Cumberland County (Va.) Organization Records, 1856-1914

Access and use

Location of collection:
Library of Virginia
The Library of Virginia
800 East Broad Street
Richmond, VA 23219
Contact for questions and access:
POC: Archives Reference Services
Phone: (804) 692-3888
Restrictions:

Cumberland Baptist Church Record Book, 1856-1896, is digitized and available through Virginia Untold: The African American Narrative Digital Collection on the Library of Virginia website. Please use digital images.

Terms of access:

There are no restrictions.

Preferred citation:

Cumberland County (Va.) Organization Records, 1856-1914, [cite volume or series title]. Local government records collection, Cumberland County Court Records. The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia 23219.

Summary

Creator:
Cumberland County (Va.) Circuit Court.
Language:
English
Preferred citation:

Cumberland County (Va.) Organization Records, 1856-1914, [cite volume or series title]. Local government records collection, Cumberland County Court Records. The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia 23219.

Background

Scope and content:

Cumberland County (Va.) Organization Records, 1856-1914 is comprised of various records created by groups in Cumberland County. These records consist of a record book and a cash account book.

Historical Information:Cumberland Baptist Church was founded in 1810 by Joseph Jenkins. The church first met in a log building. Members of Cumberland Baptist church met alternately at Booker's Meeting House and Tar Wallet Meeting House