a variety of documents that historically were referred to as lunacy papers in the courthouses of Virginia localities and municipalities.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eA fiduciary is an individual who enters into a confidential and legal relationship which binds them to act on behalf of another. Guardians are legally invested to take care of another person, and of the property and rights of that person. Thus, some records referred to as insanity papers are housed with fiduciary records and not with mental health records.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eBy 1792, Virginia's General Assembly enacted very strict laws governing the practice of inoculation. The new act required a license from the county court to administer vaccinations. It also included a penalty of $1,500 or six months of imprisonment for anyone willfully spreading smallpox in a manner other than that specified by the act.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eDuring its session begun in November 1769, the House of Burgesses passed an act establishing a hospital in Williamsburg for the mentally ill. The Eastern Lunatic Asylum (now Eastern State Hospital) was the first institution in America constructed as a mental hospital. The first patients were admitted in October 1773.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eIn January 1825 the Virginia General Assembly passed legislation providing for the construction of an asylum in the western part of the state. The institution, which became known as Western Lunatic Asylum, was constructed close to the town of Staunton, west of the Blue Ridge Mountains, and was the second mental health facility built in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The buildings and surrounding gardens were designed to embrace the idea of \"moral therapy\" for mentally ill patients by providing an aesthetically pleasing and tranquil atmosphere in which patients lived comfortably, exercised and worked outdoors.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eWestern Lunatic Asylum opened in 1828, accepting both male and female patients suffering from a variety of mental disorders. It should be noted that the hospital underwent a short-lived name change between 1861 and 1865, when it was known as Central Lunatic Asylum. (It should not be confused with an asylum of the same name later built in Petersburg, Virginia to house African American patients). From 1865 to 1894 the name was again Western Lunatic Asylum. However, in 1894 the General Assembly passed legislation changing the name to Western State Hospital.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eIn March 1882 a 300 acre tract of land was purchased by the City of Petersburg and given to the state for the purpose of constructing a permanent mental health facility for African Americans. Construction of the new facility near Petersburg was completed in early spring 1885. This later included a special building to house the criminally insane apart from the rest of the hospital population. An early institutional history notes that treatment at Central Lunatic Asylum during the 1890s was humane and emphasized the value of work and the benefits of recreation. However, practices at the facility also included seclusion, mechanical restraints, and the administering of hypnotics.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003e In 1894, Central Lunatic Asylum was officially renamed Central State Hospital. This piece of legislation also altered the names of the other mental health facilities in Virginia in and attempt to inspire a more positive image of the institutions, and of mental health treatment in general. It is important to note that another state institution located in Staunton, Virginia went by the name Central Lunatic Asylum between the years of 1861 and 1865. Its name later was changed to Western Lunatic Asylum, and is a separate facility with no connection to the Richmond/Petersburg hospital for African Americans.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eIn March 1884 the Virginia General Assembly appointed a board of commissioners to select a site for a new lunatic asylum for white citizens to be built west of New River near Marion, Virginia. Dr. Harvey Black became the first superintendent of Southwestern Lunatic Asylum when it opened in May 1887. Dr. Robert J. Preston and Dr. John S. Apperson served as assistant physicians, and Mr. C.W. White was appointed as steward to oversee the day-to-day business operations of the hospital. The patient population grew steadily and over time several buildings were added to the hospital's campus including a tuberculosis treatment building, a building for the criminally insane, the Davis Clinic, and the Harmon Building. For much of its early history, the hospital was mostly self-sufficient through the utilization of its own farm for meat, milk, and vegetables. Other early hospital superintendents include Dr. Robert J. Preston (1888-1906), Dr. Daniel Trigg (1906-1908), Dr. J.C. King (1908-1915), Dr. E.H. Henderson (1915-1927), and Dr. George A. Wright (1927-1937). The hospital has gone through two name changes in its history. In 1894 the General Assembly passed legislation changing the name from Southwestern Lunatic Asylum to Southwestern State Hospital. In 1988, the name was changed to Southwestern Virginia Mental Health Institute.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eChesterfield County was named for Philip Dormer Stanhope, fourth earl of Chesterfield, British statesman and diplomat, and was formed from Henrico County in 1749. The county seat is Chesterfield Court House. Part of Henrico County was added to Chesterfield in 1922.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n"],"bioghist_heading_ssm":["Historical Information"],"bioghist_tesim":["Mental Health Records may consist of a variety of documents that historically were referred to as lunacy papers in the courthouses of Virginia localities and municipalities.","A fiduciary is an individual who enters into a confidential and legal relationship which binds them to act on behalf of another. Guardians are legally invested to take care of another person, and of the property and rights of that person. Thus, some records referred to as insanity papers are housed with fiduciary records and not with mental health records.","By 1792, Virginia's General Assembly enacted very strict laws governing the practice of inoculation. The new act required a license from the county court to administer vaccinations. It also included a penalty of $1,500 or six months of imprisonment for anyone willfully spreading smallpox in a manner other than that specified by the act.","During its session begun in November 1769, the House of Burgesses passed an act establishing a hospital in Williamsburg for the mentally ill. The Eastern Lunatic Asylum (now Eastern State Hospital) was the first institution in America constructed as a mental hospital. The first patients were admitted in October 1773.","In January 1825 the Virginia General Assembly passed legislation providing for the construction of an asylum in the western part of the state. The institution, which became known as Western Lunatic Asylum, was constructed close to the town of Staunton, west of the Blue Ridge Mountains, and was the second mental health facility built in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The buildings and surrounding gardens were designed to embrace the idea of \"moral therapy\" for mentally ill patients by providing an aesthetically pleasing and tranquil atmosphere in which patients lived comfortably, exercised and worked outdoors.","Western Lunatic Asylum opened in 1828, accepting both male and female patients suffering from a variety of mental disorders. It should be noted that the hospital underwent a short-lived name change between 1861 and 1865, when it was known as Central Lunatic Asylum. (It should not be confused with an asylum of the same name later built in Petersburg, Virginia to house African American patients). From 1865 to 1894 the name was again Western Lunatic Asylum. However, in 1894 the General Assembly passed legislation changing the name to Western State Hospital.","In March 1882 a 300 acre tract of land was purchased by the City of Petersburg and given to the state for the purpose of constructing a permanent mental health facility for African Americans. Construction of the new facility near Petersburg was completed in early spring 1885. This later included a special building to house the criminally insane apart from the rest of the hospital population. An early institutional history notes that treatment at Central Lunatic Asylum during the 1890s was humane and emphasized the value of work and the benefits of recreation. However, practices at the facility also included seclusion, mechanical restraints, and the administering of hypnotics.","In 1894, Central Lunatic Asylum was officially renamed Central State Hospital. This piece of legislation also altered the names of the other mental health facilities in Virginia in and attempt to inspire a more positive image of the institutions, and of mental health treatment in general. It is important to note that another state institution located in Staunton, Virginia went by the name Central Lunatic Asylum between the years of 1861 and 1865. Its name later was changed to Western Lunatic Asylum, and is a separate facility with no connection to the Richmond/Petersburg hospital for African Americans.","In March 1884 the Virginia General Assembly appointed a board of commissioners to select a site for a new lunatic asylum for white citizens to be built west of New River near Marion, Virginia. Dr. Harvey Black became the first superintendent of Southwestern Lunatic Asylum when it opened in May 1887. Dr. Robert J. Preston and Dr. John S. Apperson served as assistant physicians, and Mr. C.W. White was appointed as steward to oversee the day-to-day business operations of the hospital. The patient population grew steadily and over time several buildings were added to the hospital's campus including a tuberculosis treatment building, a building for the criminally insane, the Davis Clinic, and the Harmon Building. For much of its early history, the hospital was mostly self-sufficient through the utilization of its own farm for meat, milk, and vegetables. Other early hospital superintendents include Dr. Robert J. Preston (1888-1906), Dr. Daniel Trigg (1906-1908), Dr. J.C. King (1908-1915), Dr. E.H. Henderson (1915-1927), and Dr. George A. Wright (1927-1937). The hospital has gone through two name changes in its history. In 1894 the General Assembly passed legislation changing the name from Southwestern Lunatic Asylum to Southwestern State Hospital. In 1988, the name was changed to Southwestern Virginia Mental Health Institute.","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 county seat is Chesterfield Court House. Part of Henrico County was added to Chesterfield in 1922."],"scopecontent_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003e Chesterfield County (Va.) Health and Medical Records, 1780-1904, consist of .225cf of Mental Health Records and Smallpox Epidemic Records.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eMental Health Records, 1780-1904, n.d. consists of 4 folders, and may include warrants, orders, petitions, depositions, reports, etc. for or by justices of the peace and others regarding the mental condition of individuals who were released to the recognizance of a family member or who were committed to a mental hospital.  Includes references to several mental hospitals. Fiduciary records such as estate inventories of a person judged insane may also be present. \n\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eSmallpox Epidemic Records, 1829, 1836-1837, consist of three folders relating to smallpox hospitals and expenses associated with them regarding treatment of smallpox outbreaks in Chesterfield County. Minutes of a meeting of justices of the peace in 1829 provide details of establishing a makeshift hospital at the home of Mr. Frances Watkins, appointing a physician and manager and outlining their duties, fees to be assessed to patients, and proposals for universal vaccination. A hospital near the town of Manchester was established to house patients during an outbreak between Nov. 1836 and April 1837. In addition to several bills and receipts related to hospital supplies and patient treatment are two reports and a letter from the physician to the justices near the close of the outbreak. One detailed hospital statement lists names of patients admitted, the majority of whom were enslaved or free African Americans, and includes the number of days hospitalized and whether a patient survived. Another report lists payments to be made to various personnel, as well as bills to be paid by owners for enslaved people treated, including the number of days treated and burial expenses if applicable. One physician's report also included payments to five free African American nurses, including Katy Cheatham, whose petition to remain in the Commonwealth was granted in 1840 largely due to her commendable service during the 1837 outbreak. \n\u003c/p\u003e\n"],"scopecontent_heading_ssm":["Scope and Content"],"scopecontent_tesim":["Chesterfield County (Va.) Health and Medical Records, 1780-1904, consist of .225cf of Mental Health Records and Smallpox Epidemic Records.","Mental Health Records, 1780-1904, n.d. consists of 4 folders, and may include warrants, orders, petitions, depositions, reports, etc. for or by justices of the peace and others regarding the mental condition of individuals who were released to the recognizance of a family member or who were committed to a mental hospital.  Includes references to several mental hospitals. Fiduciary records such as estate inventories of a person judged insane may also be present.","Smallpox Epidemic Records, 1829, 1836-1837, consist of three folders relating to smallpox hospitals and expenses associated with them regarding treatment of smallpox outbreaks in Chesterfield County. Minutes of a meeting of justices of the peace in 1829 provide details of establishing a makeshift hospital at the home of Mr. Frances Watkins, appointing a physician and manager and outlining their duties, fees to be assessed to patients, and proposals for universal vaccination. A hospital near the town of Manchester was established to house patients during an outbreak between Nov. 1836 and April 1837. In addition to several bills and receipts related to hospital supplies and patient treatment are two reports and a letter from the physician to the justices near the close of the outbreak. One detailed hospital statement lists names of patients admitted, the majority of whom were enslaved or free African Americans, and includes the number of days hospitalized and whether a patient survived. Another report lists payments to be made to various personnel, as well as bills to be paid by owners for enslaved people treated, including the number of days treated and burial expenses if applicable. One physician's report also included payments to five free African American nurses, including Katy Cheatham, whose petition to remain in the Commonwealth was granted in 1840 largely due to her commendable service during the 1837 outbreak."],"corpname_ssim":["Chesterfield County (Va.) Circuit Court.","Central Lunatic Asylum for Colored Insane, Virginia.","Central State Hospital (Petersburg, Va.).","Eastern State Hospital (Va.).","Southwestern Lunatic Asylum (Marion, Va.).","Southwestern State Hospital (Marion, Va.).","Western State Hospital (Va.)."],"names_ssim":["Chesterfield County (Va.) Circuit Court.","Central Lunatic Asylum for Colored Insane, Virginia.","Central State Hospital (Petersburg, Va.).","Eastern State Hospital (Va.).","Southwestern Lunatic Asylum (Marion, Va.).","Southwestern State Hospital (Marion, Va.).","Western State Hospital (Va.)."],"language_ssim":["English"],"total_component_count_is":10,"online_item_count_is":0,"component_level_isim":[0],"sort_isi":0,"timestamp":"2026-07-23T21:13:33.340Z","collection":{"numFound":1,"start":0,"numFoundExact":true,"docs":[{"id":"vi_vi05123","ead_ssi":"vi_vi05123","_root_":"vi_vi05123","_nest_parent_":"vi_vi05123","ead_source_url_ssi":"data/lva/vi05123.xml","title_ssm":["Chesterfield County Health and Medical Records, 1780-1904"],"title_tesim":["Chesterfield County Health and Medical Records, 1780-1904"],"normalized_title_ssm":["Chesterfield County Health and Medical Records, 1780-1904"],"text":["Chesterfield County Health and Medical Records, 1780-1904","0007770387","African Americans--Mental Health--Virginia--Chesterfield County.","County courts--Virginia--Chesterfield County.","Insanity--Jurisprudence--Virginia--Chesterfield County.","Jails--Virginia--Chesterfield County.","Medical laws and legislation--Virginia--Chesterfield County.","Mental illness--Virginia--Chesterfield County.","Physicians--Virginia--Chesterfield County.","Psychiatric hospitals--Virginia.","Public health--Virginia.","Public health administration--Virginia.","Public records--Virginia--Chesterfield County.","Slaves--Virginia--Chesterfield County.","Smallpox--Virginia--Chesterfield County.","Smallpox prevention.","Health and Medical--Virginia--Chesterfield County.","Local government records--Virginia--Chesterfield County.","Chronological by year, then alphabetically by last name of individual.","Mental Health Records may consist of a variety of documents that historically were referred to as lunacy papers in the courthouses of Virginia localities and municipalities.","A fiduciary is an individual who enters into a confidential and legal relationship which binds them to act on behalf of another. Guardians are legally invested to take care of another person, and of the property and rights of that person. Thus, some records referred to as insanity papers are housed with fiduciary records and not with mental health records.","By 1792, Virginia's General Assembly enacted very strict laws governing the practice of inoculation. The new act required a license from the county court to administer vaccinations. It also included a penalty of $1,500 or six months of imprisonment for anyone willfully spreading smallpox in a manner other than that specified by the act.","During its session begun in November 1769, the House of Burgesses passed an act establishing a hospital in Williamsburg for the mentally ill. The Eastern Lunatic Asylum (now Eastern State Hospital) was the first institution in America constructed as a mental hospital. The first patients were admitted in October 1773.","In January 1825 the Virginia General Assembly passed legislation providing for the construction of an asylum in the western part of the state. The institution, which became known as Western Lunatic Asylum, was constructed close to the town of Staunton, west of the Blue Ridge Mountains, and was the second mental health facility built in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The buildings and surrounding gardens were designed to embrace the idea of \"moral therapy\" for mentally ill patients by providing an aesthetically pleasing and tranquil atmosphere in which patients lived comfortably, exercised and worked outdoors.","Western Lunatic Asylum opened in 1828, accepting both male and female patients suffering from a variety of mental disorders. It should be noted that the hospital underwent a short-lived name change between 1861 and 1865, when it was known as Central Lunatic Asylum. (It should not be confused with an asylum of the same name later built in Petersburg, Virginia to house African American patients). From 1865 to 1894 the name was again Western Lunatic Asylum. However, in 1894 the General Assembly passed legislation changing the name to Western State Hospital.","In March 1882 a 300 acre tract of land was purchased by the City of Petersburg and given to the state for the purpose of constructing a permanent mental health facility for African Americans. Construction of the new facility near Petersburg was completed in early spring 1885. This later included a special building to house the criminally insane apart from the rest of the hospital population. An early institutional history notes that treatment at Central Lunatic Asylum during the 1890s was humane and emphasized the value of work and the benefits of recreation. However, practices at the facility also included seclusion, mechanical restraints, and the administering of hypnotics.","In 1894, Central Lunatic Asylum was officially renamed Central State Hospital. This piece of legislation also altered the names of the other mental health facilities in Virginia in and attempt to inspire a more positive image of the institutions, and of mental health treatment in general. It is important to note that another state institution located in Staunton, Virginia went by the name Central Lunatic Asylum between the years of 1861 and 1865. Its name later was changed to Western Lunatic Asylum, and is a separate facility with no connection to the Richmond/Petersburg hospital for African Americans.","In March 1884 the Virginia General Assembly appointed a board of commissioners to select a site for a new lunatic asylum for white citizens to be built west of New River near Marion, Virginia. Dr. Harvey Black became the first superintendent of Southwestern Lunatic Asylum when it opened in May 1887. Dr. Robert J. Preston and Dr. John S. Apperson served as assistant physicians, and Mr. C.W. White was appointed as steward to oversee the day-to-day business operations of the hospital. The patient population grew steadily and over time several buildings were added to the hospital's campus including a tuberculosis treatment building, a building for the criminally insane, the Davis Clinic, and the Harmon Building. For much of its early history, the hospital was mostly self-sufficient through the utilization of its own farm for meat, milk, and vegetables. Other early hospital superintendents include Dr. Robert J. Preston (1888-1906), Dr. Daniel Trigg (1906-1908), Dr. J.C. King (1908-1915), Dr. E.H. Henderson (1915-1927), and Dr. George A. Wright (1927-1937). The hospital has gone through two name changes in its history. In 1894 the General Assembly passed legislation changing the name from Southwestern Lunatic Asylum to Southwestern State Hospital. In 1988, the name was changed to Southwestern Virginia Mental Health Institute.","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 county seat is Chesterfield Court House. Part of Henrico County was added to Chesterfield in 1922.","Chesterfield County (Va.) Health and Medical Records, 1780-1904, consist of .225cf of Mental Health Records and Smallpox Epidemic Records.","Mental Health Records, 1780-1904, n.d. consists of 4 folders, and may include warrants, orders, petitions, depositions, reports, etc. for or by justices of the peace and others regarding the mental condition of individuals who were released to the recognizance of a family member or who were committed to a mental hospital.  Includes references to several mental hospitals. Fiduciary records such as estate inventories of a person judged insane may also be present.","Smallpox Epidemic Records, 1829, 1836-1837, consist of three folders relating to smallpox hospitals and expenses associated with them regarding treatment of smallpox outbreaks in Chesterfield County. Minutes of a meeting of justices of the peace in 1829 provide details of establishing a makeshift hospital at the home of Mr. Frances Watkins, appointing a physician and manager and outlining their duties, fees to be assessed to patients, and proposals for universal vaccination. A hospital near the town of Manchester was established to house patients during an outbreak between Nov. 1836 and April 1837. In addition to several bills and receipts related to hospital supplies and patient treatment are two reports and a letter from the physician to the justices near the close of the outbreak. One detailed hospital statement lists names of patients admitted, the majority of whom were enslaved or free African Americans, and includes the number of days hospitalized and whether a patient survived. Another report lists payments to be made to various personnel, as well as bills to be paid by owners for enslaved people treated, including the number of days treated and burial expenses if applicable. One physician's report also included payments to five free African American nurses, including Katy Cheatham, whose petition to remain in the Commonwealth was granted in 1840 largely due to her commendable service during the 1837 outbreak.","Chesterfield County (Va.) Circuit Court.","Central Lunatic Asylum for Colored Insane, Virginia.","Central State Hospital (Petersburg, Va.).","Eastern State Hospital (Va.).","Southwestern Lunatic Asylum (Marion, Va.).","Southwestern State Hospital (Marion, Va.).","Western State Hospital (Va.).","English"],"collection_title_tesim":["Chesterfield County Health and Medical Records, 1780-1904"],"collection_ssim":["Chesterfield County Health and Medical Records, 1780-1904"],"level_ssm":["collection"],"level_ssim":["Collection"],"unitid_ssm":["0007770387"],"unitid_tesim":["0007770387"],"repository_ssm":["Library of Virginia"],"repository_ssim":["Library of Virginia"],"creator_ssm":["Chesterfield County (Va.) Circuit Court"],"creator_ssim":["Chesterfield County (Va.) Circuit Court"],"creator_corpname_ssim":["Chesterfield County (Va.) Circuit Court.","Central Lunatic Asylum for Colored Insane, Virginia.","Central State Hospital (Petersburg, Va.).","Eastern State Hospital (Va.).","Southwestern Lunatic Asylum (Marion, Va.).","Southwestern State Hospital (Marion, Va.).","Western State Hospital (Va.)."],"creators_ssim":["Chesterfield County (Va.) Circuit Court.","Central Lunatic Asylum for Colored Insane, Virginia.","Central State Hospital (Petersburg, Va.).","Eastern State Hospital (Va.).","Southwestern Lunatic Asylum (Marion, Va.).","Southwestern State Hospital (Marion, Va.).","Western State Hospital (Va.)."],"acqinfo_ssim":["This collection came to the Library of Virginia in a transfer of court papers from Chesterfield County Circuit Court."],"access_subjects_ssim":["African Americans--Mental Health--Virginia--Chesterfield County.","County courts--Virginia--Chesterfield County.","Insanity--Jurisprudence--Virginia--Chesterfield County.","Jails--Virginia--Chesterfield County.","Medical laws and legislation--Virginia--Chesterfield County.","Mental illness--Virginia--Chesterfield County.","Physicians--Virginia--Chesterfield County.","Psychiatric hospitals--Virginia.","Public health--Virginia.","Public health administration--Virginia.","Public records--Virginia--Chesterfield County.","Slaves--Virginia--Chesterfield County.","Smallpox--Virginia--Chesterfield County.","Smallpox prevention.","Health and Medical--Virginia--Chesterfield County.","Local government records--Virginia--Chesterfield County."],"access_subjects_ssm":["African Americans--Mental Health--Virginia--Chesterfield County.","County courts--Virginia--Chesterfield County.","Insanity--Jurisprudence--Virginia--Chesterfield County.","Jails--Virginia--Chesterfield County.","Medical laws and legislation--Virginia--Chesterfield County.","Mental illness--Virginia--Chesterfield County.","Physicians--Virginia--Chesterfield County.","Psychiatric hospitals--Virginia.","Public health--Virginia.","Public health administration--Virginia.","Public records--Virginia--Chesterfield County.","Slaves--Virginia--Chesterfield County.","Smallpox--Virginia--Chesterfield County.","Smallpox prevention.","Health and Medical--Virginia--Chesterfield County.","Local government records--Virginia--Chesterfield County."],"has_online_content_ssim":["false"],"extent_ssm":[".225 cf (1/2 hollinger)"],"extent_tesim":[".225 cf (1/2 hollinger)"],"arrangement_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eChronological by year, then alphabetically by last name of individual.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n    "],"arrangement_heading_ssm":["Arrangement"],"arrangement_tesim":["Chronological by year, then alphabetically by last name of individual."],"bioghist_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eMental Health Records may consist of a variety of documents that historically were referred to as lunacy papers in the courthouses of Virginia localities and municipalities.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eA fiduciary is an individual who enters into a confidential and legal relationship which binds them to act on behalf of another. Guardians are legally invested to take care of another person, and of the property and rights of that person. Thus, some records referred to as insanity papers are housed with fiduciary records and not with mental health records.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eBy 1792, Virginia's General Assembly enacted very strict laws governing the practice of inoculation. The new act required a license from the county court to administer vaccinations. It also included a penalty of $1,500 or six months of imprisonment for anyone willfully spreading smallpox in a manner other than that specified by the act.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eDuring its session begun in November 1769, the House of Burgesses passed an act establishing a hospital in Williamsburg for the mentally ill. The Eastern Lunatic Asylum (now Eastern State Hospital) was the first institution in America constructed as a mental hospital. The first patients were admitted in October 1773.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eIn January 1825 the Virginia General Assembly passed legislation providing for the construction of an asylum in the western part of the state. The institution, which became known as Western Lunatic Asylum, was constructed close to the town of Staunton, west of the Blue Ridge Mountains, and was the second mental health facility built in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The buildings and surrounding gardens were designed to embrace the idea of \"moral therapy\" for mentally ill patients by providing an aesthetically pleasing and tranquil atmosphere in which patients lived comfortably, exercised and worked outdoors.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eWestern Lunatic Asylum opened in 1828, accepting both male and female patients suffering from a variety of mental disorders. It should be noted that the hospital underwent a short-lived name change between 1861 and 1865, when it was known as Central Lunatic Asylum. (It should not be confused with an asylum of the same name later built in Petersburg, Virginia to house African American patients). From 1865 to 1894 the name was again Western Lunatic Asylum. However, in 1894 the General Assembly passed legislation changing the name to Western State Hospital.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eIn March 1882 a 300 acre tract of land was purchased by the City of Petersburg and given to the state for the purpose of constructing a permanent mental health facility for African Americans. Construction of the new facility near Petersburg was completed in early spring 1885. This later included a special building to house the criminally insane apart from the rest of the hospital population. An early institutional history notes that treatment at Central Lunatic Asylum during the 1890s was humane and emphasized the value of work and the benefits of recreation. However, practices at the facility also included seclusion, mechanical restraints, and the administering of hypnotics.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003e In 1894, Central Lunatic Asylum was officially renamed Central State Hospital. This piece of legislation also altered the names of the other mental health facilities in Virginia in and attempt to inspire a more positive image of the institutions, and of mental health treatment in general. It is important to note that another state institution located in Staunton, Virginia went by the name Central Lunatic Asylum between the years of 1861 and 1865. Its name later was changed to Western Lunatic Asylum, and is a separate facility with no connection to the Richmond/Petersburg hospital for African Americans.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eIn March 1884 the Virginia General Assembly appointed a board of commissioners to select a site for a new lunatic asylum for white citizens to be built west of New River near Marion, Virginia. Dr. Harvey Black became the first superintendent of Southwestern Lunatic Asylum when it opened in May 1887. Dr. Robert J. Preston and Dr. John S. Apperson served as assistant physicians, and Mr. C.W. White was appointed as steward to oversee the day-to-day business operations of the hospital. The patient population grew steadily and over time several buildings were added to the hospital's campus including a tuberculosis treatment building, a building for the criminally insane, the Davis Clinic, and the Harmon Building. For much of its early history, the hospital was mostly self-sufficient through the utilization of its own farm for meat, milk, and vegetables. Other early hospital superintendents include Dr. Robert J. Preston (1888-1906), Dr. Daniel Trigg (1906-1908), Dr. J.C. King (1908-1915), Dr. E.H. Henderson (1915-1927), and Dr. George A. Wright (1927-1937). The hospital has gone through two name changes in its history. In 1894 the General Assembly passed legislation changing the name from Southwestern Lunatic Asylum to Southwestern State Hospital. In 1988, the name was changed to Southwestern Virginia Mental Health Institute.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eChesterfield County was named for Philip Dormer Stanhope, fourth earl of Chesterfield, British statesman and diplomat, and was formed from Henrico County in 1749. The county seat is Chesterfield Court House. Part of Henrico County was added to Chesterfield in 1922.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n"],"bioghist_heading_ssm":["Historical Information"],"bioghist_tesim":["Mental Health Records may consist of a variety of documents that historically were referred to as lunacy papers in the courthouses of Virginia localities and municipalities.","A fiduciary is an individual who enters into a confidential and legal relationship which binds them to act on behalf of another. Guardians are legally invested to take care of another person, and of the property and rights of that person. Thus, some records referred to as insanity papers are housed with fiduciary records and not with mental health records.","By 1792, Virginia's General Assembly enacted very strict laws governing the practice of inoculation. The new act required a license from the county court to administer vaccinations. It also included a penalty of $1,500 or six months of imprisonment for anyone willfully spreading smallpox in a manner other than that specified by the act.","During its session begun in November 1769, the House of Burgesses passed an act establishing a hospital in Williamsburg for the mentally ill. The Eastern Lunatic Asylum (now Eastern State Hospital) was the first institution in America constructed as a mental hospital. The first patients were admitted in October 1773.","In January 1825 the Virginia General Assembly passed legislation providing for the construction of an asylum in the western part of the state. The institution, which became known as Western Lunatic Asylum, was constructed close to the town of Staunton, west of the Blue Ridge Mountains, and was the second mental health facility built in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The buildings and surrounding gardens were designed to embrace the idea of \"moral therapy\" for mentally ill patients by providing an aesthetically pleasing and tranquil atmosphere in which patients lived comfortably, exercised and worked outdoors.","Western Lunatic Asylum opened in 1828, accepting both male and female patients suffering from a variety of mental disorders. It should be noted that the hospital underwent a short-lived name change between 1861 and 1865, when it was known as Central Lunatic Asylum. (It should not be confused with an asylum of the same name later built in Petersburg, Virginia to house African American patients). From 1865 to 1894 the name was again Western Lunatic Asylum. However, in 1894 the General Assembly passed legislation changing the name to Western State Hospital.","In March 1882 a 300 acre tract of land was purchased by the City of Petersburg and given to the state for the purpose of constructing a permanent mental health facility for African Americans. Construction of the new facility near Petersburg was completed in early spring 1885. This later included a special building to house the criminally insane apart from the rest of the hospital population. An early institutional history notes that treatment at Central Lunatic Asylum during the 1890s was humane and emphasized the value of work and the benefits of recreation. However, practices at the facility also included seclusion, mechanical restraints, and the administering of hypnotics.","In 1894, Central Lunatic Asylum was officially renamed Central State Hospital. This piece of legislation also altered the names of the other mental health facilities in Virginia in and attempt to inspire a more positive image of the institutions, and of mental health treatment in general. It is important to note that another state institution located in Staunton, Virginia went by the name Central Lunatic Asylum between the years of 1861 and 1865. Its name later was changed to Western Lunatic Asylum, and is a separate facility with no connection to the Richmond/Petersburg hospital for African Americans.","In March 1884 the Virginia General Assembly appointed a board of commissioners to select a site for a new lunatic asylum for white citizens to be built west of New River near Marion, Virginia. Dr. Harvey Black became the first superintendent of Southwestern Lunatic Asylum when it opened in May 1887. Dr. Robert J. Preston and Dr. John S. Apperson served as assistant physicians, and Mr. C.W. White was appointed as steward to oversee the day-to-day business operations of the hospital. The patient population grew steadily and over time several buildings were added to the hospital's campus including a tuberculosis treatment building, a building for the criminally insane, the Davis Clinic, and the Harmon Building. For much of its early history, the hospital was mostly self-sufficient through the utilization of its own farm for meat, milk, and vegetables. Other early hospital superintendents include Dr. Robert J. Preston (1888-1906), Dr. Daniel Trigg (1906-1908), Dr. J.C. King (1908-1915), Dr. E.H. Henderson (1915-1927), and Dr. George A. Wright (1927-1937). The hospital has gone through two name changes in its history. In 1894 the General Assembly passed legislation changing the name from Southwestern Lunatic Asylum to Southwestern State Hospital. In 1988, the name was changed to Southwestern Virginia Mental Health Institute.","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 county seat is Chesterfield Court House. Part of Henrico County was added to Chesterfield in 1922."],"scopecontent_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003e Chesterfield County (Va.) Health and Medical Records, 1780-1904, consist of .225cf of Mental Health Records and Smallpox Epidemic Records.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eMental Health Records, 1780-1904, n.d. consists of 4 folders, and may include warrants, orders, petitions, depositions, reports, etc. for or by justices of the peace and others regarding the mental condition of individuals who were released to the recognizance of a family member or who were committed to a mental hospital.  Includes references to several mental hospitals. Fiduciary records such as estate inventories of a person judged insane may also be present. \n\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eSmallpox Epidemic Records, 1829, 1836-1837, consist of three folders relating to smallpox hospitals and expenses associated with them regarding treatment of smallpox outbreaks in Chesterfield County. Minutes of a meeting of justices of the peace in 1829 provide details of establishing a makeshift hospital at the home of Mr. Frances Watkins, appointing a physician and manager and outlining their duties, fees to be assessed to patients, and proposals for universal vaccination. A hospital near the town of Manchester was established to house patients during an outbreak between Nov. 1836 and April 1837. In addition to several bills and receipts related to hospital supplies and patient treatment are two reports and a letter from the physician to the justices near the close of the outbreak. One detailed hospital statement lists names of patients admitted, the majority of whom were enslaved or free African Americans, and includes the number of days hospitalized and whether a patient survived. Another report lists payments to be made to various personnel, as well as bills to be paid by owners for enslaved people treated, including the number of days treated and burial expenses if applicable. One physician's report also included payments to five free African American nurses, including Katy Cheatham, whose petition to remain in the Commonwealth was granted in 1840 largely due to her commendable service during the 1837 outbreak. \n\u003c/p\u003e\n"],"scopecontent_heading_ssm":["Scope and Content"],"scopecontent_tesim":["Chesterfield County (Va.) Health and Medical Records, 1780-1904, consist of .225cf of Mental Health Records and Smallpox Epidemic Records.","Mental Health Records, 1780-1904, n.d. consists of 4 folders, and may include warrants, orders, petitions, depositions, reports, etc. for or by justices of the peace and others regarding the mental condition of individuals who were released to the recognizance of a family member or who were committed to a mental hospital.  Includes references to several mental hospitals. Fiduciary records such as estate inventories of a person judged insane may also be present.","Smallpox Epidemic Records, 1829, 1836-1837, consist of three folders relating to smallpox hospitals and expenses associated with them regarding treatment of smallpox outbreaks in Chesterfield County. Minutes of a meeting of justices of the peace in 1829 provide details of establishing a makeshift hospital at the home of Mr. Frances Watkins, appointing a physician and manager and outlining their duties, fees to be assessed to patients, and proposals for universal vaccination. A hospital near the town of Manchester was established to house patients during an outbreak between Nov. 1836 and April 1837. In addition to several bills and receipts related to hospital supplies and patient treatment are two reports and a letter from the physician to the justices near the close of the outbreak. One detailed hospital statement lists names of patients admitted, the majority of whom were enslaved or free African Americans, and includes the number of days hospitalized and whether a patient survived. Another report lists payments to be made to various personnel, as well as bills to be paid by owners for enslaved people treated, including the number of days treated and burial expenses if applicable. One physician's report also included payments to five free African American nurses, including Katy Cheatham, whose petition to remain in the Commonwealth was granted in 1840 largely due to her commendable service during the 1837 outbreak."],"corpname_ssim":["Chesterfield County (Va.) Circuit Court.","Central Lunatic Asylum for Colored Insane, Virginia.","Central State Hospital (Petersburg, Va.).","Eastern State Hospital (Va.).","Southwestern Lunatic Asylum (Marion, Va.).","Southwestern State Hospital (Marion, Va.).","Western State Hospital (Va.)."],"names_ssim":["Chesterfield County (Va.) Circuit Court.","Central Lunatic Asylum for Colored Insane, Virginia.","Central State Hospital (Petersburg, Va.).","Eastern State Hospital (Va.).","Southwestern Lunatic Asylum (Marion, Va.).","Southwestern State Hospital (Marion, Va.).","Western State Hospital (Va.)."],"language_ssim":["English"],"total_component_count_is":10,"online_item_count_is":0,"component_level_isim":[0],"sort_isi":0,"timestamp":"2026-07-23T21:13:33.340Z"}]}},"label":"Breadcrumbs"}}},"links":{"self":"https://arvasarchive.org/catalog/vi_vi05123"}},{"id":"vi_vi05124","type":"collection","attributes":{"title":"Cumberland County Health and Medical Records, 1770-1904","creator":{"id":"https://arvasarchive.org/catalog/vi_vi05124#creator","type":"document_value","attributes":{"value":"Cumberland County (Va.) Circuit Court","label":"Creator"}},"abstract_or_scope":{"id":"https://arvasarchive.org/catalog/vi_vi05124#abstract_or_scope","type":"document_value","attributes":{"value":"\u003cp\u003e Cumberland County (Va.) Health and Medical Records, 1770-1904, consist of 2 folders of Mental Health Records and Smallpox Epidemic Records. \u003c/p\u003e","label":"Abstract Or Scope"}},"breadcrumbs":{"id":"https://arvasarchive.org/catalog/vi_vi05124#breadcrumbs","type":"document_value","attributes":{"value":{"id":"vi_vi05124","ead_ssi":"vi_vi05124","_root_":"vi_vi05124","_nest_parent_":"vi_vi05124","ead_source_url_ssi":"data/lva/vi05124.xml","title_ssm":["Cumberland County Health and Medical Records, 1770-1904"],"title_tesim":["Cumberland County Health and Medical Records, 1770-1904"],"normalized_title_ssm":["Cumberland County Health and Medical Records, 1770-1904"],"text":["Cumberland County Health and Medical Records, 1770-1904","1156173","African Americans--Mental Health--Virginia--Cumberland County.","County courts--Virginia--Cumberland County.","Insanity--Jurisprudence--Virginia--Cumberland County.","Jails--Virginia--Cumberland County.","Medical laws and legislation--Virginia--Cumberland County.","Mental illness--Virginia--Cumberland County.","Physicians--Virginia--Cumberland County.","Psychiatric hospitals--Virginia.","Public health--Virginia.","Public health administration--Virginia.","Public records--Virginia--Cumberland County.","Quarantine--Virginia--Cumberland County.","Smallpox--Virginia--Cumberland County.","Smallpox prevention.","Health and Medical--Virginia--Cumberland County.","Local government records--Virginia--Cumberland County.","Chronological by year, then alphabetically by last name of individual.","Mental Health Records may consist of a variety of documents that historically were referred to as lunacy papers in the courthouses of Virginia localities and municipalities.","First known as commissions, the Justice of the Peace office originated with the county quarterly court in 1623. Commanders of Plantations (1607-1629) were predecessors of the commissioners, who since 1662 have been called justices of the peace. They have traditionally had both civil and criminal jurisdiction, and have served other functions, including performing coroners' and lunacy inquisitions. Until 1869 justices served both as judges of the county court and as individual justices; since then they have had only the latter function.","A fiduciary is an individual who enters into a confidential and legal relationship which binds them to act on behalf of another. Guardians are legally invested to take care of another person, and of the property and rights of that person. Thus, some records referred to as insanity papers are housed with fiduciary records and not with mental health records.","During its session begun in November 1769, the House of Burgesses passed an act establishing a hospital in Williamsburg for the mentally ill. The Eastern Lunatic Asylum (now Eastern State Hospital) was the first institution in America constructed as a mental hospital. The first patients were admitted in October 1773.","In January 1825 the Virginia General Assembly passed legislation providing for the construction of an asylum in the western part of the state. The institution, which became known as Western Lunatic Asylum, was constructed close to the town of Staunton, west of the Blue Ridge Mountains, and was the second mental health facility built in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The buildings and surrounding gardens were designed to embrace the idea of \"moral therapy\" for mentally ill patients by providing an aesthetically pleasing and tranquil atmosphere in which patients lived comfortably, exercised and worked outdoors.","Western Lunatic Asylum opened in 1828, accepting both male and female patients suffering from a variety of mental disorders. It should be noted that the hospital underwent a short-lived name change between 1861 and 1865, when it was known as Central Lunatic Asylum. (It should not be confused with an asylum of the same name later built in Petersburg, Virginia to house African American patients). From 1865 to 1894 the name was again Western Lunatic Asylum. However, in 1894 the General Assembly passed legislation changing the name to Western State Hospital.","In March 1882 a 300 acre tract of land was purchased by the City of Petersburg and given to the state for the purpose of constructing a permanent mental health facility for African Americans. Construction of the new facility near Petersburg was completed in early spring 1885. This later included a special building to house the criminally insane apart from the rest of the hospital population. An early institutional history notes that treatment at Central Lunatic Asylum during the 1890s was humane and emphasized the value of work and the benefits of recreation. However, practices at the facility also included seclusion, mechanical restraints, and the administering of hypnotics.","In 1894, Central Lunatic Asylum was officially renamed Central State Hospital. This piece of legislation also altered the names of the other mental health facilities in Virginia in and attempt to inspire a more positive image of the institutions, and of mental health treatment in general. It is important to note that another state institution located in Staunton, Virginia went by the name Central Lunatic Asylum between the years of 1861 and 1865. Its name later was changed to Western Lunatic Asylum, and is a separate facility with no connection to the Richmond/Petersburg hospital for African Americans.","Cumberland County was named for William Augustus, duke of Cumberland, third son of King George II. It was formed from Goochland County in 1749.","Cumberland County (Va.) Health and Medical Records, 1770-1904, consist of 2 folders of Mental Health Records and Smallpox Epidemic Records.","Mental Health Records, 1770-1904 contains one folder which includes warrants, orders, petitions, depositions, reports, etc. for or by justices of the peace, local sheriffs, and others regarding the mental condition of individuals who were released to the recognizance of a family member or who were committed to a mental hospital.  Fiduciary records such as estate inventories of a person judged insane and receipts for services transporting persons to hospitals may also be present.  References lunatic hospital in Williamsburg in documents as early as 1806.","Smallpox Epidemic Records, 1829-1873, consist of one folder of documents relating to quarantines and hospitals for the containment and/or treatment of smallpox outbreaks in Cumberland County.","Cumberland County (Va.) Circuit Court.","Central Lunatic Asylum for Colored Insane, Virginia.","Central State Hospital (Petersburg, Va.).","Eastern State Hospital (Va.).","Western State Hospital (Va.).","English"],"collection_title_tesim":["Cumberland County Health and Medical Records, 1770-1904"],"collection_ssim":["Cumberland County Health and Medical Records, 1770-1904"],"level_ssm":["collection"],"level_ssim":["Collection"],"unitid_ssm":["1156173"],"unitid_tesim":["1156173"],"repository_ssm":["Library of Virginia"],"repository_ssim":["Library of Virginia"],"creator_ssm":["Cumberland County (Va.) Circuit Court"],"creator_ssim":["Cumberland County (Va.) 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An early institutional history notes that treatment at Central Lunatic Asylum during the 1890s was humane and emphasized the value of work and the benefits of recreation. However, practices at the facility also included seclusion, mechanical restraints, and the administering of hypnotics.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003e In 1894, Central Lunatic Asylum was officially renamed Central State Hospital. This piece of legislation also altered the names of the other mental health facilities in Virginia in and attempt to inspire a more positive image of the institutions, and of mental health treatment in general. It is important to note that another state institution located in Staunton, Virginia went by the name Central Lunatic Asylum between the years of 1861 and 1865. 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They have traditionally had both civil and criminal jurisdiction, and have served other functions, including performing coroners' and lunacy inquisitions. Until 1869 justices served both as judges of the county court and as individual justices; since then they have had only the latter function.","A fiduciary is an individual who enters into a confidential and legal relationship which binds them to act on behalf of another. Guardians are legally invested to take care of another person, and of the property and rights of that person. Thus, some records referred to as insanity papers are housed with fiduciary records and not with mental health records.","During its session begun in November 1769, the House of Burgesses passed an act establishing a hospital in Williamsburg for the mentally ill. The Eastern Lunatic Asylum (now Eastern State Hospital) was the first institution in America constructed as a mental hospital. The first patients were admitted in October 1773.","In January 1825 the Virginia General Assembly passed legislation providing for the construction of an asylum in the western part of the state. The institution, which became known as Western Lunatic Asylum, was constructed close to the town of Staunton, west of the Blue Ridge Mountains, and was the second mental health facility built in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The buildings and surrounding gardens were designed to embrace the idea of \"moral therapy\" for mentally ill patients by providing an aesthetically pleasing and tranquil atmosphere in which patients lived comfortably, exercised and worked outdoors.","Western Lunatic Asylum opened in 1828, accepting both male and female patients suffering from a variety of mental disorders. It should be noted that the hospital underwent a short-lived name change between 1861 and 1865, when it was known as Central Lunatic Asylum. (It should not be confused with an asylum of the same name later built in Petersburg, Virginia to house African American patients). From 1865 to 1894 the name was again Western Lunatic Asylum. However, in 1894 the General Assembly passed legislation changing the name to Western State Hospital.","In March 1882 a 300 acre tract of land was purchased by the City of Petersburg and given to the state for the purpose of constructing a permanent mental health facility for African Americans. Construction of the new facility near Petersburg was completed in early spring 1885. This later included a special building to house the criminally insane apart from the rest of the hospital population. An early institutional history notes that treatment at Central Lunatic Asylum during the 1890s was humane and emphasized the value of work and the benefits of recreation. However, practices at the facility also included seclusion, mechanical restraints, and the administering of hypnotics.","In 1894, Central Lunatic Asylum was officially renamed Central State Hospital. This piece of legislation also altered the names of the other mental health facilities in Virginia in and attempt to inspire a more positive image of the institutions, and of mental health treatment in general. It is important to note that another state institution located in Staunton, Virginia went by the name Central Lunatic Asylum between the years of 1861 and 1865. Its name later was changed to Western Lunatic Asylum, and is a separate facility with no connection to the Richmond/Petersburg hospital for African Americans.","Cumberland County was named for William Augustus, duke of Cumberland, third son of King George II. It was formed from Goochland County in 1749."],"scopecontent_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003e Cumberland County (Va.) 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References lunatic hospital in Williamsburg in documents as early as 1806.  \n\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eSmallpox Epidemic Records, 1829-1873, consist of one folder of documents relating to quarantines and hospitals for the containment and/or treatment of smallpox outbreaks in Cumberland County.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n"],"scopecontent_heading_ssm":["Scope and Content"],"scopecontent_tesim":["Cumberland County (Va.) Health and Medical Records, 1770-1904, consist of 2 folders of Mental Health Records and Smallpox Epidemic Records.","Mental Health Records, 1770-1904 contains one folder which includes warrants, orders, petitions, depositions, reports, etc. for or by justices of the peace, local sheriffs, and others regarding the mental condition of individuals who were released to the recognizance of a family member or who were committed to a mental hospital.  Fiduciary records such as estate inventories of a person judged insane and receipts for services transporting persons to hospitals may also be present.  References lunatic hospital in Williamsburg in documents as early as 1806.","Smallpox Epidemic Records, 1829-1873, consist of one folder of documents relating to quarantines and hospitals for the containment and/or treatment of smallpox outbreaks in Cumberland County."],"corpname_ssim":["Cumberland County (Va.) Circuit Court.","Central Lunatic Asylum for Colored Insane, Virginia.","Central State Hospital (Petersburg, Va.).","Eastern State Hospital (Va.).","Western State Hospital (Va.)."],"names_ssim":["Cumberland County (Va.) 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The Eastern Lunatic Asylum (now Eastern State Hospital) was the first institution in America constructed as a mental hospital. The first patients were admitted in October 1773.","In January 1825 the Virginia General Assembly passed legislation providing for the construction of an asylum in the western part of the state. The institution, which became known as Western Lunatic Asylum, was constructed close to the town of Staunton, west of the Blue Ridge Mountains, and was the second mental health facility built in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The buildings and surrounding gardens were designed to embrace the idea of \"moral therapy\" for mentally ill patients by providing an aesthetically pleasing and tranquil atmosphere in which patients lived comfortably, exercised and worked outdoors.","Western Lunatic Asylum opened in 1828, accepting both male and female patients suffering from a variety of mental disorders. It should be noted that the hospital underwent a short-lived name change between 1861 and 1865, when it was known as Central Lunatic Asylum. (It should not be confused with an asylum of the same name later built in Petersburg, Virginia to house African American patients). From 1865 to 1894 the name was again Western Lunatic Asylum. However, in 1894 the General Assembly passed legislation changing the name to Western State Hospital.","In March 1882 a 300 acre tract of land was purchased by the City of Petersburg and given to the state for the purpose of constructing a permanent mental health facility for African Americans. Construction of the new facility near Petersburg was completed in early spring 1885. This later included a special building to house the criminally insane apart from the rest of the hospital population. An early institutional history notes that treatment at Central Lunatic Asylum during the 1890s was humane and emphasized the value of work and the benefits of recreation. However, practices at the facility also included seclusion, mechanical restraints, and the administering of hypnotics.","In 1894, Central Lunatic Asylum was officially renamed Central State Hospital. This piece of legislation also altered the names of the other mental health facilities in Virginia in and attempt to inspire a more positive image of the institutions, and of mental health treatment in general. It is important to note that another state institution located in Staunton, Virginia went by the name Central Lunatic Asylum between the years of 1861 and 1865. Its name later was changed to Western Lunatic Asylum, and is a separate facility with no connection to the Richmond/Petersburg hospital for African Americans.","Cumberland County was named for William Augustus, duke of Cumberland, third son of King George II. It was formed from Goochland County in 1749.","Cumberland County (Va.) Health and Medical Records, 1770-1904, consist of 2 folders of Mental Health Records and Smallpox Epidemic Records.","Mental Health Records, 1770-1904 contains one folder which includes warrants, orders, petitions, depositions, reports, etc. for or by justices of the peace, local sheriffs, and others regarding the mental condition of individuals who were released to the recognizance of a family member or who were committed to a mental hospital.  Fiduciary records such as estate inventories of a person judged insane and receipts for services transporting persons to hospitals may also be present.  References lunatic hospital in Williamsburg in documents as early as 1806.","Smallpox Epidemic Records, 1829-1873, consist of one folder of documents relating to quarantines and hospitals for the containment and/or treatment of smallpox outbreaks in Cumberland County.","Cumberland County (Va.) Circuit Court.","Central Lunatic Asylum for Colored Insane, Virginia.","Central State Hospital (Petersburg, Va.).","Eastern State Hospital (Va.).","Western State Hospital (Va.).","English"],"collection_title_tesim":["Cumberland County Health and Medical Records, 1770-1904"],"collection_ssim":["Cumberland County Health and Medical Records, 1770-1904"],"level_ssm":["collection"],"level_ssim":["Collection"],"unitid_ssm":["1156173"],"unitid_tesim":["1156173"],"repository_ssm":["Library of Virginia"],"repository_ssim":["Library of Virginia"],"creator_ssm":["Cumberland County (Va.) Circuit Court"],"creator_ssim":["Cumberland County (Va.) 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Its name later was changed to Western Lunatic Asylum, and is a separate facility with no connection to the Richmond/Petersburg hospital for African Americans.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eCumberland County was named for William Augustus, duke of Cumberland, third son of King George II. It was formed from Goochland County in 1749.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n"],"bioghist_heading_ssm":["Historical Information"],"bioghist_tesim":["Mental Health Records may consist of a variety of documents that historically were referred to as lunacy papers in the courthouses of Virginia localities and municipalities.","First known as commissions, the Justice of the Peace office originated with the county quarterly court in 1623. Commanders of Plantations (1607-1629) were predecessors of the commissioners, who since 1662 have been called justices of the peace. They have traditionally had both civil and criminal jurisdiction, and have served other functions, including performing coroners' and lunacy inquisitions. Until 1869 justices served both as judges of the county court and as individual justices; since then they have had only the latter function.","A fiduciary is an individual who enters into a confidential and legal relationship which binds them to act on behalf of another. Guardians are legally invested to take care of another person, and of the property and rights of that person. Thus, some records referred to as insanity papers are housed with fiduciary records and not with mental health records.","During its session begun in November 1769, the House of Burgesses passed an act establishing a hospital in Williamsburg for the mentally ill. The Eastern Lunatic Asylum (now Eastern State Hospital) was the first institution in America constructed as a mental hospital. The first patients were admitted in October 1773.","In January 1825 the Virginia General Assembly passed legislation providing for the construction of an asylum in the western part of the state. The institution, which became known as Western Lunatic Asylum, was constructed close to the town of Staunton, west of the Blue Ridge Mountains, and was the second mental health facility built in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The buildings and surrounding gardens were designed to embrace the idea of \"moral therapy\" for mentally ill patients by providing an aesthetically pleasing and tranquil atmosphere in which patients lived comfortably, exercised and worked outdoors.","Western Lunatic Asylum opened in 1828, accepting both male and female patients suffering from a variety of mental disorders. It should be noted that the hospital underwent a short-lived name change between 1861 and 1865, when it was known as Central Lunatic Asylum. (It should not be confused with an asylum of the same name later built in Petersburg, Virginia to house African American patients). From 1865 to 1894 the name was again Western Lunatic Asylum. However, in 1894 the General Assembly passed legislation changing the name to Western State Hospital.","In March 1882 a 300 acre tract of land was purchased by the City of Petersburg and given to the state for the purpose of constructing a permanent mental health facility for African Americans. Construction of the new facility near Petersburg was completed in early spring 1885. This later included a special building to house the criminally insane apart from the rest of the hospital population. An early institutional history notes that treatment at Central Lunatic Asylum during the 1890s was humane and emphasized the value of work and the benefits of recreation. However, practices at the facility also included seclusion, mechanical restraints, and the administering of hypnotics.","In 1894, Central Lunatic Asylum was officially renamed Central State Hospital. This piece of legislation also altered the names of the other mental health facilities in Virginia in and attempt to inspire a more positive image of the institutions, and of mental health treatment in general. It is important to note that another state institution located in Staunton, Virginia went by the name Central Lunatic Asylum between the years of 1861 and 1865. Its name later was changed to Western Lunatic Asylum, and is a separate facility with no connection to the Richmond/Petersburg hospital for African Americans.","Cumberland County was named for William Augustus, duke of Cumberland, third son of King George II. It was formed from Goochland County in 1749."],"scopecontent_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003e Cumberland County (Va.) 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References lunatic hospital in Williamsburg in documents as early as 1806.  \n\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eSmallpox Epidemic Records, 1829-1873, consist of one folder of documents relating to quarantines and hospitals for the containment and/or treatment of smallpox outbreaks in Cumberland County.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n"],"scopecontent_heading_ssm":["Scope and Content"],"scopecontent_tesim":["Cumberland County (Va.) Health and Medical Records, 1770-1904, consist of 2 folders of Mental Health Records and Smallpox Epidemic Records.","Mental Health Records, 1770-1904 contains one folder which includes warrants, orders, petitions, depositions, reports, etc. for or by justices of the peace, local sheriffs, and others regarding the mental condition of individuals who were released to the recognizance of a family member or who were committed to a mental hospital.  Fiduciary records such as estate inventories of a person judged insane and receipts for services transporting persons to hospitals may also be present.  References lunatic hospital in Williamsburg in documents as early as 1806.","Smallpox Epidemic Records, 1829-1873, consist of one folder of documents relating to quarantines and hospitals for the containment and/or treatment of smallpox outbreaks in Cumberland County."],"corpname_ssim":["Cumberland County (Va.) Circuit Court.","Central Lunatic Asylum for Colored Insane, Virginia.","Central State Hospital (Petersburg, Va.).","Eastern State Hospital (Va.).","Western State Hospital (Va.)."],"names_ssim":["Cumberland County (Va.) Circuit Court.","Central Lunatic Asylum for Colored Insane, Virginia.","Central State Hospital (Petersburg, Va.).","Eastern State Hospital (Va.).","Western State Hospital (Va.)."],"language_ssim":["English"],"total_component_count_is":12,"online_item_count_is":0,"component_level_isim":[0],"sort_isi":0,"timestamp":"2026-07-23T21:13:33.340Z"}]}},"label":"Breadcrumbs"}}},"links":{"self":"https://arvasarchive.org/catalog/vi_vi05124"}},{"id":"vi_vi05131","type":"collection","attributes":{"title":"Henry County Health and Medical Records, 1790-1903","creator":{"id":"https://arvasarchive.org/catalog/vi_vi05131#creator","type":"document_value","attributes":{"value":"Henry County (Va.) Circuit Court","label":"Creator"}},"abstract_or_scope":{"id":"https://arvasarchive.org/catalog/vi_vi05131#abstract_or_scope","type":"document_value","attributes":{"value":"\u003cp\u003eHenry County (Va.) Health and Medical Records 1790-1903, consists of five folders of Mental Health Records spanning those inclusive dates, and one folder of Smallpox Epidemic Records, 1863-1901. \u003c/p\u003e","label":"Abstract Or Scope"}},"breadcrumbs":{"id":"https://arvasarchive.org/catalog/vi_vi05131#breadcrumbs","type":"document_value","attributes":{"value":{"id":"vi_vi05131","ead_ssi":"vi_vi05131","_root_":"vi_vi05131","_nest_parent_":"vi_vi05131","ead_source_url_ssi":"data/lva/vi05131.xml","title_ssm":["Henry County Health and Medical Records, 1790-1903"],"title_tesim":["Henry County Health and Medical Records, 1790-1903"],"normalized_title_ssm":["Henry County Health and Medical Records, 1790-1903"],"text":["Henry County Health and Medical Records, 1790-1903","0007785153","African Americans--Mental Health--Virginia--Henry County.","County courts--Virginia--Henry County.","Insanity--Jurisprudence--Virginia--Henry County.","Jails--Virginia--Henry County.","Mental Health Facilities--Virginia.","Medical laws and legislation--Virginia--Henry County.","Mental illness--Virginia--Henry County.","Physicians--Virginia--Henry County.","Psychiatric hospitals--Virginia.","Public health--Virginia.","Public health administration--Virginia.","Public records--Virginia--Henry County.","Quarantine--Virginia--Henry County.","Slaves--Virginia--Henry County.","Smallpox--Virginia--Henry County.","Smallpox Prevention.","Health and Medical--Virginia--Henry County.","Local government records--Virginia--Henry County.","Mental Health Records are arranged chronologically by year, then alphabetically by last name of individual. If an individual had more than one instance of suspected mental incapacity, there may be papers filed in more than one chronological location. Reports of physicians listing examinations of multiple patients in a given year are filed at the beginning of a year, with names written on the folder. Smallpox Epidemic Records are arranged chronologically.","Mental Health Records may consist of a variety of documents that historically were referred to as lunacy papers in the courthouses of Virginia localities and municipalities.","See also: Fiduciary Records. A fiduciary is an individual who enters into a confidential and legal relationship which binds them to act on behalf of another. Guardians are legally invested to take care of another person, and of the property and rights of that person. Thus, some records referred to as insanity papers are housed with fiduciary records and not with mental health records.","First known as commissions, the Justice of the Peace office originated with the county quarterly court in 1623. Commanders of Plantations (1607-1629) were predecessors of the commissioners, who since 1662 have been called justices of the peace. They have traditionally had both civil and criminal jurisdiction, and have served other functions, including performing coroners' and lunacy inquisitions. Until 1869 justices served both as judges of the county court and as individual justices; since then they have had only the latter function.","During its session begun in November 1769, the House of Burgesses passed an act establishing a hospital in Williamsburg for the mentally ill. The Eastern Lunatic Asylum (now Eastern State Hospital) was the first institution in America constructed as a mental hospital. The first patients were admitted in October 1773.","In 1868, the Freedman's Bureau acquired land known as Howard's Grove, (or Howard Grove), located one half mile east of the city of Richmond, on the Mechanicsville Turnpike, in Henrico County. Through a lease from Mr. Bacon Tait (or Tate), the Bureau renovated several barrack-type structures that had been used as a Confederate hospital during the Civil War. The new facility became known as Howard's Grove Freedman's Hospital.","The hospital was turned over to the state by way of General Order number 136 issued by Major General Canby, Military Governor of Virginia in December 1869. Beginning January 1, 1870 all African American patients at Eastern Lunatic Asylum in Williamsburg, (the only state institution at the time to accept black patients), as well as all blacks jailed for lunacy from across Virginia, were to be removed to Howard's Grove for treatment. The General Assembly passed legislation in June 1870 renaming the facility the Central Lunatic Asylum and designating it the official \"reception and treatment facility for colored persons of unsound mind.\" This legislation was enacted with the stipulation that the Howard's Grove location was to be temporary.","In March 1882 a 300 acre tract of land was purchased by the City of Petersburg and given to the state for the purpose of constructing a permanent mental health facility for African Americans. Construction of the new facility near Petersburg was completed in early spring 1885. This later included a special building to house the criminally insane apart from the rest of the hospital population. An early institutional history notes that treatment at Central Lunatic Asylum during the 1890s was humane and emphasized the value of work and the benefits of recreation. However, practices at the facility also included seclusion, mechanical restraints, and the administering of hypnotics.","In 1894, Central Lunatic Asylum was officially renamed Central State Hospital. This piece of legislation also altered the names of the other mental health facilities in Virginia in and attempt to inspire a more positive image of the institutions, and of mental health treatment in general. It is important to note that another state institution located in Staunton, Virginia went by the name Central Lunatic Asylum between the years of 1861 and 1865. Its name later was changed to Western Lunatic Asylum, and is a separate facility with no connection to the Richmond/Petersburg hospital for African Americans.","In January 1825 the Virginia General Assembly passed legislation providing for the construction of an asylum in the western part of the state. The institution, which become known as Western Lunatic Asylum, was constructed close to the town of Staunton, west of the Blue Ridge Mountains, was the second mental health facility built in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The buildings and surrounding gardens were designed to embrace the idea of \"moral therapy\" for mentally ill patients by providing an aesthetically pleasing and tranquil atmosphere in which patients lived comfortably, exercised and worked outdoors.","Western Lunatic Asylum opened in 1828, accepting both male and female patients suffering from a variety of mental disorders. It should be noted that the hospital underwent a short-lived name change between 1861 and 1865, when it was known as Central Lunatic Asylum. (It should not be confused with an asylum of the same name later built in Petersburg, Virginia to house African American patients). From 1865 to 1894 the name was again Western Lunatic Asylum. However, in 1894 the General Assembly passed legislation changing the name to Western State Hospital.","In March 1884 the Virginia General Assembly appointed a board of commissioners to select a site for a new lunatic asylum for white citizens to be built west of New River. The board selected a 208-acre site in Smyth County and in August 1884 the General Assembly gave the board the power to purchase the land for thirty thousand dollars and granted the county the right to issue bonds as well. In November 1884 the General Assembly formally established the Southwestern Lunatic Asylum, near Marion, Virginia. Dr. Harvey Black, J. Hoge Tyler, Thomas J. Boyd, D.D. Hull, Dr. John S. Apperson, N.L. Look and F.B. Hurt were appointed to the building committee which was tasked with overseeing the construction of the hospital.","Dr. Harvey Black became the first superintendent of Southwestern Lunatic Asylum when it opened in May 1887. Dr. Robert J. Preston and Dr. John S. Apperson served as assistant physicians, and Mr. C.W. White was appointed as steward to oversee the day-to-day business operations of the hospital. The patient population grew steadily and over time several buildings were added to the hospital's campus including a tuberculosis treatment building, a building for the criminally insane, the Davis Clinic, and the Harmon Building. For much of its early history, the hospital was mostly self-sufficient through the utilization of its own farm for meat, milk, and vegetables. Other early hospital superintendents include Dr. Robert J. Preston (1888-1906), Dr. Daniel Trigg (1906-1908), Dr. J.C. King (1908-1915), Dr. E.H. Henderson (1915-1927), and Dr. George A. Wright (1927-1937).\nThe hospital has gone through two name changes in its history. In 1894 the General Assembly passed legislation changing the name from Southwestern Lunatic Asylum to Southwestern State Hospital. In 1988, the name was changed to Southwestern Virginia Mental Health Institute.","Henry County was named for Patrick Henry, who was the first governor of the commonwealth of Virginia. It was formed from Pittsylvania County in 1776. The county court first met on 20 January 1777. Part of Patrick County was added later in 1858.","Henry County (Va.) Health and Medical Records 1790-1903, consists of five folders of Mental Health Records spanning those inclusive dates, and one folder of Smallpox Epidemic Records, 1863-1901.","Mental Health Records, 1790-1903, may include warrants, orders, petitions, depositions, reports, etc. for or by justices of the peace and others regarding the mental condition of individuals who were released to the recognizance of a family member or who were committed to a mental hospital.  Fiduciary records such as estate inventories of a person judged insane are occasionally present. See other collections of Henry County Fiduciary Records or Tax and Fiscal Records for mental-health-related materials that are not filed here. Includes African-American individuals, who were identified as such if they were primarily denoted as colored or if the hospitals at Petersburg or Howard's Grove were referenced. References to other mental hospitals include those at Williamsburg, Richmond, Staunton, and Marion.","Smallpox Epidemic Records, 1863-1901, n.d., consist of papers relating to quarantines and hospitals for the containment and/or treatment of smallpox outbreaks in Henry County as reported by justices of the peace. The earliest documents are two 1863 invoices, one of John M. Feazel requesting payment for services as a nurse during a smallpox outbreak that spring, the other of Dr. J. Bishop for treatment of 8 individuals; one of whom had died. Also includes an August 1895 order to apprehend \"Duch\" Hairston, who was believed to have been exposed to smallpox in Patrick County a few days prior and thus to be at risk of possibly infecting persons in Henry County. Includes an order for doctors to examine a potentially infected person named Bud Salmons in June 1898. References an enforced quarantine of the family of Tom Morrison and others in March and April 1900 and the quarantine of Anderson and Nat Coan in 1901.","Central Lunatic Asylum for Colored Insane, Virginia.","Central State Hospital (Petersburg, Va.).","Eastern State Hospital (Va.).","Henry County (Va.) Circuit Court.","Western State Hospital (Va.).","Southwestern Lunatic Asylum (Marion, Va.).","Southwestern State Hospital (Marion, Va.).","English"],"collection_title_tesim":["Henry County Health and Medical Records, 1790-1903"],"collection_ssim":["Henry County Health and Medical Records, 1790-1903"],"level_ssm":["collection"],"level_ssim":["Collection"],"unitid_ssm":["0007785153"],"unitid_tesim":["0007785153"],"repository_ssm":["Library of Virginia"],"repository_ssim":["Library of Virginia"],"creator_ssm":["Henry County (Va.) Circuit Court"],"creator_ssim":["Henry County (Va.) Circuit Court"],"creator_corpname_ssim":["Central Lunatic Asylum for Colored Insane, Virginia.","Central State Hospital (Petersburg, Va.).","Eastern State Hospital (Va.).","Henry County (Va.) Circuit Court.","Western State Hospital (Va.).","Southwestern Lunatic Asylum (Marion, Va.).","Southwestern State Hospital (Marion, Va.)."],"creators_ssim":["Central Lunatic Asylum for Colored Insane, Virginia.","Central State Hospital (Petersburg, Va.).","Eastern State Hospital (Va.).","Henry County (Va.) Circuit Court.","Western State Hospital (Va.).","Southwestern Lunatic Asylum (Marion, Va.).","Southwestern State Hospital (Marion, Va.)."],"acqinfo_ssim":["This collection came to the Library of Virginia in a transfer of court papers from Henry County Circuit Court."],"access_subjects_ssim":["African Americans--Mental Health--Virginia--Henry County.","County courts--Virginia--Henry County.","Insanity--Jurisprudence--Virginia--Henry County.","Jails--Virginia--Henry County.","Mental Health Facilities--Virginia.","Medical laws and legislation--Virginia--Henry County.","Mental illness--Virginia--Henry County.","Physicians--Virginia--Henry County.","Psychiatric hospitals--Virginia.","Public health--Virginia.","Public health administration--Virginia.","Public records--Virginia--Henry County.","Quarantine--Virginia--Henry County.","Slaves--Virginia--Henry County.","Smallpox--Virginia--Henry County.","Smallpox Prevention.","Health and Medical--Virginia--Henry County.","Local government records--Virginia--Henry County."],"access_subjects_ssm":["African Americans--Mental Health--Virginia--Henry County.","County courts--Virginia--Henry County.","Insanity--Jurisprudence--Virginia--Henry County.","Jails--Virginia--Henry County.","Mental Health Facilities--Virginia.","Medical laws and legislation--Virginia--Henry County.","Mental illness--Virginia--Henry County.","Physicians--Virginia--Henry County.","Psychiatric hospitals--Virginia.","Public health--Virginia.","Public health administration--Virginia.","Public records--Virginia--Henry County.","Quarantine--Virginia--Henry County.","Slaves--Virginia--Henry County.","Smallpox--Virginia--Henry County.","Smallpox Prevention.","Health and Medical--Virginia--Henry County.","Local government records--Virginia--Henry County."],"has_online_content_ssim":["false"],"extent_ssm":[".45 cf; 1 hollinger box"],"extent_tesim":[".45 cf; 1 hollinger box"],"arrangement_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eMental Health Records are arranged chronologically by year, then alphabetically by last name of individual. If an individual had more than one instance of suspected mental incapacity, there may be papers filed in more than one chronological location. Reports of physicians listing examinations of multiple patients in a given year are filed at the beginning of a year, with names written on the folder. Smallpox Epidemic Records are arranged chronologically.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n    "],"arrangement_heading_ssm":["Arrangement"],"arrangement_tesim":["Mental Health Records are arranged chronologically by year, then alphabetically by last name of individual. If an individual had more than one instance of suspected mental incapacity, there may be papers filed in more than one chronological location. Reports of physicians listing examinations of multiple patients in a given year are filed at the beginning of a year, with names written on the folder. Smallpox Epidemic Records are arranged chronologically."],"bioghist_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eMental Health Records may consist of a variety of documents that historically were referred to as lunacy papers in the courthouses of Virginia localities and municipalities.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eSee also: Fiduciary Records. A fiduciary is an individual who enters into a confidential and legal relationship which binds them to act on behalf of another. Guardians are legally invested to take care of another person, and of the property and rights of that person. Thus, some records referred to as insanity papers are housed with fiduciary records and not with mental health records.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eFirst known as commissions, the Justice of the Peace office originated with the county quarterly court in 1623. Commanders of Plantations (1607-1629) were predecessors of the commissioners, who since 1662 have been called justices of the peace. They have traditionally had both civil and criminal jurisdiction, and have served other functions, including performing coroners' and lunacy inquisitions. Until 1869 justices served both as judges of the county court and as individual justices; since then they have had only the latter function.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eDuring its session begun in November 1769, the House of Burgesses passed an act establishing a hospital in Williamsburg for the mentally ill. The Eastern Lunatic Asylum (now Eastern State Hospital) was the first institution in America constructed as a mental hospital. The first patients were admitted in October 1773.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eIn 1868, the Freedman's Bureau acquired land known as Howard's Grove, (or Howard Grove), located one half mile east of the city of Richmond, on the Mechanicsville Turnpike, in Henrico County. Through a lease from Mr. Bacon Tait (or Tate), the Bureau renovated several barrack-type structures that had been used as a Confederate hospital during the Civil War. The new facility became known as Howard's Grove Freedman's Hospital.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eThe hospital was turned over to the state by way of General Order number 136 issued by Major General Canby, Military Governor of Virginia in December 1869. Beginning January 1, 1870 all African American patients at Eastern Lunatic Asylum in Williamsburg, (the only state institution at the time to accept black patients), as well as all blacks jailed for lunacy from across Virginia, were to be removed to Howard's Grove for treatment. The General Assembly passed legislation in June 1870 renaming the facility the Central Lunatic Asylum and designating it the official \"reception and treatment facility for colored persons of unsound mind.\" This legislation was enacted with the stipulation that the Howard's Grove location was to be temporary.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eIn March 1882 a 300 acre tract of land was purchased by the City of Petersburg and given to the state for the purpose of constructing a permanent mental health facility for African Americans. Construction of the new facility near Petersburg was completed in early spring 1885. This later included a special building to house the criminally insane apart from the rest of the hospital population. An early institutional history notes that treatment at Central Lunatic Asylum during the 1890s was humane and emphasized the value of work and the benefits of recreation. However, practices at the facility also included seclusion, mechanical restraints, and the administering of hypnotics.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eIn 1894, Central Lunatic Asylum was officially renamed Central State Hospital. This piece of legislation also altered the names of the other mental health facilities in Virginia in and attempt to inspire a more positive image of the institutions, and of mental health treatment in general. It is important to note that another state institution located in Staunton, Virginia went by the name Central Lunatic Asylum between the years of 1861 and 1865. Its name later was changed to Western Lunatic Asylum, and is a separate facility with no connection to the Richmond/Petersburg hospital for African Americans.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eIn January 1825 the Virginia General Assembly passed legislation providing for the construction of an asylum in the western part of the state. The institution, which become known as Western Lunatic Asylum, was constructed close to the town of Staunton, west of the Blue Ridge Mountains, was the second mental health facility built in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The buildings and surrounding gardens were designed to embrace the idea of \"moral therapy\" for mentally ill patients by providing an aesthetically pleasing and tranquil atmosphere in which patients lived comfortably, exercised and worked outdoors.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eWestern Lunatic Asylum opened in 1828, accepting both male and female patients suffering from a variety of mental disorders. It should be noted that the hospital underwent a short-lived name change between 1861 and 1865, when it was known as Central Lunatic Asylum. (It should not be confused with an asylum of the same name later built in Petersburg, Virginia to house African American patients). From 1865 to 1894 the name was again Western Lunatic Asylum. However, in 1894 the General Assembly passed legislation changing the name to Western State Hospital.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eIn March 1884 the Virginia General Assembly appointed a board of commissioners to select a site for a new lunatic asylum for white citizens to be built west of New River. The board selected a 208-acre site in Smyth County and in August 1884 the General Assembly gave the board the power to purchase the land for thirty thousand dollars and granted the county the right to issue bonds as well. In November 1884 the General Assembly formally established the Southwestern Lunatic Asylum, near Marion, Virginia. Dr. Harvey Black, J. Hoge Tyler, Thomas J. Boyd, D.D. Hull, Dr. John S. Apperson, N.L. Look and F.B. Hurt were appointed to the building committee which was tasked with overseeing the construction of the hospital.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eDr. Harvey Black became the first superintendent of Southwestern Lunatic Asylum when it opened in May 1887. Dr. Robert J. Preston and Dr. John S. Apperson served as assistant physicians, and Mr. C.W. White was appointed as steward to oversee the day-to-day business operations of the hospital. The patient population grew steadily and over time several buildings were added to the hospital's campus including a tuberculosis treatment building, a building for the criminally insane, the Davis Clinic, and the Harmon Building. For much of its early history, the hospital was mostly self-sufficient through the utilization of its own farm for meat, milk, and vegetables. Other early hospital superintendents include Dr. Robert J. Preston (1888-1906), Dr. Daniel Trigg (1906-1908), Dr. J.C. King (1908-1915), Dr. E.H. Henderson (1915-1927), and Dr. George A. Wright (1927-1937).\nThe hospital has gone through two name changes in its history. In 1894 the General Assembly passed legislation changing the name from Southwestern Lunatic Asylum to Southwestern State Hospital. In 1988, the name was changed to Southwestern Virginia Mental Health Institute.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eHenry County was named for Patrick Henry, who was the first governor of the commonwealth of Virginia. It was formed from Pittsylvania County in 1776. The county court first met on 20 January 1777. Part of Patrick County was added later in 1858. \n\u003c/p\u003e\n"],"bioghist_heading_ssm":["Historical Information"],"bioghist_tesim":["Mental Health Records may consist of a variety of documents that historically were referred to as lunacy papers in the courthouses of Virginia localities and municipalities.","See also: Fiduciary Records. A fiduciary is an individual who enters into a confidential and legal relationship which binds them to act on behalf of another. Guardians are legally invested to take care of another person, and of the property and rights of that person. Thus, some records referred to as insanity papers are housed with fiduciary records and not with mental health records.","First known as commissions, the Justice of the Peace office originated with the county quarterly court in 1623. Commanders of Plantations (1607-1629) were predecessors of the commissioners, who since 1662 have been called justices of the peace. They have traditionally had both civil and criminal jurisdiction, and have served other functions, including performing coroners' and lunacy inquisitions. Until 1869 justices served both as judges of the county court and as individual justices; since then they have had only the latter function.","During its session begun in November 1769, the House of Burgesses passed an act establishing a hospital in Williamsburg for the mentally ill. The Eastern Lunatic Asylum (now Eastern State Hospital) was the first institution in America constructed as a mental hospital. The first patients were admitted in October 1773.","In 1868, the Freedman's Bureau acquired land known as Howard's Grove, (or Howard Grove), located one half mile east of the city of Richmond, on the Mechanicsville Turnpike, in Henrico County. Through a lease from Mr. Bacon Tait (or Tate), the Bureau renovated several barrack-type structures that had been used as a Confederate hospital during the Civil War. The new facility became known as Howard's Grove Freedman's Hospital.","The hospital was turned over to the state by way of General Order number 136 issued by Major General Canby, Military Governor of Virginia in December 1869. Beginning January 1, 1870 all African American patients at Eastern Lunatic Asylum in Williamsburg, (the only state institution at the time to accept black patients), as well as all blacks jailed for lunacy from across Virginia, were to be removed to Howard's Grove for treatment. The General Assembly passed legislation in June 1870 renaming the facility the Central Lunatic Asylum and designating it the official \"reception and treatment facility for colored persons of unsound mind.\" This legislation was enacted with the stipulation that the Howard's Grove location was to be temporary.","In March 1882 a 300 acre tract of land was purchased by the City of Petersburg and given to the state for the purpose of constructing a permanent mental health facility for African Americans. Construction of the new facility near Petersburg was completed in early spring 1885. This later included a special building to house the criminally insane apart from the rest of the hospital population. An early institutional history notes that treatment at Central Lunatic Asylum during the 1890s was humane and emphasized the value of work and the benefits of recreation. However, practices at the facility also included seclusion, mechanical restraints, and the administering of hypnotics.","In 1894, Central Lunatic Asylum was officially renamed Central State Hospital. This piece of legislation also altered the names of the other mental health facilities in Virginia in and attempt to inspire a more positive image of the institutions, and of mental health treatment in general. It is important to note that another state institution located in Staunton, Virginia went by the name Central Lunatic Asylum between the years of 1861 and 1865. Its name later was changed to Western Lunatic Asylum, and is a separate facility with no connection to the Richmond/Petersburg hospital for African Americans.","In January 1825 the Virginia General Assembly passed legislation providing for the construction of an asylum in the western part of the state. The institution, which become known as Western Lunatic Asylum, was constructed close to the town of Staunton, west of the Blue Ridge Mountains, was the second mental health facility built in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The buildings and surrounding gardens were designed to embrace the idea of \"moral therapy\" for mentally ill patients by providing an aesthetically pleasing and tranquil atmosphere in which patients lived comfortably, exercised and worked outdoors.","Western Lunatic Asylum opened in 1828, accepting both male and female patients suffering from a variety of mental disorders. It should be noted that the hospital underwent a short-lived name change between 1861 and 1865, when it was known as Central Lunatic Asylum. (It should not be confused with an asylum of the same name later built in Petersburg, Virginia to house African American patients). From 1865 to 1894 the name was again Western Lunatic Asylum. However, in 1894 the General Assembly passed legislation changing the name to Western State Hospital.","In March 1884 the Virginia General Assembly appointed a board of commissioners to select a site for a new lunatic asylum for white citizens to be built west of New River. The board selected a 208-acre site in Smyth County and in August 1884 the General Assembly gave the board the power to purchase the land for thirty thousand dollars and granted the county the right to issue bonds as well. In November 1884 the General Assembly formally established the Southwestern Lunatic Asylum, near Marion, Virginia. Dr. Harvey Black, J. Hoge Tyler, Thomas J. Boyd, D.D. Hull, Dr. John S. Apperson, N.L. Look and F.B. Hurt were appointed to the building committee which was tasked with overseeing the construction of the hospital.","Dr. Harvey Black became the first superintendent of Southwestern Lunatic Asylum when it opened in May 1887. Dr. Robert J. Preston and Dr. John S. Apperson served as assistant physicians, and Mr. C.W. White was appointed as steward to oversee the day-to-day business operations of the hospital. The patient population grew steadily and over time several buildings were added to the hospital's campus including a tuberculosis treatment building, a building for the criminally insane, the Davis Clinic, and the Harmon Building. For much of its early history, the hospital was mostly self-sufficient through the utilization of its own farm for meat, milk, and vegetables. Other early hospital superintendents include Dr. Robert J. Preston (1888-1906), Dr. Daniel Trigg (1906-1908), Dr. J.C. King (1908-1915), Dr. E.H. Henderson (1915-1927), and Dr. George A. Wright (1927-1937).\nThe hospital has gone through two name changes in its history. In 1894 the General Assembly passed legislation changing the name from Southwestern Lunatic Asylum to Southwestern State Hospital. In 1988, the name was changed to Southwestern Virginia Mental Health Institute.","Henry County was named for Patrick Henry, who was the first governor of the commonwealth of Virginia. It was formed from Pittsylvania County in 1776. The county court first met on 20 January 1777. Part of Patrick County was added later in 1858."],"scopecontent_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eHenry County (Va.) Health and Medical Records 1790-1903, consists of five folders of Mental Health Records spanning those inclusive dates, and one folder of Smallpox Epidemic Records, 1863-1901. \n\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eMental Health Records, 1790-1903, may include warrants, orders, petitions, depositions, reports, etc. for or by justices of the peace and others regarding the mental condition of individuals who were released to the recognizance of a family member or who were committed to a mental hospital.  Fiduciary records such as estate inventories of a person judged insane are occasionally present. See other collections of Henry County Fiduciary Records or Tax and Fiscal Records for mental-health-related materials that are not filed here. Includes African-American individuals, who were identified as such if they were primarily denoted as colored or if the hospitals at Petersburg or Howard's Grove were referenced. References to other mental hospitals include those at Williamsburg, Richmond, Staunton, and Marion.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eSmallpox Epidemic Records, 1863-1901, n.d., consist of papers relating to quarantines and hospitals for the containment and/or treatment of smallpox outbreaks in Henry County as reported by justices of the peace. The earliest documents are two 1863 invoices, one of John M. Feazel requesting payment for services as a nurse during a smallpox outbreak that spring, the other of Dr. J. Bishop for treatment of 8 individuals; one of whom had died. Also includes an August 1895 order to apprehend \"Duch\" Hairston, who was believed to have been exposed to smallpox in Patrick County a few days prior and thus to be at risk of possibly infecting persons in Henry County. Includes an order for doctors to examine a potentially infected person named Bud Salmons in June 1898. References an enforced quarantine of the family of Tom Morrison and others in March and April 1900 and the quarantine of Anderson and Nat Coan in 1901.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n"],"scopecontent_heading_ssm":["Scope and Content"],"scopecontent_tesim":["Henry County (Va.) Health and Medical Records 1790-1903, consists of five folders of Mental Health Records spanning those inclusive dates, and one folder of Smallpox Epidemic Records, 1863-1901.","Mental Health Records, 1790-1903, may include warrants, orders, petitions, depositions, reports, etc. for or by justices of the peace and others regarding the mental condition of individuals who were released to the recognizance of a family member or who were committed to a mental hospital.  Fiduciary records such as estate inventories of a person judged insane are occasionally present. See other collections of Henry County Fiduciary Records or Tax and Fiscal Records for mental-health-related materials that are not filed here. Includes African-American individuals, who were identified as such if they were primarily denoted as colored or if the hospitals at Petersburg or Howard's Grove were referenced. References to other mental hospitals include those at Williamsburg, Richmond, Staunton, and Marion.","Smallpox Epidemic Records, 1863-1901, n.d., consist of papers relating to quarantines and hospitals for the containment and/or treatment of smallpox outbreaks in Henry County as reported by justices of the peace. The earliest documents are two 1863 invoices, one of John M. Feazel requesting payment for services as a nurse during a smallpox outbreak that spring, the other of Dr. J. Bishop for treatment of 8 individuals; one of whom had died. Also includes an August 1895 order to apprehend \"Duch\" Hairston, who was believed to have been exposed to smallpox in Patrick County a few days prior and thus to be at risk of possibly infecting persons in Henry County. Includes an order for doctors to examine a potentially infected person named Bud Salmons in June 1898. References an enforced quarantine of the family of Tom Morrison and others in March and April 1900 and the quarantine of Anderson and Nat Coan in 1901."],"corpname_ssim":["Central Lunatic Asylum for Colored Insane, Virginia.","Central State Hospital (Petersburg, Va.).","Eastern State Hospital (Va.).","Henry County (Va.) Circuit Court.","Western State Hospital (Va.).","Southwestern Lunatic Asylum (Marion, Va.).","Southwestern State Hospital (Marion, Va.)."],"names_ssim":["Central Lunatic Asylum for Colored Insane, Virginia.","Central State Hospital (Petersburg, Va.).","Eastern State Hospital (Va.).","Henry County (Va.) Circuit Court.","Western State Hospital (Va.).","Southwestern Lunatic Asylum (Marion, Va.).","Southwestern State Hospital (Marion, Va.)."],"language_ssim":["English"],"total_component_count_is":8,"online_item_count_is":0,"component_level_isim":[0],"sort_isi":0,"timestamp":"2026-07-23T21:13:33.340Z","collection":{"numFound":1,"start":0,"numFoundExact":true,"docs":[{"id":"vi_vi05131","ead_ssi":"vi_vi05131","_root_":"vi_vi05131","_nest_parent_":"vi_vi05131","ead_source_url_ssi":"data/lva/vi05131.xml","title_ssm":["Henry County Health and Medical Records, 1790-1903"],"title_tesim":["Henry County Health and Medical Records, 1790-1903"],"normalized_title_ssm":["Henry County Health and Medical Records, 1790-1903"],"text":["Henry County Health and Medical Records, 1790-1903","0007785153","African Americans--Mental Health--Virginia--Henry County.","County courts--Virginia--Henry County.","Insanity--Jurisprudence--Virginia--Henry County.","Jails--Virginia--Henry County.","Mental Health Facilities--Virginia.","Medical laws and legislation--Virginia--Henry County.","Mental illness--Virginia--Henry County.","Physicians--Virginia--Henry County.","Psychiatric hospitals--Virginia.","Public health--Virginia.","Public health administration--Virginia.","Public records--Virginia--Henry County.","Quarantine--Virginia--Henry County.","Slaves--Virginia--Henry County.","Smallpox--Virginia--Henry County.","Smallpox Prevention.","Health and Medical--Virginia--Henry County.","Local government records--Virginia--Henry County.","Mental Health Records are arranged chronologically by year, then alphabetically by last name of individual. If an individual had more than one instance of suspected mental incapacity, there may be papers filed in more than one chronological location. Reports of physicians listing examinations of multiple patients in a given year are filed at the beginning of a year, with names written on the folder. Smallpox Epidemic Records are arranged chronologically.","Mental Health Records may consist of a variety of documents that historically were referred to as lunacy papers in the courthouses of Virginia localities and municipalities.","See also: Fiduciary Records. A fiduciary is an individual who enters into a confidential and legal relationship which binds them to act on behalf of another. Guardians are legally invested to take care of another person, and of the property and rights of that person. Thus, some records referred to as insanity papers are housed with fiduciary records and not with mental health records.","First known as commissions, the Justice of the Peace office originated with the county quarterly court in 1623. Commanders of Plantations (1607-1629) were predecessors of the commissioners, who since 1662 have been called justices of the peace. They have traditionally had both civil and criminal jurisdiction, and have served other functions, including performing coroners' and lunacy inquisitions. Until 1869 justices served both as judges of the county court and as individual justices; since then they have had only the latter function.","During its session begun in November 1769, the House of Burgesses passed an act establishing a hospital in Williamsburg for the mentally ill. The Eastern Lunatic Asylum (now Eastern State Hospital) was the first institution in America constructed as a mental hospital. The first patients were admitted in October 1773.","In 1868, the Freedman's Bureau acquired land known as Howard's Grove, (or Howard Grove), located one half mile east of the city of Richmond, on the Mechanicsville Turnpike, in Henrico County. Through a lease from Mr. Bacon Tait (or Tate), the Bureau renovated several barrack-type structures that had been used as a Confederate hospital during the Civil War. The new facility became known as Howard's Grove Freedman's Hospital.","The hospital was turned over to the state by way of General Order number 136 issued by Major General Canby, Military Governor of Virginia in December 1869. Beginning January 1, 1870 all African American patients at Eastern Lunatic Asylum in Williamsburg, (the only state institution at the time to accept black patients), as well as all blacks jailed for lunacy from across Virginia, were to be removed to Howard's Grove for treatment. The General Assembly passed legislation in June 1870 renaming the facility the Central Lunatic Asylum and designating it the official \"reception and treatment facility for colored persons of unsound mind.\" This legislation was enacted with the stipulation that the Howard's Grove location was to be temporary.","In March 1882 a 300 acre tract of land was purchased by the City of Petersburg and given to the state for the purpose of constructing a permanent mental health facility for African Americans. Construction of the new facility near Petersburg was completed in early spring 1885. This later included a special building to house the criminally insane apart from the rest of the hospital population. An early institutional history notes that treatment at Central Lunatic Asylum during the 1890s was humane and emphasized the value of work and the benefits of recreation. However, practices at the facility also included seclusion, mechanical restraints, and the administering of hypnotics.","In 1894, Central Lunatic Asylum was officially renamed Central State Hospital. This piece of legislation also altered the names of the other mental health facilities in Virginia in and attempt to inspire a more positive image of the institutions, and of mental health treatment in general. It is important to note that another state institution located in Staunton, Virginia went by the name Central Lunatic Asylum between the years of 1861 and 1865. Its name later was changed to Western Lunatic Asylum, and is a separate facility with no connection to the Richmond/Petersburg hospital for African Americans.","In January 1825 the Virginia General Assembly passed legislation providing for the construction of an asylum in the western part of the state. The institution, which become known as Western Lunatic Asylum, was constructed close to the town of Staunton, west of the Blue Ridge Mountains, was the second mental health facility built in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The buildings and surrounding gardens were designed to embrace the idea of \"moral therapy\" for mentally ill patients by providing an aesthetically pleasing and tranquil atmosphere in which patients lived comfortably, exercised and worked outdoors.","Western Lunatic Asylum opened in 1828, accepting both male and female patients suffering from a variety of mental disorders. It should be noted that the hospital underwent a short-lived name change between 1861 and 1865, when it was known as Central Lunatic Asylum. (It should not be confused with an asylum of the same name later built in Petersburg, Virginia to house African American patients). From 1865 to 1894 the name was again Western Lunatic Asylum. However, in 1894 the General Assembly passed legislation changing the name to Western State Hospital.","In March 1884 the Virginia General Assembly appointed a board of commissioners to select a site for a new lunatic asylum for white citizens to be built west of New River. The board selected a 208-acre site in Smyth County and in August 1884 the General Assembly gave the board the power to purchase the land for thirty thousand dollars and granted the county the right to issue bonds as well. In November 1884 the General Assembly formally established the Southwestern Lunatic Asylum, near Marion, Virginia. Dr. Harvey Black, J. Hoge Tyler, Thomas J. Boyd, D.D. Hull, Dr. John S. Apperson, N.L. Look and F.B. Hurt were appointed to the building committee which was tasked with overseeing the construction of the hospital.","Dr. Harvey Black became the first superintendent of Southwestern Lunatic Asylum when it opened in May 1887. Dr. Robert J. Preston and Dr. John S. Apperson served as assistant physicians, and Mr. C.W. White was appointed as steward to oversee the day-to-day business operations of the hospital. The patient population grew steadily and over time several buildings were added to the hospital's campus including a tuberculosis treatment building, a building for the criminally insane, the Davis Clinic, and the Harmon Building. For much of its early history, the hospital was mostly self-sufficient through the utilization of its own farm for meat, milk, and vegetables. Other early hospital superintendents include Dr. Robert J. Preston (1888-1906), Dr. Daniel Trigg (1906-1908), Dr. J.C. King (1908-1915), Dr. E.H. Henderson (1915-1927), and Dr. George A. Wright (1927-1937).\nThe hospital has gone through two name changes in its history. In 1894 the General Assembly passed legislation changing the name from Southwestern Lunatic Asylum to Southwestern State Hospital. In 1988, the name was changed to Southwestern Virginia Mental Health Institute.","Henry County was named for Patrick Henry, who was the first governor of the commonwealth of Virginia. It was formed from Pittsylvania County in 1776. The county court first met on 20 January 1777. Part of Patrick County was added later in 1858.","Henry County (Va.) Health and Medical Records 1790-1903, consists of five folders of Mental Health Records spanning those inclusive dates, and one folder of Smallpox Epidemic Records, 1863-1901.","Mental Health Records, 1790-1903, may include warrants, orders, petitions, depositions, reports, etc. for or by justices of the peace and others regarding the mental condition of individuals who were released to the recognizance of a family member or who were committed to a mental hospital.  Fiduciary records such as estate inventories of a person judged insane are occasionally present. See other collections of Henry County Fiduciary Records or Tax and Fiscal Records for mental-health-related materials that are not filed here. Includes African-American individuals, who were identified as such if they were primarily denoted as colored or if the hospitals at Petersburg or Howard's Grove were referenced. References to other mental hospitals include those at Williamsburg, Richmond, Staunton, and Marion.","Smallpox Epidemic Records, 1863-1901, n.d., consist of papers relating to quarantines and hospitals for the containment and/or treatment of smallpox outbreaks in Henry County as reported by justices of the peace. The earliest documents are two 1863 invoices, one of John M. Feazel requesting payment for services as a nurse during a smallpox outbreak that spring, the other of Dr. J. Bishop for treatment of 8 individuals; one of whom had died. Also includes an August 1895 order to apprehend \"Duch\" Hairston, who was believed to have been exposed to smallpox in Patrick County a few days prior and thus to be at risk of possibly infecting persons in Henry County. Includes an order for doctors to examine a potentially infected person named Bud Salmons in June 1898. References an enforced quarantine of the family of Tom Morrison and others in March and April 1900 and the quarantine of Anderson and Nat Coan in 1901.","Central Lunatic Asylum for Colored Insane, Virginia.","Central State Hospital (Petersburg, Va.).","Eastern State Hospital (Va.).","Henry County (Va.) Circuit Court.","Western State Hospital (Va.).","Southwestern Lunatic Asylum (Marion, Va.).","Southwestern State Hospital (Marion, Va.).","English"],"collection_title_tesim":["Henry County Health and Medical Records, 1790-1903"],"collection_ssim":["Henry County Health and Medical Records, 1790-1903"],"level_ssm":["collection"],"level_ssim":["Collection"],"unitid_ssm":["0007785153"],"unitid_tesim":["0007785153"],"repository_ssm":["Library of Virginia"],"repository_ssim":["Library of Virginia"],"creator_ssm":["Henry County (Va.) Circuit Court"],"creator_ssim":["Henry County (Va.) Circuit Court"],"creator_corpname_ssim":["Central Lunatic Asylum for Colored Insane, Virginia.","Central State Hospital (Petersburg, Va.).","Eastern State Hospital (Va.).","Henry County (Va.) Circuit Court.","Western State Hospital (Va.).","Southwestern Lunatic Asylum (Marion, Va.).","Southwestern State Hospital (Marion, Va.)."],"creators_ssim":["Central Lunatic Asylum for Colored Insane, Virginia.","Central State Hospital (Petersburg, Va.).","Eastern State Hospital (Va.).","Henry County (Va.) Circuit Court.","Western State Hospital (Va.).","Southwestern Lunatic Asylum (Marion, Va.).","Southwestern State Hospital (Marion, Va.)."],"acqinfo_ssim":["This collection came to the Library of Virginia in a transfer of court papers from Henry County Circuit Court."],"access_subjects_ssim":["African Americans--Mental Health--Virginia--Henry County.","County courts--Virginia--Henry County.","Insanity--Jurisprudence--Virginia--Henry County.","Jails--Virginia--Henry County.","Mental Health Facilities--Virginia.","Medical laws and legislation--Virginia--Henry County.","Mental illness--Virginia--Henry County.","Physicians--Virginia--Henry County.","Psychiatric hospitals--Virginia.","Public health--Virginia.","Public health administration--Virginia.","Public records--Virginia--Henry County.","Quarantine--Virginia--Henry County.","Slaves--Virginia--Henry County.","Smallpox--Virginia--Henry County.","Smallpox Prevention.","Health and Medical--Virginia--Henry County.","Local government records--Virginia--Henry County."],"access_subjects_ssm":["African Americans--Mental Health--Virginia--Henry County.","County courts--Virginia--Henry County.","Insanity--Jurisprudence--Virginia--Henry County.","Jails--Virginia--Henry County.","Mental Health Facilities--Virginia.","Medical laws and legislation--Virginia--Henry County.","Mental illness--Virginia--Henry County.","Physicians--Virginia--Henry County.","Psychiatric hospitals--Virginia.","Public health--Virginia.","Public health administration--Virginia.","Public records--Virginia--Henry County.","Quarantine--Virginia--Henry County.","Slaves--Virginia--Henry County.","Smallpox--Virginia--Henry County.","Smallpox Prevention.","Health and Medical--Virginia--Henry County.","Local government records--Virginia--Henry County."],"has_online_content_ssim":["false"],"extent_ssm":[".45 cf; 1 hollinger box"],"extent_tesim":[".45 cf; 1 hollinger box"],"arrangement_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eMental Health Records are arranged chronologically by year, then alphabetically by last name of individual. If an individual had more than one instance of suspected mental incapacity, there may be papers filed in more than one chronological location. Reports of physicians listing examinations of multiple patients in a given year are filed at the beginning of a year, with names written on the folder. Smallpox Epidemic Records are arranged chronologically.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n    "],"arrangement_heading_ssm":["Arrangement"],"arrangement_tesim":["Mental Health Records are arranged chronologically by year, then alphabetically by last name of individual. If an individual had more than one instance of suspected mental incapacity, there may be papers filed in more than one chronological location. Reports of physicians listing examinations of multiple patients in a given year are filed at the beginning of a year, with names written on the folder. Smallpox Epidemic Records are arranged chronologically."],"bioghist_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eMental Health Records may consist of a variety of documents that historically were referred to as lunacy papers in the courthouses of Virginia localities and municipalities.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eSee also: Fiduciary Records. A fiduciary is an individual who enters into a confidential and legal relationship which binds them to act on behalf of another. Guardians are legally invested to take care of another person, and of the property and rights of that person. Thus, some records referred to as insanity papers are housed with fiduciary records and not with mental health records.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eFirst known as commissions, the Justice of the Peace office originated with the county quarterly court in 1623. Commanders of Plantations (1607-1629) were predecessors of the commissioners, who since 1662 have been called justices of the peace. They have traditionally had both civil and criminal jurisdiction, and have served other functions, including performing coroners' and lunacy inquisitions. Until 1869 justices served both as judges of the county court and as individual justices; since then they have had only the latter function.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eDuring its session begun in November 1769, the House of Burgesses passed an act establishing a hospital in Williamsburg for the mentally ill. The Eastern Lunatic Asylum (now Eastern State Hospital) was the first institution in America constructed as a mental hospital. The first patients were admitted in October 1773.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eIn 1868, the Freedman's Bureau acquired land known as Howard's Grove, (or Howard Grove), located one half mile east of the city of Richmond, on the Mechanicsville Turnpike, in Henrico County. Through a lease from Mr. Bacon Tait (or Tate), the Bureau renovated several barrack-type structures that had been used as a Confederate hospital during the Civil War. The new facility became known as Howard's Grove Freedman's Hospital.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eThe hospital was turned over to the state by way of General Order number 136 issued by Major General Canby, Military Governor of Virginia in December 1869. Beginning January 1, 1870 all African American patients at Eastern Lunatic Asylum in Williamsburg, (the only state institution at the time to accept black patients), as well as all blacks jailed for lunacy from across Virginia, were to be removed to Howard's Grove for treatment. The General Assembly passed legislation in June 1870 renaming the facility the Central Lunatic Asylum and designating it the official \"reception and treatment facility for colored persons of unsound mind.\" This legislation was enacted with the stipulation that the Howard's Grove location was to be temporary.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eIn March 1882 a 300 acre tract of land was purchased by the City of Petersburg and given to the state for the purpose of constructing a permanent mental health facility for African Americans. Construction of the new facility near Petersburg was completed in early spring 1885. This later included a special building to house the criminally insane apart from the rest of the hospital population. An early institutional history notes that treatment at Central Lunatic Asylum during the 1890s was humane and emphasized the value of work and the benefits of recreation. However, practices at the facility also included seclusion, mechanical restraints, and the administering of hypnotics.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eIn 1894, Central Lunatic Asylum was officially renamed Central State Hospital. This piece of legislation also altered the names of the other mental health facilities in Virginia in and attempt to inspire a more positive image of the institutions, and of mental health treatment in general. It is important to note that another state institution located in Staunton, Virginia went by the name Central Lunatic Asylum between the years of 1861 and 1865. Its name later was changed to Western Lunatic Asylum, and is a separate facility with no connection to the Richmond/Petersburg hospital for African Americans.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eIn January 1825 the Virginia General Assembly passed legislation providing for the construction of an asylum in the western part of the state. The institution, which become known as Western Lunatic Asylum, was constructed close to the town of Staunton, west of the Blue Ridge Mountains, was the second mental health facility built in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The buildings and surrounding gardens were designed to embrace the idea of \"moral therapy\" for mentally ill patients by providing an aesthetically pleasing and tranquil atmosphere in which patients lived comfortably, exercised and worked outdoors.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eWestern Lunatic Asylum opened in 1828, accepting both male and female patients suffering from a variety of mental disorders. It should be noted that the hospital underwent a short-lived name change between 1861 and 1865, when it was known as Central Lunatic Asylum. (It should not be confused with an asylum of the same name later built in Petersburg, Virginia to house African American patients). From 1865 to 1894 the name was again Western Lunatic Asylum. However, in 1894 the General Assembly passed legislation changing the name to Western State Hospital.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eIn March 1884 the Virginia General Assembly appointed a board of commissioners to select a site for a new lunatic asylum for white citizens to be built west of New River. The board selected a 208-acre site in Smyth County and in August 1884 the General Assembly gave the board the power to purchase the land for thirty thousand dollars and granted the county the right to issue bonds as well. In November 1884 the General Assembly formally established the Southwestern Lunatic Asylum, near Marion, Virginia. Dr. Harvey Black, J. Hoge Tyler, Thomas J. Boyd, D.D. Hull, Dr. John S. Apperson, N.L. Look and F.B. Hurt were appointed to the building committee which was tasked with overseeing the construction of the hospital.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eDr. Harvey Black became the first superintendent of Southwestern Lunatic Asylum when it opened in May 1887. Dr. Robert J. Preston and Dr. John S. Apperson served as assistant physicians, and Mr. C.W. White was appointed as steward to oversee the day-to-day business operations of the hospital. The patient population grew steadily and over time several buildings were added to the hospital's campus including a tuberculosis treatment building, a building for the criminally insane, the Davis Clinic, and the Harmon Building. For much of its early history, the hospital was mostly self-sufficient through the utilization of its own farm for meat, milk, and vegetables. Other early hospital superintendents include Dr. Robert J. Preston (1888-1906), Dr. Daniel Trigg (1906-1908), Dr. J.C. King (1908-1915), Dr. E.H. Henderson (1915-1927), and Dr. George A. Wright (1927-1937).\nThe hospital has gone through two name changes in its history. In 1894 the General Assembly passed legislation changing the name from Southwestern Lunatic Asylum to Southwestern State Hospital. In 1988, the name was changed to Southwestern Virginia Mental Health Institute.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eHenry County was named for Patrick Henry, who was the first governor of the commonwealth of Virginia. It was formed from Pittsylvania County in 1776. The county court first met on 20 January 1777. Part of Patrick County was added later in 1858. \n\u003c/p\u003e\n"],"bioghist_heading_ssm":["Historical Information"],"bioghist_tesim":["Mental Health Records may consist of a variety of documents that historically were referred to as lunacy papers in the courthouses of Virginia localities and municipalities.","See also: Fiduciary Records. A fiduciary is an individual who enters into a confidential and legal relationship which binds them to act on behalf of another. Guardians are legally invested to take care of another person, and of the property and rights of that person. Thus, some records referred to as insanity papers are housed with fiduciary records and not with mental health records.","First known as commissions, the Justice of the Peace office originated with the county quarterly court in 1623. Commanders of Plantations (1607-1629) were predecessors of the commissioners, who since 1662 have been called justices of the peace. They have traditionally had both civil and criminal jurisdiction, and have served other functions, including performing coroners' and lunacy inquisitions. Until 1869 justices served both as judges of the county court and as individual justices; since then they have had only the latter function.","During its session begun in November 1769, the House of Burgesses passed an act establishing a hospital in Williamsburg for the mentally ill. The Eastern Lunatic Asylum (now Eastern State Hospital) was the first institution in America constructed as a mental hospital. The first patients were admitted in October 1773.","In 1868, the Freedman's Bureau acquired land known as Howard's Grove, (or Howard Grove), located one half mile east of the city of Richmond, on the Mechanicsville Turnpike, in Henrico County. Through a lease from Mr. Bacon Tait (or Tate), the Bureau renovated several barrack-type structures that had been used as a Confederate hospital during the Civil War. The new facility became known as Howard's Grove Freedman's Hospital.","The hospital was turned over to the state by way of General Order number 136 issued by Major General Canby, Military Governor of Virginia in December 1869. Beginning January 1, 1870 all African American patients at Eastern Lunatic Asylum in Williamsburg, (the only state institution at the time to accept black patients), as well as all blacks jailed for lunacy from across Virginia, were to be removed to Howard's Grove for treatment. The General Assembly passed legislation in June 1870 renaming the facility the Central Lunatic Asylum and designating it the official \"reception and treatment facility for colored persons of unsound mind.\" This legislation was enacted with the stipulation that the Howard's Grove location was to be temporary.","In March 1882 a 300 acre tract of land was purchased by the City of Petersburg and given to the state for the purpose of constructing a permanent mental health facility for African Americans. Construction of the new facility near Petersburg was completed in early spring 1885. This later included a special building to house the criminally insane apart from the rest of the hospital population. An early institutional history notes that treatment at Central Lunatic Asylum during the 1890s was humane and emphasized the value of work and the benefits of recreation. However, practices at the facility also included seclusion, mechanical restraints, and the administering of hypnotics.","In 1894, Central Lunatic Asylum was officially renamed Central State Hospital. This piece of legislation also altered the names of the other mental health facilities in Virginia in and attempt to inspire a more positive image of the institutions, and of mental health treatment in general. It is important to note that another state institution located in Staunton, Virginia went by the name Central Lunatic Asylum between the years of 1861 and 1865. Its name later was changed to Western Lunatic Asylum, and is a separate facility with no connection to the Richmond/Petersburg hospital for African Americans.","In January 1825 the Virginia General Assembly passed legislation providing for the construction of an asylum in the western part of the state. The institution, which become known as Western Lunatic Asylum, was constructed close to the town of Staunton, west of the Blue Ridge Mountains, was the second mental health facility built in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The buildings and surrounding gardens were designed to embrace the idea of \"moral therapy\" for mentally ill patients by providing an aesthetically pleasing and tranquil atmosphere in which patients lived comfortably, exercised and worked outdoors.","Western Lunatic Asylum opened in 1828, accepting both male and female patients suffering from a variety of mental disorders. It should be noted that the hospital underwent a short-lived name change between 1861 and 1865, when it was known as Central Lunatic Asylum. (It should not be confused with an asylum of the same name later built in Petersburg, Virginia to house African American patients). From 1865 to 1894 the name was again Western Lunatic Asylum. However, in 1894 the General Assembly passed legislation changing the name to Western State Hospital.","In March 1884 the Virginia General Assembly appointed a board of commissioners to select a site for a new lunatic asylum for white citizens to be built west of New River. The board selected a 208-acre site in Smyth County and in August 1884 the General Assembly gave the board the power to purchase the land for thirty thousand dollars and granted the county the right to issue bonds as well. In November 1884 the General Assembly formally established the Southwestern Lunatic Asylum, near Marion, Virginia. Dr. Harvey Black, J. Hoge Tyler, Thomas J. Boyd, D.D. Hull, Dr. John S. Apperson, N.L. Look and F.B. Hurt were appointed to the building committee which was tasked with overseeing the construction of the hospital.","Dr. Harvey Black became the first superintendent of Southwestern Lunatic Asylum when it opened in May 1887. Dr. Robert J. Preston and Dr. John S. Apperson served as assistant physicians, and Mr. C.W. White was appointed as steward to oversee the day-to-day business operations of the hospital. The patient population grew steadily and over time several buildings were added to the hospital's campus including a tuberculosis treatment building, a building for the criminally insane, the Davis Clinic, and the Harmon Building. For much of its early history, the hospital was mostly self-sufficient through the utilization of its own farm for meat, milk, and vegetables. Other early hospital superintendents include Dr. Robert J. Preston (1888-1906), Dr. Daniel Trigg (1906-1908), Dr. J.C. King (1908-1915), Dr. E.H. Henderson (1915-1927), and Dr. George A. Wright (1927-1937).\nThe hospital has gone through two name changes in its history. In 1894 the General Assembly passed legislation changing the name from Southwestern Lunatic Asylum to Southwestern State Hospital. In 1988, the name was changed to Southwestern Virginia Mental Health Institute.","Henry County was named for Patrick Henry, who was the first governor of the commonwealth of Virginia. It was formed from Pittsylvania County in 1776. The county court first met on 20 January 1777. Part of Patrick County was added later in 1858."],"scopecontent_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eHenry County (Va.) Health and Medical Records 1790-1903, consists of five folders of Mental Health Records spanning those inclusive dates, and one folder of Smallpox Epidemic Records, 1863-1901. \n\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eMental Health Records, 1790-1903, may include warrants, orders, petitions, depositions, reports, etc. for or by justices of the peace and others regarding the mental condition of individuals who were released to the recognizance of a family member or who were committed to a mental hospital.  Fiduciary records such as estate inventories of a person judged insane are occasionally present. See other collections of Henry County Fiduciary Records or Tax and Fiscal Records for mental-health-related materials that are not filed here. Includes African-American individuals, who were identified as such if they were primarily denoted as colored or if the hospitals at Petersburg or Howard's Grove were referenced. References to other mental hospitals include those at Williamsburg, Richmond, Staunton, and Marion.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eSmallpox Epidemic Records, 1863-1901, n.d., consist of papers relating to quarantines and hospitals for the containment and/or treatment of smallpox outbreaks in Henry County as reported by justices of the peace. The earliest documents are two 1863 invoices, one of John M. Feazel requesting payment for services as a nurse during a smallpox outbreak that spring, the other of Dr. J. Bishop for treatment of 8 individuals; one of whom had died. Also includes an August 1895 order to apprehend \"Duch\" Hairston, who was believed to have been exposed to smallpox in Patrick County a few days prior and thus to be at risk of possibly infecting persons in Henry County. Includes an order for doctors to examine a potentially infected person named Bud Salmons in June 1898. References an enforced quarantine of the family of Tom Morrison and others in March and April 1900 and the quarantine of Anderson and Nat Coan in 1901.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n"],"scopecontent_heading_ssm":["Scope and Content"],"scopecontent_tesim":["Henry County (Va.) Health and Medical Records 1790-1903, consists of five folders of Mental Health Records spanning those inclusive dates, and one folder of Smallpox Epidemic Records, 1863-1901.","Mental Health Records, 1790-1903, may include warrants, orders, petitions, depositions, reports, etc. for or by justices of the peace and others regarding the mental condition of individuals who were released to the recognizance of a family member or who were committed to a mental hospital.  Fiduciary records such as estate inventories of a person judged insane are occasionally present. See other collections of Henry County Fiduciary Records or Tax and Fiscal Records for mental-health-related materials that are not filed here. Includes African-American individuals, who were identified as such if they were primarily denoted as colored or if the hospitals at Petersburg or Howard's Grove were referenced. References to other mental hospitals include those at Williamsburg, Richmond, Staunton, and Marion.","Smallpox Epidemic Records, 1863-1901, n.d., consist of papers relating to quarantines and hospitals for the containment and/or treatment of smallpox outbreaks in Henry County as reported by justices of the peace. The earliest documents are two 1863 invoices, one of John M. Feazel requesting payment for services as a nurse during a smallpox outbreak that spring, the other of Dr. J. Bishop for treatment of 8 individuals; one of whom had died. Also includes an August 1895 order to apprehend \"Duch\" Hairston, who was believed to have been exposed to smallpox in Patrick County a few days prior and thus to be at risk of possibly infecting persons in Henry County. Includes an order for doctors to examine a potentially infected person named Bud Salmons in June 1898. References an enforced quarantine of the family of Tom Morrison and others in March and April 1900 and the quarantine of Anderson and Nat Coan in 1901."],"corpname_ssim":["Central Lunatic Asylum for Colored Insane, Virginia.","Central State Hospital (Petersburg, Va.).","Eastern State Hospital (Va.).","Henry County (Va.) Circuit Court.","Western State Hospital (Va.).","Southwestern Lunatic Asylum (Marion, Va.).","Southwestern State Hospital (Marion, Va.)."],"names_ssim":["Central Lunatic Asylum for Colored Insane, Virginia.","Central State Hospital (Petersburg, Va.).","Eastern State Hospital (Va.).","Henry County (Va.) Circuit Court.","Western State Hospital (Va.).","Southwestern Lunatic Asylum (Marion, Va.).","Southwestern State Hospital (Marion, Va.)."],"language_ssim":["English"],"total_component_count_is":8,"online_item_count_is":0,"component_level_isim":[0],"sort_isi":0,"timestamp":"2026-07-23T21:13:33.340Z"}]}},"label":"Breadcrumbs"}}},"links":{"self":"https://arvasarchive.org/catalog/vi_vi05131"}},{"id":"vi_vi05132","type":"collection","attributes":{"title":"King George County Health and Medical Records, 1885-1899","creator":{"id":"https://arvasarchive.org/catalog/vi_vi05132#creator","type":"document_value","attributes":{"value":"King George County (Va.) Circuit Court","label":"Creator"}},"abstract_or_scope":{"id":"https://arvasarchive.org/catalog/vi_vi05132#abstract_or_scope","type":"document_value","attributes":{"value":"\u003cp\u003eKing George County (Va.) Health and Medical Records 1885-1899 consists of .225cf of Mental Health Records. These primarily include warrants, orders, petitions, depositions, reports, etc. for or by justices of the peace and others regarding the mental condition of individuals who were released to the recognizance of a family member or who were recommended to be committed to mental hospitals in Williamsburg or Petersburg. Fiduciary records such as estate inventories of a person judged insane are occasionally present. See other collections of King George County Fiduciary Records or Tax and Fiscal Records for mental-health-related materials that are not filed here. \u003c/p\u003e","label":"Abstract Or Scope"}},"breadcrumbs":{"id":"https://arvasarchive.org/catalog/vi_vi05132#breadcrumbs","type":"document_value","attributes":{"value":{"id":"vi_vi05132","ead_ssi":"vi_vi05132","_root_":"vi_vi05132","_nest_parent_":"vi_vi05132","ead_source_url_ssi":"data/lva/vi05132.xml","title_ssm":["King George County Health and Medical Records, 1885-1899"],"title_tesim":["King George County Health and Medical Records, 1885-1899"],"normalized_title_ssm":["King George County Health and Medical Records, 1885-1899"],"text":["King George County Health and Medical Records, 1885-1899","1059639","African Americans--Mental Health--Virginia--King George County.","County courts--Virginia--King George County.","Insanity--Jurisprudence--Virginia--King George County.","Jails--Virginia--King George County.","Mental Health Facilities--Virginia.","Medical laws and legislation--Virginia--King George County.","Mental illness--Virginia--King George County.","Physicians--Virginia--King George County.","Psychiatric hospitals--Virginia.","Public health--Virginia.","Public health administration--Virginia.","Public records--Virginia--King George County.","Health and Medical--Virginia--King George County.","Local government records--Virginia--King George County.","Chronologically by year, with names of individual on paper folders. If an individual had more than one instance of suspected mental incapacity, there may be papers filed in more than one chronological location.","Mental Health Records may consist of a variety of documents that historically were referred to as lunacy papers in the courthouses of Virginia localities and municipalities.","See also: Fiduciary Records. A fiduciary is an individual who enters into a confidential and legal relationship which binds them to act on behalf of another. Guardians are legally invested to take care of another person, and of the property and rights of that person. Thus, some records referred to as insanity papers are housed with fiduciary records and not with mental health records.","First known as commissions, the Justice of the Peace office originated with the county quarterly court in 1623. Commanders of Plantations (1607-1629) were predecessors of the commissioners, who since 1662 have been called justices of the peace. They have traditionally had both civil and criminal jurisdiction, and have served other functions, including performing coroners' and lunacy inquisitions. Until 1869 justices served both as judges of the county court and as individual justices; since then they have had only the latter function.","During its session begun in November 1769, the House of Burgesses passed an act establishing a hospital in Williamsburg for the mentally ill. The Eastern Lunatic Asylum (now Eastern State Hospital) was the first institution in America constructed as a mental hospital. The first patients were admitted in October 1773.","In March 1882 a 300 acre tract of land was purchased by the City of Petersburg and given to the state for the purpose of constructing a permanent mental health facility for African Americans. Construction of the new facility near Petersburg was completed in early spring 1885. This later included a special building to house the criminally insane apart from the rest of the hospital population. An early institutional history notes that treatment at Central Lunatic Asylum during the 1890s was humane and emphasized the value of work and the benefits of recreation. However, practices at the facility also included seclusion, mechanical restraints, and the administering of hypnotics.","In 1894, Central Lunatic Asylum was officially renamed Central State Hospital. This piece of legislation also altered the names of the other mental health facilities in Virginia in and attempt to inspire a more positive image of the institutions, and of mental health treatment in general. It is important to note that another state institution located in Staunton, Virginia went by the name Central Lunatic Asylum between the years of 1861 and 1865. Its name later was changed to Western Lunatic Asylum, and is a separate facility with no connection to the Richmond/Petersburg hospital for African Americans.","In January 1825 the Virginia General Assembly passed legislation providing for the construction of an asylum in the western part of the state. The institution, which become known as Western Lunatic Asylum, was constructed close to the town of Staunton, west of the Blue Ridge Mountains, was the second mental health facility built in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The buildings and surrounding gardens were designed to embrace the idea of \"moral therapy\" for mentally ill patients by providing an aesthetically pleasing and tranquil atmosphere in which patients lived comfortably, exercised and worked outdoors.","King George County was named of in honor of King George I. The county was formed from Richmond County by a statute of 23 December 1720. The county court first met on 19 May 1721. The county seat is King George.","King George County (Va.) Health and Medical Records 1885-1899 consists of .225cf of Mental Health Records. These primarily include warrants, orders, petitions, depositions, reports, etc. for or by justices of the peace and others regarding the mental condition of individuals who were released to the recognizance of a family member or who were recommended to be committed to mental hospitals in Williamsburg or Petersburg. Fiduciary records such as estate inventories of a person judged insane are occasionally present. See other collections of King George County Fiduciary Records or Tax and Fiscal Records for mental-health-related materials that are not filed here.","Individuals who were referenced as \"colored\" or were recommended to the Central Lunatic Asylum or the hospital at Petersburg are noted: Baylor Hoskins, Annie Clopton, Nannie Morton, Margaret Dunlop, Mattie Washington, William Barnes.","Central Lunatic Asylum for Colored Insane, Virginia.","Central State Hospital (Petersburg, Va.).","Eastern State Hospital (Va.).","King George County (Va.) Circuit Court.","English"],"collection_title_tesim":["King George County Health and Medical Records, 1885-1899"],"collection_ssim":["King George County Health and Medical Records, 1885-1899"],"level_ssm":["collection"],"level_ssim":["Collection"],"unitid_ssm":["1059639"],"unitid_tesim":["1059639"],"repository_ssm":["Library of Virginia"],"repository_ssim":["Library of Virginia"],"creator_ssm":["King George County (Va.) Circuit Court"],"creator_ssim":["King George County (Va.) Circuit Court"],"creator_corpname_ssim":["Central Lunatic Asylum for Colored Insane, Virginia.","Central State Hospital (Petersburg, Va.).","Eastern State Hospital (Va.).","King George County (Va.) Circuit Court."],"creators_ssim":["Central Lunatic Asylum for Colored Insane, Virginia.","Central State Hospital (Petersburg, Va.).","Eastern State Hospital (Va.).","King George County (Va.) Circuit Court."],"acqinfo_ssim":["This collection came to the Library of Virginia in a transfer of court papers from King George County Circuit Court under accession number 41900."],"access_subjects_ssim":["African Americans--Mental Health--Virginia--King George County.","County courts--Virginia--King George County.","Insanity--Jurisprudence--Virginia--King George County.","Jails--Virginia--King George County.","Mental Health Facilities--Virginia.","Medical laws and legislation--Virginia--King George County.","Mental illness--Virginia--King George County.","Physicians--Virginia--King George County.","Psychiatric hospitals--Virginia.","Public health--Virginia.","Public health administration--Virginia.","Public records--Virginia--King George County.","Health and Medical--Virginia--King George County.","Local government records--Virginia--King George County."],"access_subjects_ssm":["African Americans--Mental Health--Virginia--King George County.","County courts--Virginia--King George County.","Insanity--Jurisprudence--Virginia--King George County.","Jails--Virginia--King George County.","Mental Health Facilities--Virginia.","Medical laws and legislation--Virginia--King George County.","Mental illness--Virginia--King George County.","Physicians--Virginia--King George County.","Psychiatric hospitals--Virginia.","Public health--Virginia.","Public health administration--Virginia.","Public records--Virginia--King George County.","Health and Medical--Virginia--King George County.","Local government records--Virginia--King George County."],"has_online_content_ssim":["false"],"extent_ssm":[".225 cf"],"extent_tesim":[".225 cf"],"arrangement_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eChronologically by year, with names of individual on paper folders. If an individual had more than one instance of suspected mental incapacity, there may be papers filed in more than one chronological location. \n\u003c/p\u003e\n    "],"arrangement_heading_ssm":["Arrangement"],"arrangement_tesim":["Chronologically by year, with names of individual on paper folders. If an individual had more than one instance of suspected mental incapacity, there may be papers filed in more than one chronological location."],"bioghist_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eMental Health Records may consist of a variety of documents that historically were referred to as lunacy papers in the courthouses of Virginia localities and municipalities.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eSee also: Fiduciary Records. A fiduciary is an individual who enters into a confidential and legal relationship which binds them to act on behalf of another. Guardians are legally invested to take care of another person, and of the property and rights of that person. Thus, some records referred to as insanity papers are housed with fiduciary records and not with mental health records.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eFirst known as commissions, the Justice of the Peace office originated with the county quarterly court in 1623. Commanders of Plantations (1607-1629) were predecessors of the commissioners, who since 1662 have been called justices of the peace. They have traditionally had both civil and criminal jurisdiction, and have served other functions, including performing coroners' and lunacy inquisitions. Until 1869 justices served both as judges of the county court and as individual justices; since then they have had only the latter function.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eDuring its session begun in November 1769, the House of Burgesses passed an act establishing a hospital in Williamsburg for the mentally ill. The Eastern Lunatic Asylum (now Eastern State Hospital) was the first institution in America constructed as a mental hospital. The first patients were admitted in October 1773.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eIn March 1882 a 300 acre tract of land was purchased by the City of Petersburg and given to the state for the purpose of constructing a permanent mental health facility for African Americans. Construction of the new facility near Petersburg was completed in early spring 1885. This later included a special building to house the criminally insane apart from the rest of the hospital population. An early institutional history notes that treatment at Central Lunatic Asylum during the 1890s was humane and emphasized the value of work and the benefits of recreation. However, practices at the facility also included seclusion, mechanical restraints, and the administering of hypnotics.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eIn 1894, Central Lunatic Asylum was officially renamed Central State Hospital. This piece of legislation also altered the names of the other mental health facilities in Virginia in and attempt to inspire a more positive image of the institutions, and of mental health treatment in general. It is important to note that another state institution located in Staunton, Virginia went by the name Central Lunatic Asylum between the years of 1861 and 1865. Its name later was changed to Western Lunatic Asylum, and is a separate facility with no connection to the Richmond/Petersburg hospital for African Americans.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eIn January 1825 the Virginia General Assembly passed legislation providing for the construction of an asylum in the western part of the state. The institution, which become known as Western Lunatic Asylum, was constructed close to the town of Staunton, west of the Blue Ridge Mountains, was the second mental health facility built in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The buildings and surrounding gardens were designed to embrace the idea of \"moral therapy\" for mentally ill patients by providing an aesthetically pleasing and tranquil atmosphere in which patients lived comfortably, exercised and worked outdoors.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eKing George County was named of in honor of King George I. The county was formed from Richmond County by a statute of 23 December 1720. The county court first met on 19 May 1721. The county seat is King George. \n\u003c/p\u003e\n"],"bioghist_heading_ssm":["Historical Information"],"bioghist_tesim":["Mental Health Records may consist of a variety of documents that historically were referred to as lunacy papers in the courthouses of Virginia localities and municipalities.","See also: Fiduciary Records. A fiduciary is an individual who enters into a confidential and legal relationship which binds them to act on behalf of another. Guardians are legally invested to take care of another person, and of the property and rights of that person. Thus, some records referred to as insanity papers are housed with fiduciary records and not with mental health records.","First known as commissions, the Justice of the Peace office originated with the county quarterly court in 1623. Commanders of Plantations (1607-1629) were predecessors of the commissioners, who since 1662 have been called justices of the peace. They have traditionally had both civil and criminal jurisdiction, and have served other functions, including performing coroners' and lunacy inquisitions. Until 1869 justices served both as judges of the county court and as individual justices; since then they have had only the latter function.","During its session begun in November 1769, the House of Burgesses passed an act establishing a hospital in Williamsburg for the mentally ill. The Eastern Lunatic Asylum (now Eastern State Hospital) was the first institution in America constructed as a mental hospital. The first patients were admitted in October 1773.","In March 1882 a 300 acre tract of land was purchased by the City of Petersburg and given to the state for the purpose of constructing a permanent mental health facility for African Americans. Construction of the new facility near Petersburg was completed in early spring 1885. This later included a special building to house the criminally insane apart from the rest of the hospital population. An early institutional history notes that treatment at Central Lunatic Asylum during the 1890s was humane and emphasized the value of work and the benefits of recreation. However, practices at the facility also included seclusion, mechanical restraints, and the administering of hypnotics.","In 1894, Central Lunatic Asylum was officially renamed Central State Hospital. This piece of legislation also altered the names of the other mental health facilities in Virginia in and attempt to inspire a more positive image of the institutions, and of mental health treatment in general. It is important to note that another state institution located in Staunton, Virginia went by the name Central Lunatic Asylum between the years of 1861 and 1865. Its name later was changed to Western Lunatic Asylum, and is a separate facility with no connection to the Richmond/Petersburg hospital for African Americans.","In January 1825 the Virginia General Assembly passed legislation providing for the construction of an asylum in the western part of the state. The institution, which become known as Western Lunatic Asylum, was constructed close to the town of Staunton, west of the Blue Ridge Mountains, was the second mental health facility built in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The buildings and surrounding gardens were designed to embrace the idea of \"moral therapy\" for mentally ill patients by providing an aesthetically pleasing and tranquil atmosphere in which patients lived comfortably, exercised and worked outdoors.","King George County was named of in honor of King George I. The county was formed from Richmond County by a statute of 23 December 1720. The county court first met on 19 May 1721. The county seat is King George."],"scopecontent_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eKing George County (Va.) Health and Medical Records 1885-1899 consists of .225cf of Mental Health Records. These primarily include warrants, orders, petitions, depositions, reports, etc. for or by justices of the peace and others regarding the mental condition of individuals who were released to the recognizance of a family member or who were recommended to be committed to mental hospitals in Williamsburg or Petersburg. Fiduciary records such as estate inventories of a person judged insane are occasionally present. See other collections of King George County Fiduciary Records or Tax and Fiscal Records for mental-health-related materials that are not filed here.  \n\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eIndividuals who were referenced as \"colored\" or were recommended to the Central Lunatic Asylum or the hospital at Petersburg are noted: Baylor Hoskins, Annie Clopton, Nannie Morton, Margaret Dunlop, Mattie Washington, William Barnes. \n\u003c/p\u003e\n"],"scopecontent_heading_ssm":["Scope and Content"],"scopecontent_tesim":["King George County (Va.) Health and Medical Records 1885-1899 consists of .225cf of Mental Health Records. These primarily include warrants, orders, petitions, depositions, reports, etc. for or by justices of the peace and others regarding the mental condition of individuals who were released to the recognizance of a family member or who were recommended to be committed to mental hospitals in Williamsburg or Petersburg. Fiduciary records such as estate inventories of a person judged insane are occasionally present. See other collections of King George County Fiduciary Records or Tax and Fiscal Records for mental-health-related materials that are not filed here.","Individuals who were referenced as \"colored\" or were recommended to the Central Lunatic Asylum or the hospital at Petersburg are noted: Baylor Hoskins, Annie Clopton, Nannie Morton, Margaret Dunlop, Mattie Washington, William Barnes."],"corpname_ssim":["Central Lunatic Asylum for Colored Insane, Virginia.","Central State Hospital (Petersburg, Va.).","Eastern State Hospital (Va.).","King George County (Va.) 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If an individual had more than one instance of suspected mental incapacity, there may be papers filed in more than one chronological location.","Mental Health Records may consist of a variety of documents that historically were referred to as lunacy papers in the courthouses of Virginia localities and municipalities.","See also: Fiduciary Records. A fiduciary is an individual who enters into a confidential and legal relationship which binds them to act on behalf of another. Guardians are legally invested to take care of another person, and of the property and rights of that person. Thus, some records referred to as insanity papers are housed with fiduciary records and not with mental health records.","First known as commissions, the Justice of the Peace office originated with the county quarterly court in 1623. Commanders of Plantations (1607-1629) were predecessors of the commissioners, who since 1662 have been called justices of the peace. They have traditionally had both civil and criminal jurisdiction, and have served other functions, including performing coroners' and lunacy inquisitions. Until 1869 justices served both as judges of the county court and as individual justices; since then they have had only the latter function.","During its session begun in November 1769, the House of Burgesses passed an act establishing a hospital in Williamsburg for the mentally ill. The Eastern Lunatic Asylum (now Eastern State Hospital) was the first institution in America constructed as a mental hospital. The first patients were admitted in October 1773.","In March 1882 a 300 acre tract of land was purchased by the City of Petersburg and given to the state for the purpose of constructing a permanent mental health facility for African Americans. Construction of the new facility near Petersburg was completed in early spring 1885. This later included a special building to house the criminally insane apart from the rest of the hospital population. An early institutional history notes that treatment at Central Lunatic Asylum during the 1890s was humane and emphasized the value of work and the benefits of recreation. However, practices at the facility also included seclusion, mechanical restraints, and the administering of hypnotics.","In 1894, Central Lunatic Asylum was officially renamed Central State Hospital. This piece of legislation also altered the names of the other mental health facilities in Virginia in and attempt to inspire a more positive image of the institutions, and of mental health treatment in general. It is important to note that another state institution located in Staunton, Virginia went by the name Central Lunatic Asylum between the years of 1861 and 1865. Its name later was changed to Western Lunatic Asylum, and is a separate facility with no connection to the Richmond/Petersburg hospital for African Americans.","In January 1825 the Virginia General Assembly passed legislation providing for the construction of an asylum in the western part of the state. The institution, which become known as Western Lunatic Asylum, was constructed close to the town of Staunton, west of the Blue Ridge Mountains, was the second mental health facility built in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The buildings and surrounding gardens were designed to embrace the idea of \"moral therapy\" for mentally ill patients by providing an aesthetically pleasing and tranquil atmosphere in which patients lived comfortably, exercised and worked outdoors.","King George County was named of in honor of King George I. The county was formed from Richmond County by a statute of 23 December 1720. The county court first met on 19 May 1721. The county seat is King George.","King George County (Va.) Health and Medical Records 1885-1899 consists of .225cf of Mental Health Records. These primarily include warrants, orders, petitions, depositions, reports, etc. for or by justices of the peace and others regarding the mental condition of individuals who were released to the recognizance of a family member or who were recommended to be committed to mental hospitals in Williamsburg or Petersburg. Fiduciary records such as estate inventories of a person judged insane are occasionally present. See other collections of King George County Fiduciary Records or Tax and Fiscal Records for mental-health-related materials that are not filed here.","Individuals who were referenced as \"colored\" or were recommended to the Central Lunatic Asylum or the hospital at Petersburg are noted: Baylor Hoskins, Annie Clopton, Nannie Morton, Margaret Dunlop, Mattie Washington, William Barnes.","Central Lunatic Asylum for Colored Insane, Virginia.","Central State Hospital (Petersburg, Va.).","Eastern State Hospital (Va.).","King George County (Va.) Circuit Court.","English"],"collection_title_tesim":["King George County Health and Medical Records, 1885-1899"],"collection_ssim":["King George County Health and Medical Records, 1885-1899"],"level_ssm":["collection"],"level_ssim":["Collection"],"unitid_ssm":["1059639"],"unitid_tesim":["1059639"],"repository_ssm":["Library of Virginia"],"repository_ssim":["Library of Virginia"],"creator_ssm":["King George County (Va.) 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If an individual had more than one instance of suspected mental incapacity, there may be papers filed in more than one chronological location. \n\u003c/p\u003e\n    "],"arrangement_heading_ssm":["Arrangement"],"arrangement_tesim":["Chronologically by year, with names of individual on paper folders. If an individual had more than one instance of suspected mental incapacity, there may be papers filed in more than one chronological location."],"bioghist_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eMental Health Records may consist of a variety of documents that historically were referred to as lunacy papers in the courthouses of Virginia localities and municipalities.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eSee also: Fiduciary Records. A fiduciary is an individual who enters into a confidential and legal relationship which binds them to act on behalf of another. Guardians are legally invested to take care of another person, and of the property and rights of that person. Thus, some records referred to as insanity papers are housed with fiduciary records and not with mental health records.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eFirst known as commissions, the Justice of the Peace office originated with the county quarterly court in 1623. Commanders of Plantations (1607-1629) were predecessors of the commissioners, who since 1662 have been called justices of the peace. They have traditionally had both civil and criminal jurisdiction, and have served other functions, including performing coroners' and lunacy inquisitions. Until 1869 justices served both as judges of the county court and as individual justices; since then they have had only the latter function.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eDuring its session begun in November 1769, the House of Burgesses passed an act establishing a hospital in Williamsburg for the mentally ill. The Eastern Lunatic Asylum (now Eastern State Hospital) was the first institution in America constructed as a mental hospital. The first patients were admitted in October 1773.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eIn March 1882 a 300 acre tract of land was purchased by the City of Petersburg and given to the state for the purpose of constructing a permanent mental health facility for African Americans. Construction of the new facility near Petersburg was completed in early spring 1885. This later included a special building to house the criminally insane apart from the rest of the hospital population. An early institutional history notes that treatment at Central Lunatic Asylum during the 1890s was humane and emphasized the value of work and the benefits of recreation. However, practices at the facility also included seclusion, mechanical restraints, and the administering of hypnotics.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eIn 1894, Central Lunatic Asylum was officially renamed Central State Hospital. This piece of legislation also altered the names of the other mental health facilities in Virginia in and attempt to inspire a more positive image of the institutions, and of mental health treatment in general. It is important to note that another state institution located in Staunton, Virginia went by the name Central Lunatic Asylum between the years of 1861 and 1865. Its name later was changed to Western Lunatic Asylum, and is a separate facility with no connection to the Richmond/Petersburg hospital for African Americans.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eIn January 1825 the Virginia General Assembly passed legislation providing for the construction of an asylum in the western part of the state. The institution, which become known as Western Lunatic Asylum, was constructed close to the town of Staunton, west of the Blue Ridge Mountains, was the second mental health facility built in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The buildings and surrounding gardens were designed to embrace the idea of \"moral therapy\" for mentally ill patients by providing an aesthetically pleasing and tranquil atmosphere in which patients lived comfortably, exercised and worked outdoors.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eKing George County was named of in honor of King George I. The county was formed from Richmond County by a statute of 23 December 1720. The county court first met on 19 May 1721. The county seat is King George. \n\u003c/p\u003e\n"],"bioghist_heading_ssm":["Historical Information"],"bioghist_tesim":["Mental Health Records may consist of a variety of documents that historically were referred to as lunacy papers in the courthouses of Virginia localities and municipalities.","See also: Fiduciary Records. A fiduciary is an individual who enters into a confidential and legal relationship which binds them to act on behalf of another. Guardians are legally invested to take care of another person, and of the property and rights of that person. Thus, some records referred to as insanity papers are housed with fiduciary records and not with mental health records.","First known as commissions, the Justice of the Peace office originated with the county quarterly court in 1623. Commanders of Plantations (1607-1629) were predecessors of the commissioners, who since 1662 have been called justices of the peace. They have traditionally had both civil and criminal jurisdiction, and have served other functions, including performing coroners' and lunacy inquisitions. Until 1869 justices served both as judges of the county court and as individual justices; since then they have had only the latter function.","During its session begun in November 1769, the House of Burgesses passed an act establishing a hospital in Williamsburg for the mentally ill. The Eastern Lunatic Asylum (now Eastern State Hospital) was the first institution in America constructed as a mental hospital. The first patients were admitted in October 1773.","In March 1882 a 300 acre tract of land was purchased by the City of Petersburg and given to the state for the purpose of constructing a permanent mental health facility for African Americans. Construction of the new facility near Petersburg was completed in early spring 1885. This later included a special building to house the criminally insane apart from the rest of the hospital population. An early institutional history notes that treatment at Central Lunatic Asylum during the 1890s was humane and emphasized the value of work and the benefits of recreation. However, practices at the facility also included seclusion, mechanical restraints, and the administering of hypnotics.","In 1894, Central Lunatic Asylum was officially renamed Central State Hospital. This piece of legislation also altered the names of the other mental health facilities in Virginia in and attempt to inspire a more positive image of the institutions, and of mental health treatment in general. It is important to note that another state institution located in Staunton, Virginia went by the name Central Lunatic Asylum between the years of 1861 and 1865. Its name later was changed to Western Lunatic Asylum, and is a separate facility with no connection to the Richmond/Petersburg hospital for African Americans.","In January 1825 the Virginia General Assembly passed legislation providing for the construction of an asylum in the western part of the state. The institution, which become known as Western Lunatic Asylum, was constructed close to the town of Staunton, west of the Blue Ridge Mountains, was the second mental health facility built in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The buildings and surrounding gardens were designed to embrace the idea of \"moral therapy\" for mentally ill patients by providing an aesthetically pleasing and tranquil atmosphere in which patients lived comfortably, exercised and worked outdoors.","King George County was named of in honor of King George I. The county was formed from Richmond County by a statute of 23 December 1720. The county court first met on 19 May 1721. The county seat is King George."],"scopecontent_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eKing George County (Va.) Health and Medical Records 1885-1899 consists of .225cf of Mental Health Records. These primarily include warrants, orders, petitions, depositions, reports, etc. for or by justices of the peace and others regarding the mental condition of individuals who were released to the recognizance of a family member or who were recommended to be committed to mental hospitals in Williamsburg or Petersburg. Fiduciary records such as estate inventories of a person judged insane are occasionally present. See other collections of King George County Fiduciary Records or Tax and Fiscal Records for mental-health-related materials that are not filed here.  \n\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eIndividuals who were referenced as \"colored\" or were recommended to the Central Lunatic Asylum or the hospital at Petersburg are noted: Baylor Hoskins, Annie Clopton, Nannie Morton, Margaret Dunlop, Mattie Washington, William Barnes. \n\u003c/p\u003e\n"],"scopecontent_heading_ssm":["Scope and Content"],"scopecontent_tesim":["King George County (Va.) Health and Medical Records 1885-1899 consists of .225cf of Mental Health Records. These primarily include warrants, orders, petitions, depositions, reports, etc. for or by justices of the peace and others regarding the mental condition of individuals who were released to the recognizance of a family member or who were recommended to be committed to mental hospitals in Williamsburg or Petersburg. Fiduciary records such as estate inventories of a person judged insane are occasionally present. See other collections of King George County Fiduciary Records or Tax and Fiscal Records for mental-health-related materials that are not filed here.","Individuals who were referenced as \"colored\" or were recommended to the Central Lunatic Asylum or the hospital at Petersburg are noted: Baylor Hoskins, Annie Clopton, Nannie Morton, Margaret Dunlop, Mattie Washington, William Barnes."],"corpname_ssim":["Central Lunatic Asylum for Colored Insane, Virginia.","Central State Hospital (Petersburg, Va.).","Eastern State Hospital (Va.).","King George County (Va.) Circuit Court."],"names_ssim":["Central Lunatic Asylum for Colored Insane, Virginia.","Central State Hospital (Petersburg, Va.).","Eastern State Hospital (Va.).","King George County (Va.) Circuit Court."],"language_ssim":["English"],"total_component_count_is":0,"online_item_count_is":0,"component_level_isim":[0],"sort_isi":0,"timestamp":"2026-07-23T21:13:33.340Z"}]}},"label":"Breadcrumbs"}}},"links":{"self":"https://arvasarchive.org/catalog/vi_vi05132"}},{"id":"vi_vi05133","type":"collection","attributes":{"title":"Lancaster County Health and Medical Records, 1787-1922","creator":{"id":"https://arvasarchive.org/catalog/vi_vi05133#creator","type":"document_value","attributes":{"value":"Lancaster County (Va.) Circuit Court","label":"Creator"}},"abstract_or_scope":{"id":"https://arvasarchive.org/catalog/vi_vi05133#abstract_or_scope","type":"document_value","attributes":{"value":"\u003cp\u003e Lancaster County (Va.) Health and Medical Records 1787-1922, consist of four series: Accounts Allowed, 1787-1900; Mental Health Records, 1827-1900; Smallpox Epidemic Records, 1858-1922; and Other Epidemic Records: Tuberculosis information, 1908. \u003c/p\u003e","label":"Abstract Or Scope"}},"breadcrumbs":{"id":"https://arvasarchive.org/catalog/vi_vi05133#breadcrumbs","type":"document_value","attributes":{"value":{"id":"vi_vi05133","ead_ssi":"vi_vi05133","_root_":"vi_vi05133","_nest_parent_":"vi_vi05133","ead_source_url_ssi":"data/lva/vi05133.xml","title_ssm":["Lancaster County Health and Medical Records, 1787-1922"],"title_tesim":["Lancaster County Health and Medical Records, 1787-1922"],"normalized_title_ssm":["Lancaster County Health and Medical Records, 1787-1922"],"text":["Lancaster County Health and Medical Records, 1787-1922","1134992","African Americans--Mental Health--Virginia--Lancaster County.","County courts--Virginia--Lancaster County.","Insanity--Jurisprudence--Virginia--Lancaster County.","Jails--Virginia--Lancaster County.","Medical laws and legislation--Virginia--Lancaster County.","Mental illness--Virginia--Lancaster County.","Physicians--Virginia--Lancaster County.","Psychiatric hospitals--Virginia.","Public health--Virginia.","Public health administration--Virginia.","Public records--Virginia--Lancaster County.","Quarantine--Virginia--Lancaster County.","Smallpox--Virginia--Lancaster County.","Health and Medical--Virginia--Lancster County.","Local government records--Virginia--Lancaster County.","Chronological within each series. The Mental Health Records are arranged chronologically, then alphabetically by last name of individual when applicable.","Mental Health Records may consist of a variety of documents that historically were referred to as lunacy papers in the courthouses of Virginia localities and municipalities.","Virginia's General Assembly enacted very strict laws governing the practice of smallpox inoculation by 1792. The new act required a license from the county court to administer vaccinations. It also included a penalty of $1,500 or six months' imprisonment for anyone willfully spreading smallpox in a manner other than that specified by the act.","During its session begun in November 1769, the House of Burgesses passed an act establishing a hospital in Williamsburg for the mentally ill. The Eastern Lunatic Asylum (now Eastern State Hospital) was the first institution in America constructed as a mental hospital. The first patients were admitted in October 1773.","In 1868, the Freedman's Bureau acquired land known as Howard's Grove, (or Howard Grove), located one half mile east of the city of Richmond, on the Mechanicsville Turnpike, in Henrico County. Through a lease from Mr. Bacon Tait (or Tate), the Bureau renovated several barrack-type structures that had been used as a Confederate hospital during the Civil War. The new facility became known as Howard's Grove Freedman's Hospital.","The hospital was turned over to the state by way of General Order number 136 issued by Major General Canby, Military Governor of Virginia in December 1869. Beginning January 1, 1870 all African American patients at Eastern Lunatic Asylum in Williamsburg, (the only state institution at the time to accept black patients), as well as all blacks jailed for lunacy from across Virginia, were to be removed to Howard's Grove for treatment. The General Assembly passed legislation in June 1870 renaming the facility the Central Lunatic Asylum and designating it the official \"reception and treatment facility for colored persons of unsound mind.\" This legislation was enacted with the stipulation that the Howard's Grove location was to be temporary.","In March 1882 a 300 acre tract of land was purchased by the City of Petersburg and given to the state for the purpose of constructing a permanent mental health facility for African Americans. Construction of the new facility near Petersburg was completed in early spring 1885. This later included a special building to house the criminally insane apart from the rest of the hospital population. An early institutional history notes that treatment at Central Lunatic Asylum during the 1890s was humane and emphasized the value of work and the benefits of recreation. However, practices at the facility also included seclusion, mechanical restraints, and the administering of hypnotics.","In 1894, Central Lunatic Asylum was officially renamed Central State Hospital. This piece of legislation also altered the names of the other mental health facilities in Virginia in and attempt to inspire a more positive image of the institutions, and of mental health treatment in general. It is important to note that another state institution located in Staunton, Virginia went by the name Central Lunatic Asylum between the years of 1861 and 1865. Its name later was changed to Western Lunatic Asylum, and is a separate facility with no connection to the Richmond/Petersburg hospital for African Americans.","Lancaster County was named for the English county. It was formed from Northumberland and York Counties sometime between 26 March and 16 September 1651. The county court first met on 1 January 1652. The county seat is Lancaster.","Lancaster County (Va.) Health and Medical Records 1787-1922, consist of four series: Accounts Allowed, 1787-1900; Mental Health Records, 1827-1900; Smallpox Epidemic Records, 1858-1922; and Other Epidemic Records: Tuberculosis information, 1908.","Accounts Allowed, 1787-1900, include accounts and claims from doctors and/or other individuals for services rendered. These often pertain to house calls, prisoner visits, childbirths, post-mortems, supplies, etc. Items relating to mental health are housed with the Mental Health Records series in this collection. Items associated with coroners' claims are foldered separately here.","Mental Health Records, 1827-1900, may include warrants, orders, petitions, depositions, reports, etc. for or by justices of the peace and others regarding the mental condition of individuals who were released to the recognizance of a family member or who were recommended to be committed to a mental hospital.  Fiduciary records such as estate inventories of a person judged insane may also be present. Some individuals were recommended to the hospital in Williamsburg which later became Eastern State Hospital. Individuals who were referenced as \"colored\" or who were recommended to a Central Lunatic Asylum or the hospital at Petersburg or Richmond are noted. See Documents of Interest list below.","Smallpox Epidemic Records, 1858-1922, consist of papers relating to quarantines and hospitals for the containment and/or treatment of smallpox outbreaks in Lancaster County. See Documents of Interest list below.","Other Epidemic Records: Tuberculosis information, 1908 consists folder of material generally related to tuberculosis.","Lancaster County (Va.) Circuit Court.","Central Lunatic Asylum for Colored Insane, Virginia.","Central State Hospital (Petersburg, Va.).","Eastern State Hospital (Va.).","English"],"collection_title_tesim":["Lancaster County Health and Medical Records, 1787-1922"],"collection_ssim":["Lancaster County Health and Medical Records, 1787-1922"],"level_ssm":["collection"],"level_ssim":["Collection"],"unitid_ssm":["1134992"],"unitid_tesim":["1134992"],"repository_ssm":["Library of Virginia"],"repository_ssim":["Library of Virginia"],"creator_ssm":["Lancaster County (Va.) Circuit Court"],"creator_ssim":["Lancaster County (Va.) Circuit Court"],"creator_corpname_ssim":["Lancaster County (Va.) Circuit Court.","Central Lunatic Asylum for Colored Insane, Virginia.","Central State Hospital (Petersburg, Va.).","Eastern State Hospital (Va.)."],"creators_ssim":["Lancaster County (Va.) Circuit Court.","Central Lunatic Asylum for Colored Insane, Virginia.","Central State Hospital (Petersburg, Va.).","Eastern State Hospital (Va.)."],"acqinfo_ssim":["This collection came to the Library of Virginia in a transfer of court papers from Lancaster County Circuit Court."],"access_subjects_ssim":["African Americans--Mental Health--Virginia--Lancaster County.","County courts--Virginia--Lancaster County.","Insanity--Jurisprudence--Virginia--Lancaster County.","Jails--Virginia--Lancaster County.","Medical laws and legislation--Virginia--Lancaster County.","Mental illness--Virginia--Lancaster County.","Physicians--Virginia--Lancaster County.","Psychiatric hospitals--Virginia.","Public health--Virginia.","Public health administration--Virginia.","Public records--Virginia--Lancaster County.","Quarantine--Virginia--Lancaster County.","Smallpox--Virginia--Lancaster County.","Health and Medical--Virginia--Lancster County.","Local government records--Virginia--Lancaster County."],"access_subjects_ssm":["African Americans--Mental Health--Virginia--Lancaster County.","County courts--Virginia--Lancaster County.","Insanity--Jurisprudence--Virginia--Lancaster County.","Jails--Virginia--Lancaster County.","Medical laws and legislation--Virginia--Lancaster County.","Mental illness--Virginia--Lancaster County.","Physicians--Virginia--Lancaster County.","Psychiatric hospitals--Virginia.","Public health--Virginia.","Public health administration--Virginia.","Public records--Virginia--Lancaster County.","Quarantine--Virginia--Lancaster County.","Smallpox--Virginia--Lancaster County.","Health and Medical--Virginia--Lancster County.","Local government records--Virginia--Lancaster County."],"has_online_content_ssim":["false"],"extent_ssm":[".225 cf; five folders in a regular hollinger box"],"extent_tesim":[".225 cf; five folders in a regular hollinger box"],"arrangement_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eChronological within each series. The Mental Health Records are arranged chronologically, then alphabetically by last name of individual when applicable.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n    "],"arrangement_heading_ssm":["Arrangement"],"arrangement_tesim":["Chronological within each series. The Mental Health Records are arranged chronologically, then alphabetically by last name of individual when applicable."],"bioghist_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eMental Health Records may consist of a variety of documents that historically were referred to as lunacy papers in the courthouses of Virginia localities and municipalities.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eVirginia's General Assembly enacted very strict laws governing the practice of smallpox inoculation by 1792. The new act required a license from the county court to administer vaccinations. It also included a penalty of $1,500 or six months' imprisonment for anyone willfully spreading smallpox in a manner other than that specified by the act.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eDuring its session begun in November 1769, the House of Burgesses passed an act establishing a hospital in Williamsburg for the mentally ill. The Eastern Lunatic Asylum (now Eastern State Hospital) was the first institution in America constructed as a mental hospital. The first patients were admitted in October 1773.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eIn 1868, the Freedman's Bureau acquired land known as Howard's Grove, (or Howard Grove), located one half mile east of the city of Richmond, on the Mechanicsville Turnpike, in Henrico County. Through a lease from Mr. Bacon Tait (or Tate), the Bureau renovated several barrack-type structures that had been used as a Confederate hospital during the Civil War. The new facility became known as Howard's Grove Freedman's Hospital.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eThe hospital was turned over to the state by way of General Order number 136 issued by Major General Canby, Military Governor of Virginia in December 1869. Beginning January 1, 1870 all African American patients at Eastern Lunatic Asylum in Williamsburg, (the only state institution at the time to accept black patients), as well as all blacks jailed for lunacy from across Virginia, were to be removed to Howard's Grove for treatment. The General Assembly passed legislation in June 1870 renaming the facility the Central Lunatic Asylum and designating it the official \"reception and treatment facility for colored persons of unsound mind.\" This legislation was enacted with the stipulation that the Howard's Grove location was to be temporary.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eIn March 1882 a 300 acre tract of land was purchased by the City of Petersburg and given to the state for the purpose of constructing a permanent mental health facility for African Americans. Construction of the new facility near Petersburg was completed in early spring 1885. This later included a special building to house the criminally insane apart from the rest of the hospital population. An early institutional history notes that treatment at Central Lunatic Asylum during the 1890s was humane and emphasized the value of work and the benefits of recreation. However, practices at the facility also included seclusion, mechanical restraints, and the administering of hypnotics.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003e In 1894, Central Lunatic Asylum was officially renamed Central State Hospital. This piece of legislation also altered the names of the other mental health facilities in Virginia in and attempt to inspire a more positive image of the institutions, and of mental health treatment in general. It is important to note that another state institution located in Staunton, Virginia went by the name Central Lunatic Asylum between the years of 1861 and 1865. Its name later was changed to Western Lunatic Asylum, and is a separate facility with no connection to the Richmond/Petersburg hospital for African Americans.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eLancaster County was named for the English county. It was formed from Northumberland and York Counties sometime between 26 March and 16 September 1651. The county court first met on 1 January 1652. The county seat is Lancaster.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n"],"bioghist_heading_ssm":["Historical Information"],"bioghist_tesim":["Mental Health Records may consist of a variety of documents that historically were referred to as lunacy papers in the courthouses of Virginia localities and municipalities.","Virginia's General Assembly enacted very strict laws governing the practice of smallpox inoculation by 1792. The new act required a license from the county court to administer vaccinations. It also included a penalty of $1,500 or six months' imprisonment for anyone willfully spreading smallpox in a manner other than that specified by the act.","During its session begun in November 1769, the House of Burgesses passed an act establishing a hospital in Williamsburg for the mentally ill. The Eastern Lunatic Asylum (now Eastern State Hospital) was the first institution in America constructed as a mental hospital. The first patients were admitted in October 1773.","In 1868, the Freedman's Bureau acquired land known as Howard's Grove, (or Howard Grove), located one half mile east of the city of Richmond, on the Mechanicsville Turnpike, in Henrico County. Through a lease from Mr. Bacon Tait (or Tate), the Bureau renovated several barrack-type structures that had been used as a Confederate hospital during the Civil War. The new facility became known as Howard's Grove Freedman's Hospital.","The hospital was turned over to the state by way of General Order number 136 issued by Major General Canby, Military Governor of Virginia in December 1869. Beginning January 1, 1870 all African American patients at Eastern Lunatic Asylum in Williamsburg, (the only state institution at the time to accept black patients), as well as all blacks jailed for lunacy from across Virginia, were to be removed to Howard's Grove for treatment. The General Assembly passed legislation in June 1870 renaming the facility the Central Lunatic Asylum and designating it the official \"reception and treatment facility for colored persons of unsound mind.\" This legislation was enacted with the stipulation that the Howard's Grove location was to be temporary.","In March 1882 a 300 acre tract of land was purchased by the City of Petersburg and given to the state for the purpose of constructing a permanent mental health facility for African Americans. Construction of the new facility near Petersburg was completed in early spring 1885. This later included a special building to house the criminally insane apart from the rest of the hospital population. An early institutional history notes that treatment at Central Lunatic Asylum during the 1890s was humane and emphasized the value of work and the benefits of recreation. However, practices at the facility also included seclusion, mechanical restraints, and the administering of hypnotics.","In 1894, Central Lunatic Asylum was officially renamed Central State Hospital. This piece of legislation also altered the names of the other mental health facilities in Virginia in and attempt to inspire a more positive image of the institutions, and of mental health treatment in general. It is important to note that another state institution located in Staunton, Virginia went by the name Central Lunatic Asylum between the years of 1861 and 1865. Its name later was changed to Western Lunatic Asylum, and is a separate facility with no connection to the Richmond/Petersburg hospital for African Americans.","Lancaster County was named for the English county. It was formed from Northumberland and York Counties sometime between 26 March and 16 September 1651. The county court first met on 1 January 1652. The county seat is Lancaster."],"scopecontent_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003e Lancaster County (Va.) Health and Medical Records 1787-1922, consist of four series: Accounts Allowed, 1787-1900; Mental Health Records, 1827-1900; Smallpox Epidemic Records, 1858-1922; and Other Epidemic Records: Tuberculosis information, 1908.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eAccounts Allowed, 1787-1900, include accounts and claims from doctors and/or other individuals for services rendered. These often pertain to house calls, prisoner visits, childbirths, post-mortems, supplies, etc. Items relating to mental health are housed with the Mental Health Records series in this collection. Items associated with coroners' claims are foldered separately here.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eMental Health Records, 1827-1900, may include warrants, orders, petitions, depositions, reports, etc. for or by justices of the peace and others regarding the mental condition of individuals who were released to the recognizance of a family member or who were recommended to be committed to a mental hospital.  Fiduciary records such as estate inventories of a person judged insane may also be present. Some individuals were recommended to the hospital in Williamsburg which later became Eastern State Hospital. Individuals who were referenced as \"colored\" or who were recommended to a Central Lunatic Asylum or the hospital at Petersburg or Richmond are noted. See Documents of Interest list below. \n\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eSmallpox Epidemic Records, 1858-1922, consist of papers relating to quarantines and hospitals for the containment and/or treatment of smallpox outbreaks in Lancaster County. See Documents of Interest list below. \n\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eOther Epidemic Records: Tuberculosis information, 1908 consists folder of material generally related to tuberculosis.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n"],"scopecontent_heading_ssm":["Scope and Content"],"scopecontent_tesim":["Lancaster County (Va.) Health and Medical Records 1787-1922, consist of four series: Accounts Allowed, 1787-1900; Mental Health Records, 1827-1900; Smallpox Epidemic Records, 1858-1922; and Other Epidemic Records: Tuberculosis information, 1908.","Accounts Allowed, 1787-1900, include accounts and claims from doctors and/or other individuals for services rendered. These often pertain to house calls, prisoner visits, childbirths, post-mortems, supplies, etc. Items relating to mental health are housed with the Mental Health Records series in this collection. Items associated with coroners' claims are foldered separately here.","Mental Health Records, 1827-1900, may include warrants, orders, petitions, depositions, reports, etc. for or by justices of the peace and others regarding the mental condition of individuals who were released to the recognizance of a family member or who were recommended to be committed to a mental hospital.  Fiduciary records such as estate inventories of a person judged insane may also be present. Some individuals were recommended to the hospital in Williamsburg which later became Eastern State Hospital. Individuals who were referenced as \"colored\" or who were recommended to a Central Lunatic Asylum or the hospital at Petersburg or Richmond are noted. See Documents of Interest list below.","Smallpox Epidemic Records, 1858-1922, consist of papers relating to quarantines and hospitals for the containment and/or treatment of smallpox outbreaks in Lancaster County. See Documents of Interest list below.","Other Epidemic Records: Tuberculosis information, 1908 consists folder of material generally related to tuberculosis."],"corpname_ssim":["Lancaster County (Va.) Circuit Court.","Central Lunatic Asylum for Colored Insane, Virginia.","Central State Hospital (Petersburg, Va.).","Eastern State Hospital (Va.)."],"names_ssim":["Lancaster County (Va.) Circuit Court.","Central Lunatic Asylum for Colored Insane, Virginia.","Central State Hospital (Petersburg, Va.).","Eastern State Hospital (Va.)."],"language_ssim":["English"],"total_component_count_is":14,"online_item_count_is":0,"component_level_isim":[0],"sort_isi":0,"timestamp":"2026-07-23T21:13:33.340Z","collection":{"numFound":1,"start":0,"numFoundExact":true,"docs":[{"id":"vi_vi05133","ead_ssi":"vi_vi05133","_root_":"vi_vi05133","_nest_parent_":"vi_vi05133","ead_source_url_ssi":"data/lva/vi05133.xml","title_ssm":["Lancaster County Health and Medical Records, 1787-1922"],"title_tesim":["Lancaster County Health and Medical Records, 1787-1922"],"normalized_title_ssm":["Lancaster County Health and Medical Records, 1787-1922"],"text":["Lancaster County Health and Medical Records, 1787-1922","1134992","African Americans--Mental Health--Virginia--Lancaster County.","County courts--Virginia--Lancaster County.","Insanity--Jurisprudence--Virginia--Lancaster County.","Jails--Virginia--Lancaster County.","Medical laws and legislation--Virginia--Lancaster County.","Mental illness--Virginia--Lancaster County.","Physicians--Virginia--Lancaster County.","Psychiatric hospitals--Virginia.","Public health--Virginia.","Public health administration--Virginia.","Public records--Virginia--Lancaster County.","Quarantine--Virginia--Lancaster County.","Smallpox--Virginia--Lancaster County.","Health and Medical--Virginia--Lancster County.","Local government records--Virginia--Lancaster County.","Chronological within each series. The Mental Health Records are arranged chronologically, then alphabetically by last name of individual when applicable.","Mental Health Records may consist of a variety of documents that historically were referred to as lunacy papers in the courthouses of Virginia localities and municipalities.","Virginia's General Assembly enacted very strict laws governing the practice of smallpox inoculation by 1792. The new act required a license from the county court to administer vaccinations. It also included a penalty of $1,500 or six months' imprisonment for anyone willfully spreading smallpox in a manner other than that specified by the act.","During its session begun in November 1769, the House of Burgesses passed an act establishing a hospital in Williamsburg for the mentally ill. The Eastern Lunatic Asylum (now Eastern State Hospital) was the first institution in America constructed as a mental hospital. The first patients were admitted in October 1773.","In 1868, the Freedman's Bureau acquired land known as Howard's Grove, (or Howard Grove), located one half mile east of the city of Richmond, on the Mechanicsville Turnpike, in Henrico County. Through a lease from Mr. Bacon Tait (or Tate), the Bureau renovated several barrack-type structures that had been used as a Confederate hospital during the Civil War. The new facility became known as Howard's Grove Freedman's Hospital.","The hospital was turned over to the state by way of General Order number 136 issued by Major General Canby, Military Governor of Virginia in December 1869. Beginning January 1, 1870 all African American patients at Eastern Lunatic Asylum in Williamsburg, (the only state institution at the time to accept black patients), as well as all blacks jailed for lunacy from across Virginia, were to be removed to Howard's Grove for treatment. The General Assembly passed legislation in June 1870 renaming the facility the Central Lunatic Asylum and designating it the official \"reception and treatment facility for colored persons of unsound mind.\" This legislation was enacted with the stipulation that the Howard's Grove location was to be temporary.","In March 1882 a 300 acre tract of land was purchased by the City of Petersburg and given to the state for the purpose of constructing a permanent mental health facility for African Americans. Construction of the new facility near Petersburg was completed in early spring 1885. This later included a special building to house the criminally insane apart from the rest of the hospital population. An early institutional history notes that treatment at Central Lunatic Asylum during the 1890s was humane and emphasized the value of work and the benefits of recreation. However, practices at the facility also included seclusion, mechanical restraints, and the administering of hypnotics.","In 1894, Central Lunatic Asylum was officially renamed Central State Hospital. This piece of legislation also altered the names of the other mental health facilities in Virginia in and attempt to inspire a more positive image of the institutions, and of mental health treatment in general. It is important to note that another state institution located in Staunton, Virginia went by the name Central Lunatic Asylum between the years of 1861 and 1865. Its name later was changed to Western Lunatic Asylum, and is a separate facility with no connection to the Richmond/Petersburg hospital for African Americans.","Lancaster County was named for the English county. It was formed from Northumberland and York Counties sometime between 26 March and 16 September 1651. The county court first met on 1 January 1652. The county seat is Lancaster.","Lancaster County (Va.) Health and Medical Records 1787-1922, consist of four series: Accounts Allowed, 1787-1900; Mental Health Records, 1827-1900; Smallpox Epidemic Records, 1858-1922; and Other Epidemic Records: Tuberculosis information, 1908.","Accounts Allowed, 1787-1900, include accounts and claims from doctors and/or other individuals for services rendered. These often pertain to house calls, prisoner visits, childbirths, post-mortems, supplies, etc. Items relating to mental health are housed with the Mental Health Records series in this collection. Items associated with coroners' claims are foldered separately here.","Mental Health Records, 1827-1900, may include warrants, orders, petitions, depositions, reports, etc. for or by justices of the peace and others regarding the mental condition of individuals who were released to the recognizance of a family member or who were recommended to be committed to a mental hospital.  Fiduciary records such as estate inventories of a person judged insane may also be present. Some individuals were recommended to the hospital in Williamsburg which later became Eastern State Hospital. Individuals who were referenced as \"colored\" or who were recommended to a Central Lunatic Asylum or the hospital at Petersburg or Richmond are noted. See Documents of Interest list below.","Smallpox Epidemic Records, 1858-1922, consist of papers relating to quarantines and hospitals for the containment and/or treatment of smallpox outbreaks in Lancaster County. See Documents of Interest list below.","Other Epidemic Records: Tuberculosis information, 1908 consists folder of material generally related to tuberculosis.","Lancaster County (Va.) Circuit Court.","Central Lunatic Asylum for Colored Insane, Virginia.","Central State Hospital (Petersburg, Va.).","Eastern State Hospital (Va.).","English"],"collection_title_tesim":["Lancaster County Health and Medical Records, 1787-1922"],"collection_ssim":["Lancaster County Health and Medical Records, 1787-1922"],"level_ssm":["collection"],"level_ssim":["Collection"],"unitid_ssm":["1134992"],"unitid_tesim":["1134992"],"repository_ssm":["Library of Virginia"],"repository_ssim":["Library of Virginia"],"creator_ssm":["Lancaster County (Va.) Circuit Court"],"creator_ssim":["Lancaster County (Va.) Circuit Court"],"creator_corpname_ssim":["Lancaster County (Va.) Circuit Court.","Central Lunatic Asylum for Colored Insane, Virginia.","Central State Hospital (Petersburg, Va.).","Eastern State Hospital (Va.)."],"creators_ssim":["Lancaster County (Va.) Circuit Court.","Central Lunatic Asylum for Colored Insane, Virginia.","Central State Hospital (Petersburg, Va.).","Eastern State Hospital (Va.)."],"acqinfo_ssim":["This collection came to the Library of Virginia in a transfer of court papers from Lancaster County Circuit Court."],"access_subjects_ssim":["African Americans--Mental Health--Virginia--Lancaster County.","County courts--Virginia--Lancaster County.","Insanity--Jurisprudence--Virginia--Lancaster County.","Jails--Virginia--Lancaster County.","Medical laws and legislation--Virginia--Lancaster County.","Mental illness--Virginia--Lancaster County.","Physicians--Virginia--Lancaster County.","Psychiatric hospitals--Virginia.","Public health--Virginia.","Public health administration--Virginia.","Public records--Virginia--Lancaster County.","Quarantine--Virginia--Lancaster County.","Smallpox--Virginia--Lancaster County.","Health and Medical--Virginia--Lancster County.","Local government records--Virginia--Lancaster County."],"access_subjects_ssm":["African Americans--Mental Health--Virginia--Lancaster County.","County courts--Virginia--Lancaster County.","Insanity--Jurisprudence--Virginia--Lancaster County.","Jails--Virginia--Lancaster County.","Medical laws and legislation--Virginia--Lancaster County.","Mental illness--Virginia--Lancaster County.","Physicians--Virginia--Lancaster County.","Psychiatric hospitals--Virginia.","Public health--Virginia.","Public health administration--Virginia.","Public records--Virginia--Lancaster County.","Quarantine--Virginia--Lancaster County.","Smallpox--Virginia--Lancaster County.","Health and Medical--Virginia--Lancster County.","Local government records--Virginia--Lancaster County."],"has_online_content_ssim":["false"],"extent_ssm":[".225 cf; five folders in a regular hollinger box"],"extent_tesim":[".225 cf; five folders in a regular hollinger box"],"arrangement_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eChronological within each series. The Mental Health Records are arranged chronologically, then alphabetically by last name of individual when applicable.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n    "],"arrangement_heading_ssm":["Arrangement"],"arrangement_tesim":["Chronological within each series. The Mental Health Records are arranged chronologically, then alphabetically by last name of individual when applicable."],"bioghist_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eMental Health Records may consist of a variety of documents that historically were referred to as lunacy papers in the courthouses of Virginia localities and municipalities.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eVirginia's General Assembly enacted very strict laws governing the practice of smallpox inoculation by 1792. The new act required a license from the county court to administer vaccinations. It also included a penalty of $1,500 or six months' imprisonment for anyone willfully spreading smallpox in a manner other than that specified by the act.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eDuring its session begun in November 1769, the House of Burgesses passed an act establishing a hospital in Williamsburg for the mentally ill. The Eastern Lunatic Asylum (now Eastern State Hospital) was the first institution in America constructed as a mental hospital. The first patients were admitted in October 1773.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eIn 1868, the Freedman's Bureau acquired land known as Howard's Grove, (or Howard Grove), located one half mile east of the city of Richmond, on the Mechanicsville Turnpike, in Henrico County. Through a lease from Mr. Bacon Tait (or Tate), the Bureau renovated several barrack-type structures that had been used as a Confederate hospital during the Civil War. The new facility became known as Howard's Grove Freedman's Hospital.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eThe hospital was turned over to the state by way of General Order number 136 issued by Major General Canby, Military Governor of Virginia in December 1869. Beginning January 1, 1870 all African American patients at Eastern Lunatic Asylum in Williamsburg, (the only state institution at the time to accept black patients), as well as all blacks jailed for lunacy from across Virginia, were to be removed to Howard's Grove for treatment. The General Assembly passed legislation in June 1870 renaming the facility the Central Lunatic Asylum and designating it the official \"reception and treatment facility for colored persons of unsound mind.\" This legislation was enacted with the stipulation that the Howard's Grove location was to be temporary.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eIn March 1882 a 300 acre tract of land was purchased by the City of Petersburg and given to the state for the purpose of constructing a permanent mental health facility for African Americans. Construction of the new facility near Petersburg was completed in early spring 1885. This later included a special building to house the criminally insane apart from the rest of the hospital population. An early institutional history notes that treatment at Central Lunatic Asylum during the 1890s was humane and emphasized the value of work and the benefits of recreation. However, practices at the facility also included seclusion, mechanical restraints, and the administering of hypnotics.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003e In 1894, Central Lunatic Asylum was officially renamed Central State Hospital. This piece of legislation also altered the names of the other mental health facilities in Virginia in and attempt to inspire a more positive image of the institutions, and of mental health treatment in general. It is important to note that another state institution located in Staunton, Virginia went by the name Central Lunatic Asylum between the years of 1861 and 1865. Its name later was changed to Western Lunatic Asylum, and is a separate facility with no connection to the Richmond/Petersburg hospital for African Americans.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eLancaster County was named for the English county. It was formed from Northumberland and York Counties sometime between 26 March and 16 September 1651. The county court first met on 1 January 1652. The county seat is Lancaster.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n"],"bioghist_heading_ssm":["Historical Information"],"bioghist_tesim":["Mental Health Records may consist of a variety of documents that historically were referred to as lunacy papers in the courthouses of Virginia localities and municipalities.","Virginia's General Assembly enacted very strict laws governing the practice of smallpox inoculation by 1792. The new act required a license from the county court to administer vaccinations. It also included a penalty of $1,500 or six months' imprisonment for anyone willfully spreading smallpox in a manner other than that specified by the act.","During its session begun in November 1769, the House of Burgesses passed an act establishing a hospital in Williamsburg for the mentally ill. The Eastern Lunatic Asylum (now Eastern State Hospital) was the first institution in America constructed as a mental hospital. The first patients were admitted in October 1773.","In 1868, the Freedman's Bureau acquired land known as Howard's Grove, (or Howard Grove), located one half mile east of the city of Richmond, on the Mechanicsville Turnpike, in Henrico County. Through a lease from Mr. Bacon Tait (or Tate), the Bureau renovated several barrack-type structures that had been used as a Confederate hospital during the Civil War. The new facility became known as Howard's Grove Freedman's Hospital.","The hospital was turned over to the state by way of General Order number 136 issued by Major General Canby, Military Governor of Virginia in December 1869. Beginning January 1, 1870 all African American patients at Eastern Lunatic Asylum in Williamsburg, (the only state institution at the time to accept black patients), as well as all blacks jailed for lunacy from across Virginia, were to be removed to Howard's Grove for treatment. The General Assembly passed legislation in June 1870 renaming the facility the Central Lunatic Asylum and designating it the official \"reception and treatment facility for colored persons of unsound mind.\" This legislation was enacted with the stipulation that the Howard's Grove location was to be temporary.","In March 1882 a 300 acre tract of land was purchased by the City of Petersburg and given to the state for the purpose of constructing a permanent mental health facility for African Americans. Construction of the new facility near Petersburg was completed in early spring 1885. This later included a special building to house the criminally insane apart from the rest of the hospital population. An early institutional history notes that treatment at Central Lunatic Asylum during the 1890s was humane and emphasized the value of work and the benefits of recreation. However, practices at the facility also included seclusion, mechanical restraints, and the administering of hypnotics.","In 1894, Central Lunatic Asylum was officially renamed Central State Hospital. This piece of legislation also altered the names of the other mental health facilities in Virginia in and attempt to inspire a more positive image of the institutions, and of mental health treatment in general. It is important to note that another state institution located in Staunton, Virginia went by the name Central Lunatic Asylum between the years of 1861 and 1865. Its name later was changed to Western Lunatic Asylum, and is a separate facility with no connection to the Richmond/Petersburg hospital for African Americans.","Lancaster County was named for the English county. It was formed from Northumberland and York Counties sometime between 26 March and 16 September 1651. The county court first met on 1 January 1652. The county seat is Lancaster."],"scopecontent_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003e Lancaster County (Va.) Health and Medical Records 1787-1922, consist of four series: Accounts Allowed, 1787-1900; Mental Health Records, 1827-1900; Smallpox Epidemic Records, 1858-1922; and Other Epidemic Records: Tuberculosis information, 1908.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eAccounts Allowed, 1787-1900, include accounts and claims from doctors and/or other individuals for services rendered. These often pertain to house calls, prisoner visits, childbirths, post-mortems, supplies, etc. Items relating to mental health are housed with the Mental Health Records series in this collection. Items associated with coroners' claims are foldered separately here.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eMental Health Records, 1827-1900, may include warrants, orders, petitions, depositions, reports, etc. for or by justices of the peace and others regarding the mental condition of individuals who were released to the recognizance of a family member or who were recommended to be committed to a mental hospital.  Fiduciary records such as estate inventories of a person judged insane may also be present. Some individuals were recommended to the hospital in Williamsburg which later became Eastern State Hospital. Individuals who were referenced as \"colored\" or who were recommended to a Central Lunatic Asylum or the hospital at Petersburg or Richmond are noted. See Documents of Interest list below. \n\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eSmallpox Epidemic Records, 1858-1922, consist of papers relating to quarantines and hospitals for the containment and/or treatment of smallpox outbreaks in Lancaster County. See Documents of Interest list below. \n\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eOther Epidemic Records: Tuberculosis information, 1908 consists folder of material generally related to tuberculosis.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n"],"scopecontent_heading_ssm":["Scope and Content"],"scopecontent_tesim":["Lancaster County (Va.) Health and Medical Records 1787-1922, consist of four series: Accounts Allowed, 1787-1900; Mental Health Records, 1827-1900; Smallpox Epidemic Records, 1858-1922; and Other Epidemic Records: Tuberculosis information, 1908.","Accounts Allowed, 1787-1900, include accounts and claims from doctors and/or other individuals for services rendered. These often pertain to house calls, prisoner visits, childbirths, post-mortems, supplies, etc. Items relating to mental health are housed with the Mental Health Records series in this collection. Items associated with coroners' claims are foldered separately here.","Mental Health Records, 1827-1900, may include warrants, orders, petitions, depositions, reports, etc. for or by justices of the peace and others regarding the mental condition of individuals who were released to the recognizance of a family member or who were recommended to be committed to a mental hospital.  Fiduciary records such as estate inventories of a person judged insane may also be present. Some individuals were recommended to the hospital in Williamsburg which later became Eastern State Hospital. Individuals who were referenced as \"colored\" or who were recommended to a Central Lunatic Asylum or the hospital at Petersburg or Richmond are noted. See Documents of Interest list below.","Smallpox Epidemic Records, 1858-1922, consist of papers relating to quarantines and hospitals for the containment and/or treatment of smallpox outbreaks in Lancaster County. See Documents of Interest list below.","Other Epidemic Records: Tuberculosis information, 1908 consists folder of material generally related to tuberculosis."],"corpname_ssim":["Lancaster County (Va.) Circuit Court.","Central Lunatic Asylum for Colored Insane, Virginia.","Central State Hospital (Petersburg, Va.).","Eastern State Hospital (Va.)."],"names_ssim":["Lancaster County (Va.) 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Health and Medical Records, 1771-1902","0007787120","African Americans--Mental Health--Virginia--Louisa County.","County courts--Virginia--Louisa County.","Insanity--Jurisprudence--Virginia--Louisa County.","Jails--Virginia--Louisa County.","Medical laws and legislation--Virginia--Louisa County.","Mental illness--Virginia--Louisa County.","Physicians--Virginia--Louisa County.","Psychiatric hospitals--Virginia.","Public health--Virginia.","Public health administration--Virginia.","Public records--Virginia--Louisa County.","Quarantine--Virginia--Louisa County.","Smallpox--Virginia--Louisa County.","Health and Medical--Virginia--Louisa County.","Local government records--Virginia--Louisa County.","Chronological within each series. The Mental Health Records are arranged chronologically by year, and alphabetically by name. If more than one individual is referenced in a document, names are listed on the folder but the folder title will reflect the number of individuals named. If an individual had more than one instance of suspected mental incapacity, there may be papers filed in more than one chronological location. Smallpox Epidemic Records are arranged chronologically by year within one folder.","Mental Health Records may consist of a variety of documents that historically were referred to as lunacy papers in the courthouses of Virginia localities and municipalities.","First known as commissions, the Justice of the Peace office originated with the county quarterly court in 1623. Commanders of Plantations (1607-1629) were predecessors of the commissioners, who since 1662 have been called justices of the peace. They have traditionally had both civil and criminal jurisdiction, and have served other functions, including performing coroners' and lunacy inquisitions. Until 1869 justices served both as judges of the county court and as individual justices; since then they have had only the latter function.","During its session begun in November 1769, the House of Burgesses passed an act establishing a hospital in Williamsburg for the mentally ill. The Eastern Lunatic Asylum (now Eastern State Hospital) was the first institution in America constructed as a mental hospital. The first patients were admitted in October 1773.","In January 1825 the Virginia General Assembly passed legislation providing for the construction of an asylum in the western part of the state. The institution, which become known as Western Lunatic Asylum, was constructed close to the town of Staunton, west of the Blue Ridge Mountains, was the second mental health facility built in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The buildings and surrounding gardens were designed to embrace the idea of \"moral therapy\" for mentally ill patients by providing an aesthetically pleasing and tranquil atmosphere in which patients lived comfortably, exercised and worked outdoors.","Western Lunatic Asylum opened in 1828, accepting both male and female patients suffering from a variety of mental disorders. It should be noted that the hospital underwent a short-lived name change between 1861 and 1865, when it was known as Central Lunatic Asylum. (It should not be confused with an asylum of the same name later built in Petersburg, Virginia to house African American patients). From 1865 to 1894 the name was again Western Lunatic Asylum. However, in 1894 the General Assembly passed legislation changing the name to Western State Hospital.","In March 1882 a 300 acre tract of land was purchased by the City of Petersburg and given to the state for the purpose of constructing a permanent mental health facility for African Americans. Construction of the new facility near Petersburg was completed in early spring 1885. This later included a special building to house the criminally insane apart from the rest of the hospital population. An early institutional history notes that treatment at Central Lunatic Asylum during the 1890s was humane and emphasized the value of work and the benefits of recreation. However, practices at the facility also included seclusion, mechanical restraints, and the administering of hypnotics.","In 1894, Central Lunatic Asylum was officially renamed Central State Hospital. This piece of legislation also altered the names of the other mental health facilities in Virginia in and attempt to inspire a more positive image of the institutions, and of mental health treatment in general. It is important to note that another state institution located in Staunton, Virginia went by the name Central Lunatic Asylum between the years of 1861 and 1865. Its name later was changed to Western Lunatic Asylum, and is a separate facility with no connection to the Richmond/Petersburg hospital for African Americans.","Louisa County was named for Louisa, a daughter of King George II and wife of King Frederick V of Denmark. It was formed from Hanover County in 1742.","Louisa County (Va.) Health and Medical Records 1771-1902, consist of two series: Mental Health Records and Smallpox Epidemic Records.","Mental Health Records are housed in five folders, and may include warrants, orders, petitions, depositions, reports, etc. for or by justices of the peace and others regarding the mental condition of individuals who were released to the recognizance of a family member or who were recommended to be committed to hospitals in Williamsburg, Staunton, Petersburg, or Richmond. Fiduciary records such as estate inventories of a person judged insane may also be present. Some justices of the peace convened at Elisha Jackson's Tavern to commiserate and write their reports.  See selected documents of interest below.","Smallpox Epidemic Records consist of one folder of papers relating to quarantines and hospitals for the containment of and/or treatment for smallpox outbreaks in Louisa County. 1779 documents include accounts of various individuals, especially William Terrell, for expenses incurred during smallpox outbreak at home hospital of William Ward. An 1862 order references a smallpox outbreak at the Slate Hill Gold Mine. Documents also reference three quarantines of individuals in May 1880, including one near Green Springs Depot at the home of Richard Ogg and another at James B. Madison's home known as \"Hackett's House\". A third quarantine did not specify location.","Louisa County (Va.) Circuit Court.","Central Lunatic Asylum for Colored Insane, Virginia.","Central State Hospital (Petersburg, Va.).","Eastern State Hospital (Va.).","Western State Hospital (Va.).","English"],"collection_title_tesim":["Louisa County (Va.) Health and Medical Records, 1771-1902"],"collection_ssim":["Louisa County (Va.) Health and Medical Records, 1771-1902"],"level_ssm":["collection"],"level_ssim":["Collection"],"unitid_ssm":["0007787120"],"unitid_tesim":["0007787120"],"repository_ssm":["Library of Virginia"],"repository_ssim":["Library of Virginia"],"creator_ssm":["Louisa County (Va.) Circuit Court"],"creator_ssim":["Louisa County (Va.) Circuit Court"],"creator_corpname_ssim":["Louisa County (Va.) Circuit Court.","Central Lunatic Asylum for Colored Insane, Virginia.","Central State Hospital (Petersburg, Va.).","Eastern State Hospital (Va.).","Western State Hospital (Va.)."],"creators_ssim":["Louisa County (Va.) Circuit Court.","Central Lunatic Asylum for Colored Insane, Virginia.","Central State Hospital (Petersburg, Va.).","Eastern State Hospital (Va.).","Western State Hospital (Va.)."],"acqinfo_ssim":["This collection came to the Library of Virginia in a transfer of court papers from Louisa County Circuit Court."],"access_subjects_ssim":["African Americans--Mental Health--Virginia--Louisa County.","County courts--Virginia--Louisa County.","Insanity--Jurisprudence--Virginia--Louisa County.","Jails--Virginia--Louisa County.","Medical laws and legislation--Virginia--Louisa County.","Mental illness--Virginia--Louisa County.","Physicians--Virginia--Louisa County.","Psychiatric hospitals--Virginia.","Public health--Virginia.","Public health administration--Virginia.","Public records--Virginia--Louisa County.","Quarantine--Virginia--Louisa County.","Smallpox--Virginia--Louisa County.","Health and Medical--Virginia--Louisa County.","Local government records--Virginia--Louisa County."],"access_subjects_ssm":["African Americans--Mental Health--Virginia--Louisa County.","County courts--Virginia--Louisa County.","Insanity--Jurisprudence--Virginia--Louisa County.","Jails--Virginia--Louisa County.","Medical laws and legislation--Virginia--Louisa County.","Mental illness--Virginia--Louisa County.","Physicians--Virginia--Louisa County.","Psychiatric hospitals--Virginia.","Public health--Virginia.","Public health administration--Virginia.","Public records--Virginia--Louisa County.","Quarantine--Virginia--Louisa County.","Smallpox--Virginia--Louisa County.","Health and Medical--Virginia--Louisa County.","Local government records--Virginia--Louisa County."],"has_online_content_ssim":["false"],"extent_ssm":[".225 cf; legal-sized half-hollinger box"],"extent_tesim":[".225 cf; legal-sized half-hollinger box"],"arrangement_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eChronological within each series. The Mental Health Records are arranged chronologically by year, and alphabetically by name. If more than one individual is referenced in a document, names are listed on the folder but the folder title will reflect the number of individuals named. If an individual had more than one instance of suspected mental incapacity, there may be papers filed in more than one chronological location. Smallpox Epidemic Records are arranged chronologically by year within one folder.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n    "],"arrangement_heading_ssm":["Arrangement"],"arrangement_tesim":["Chronological within each series. The Mental Health Records are arranged chronologically by year, and alphabetically by name. If more than one individual is referenced in a document, names are listed on the folder but the folder title will reflect the number of individuals named. If an individual had more than one instance of suspected mental incapacity, there may be papers filed in more than one chronological location. Smallpox Epidemic Records are arranged chronologically by year within one folder."],"bioghist_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eMental Health Records may consist of a variety of documents that historically were referred to as lunacy papers in the courthouses of Virginia localities and municipalities.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eFirst known as commissions, the Justice of the Peace office originated with the county quarterly court in 1623. Commanders of Plantations (1607-1629) were predecessors of the commissioners, who since 1662 have been called justices of the peace. They have traditionally had both civil and criminal jurisdiction, and have served other functions, including performing coroners' and lunacy inquisitions. Until 1869 justices served both as judges of the county court and as individual justices; since then they have had only the latter function.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eDuring its session begun in November 1769, the House of Burgesses passed an act establishing a hospital in Williamsburg for the mentally ill. The Eastern Lunatic Asylum (now Eastern State Hospital) was the first institution in America constructed as a mental hospital. The first patients were admitted in October 1773.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eIn January 1825 the Virginia General Assembly passed legislation providing for the construction of an asylum in the western part of the state. The institution, which become known as Western Lunatic Asylum, was constructed close to the town of Staunton, west of the Blue Ridge Mountains, was the second mental health facility built in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The buildings and surrounding gardens were designed to embrace the idea of \"moral therapy\" for mentally ill patients by providing an aesthetically pleasing and tranquil atmosphere in which patients lived comfortably, exercised and worked outdoors.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eWestern Lunatic Asylum opened in 1828, accepting both male and female patients suffering from a variety of mental disorders. It should be noted that the hospital underwent a short-lived name change between 1861 and 1865, when it was known as Central Lunatic Asylum. (It should not be confused with an asylum of the same name later built in Petersburg, Virginia to house African American patients). From 1865 to 1894 the name was again Western Lunatic Asylum. However, in 1894 the General Assembly passed legislation changing the name to Western State Hospital.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eIn March 1882 a 300 acre tract of land was purchased by the City of Petersburg and given to the state for the purpose of constructing a permanent mental health facility for African Americans. Construction of the new facility near Petersburg was completed in early spring 1885. This later included a special building to house the criminally insane apart from the rest of the hospital population. An early institutional history notes that treatment at Central Lunatic Asylum during the 1890s was humane and emphasized the value of work and the benefits of recreation. However, practices at the facility also included seclusion, mechanical restraints, and the administering of hypnotics.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003e In 1894, Central Lunatic Asylum was officially renamed Central State Hospital. This piece of legislation also altered the names of the other mental health facilities in Virginia in and attempt to inspire a more positive image of the institutions, and of mental health treatment in general. It is important to note that another state institution located in Staunton, Virginia went by the name Central Lunatic Asylum between the years of 1861 and 1865. Its name later was changed to Western Lunatic Asylum, and is a separate facility with no connection to the Richmond/Petersburg hospital for African Americans.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eLouisa County was named for Louisa, a daughter of King George II and wife of King Frederick V of Denmark. It was formed from Hanover County in 1742.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n"],"bioghist_heading_ssm":["Historical Information"],"bioghist_tesim":["Mental Health Records may consist of a variety of documents that historically were referred to as lunacy papers in the courthouses of Virginia localities and municipalities.","First known as commissions, the Justice of the Peace office originated with the county quarterly court in 1623. Commanders of Plantations (1607-1629) were predecessors of the commissioners, who since 1662 have been called justices of the peace. They have traditionally had both civil and criminal jurisdiction, and have served other functions, including performing coroners' and lunacy inquisitions. Until 1869 justices served both as judges of the county court and as individual justices; since then they have had only the latter function.","During its session begun in November 1769, the House of Burgesses passed an act establishing a hospital in Williamsburg for the mentally ill. The Eastern Lunatic Asylum (now Eastern State Hospital) was the first institution in America constructed as a mental hospital. The first patients were admitted in October 1773.","In January 1825 the Virginia General Assembly passed legislation providing for the construction of an asylum in the western part of the state. The institution, which become known as Western Lunatic Asylum, was constructed close to the town of Staunton, west of the Blue Ridge Mountains, was the second mental health facility built in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The buildings and surrounding gardens were designed to embrace the idea of \"moral therapy\" for mentally ill patients by providing an aesthetically pleasing and tranquil atmosphere in which patients lived comfortably, exercised and worked outdoors.","Western Lunatic Asylum opened in 1828, accepting both male and female patients suffering from a variety of mental disorders. It should be noted that the hospital underwent a short-lived name change between 1861 and 1865, when it was known as Central Lunatic Asylum. (It should not be confused with an asylum of the same name later built in Petersburg, Virginia to house African American patients). From 1865 to 1894 the name was again Western Lunatic Asylum. However, in 1894 the General Assembly passed legislation changing the name to Western State Hospital.","In March 1882 a 300 acre tract of land was purchased by the City of Petersburg and given to the state for the purpose of constructing a permanent mental health facility for African Americans. Construction of the new facility near Petersburg was completed in early spring 1885. This later included a special building to house the criminally insane apart from the rest of the hospital population. An early institutional history notes that treatment at Central Lunatic Asylum during the 1890s was humane and emphasized the value of work and the benefits of recreation. However, practices at the facility also included seclusion, mechanical restraints, and the administering of hypnotics.","In 1894, Central Lunatic Asylum was officially renamed Central State Hospital. This piece of legislation also altered the names of the other mental health facilities in Virginia in and attempt to inspire a more positive image of the institutions, and of mental health treatment in general. It is important to note that another state institution located in Staunton, Virginia went by the name Central Lunatic Asylum between the years of 1861 and 1865. Its name later was changed to Western Lunatic Asylum, and is a separate facility with no connection to the Richmond/Petersburg hospital for African Americans.","Louisa County was named for Louisa, a daughter of King George II and wife of King Frederick V of Denmark. It was formed from Hanover County in 1742."],"scopecontent_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eLouisa County (Va.) Health and Medical Records 1771-1902, consist of two series: Mental Health Records and Smallpox Epidemic Records.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eMental Health Records are housed in five folders, and may include warrants, orders, petitions, depositions, reports, etc. for or by justices of the peace and others regarding the mental condition of individuals who were released to the recognizance of a family member or who were recommended to be committed to hospitals in Williamsburg, Staunton, Petersburg, or Richmond. Fiduciary records such as estate inventories of a person judged insane may also be present. Some justices of the peace convened at Elisha Jackson's Tavern to commiserate and write their reports.  See selected documents of interest below.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eSmallpox Epidemic Records consist of one folder of papers relating to quarantines and hospitals for the containment of and/or treatment for smallpox outbreaks in Louisa County. 1779 documents include accounts of various individuals, especially William Terrell, for expenses incurred during smallpox outbreak at home hospital of William Ward. An 1862 order references a smallpox outbreak at the Slate Hill Gold Mine. Documents also reference three quarantines of individuals in May 1880, including one near Green Springs Depot at the home of Richard Ogg and another at James B. Madison's home known as \"Hackett's House\". A third quarantine did not specify location.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n"],"scopecontent_heading_ssm":["Scope and Content"],"scopecontent_tesim":["Louisa County (Va.) Health and Medical Records 1771-1902, consist of two series: Mental Health Records and Smallpox Epidemic Records.","Mental Health Records are housed in five folders, and may include warrants, orders, petitions, depositions, reports, etc. for or by justices of the peace and others regarding the mental condition of individuals who were released to the recognizance of a family member or who were recommended to be committed to hospitals in Williamsburg, Staunton, Petersburg, or Richmond. Fiduciary records such as estate inventories of a person judged insane may also be present. Some justices of the peace convened at Elisha Jackson's Tavern to commiserate and write their reports.  See selected documents of interest below.","Smallpox Epidemic Records consist of one folder of papers relating to quarantines and hospitals for the containment of and/or treatment for smallpox outbreaks in Louisa County. 1779 documents include accounts of various individuals, especially William Terrell, for expenses incurred during smallpox outbreak at home hospital of William Ward. An 1862 order references a smallpox outbreak at the Slate Hill Gold Mine. Documents also reference three quarantines of individuals in May 1880, including one near Green Springs Depot at the home of Richard Ogg and another at James B. Madison's home known as \"Hackett's House\". A third quarantine did not specify location."],"corpname_ssim":["Louisa County (Va.) Circuit Court.","Central Lunatic Asylum for Colored Insane, Virginia.","Central State Hospital (Petersburg, Va.).","Eastern State Hospital (Va.).","Western State Hospital (Va.)."],"names_ssim":["Louisa County (Va.) Circuit Court.","Central Lunatic Asylum for Colored Insane, Virginia.","Central State Hospital (Petersburg, Va.).","Eastern State Hospital (Va.).","Western State Hospital (Va.)."],"language_ssim":["English"],"total_component_count_is":8,"online_item_count_is":0,"component_level_isim":[0],"sort_isi":0,"timestamp":"2026-07-23T21:13:33.340Z","collection":{"numFound":1,"start":0,"numFoundExact":true,"docs":[{"id":"vi_vi05134","ead_ssi":"vi_vi05134","_root_":"vi_vi05134","_nest_parent_":"vi_vi05134","ead_source_url_ssi":"data/lva/vi05134.xml","title_ssm":["Louisa County (Va.) Health and Medical Records, 1771-1902"],"title_tesim":["Louisa County (Va.) Health and Medical Records, 1771-1902"],"normalized_title_ssm":["Louisa County (Va.) Health and Medical Records, 1771-1902"],"text":["Louisa County (Va.) Health and Medical Records, 1771-1902","0007787120","African Americans--Mental Health--Virginia--Louisa County.","County courts--Virginia--Louisa County.","Insanity--Jurisprudence--Virginia--Louisa County.","Jails--Virginia--Louisa County.","Medical laws and legislation--Virginia--Louisa County.","Mental illness--Virginia--Louisa County.","Physicians--Virginia--Louisa County.","Psychiatric hospitals--Virginia.","Public health--Virginia.","Public health administration--Virginia.","Public records--Virginia--Louisa County.","Quarantine--Virginia--Louisa County.","Smallpox--Virginia--Louisa County.","Health and Medical--Virginia--Louisa County.","Local government records--Virginia--Louisa County.","Chronological within each series. The Mental Health Records are arranged chronologically by year, and alphabetically by name. If more than one individual is referenced in a document, names are listed on the folder but the folder title will reflect the number of individuals named. If an individual had more than one instance of suspected mental incapacity, there may be papers filed in more than one chronological location. Smallpox Epidemic Records are arranged chronologically by year within one folder.","Mental Health Records may consist of a variety of documents that historically were referred to as lunacy papers in the courthouses of Virginia localities and municipalities.","First known as commissions, the Justice of the Peace office originated with the county quarterly court in 1623. Commanders of Plantations (1607-1629) were predecessors of the commissioners, who since 1662 have been called justices of the peace. They have traditionally had both civil and criminal jurisdiction, and have served other functions, including performing coroners' and lunacy inquisitions. Until 1869 justices served both as judges of the county court and as individual justices; since then they have had only the latter function.","During its session begun in November 1769, the House of Burgesses passed an act establishing a hospital in Williamsburg for the mentally ill. The Eastern Lunatic Asylum (now Eastern State Hospital) was the first institution in America constructed as a mental hospital. The first patients were admitted in October 1773.","In January 1825 the Virginia General Assembly passed legislation providing for the construction of an asylum in the western part of the state. The institution, which become known as Western Lunatic Asylum, was constructed close to the town of Staunton, west of the Blue Ridge Mountains, was the second mental health facility built in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The buildings and surrounding gardens were designed to embrace the idea of \"moral therapy\" for mentally ill patients by providing an aesthetically pleasing and tranquil atmosphere in which patients lived comfortably, exercised and worked outdoors.","Western Lunatic Asylum opened in 1828, accepting both male and female patients suffering from a variety of mental disorders. It should be noted that the hospital underwent a short-lived name change between 1861 and 1865, when it was known as Central Lunatic Asylum. (It should not be confused with an asylum of the same name later built in Petersburg, Virginia to house African American patients). From 1865 to 1894 the name was again Western Lunatic Asylum. However, in 1894 the General Assembly passed legislation changing the name to Western State Hospital.","In March 1882 a 300 acre tract of land was purchased by the City of Petersburg and given to the state for the purpose of constructing a permanent mental health facility for African Americans. Construction of the new facility near Petersburg was completed in early spring 1885. This later included a special building to house the criminally insane apart from the rest of the hospital population. An early institutional history notes that treatment at Central Lunatic Asylum during the 1890s was humane and emphasized the value of work and the benefits of recreation. However, practices at the facility also included seclusion, mechanical restraints, and the administering of hypnotics.","In 1894, Central Lunatic Asylum was officially renamed Central State Hospital. This piece of legislation also altered the names of the other mental health facilities in Virginia in and attempt to inspire a more positive image of the institutions, and of mental health treatment in general. It is important to note that another state institution located in Staunton, Virginia went by the name Central Lunatic Asylum between the years of 1861 and 1865. Its name later was changed to Western Lunatic Asylum, and is a separate facility with no connection to the Richmond/Petersburg hospital for African Americans.","Louisa County was named for Louisa, a daughter of King George II and wife of King Frederick V of Denmark. It was formed from Hanover County in 1742.","Louisa County (Va.) Health and Medical Records 1771-1902, consist of two series: Mental Health Records and Smallpox Epidemic Records.","Mental Health Records are housed in five folders, and may include warrants, orders, petitions, depositions, reports, etc. for or by justices of the peace and others regarding the mental condition of individuals who were released to the recognizance of a family member or who were recommended to be committed to hospitals in Williamsburg, Staunton, Petersburg, or Richmond. Fiduciary records such as estate inventories of a person judged insane may also be present. Some justices of the peace convened at Elisha Jackson's Tavern to commiserate and write their reports.  See selected documents of interest below.","Smallpox Epidemic Records consist of one folder of papers relating to quarantines and hospitals for the containment of and/or treatment for smallpox outbreaks in Louisa County. 1779 documents include accounts of various individuals, especially William Terrell, for expenses incurred during smallpox outbreak at home hospital of William Ward. An 1862 order references a smallpox outbreak at the Slate Hill Gold Mine. Documents also reference three quarantines of individuals in May 1880, including one near Green Springs Depot at the home of Richard Ogg and another at James B. Madison's home known as \"Hackett's House\". A third quarantine did not specify location.","Louisa County (Va.) Circuit Court.","Central Lunatic Asylum for Colored Insane, Virginia.","Central State Hospital (Petersburg, Va.).","Eastern State Hospital (Va.).","Western State Hospital (Va.).","English"],"collection_title_tesim":["Louisa County (Va.) Health and Medical Records, 1771-1902"],"collection_ssim":["Louisa County (Va.) Health and Medical Records, 1771-1902"],"level_ssm":["collection"],"level_ssim":["Collection"],"unitid_ssm":["0007787120"],"unitid_tesim":["0007787120"],"repository_ssm":["Library of Virginia"],"repository_ssim":["Library of Virginia"],"creator_ssm":["Louisa County (Va.) Circuit Court"],"creator_ssim":["Louisa County (Va.) Circuit Court"],"creator_corpname_ssim":["Louisa County (Va.) Circuit Court.","Central Lunatic Asylum for Colored Insane, Virginia.","Central State Hospital (Petersburg, Va.).","Eastern State Hospital (Va.).","Western State Hospital (Va.)."],"creators_ssim":["Louisa County (Va.) Circuit Court.","Central Lunatic Asylum for Colored Insane, Virginia.","Central State Hospital (Petersburg, Va.).","Eastern State Hospital (Va.).","Western State Hospital (Va.)."],"acqinfo_ssim":["This collection came to the Library of Virginia in a transfer of court papers from Louisa County Circuit Court."],"access_subjects_ssim":["African Americans--Mental Health--Virginia--Louisa County.","County courts--Virginia--Louisa County.","Insanity--Jurisprudence--Virginia--Louisa County.","Jails--Virginia--Louisa County.","Medical laws and legislation--Virginia--Louisa County.","Mental illness--Virginia--Louisa County.","Physicians--Virginia--Louisa County.","Psychiatric hospitals--Virginia.","Public health--Virginia.","Public health administration--Virginia.","Public records--Virginia--Louisa County.","Quarantine--Virginia--Louisa County.","Smallpox--Virginia--Louisa County.","Health and Medical--Virginia--Louisa County.","Local government records--Virginia--Louisa County."],"access_subjects_ssm":["African Americans--Mental Health--Virginia--Louisa County.","County courts--Virginia--Louisa County.","Insanity--Jurisprudence--Virginia--Louisa County.","Jails--Virginia--Louisa County.","Medical laws and legislation--Virginia--Louisa County.","Mental illness--Virginia--Louisa County.","Physicians--Virginia--Louisa County.","Psychiatric hospitals--Virginia.","Public health--Virginia.","Public health administration--Virginia.","Public records--Virginia--Louisa County.","Quarantine--Virginia--Louisa County.","Smallpox--Virginia--Louisa County.","Health and Medical--Virginia--Louisa County.","Local government records--Virginia--Louisa County."],"has_online_content_ssim":["false"],"extent_ssm":[".225 cf; legal-sized half-hollinger box"],"extent_tesim":[".225 cf; legal-sized half-hollinger box"],"arrangement_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eChronological within each series. The Mental Health Records are arranged chronologically by year, and alphabetically by name. If more than one individual is referenced in a document, names are listed on the folder but the folder title will reflect the number of individuals named. If an individual had more than one instance of suspected mental incapacity, there may be papers filed in more than one chronological location. Smallpox Epidemic Records are arranged chronologically by year within one folder.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n    "],"arrangement_heading_ssm":["Arrangement"],"arrangement_tesim":["Chronological within each series. The Mental Health Records are arranged chronologically by year, and alphabetically by name. If more than one individual is referenced in a document, names are listed on the folder but the folder title will reflect the number of individuals named. If an individual had more than one instance of suspected mental incapacity, there may be papers filed in more than one chronological location. Smallpox Epidemic Records are arranged chronologically by year within one folder."],"bioghist_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eMental Health Records may consist of a variety of documents that historically were referred to as lunacy papers in the courthouses of Virginia localities and municipalities.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eFirst known as commissions, the Justice of the Peace office originated with the county quarterly court in 1623. Commanders of Plantations (1607-1629) were predecessors of the commissioners, who since 1662 have been called justices of the peace. They have traditionally had both civil and criminal jurisdiction, and have served other functions, including performing coroners' and lunacy inquisitions. Until 1869 justices served both as judges of the county court and as individual justices; since then they have had only the latter function.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eDuring its session begun in November 1769, the House of Burgesses passed an act establishing a hospital in Williamsburg for the mentally ill. The Eastern Lunatic Asylum (now Eastern State Hospital) was the first institution in America constructed as a mental hospital. The first patients were admitted in October 1773.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eIn January 1825 the Virginia General Assembly passed legislation providing for the construction of an asylum in the western part of the state. The institution, which become known as Western Lunatic Asylum, was constructed close to the town of Staunton, west of the Blue Ridge Mountains, was the second mental health facility built in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The buildings and surrounding gardens were designed to embrace the idea of \"moral therapy\" for mentally ill patients by providing an aesthetically pleasing and tranquil atmosphere in which patients lived comfortably, exercised and worked outdoors.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eWestern Lunatic Asylum opened in 1828, accepting both male and female patients suffering from a variety of mental disorders. It should be noted that the hospital underwent a short-lived name change between 1861 and 1865, when it was known as Central Lunatic Asylum. (It should not be confused with an asylum of the same name later built in Petersburg, Virginia to house African American patients). From 1865 to 1894 the name was again Western Lunatic Asylum. However, in 1894 the General Assembly passed legislation changing the name to Western State Hospital.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eIn March 1882 a 300 acre tract of land was purchased by the City of Petersburg and given to the state for the purpose of constructing a permanent mental health facility for African Americans. Construction of the new facility near Petersburg was completed in early spring 1885. This later included a special building to house the criminally insane apart from the rest of the hospital population. An early institutional history notes that treatment at Central Lunatic Asylum during the 1890s was humane and emphasized the value of work and the benefits of recreation. However, practices at the facility also included seclusion, mechanical restraints, and the administering of hypnotics.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003e In 1894, Central Lunatic Asylum was officially renamed Central State Hospital. This piece of legislation also altered the names of the other mental health facilities in Virginia in and attempt to inspire a more positive image of the institutions, and of mental health treatment in general. It is important to note that another state institution located in Staunton, Virginia went by the name Central Lunatic Asylum between the years of 1861 and 1865. Its name later was changed to Western Lunatic Asylum, and is a separate facility with no connection to the Richmond/Petersburg hospital for African Americans.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eLouisa County was named for Louisa, a daughter of King George II and wife of King Frederick V of Denmark. It was formed from Hanover County in 1742.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n"],"bioghist_heading_ssm":["Historical Information"],"bioghist_tesim":["Mental Health Records may consist of a variety of documents that historically were referred to as lunacy papers in the courthouses of Virginia localities and municipalities.","First known as commissions, the Justice of the Peace office originated with the county quarterly court in 1623. Commanders of Plantations (1607-1629) were predecessors of the commissioners, who since 1662 have been called justices of the peace. They have traditionally had both civil and criminal jurisdiction, and have served other functions, including performing coroners' and lunacy inquisitions. Until 1869 justices served both as judges of the county court and as individual justices; since then they have had only the latter function.","During its session begun in November 1769, the House of Burgesses passed an act establishing a hospital in Williamsburg for the mentally ill. The Eastern Lunatic Asylum (now Eastern State Hospital) was the first institution in America constructed as a mental hospital. The first patients were admitted in October 1773.","In January 1825 the Virginia General Assembly passed legislation providing for the construction of an asylum in the western part of the state. The institution, which become known as Western Lunatic Asylum, was constructed close to the town of Staunton, west of the Blue Ridge Mountains, was the second mental health facility built in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The buildings and surrounding gardens were designed to embrace the idea of \"moral therapy\" for mentally ill patients by providing an aesthetically pleasing and tranquil atmosphere in which patients lived comfortably, exercised and worked outdoors.","Western Lunatic Asylum opened in 1828, accepting both male and female patients suffering from a variety of mental disorders. It should be noted that the hospital underwent a short-lived name change between 1861 and 1865, when it was known as Central Lunatic Asylum. (It should not be confused with an asylum of the same name later built in Petersburg, Virginia to house African American patients). From 1865 to 1894 the name was again Western Lunatic Asylum. However, in 1894 the General Assembly passed legislation changing the name to Western State Hospital.","In March 1882 a 300 acre tract of land was purchased by the City of Petersburg and given to the state for the purpose of constructing a permanent mental health facility for African Americans. Construction of the new facility near Petersburg was completed in early spring 1885. This later included a special building to house the criminally insane apart from the rest of the hospital population. An early institutional history notes that treatment at Central Lunatic Asylum during the 1890s was humane and emphasized the value of work and the benefits of recreation. However, practices at the facility also included seclusion, mechanical restraints, and the administering of hypnotics.","In 1894, Central Lunatic Asylum was officially renamed Central State Hospital. This piece of legislation also altered the names of the other mental health facilities in Virginia in and attempt to inspire a more positive image of the institutions, and of mental health treatment in general. It is important to note that another state institution located in Staunton, Virginia went by the name Central Lunatic Asylum between the years of 1861 and 1865. Its name later was changed to Western Lunatic Asylum, and is a separate facility with no connection to the Richmond/Petersburg hospital for African Americans.","Louisa County was named for Louisa, a daughter of King George II and wife of King Frederick V of Denmark. It was formed from Hanover County in 1742."],"scopecontent_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eLouisa County (Va.) Health and Medical Records 1771-1902, consist of two series: Mental Health Records and Smallpox Epidemic Records.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eMental Health Records are housed in five folders, and may include warrants, orders, petitions, depositions, reports, etc. for or by justices of the peace and others regarding the mental condition of individuals who were released to the recognizance of a family member or who were recommended to be committed to hospitals in Williamsburg, Staunton, Petersburg, or Richmond. Fiduciary records such as estate inventories of a person judged insane may also be present. Some justices of the peace convened at Elisha Jackson's Tavern to commiserate and write their reports.  See selected documents of interest below.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eSmallpox Epidemic Records consist of one folder of papers relating to quarantines and hospitals for the containment of and/or treatment for smallpox outbreaks in Louisa County. 1779 documents include accounts of various individuals, especially William Terrell, for expenses incurred during smallpox outbreak at home hospital of William Ward. An 1862 order references a smallpox outbreak at the Slate Hill Gold Mine. Documents also reference three quarantines of individuals in May 1880, including one near Green Springs Depot at the home of Richard Ogg and another at James B. Madison's home known as \"Hackett's House\". A third quarantine did not specify location.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n"],"scopecontent_heading_ssm":["Scope and Content"],"scopecontent_tesim":["Louisa County (Va.) Health and Medical Records 1771-1902, consist of two series: Mental Health Records and Smallpox Epidemic Records.","Mental Health Records are housed in five folders, and may include warrants, orders, petitions, depositions, reports, etc. for or by justices of the peace and others regarding the mental condition of individuals who were released to the recognizance of a family member or who were recommended to be committed to hospitals in Williamsburg, Staunton, Petersburg, or Richmond. Fiduciary records such as estate inventories of a person judged insane may also be present. Some justices of the peace convened at Elisha Jackson's Tavern to commiserate and write their reports.  See selected documents of interest below.","Smallpox Epidemic Records consist of one folder of papers relating to quarantines and hospitals for the containment of and/or treatment for smallpox outbreaks in Louisa County. 1779 documents include accounts of various individuals, especially William Terrell, for expenses incurred during smallpox outbreak at home hospital of William Ward. An 1862 order references a smallpox outbreak at the Slate Hill Gold Mine. Documents also reference three quarantines of individuals in May 1880, including one near Green Springs Depot at the home of Richard Ogg and another at James B. Madison's home known as \"Hackett's House\". A third quarantine did not specify location."],"corpname_ssim":["Louisa County (Va.) Circuit Court.","Central Lunatic Asylum for Colored Insane, Virginia.","Central State Hospital (Petersburg, Va.).","Eastern State Hospital (Va.).","Western State Hospital (Va.)."],"names_ssim":["Louisa County (Va.) Circuit Court.","Central Lunatic Asylum for Colored Insane, Virginia.","Central State Hospital (Petersburg, Va.).","Eastern State Hospital (Va.).","Western State Hospital (Va.)."],"language_ssim":["English"],"total_component_count_is":8,"online_item_count_is":0,"component_level_isim":[0],"sort_isi":0,"timestamp":"2026-07-23T21:13:33.340Z"}]}},"label":"Breadcrumbs"}}},"links":{"self":"https://arvasarchive.org/catalog/vi_vi05134"}},{"id":"vi_vi05122","type":"collection","attributes":{"title":"Norfolk County Health and Medical Records, 1774-1905","creator":{"id":"https://arvasarchive.org/catalog/vi_vi05122#creator","type":"document_value","attributes":{"value":"Norfolk County (Va.) Circuit Court","label":"Creator"}},"abstract_or_scope":{"id":"https://arvasarchive.org/catalog/vi_vi05122#abstract_or_scope","type":"document_value","attributes":{"value":"\u003cp\u003e Norfolk County (Va.) Health and Medical Records, 1774-1905, consist of four folders: Mental Health Records, 1824-1891; Registers of Medical Professionals, 1909; Sanitary Inspectors' Reports, 1847-1885; and Smallpox Epidemic Records, 1774-1905. \u003c/p\u003e","label":"Abstract Or Scope"}},"breadcrumbs":{"id":"https://arvasarchive.org/catalog/vi_vi05122#breadcrumbs","type":"document_value","attributes":{"value":{"id":"vi_vi05122","ead_ssi":"vi_vi05122","_root_":"vi_vi05122","_nest_parent_":"vi_vi05122","ead_source_url_ssi":"data/lva/vi05122.xml","title_ssm":["Norfolk County Health and Medical Records, 1774-1905"],"title_tesim":["Norfolk County Health and Medical Records, 1774-1905"],"normalized_title_ssm":["Norfolk County Health and Medical Records, 1774-1905"],"text":["Norfolk County Health and Medical Records, 1774-1905","1157335","African Americans--Mental Health--Virginia--Norfolk County.","Insanity--Jurisprudence--Virginia--Norfolk County.","Jails--Virginia--Norfolk County.","Mental illness--Virginia--Norfolk County.","Physicians--Virginia--Norfolk County.","Psychiatric hospitals--Virginia.","Public health administration--Virginia.","Public records--Virginia--Norfolk County.","Slaves--Virginia--Norfolk County.","Smallpox--Virginia Norfolk County.","Health and Medical--Virginia--Norfolk County.","Local government records--Virginia--Norfolk County.","Chronological by entry date, then alphabetically by last name of individual.","Mental Health Records may consist of a variety of documents that historically were referred to as lunacy papers in the courthouses of Virginia localities and municipalities.","A fiduciary is an individual who enters into a confidential and legal relationship which binds them to act on behalf of another. Guardians are legally invested to take care of another person, and of the property and rights of that person. Thus, some records referred to as insanity papers are housed with fiduciary records and not with mental health records. Those pertain to estates of three persons adjudged insane in 1819, 1884, and 1893, respectively.","During its session begun in November 1769, the House of Burgesses passed an act establishing a hospital in Williamsburg for the mentally ill. The Eastern Lunatic Asylum (now Eastern State Hospital) was the first institution in America constructed as a mental hospital. The first patients were admitted in October 1773.","In January 1825 the Virginia General Assembly passed legislation providing for the construction of an asylum in the western part of the state. The institution, which became known as Western Lunatic Asylum, was constructed close to the town of Staunton, west of the Blue Ridge Mountains, and was the second mental health facility built in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The buildings and surrounding gardens were designed to embrace the idea of \"moral therapy\" for mentally ill patients by providing an aesthetically pleasing and tranquil atmosphere in which patients lived comfortably, exercised and worked outdoors.","Western Lunatic Asylum opened in 1828, accepting both male and female patients suffering from a variety of mental disorders. It should be noted that the hospital underwent a short-lived name change between 1861 and 1865, when it was known as Central Lunatic Asylum. (It should not be confused with an asylum of the same name later built in Petersburg, Virginia to house African American patients). From 1865 to 1894 the name was again Western Lunatic Asylum. However, in 1894 the General Assembly passed legislation changing the name to Western State Hospital.","Norfolk County was created in 1691 when Lower Norfolk County was divided into Norfolk County and Princess Anne County. Norfolk County became extinct on 1 January 1963, when it was consolidated with the city of South Norfolk to form the city of Chesapeake. The county seat was Portsmouth.","Norfolk County (Va.) Health and Medical Records, 1774-1905, consist of four folders: Mental Health Records, 1824-1891; Registers of Medical Professionals, 1909; Sanitary Inspectors' Reports, 1847-1885; and Smallpox Epidemic Records, 1774-1905.","Mental Health Records, 1824-1891, may include warrants, orders, petitions, depositions, reports, etc. for or by justices of the peace and others regarding the mental condition of individuals who were released to the recognizance of a family member or who were committed to a mental hospital. Includes references to Western Lunatic Asylum and Eastern Lunatic Asylum. Fiduciary records such as estate inventories of a person judged insane may also be present. One brief estate inventory includes two unnamed enslaved people.","Registers of Medical Professionals, 1909, consists of one dental register for a Norfolk County dentist.","Sanitary Inspectors' Reports, 1847-1885, relate to reports to boards of health of the cities of Portsmouth and Norfolk regarding unsanitary slaughterhouses, brickyards, and factories.","Smallpox Epidemic Records, 1774-1905, consists of papers relating to quarantines and hospitals for the containment or treatment of smallpox outbreaks near Portsmouth, Norfolk and Norfolk County. 1774 item is a bond and attachment relating to plans and specifications for construction of a small pox pest house. Also includes a handwritten 1832 copy of \"An act to amend the act entitled an act to reduce into one act the several acts for regulating inoculation \u0026 for the prevention of the small pox and for other purposes.  Passed February the 11th 1832.\" 1854-1855 materials document the establishment of a temporary hospital near Lambert's Point for receiving and treating contagious diseases among merchant seamen arriving at the port, and findings related to yellow fever rather than smallpox.","Norfolk County (Va.) Circuit Court.","Eastern State Hospital (Va.).","Western State Hospital (Va.).","English"],"collection_title_tesim":["Norfolk County Health and Medical Records, 1774-1905"],"collection_ssim":["Norfolk County Health and Medical Records, 1774-1905"],"level_ssm":["collection"],"level_ssim":["Collection"],"unitid_ssm":["1157335"],"unitid_tesim":["1157335"],"repository_ssm":["Library of Virginia"],"repository_ssim":["Library of Virginia"],"creator_ssm":["Norfolk County (Va.) 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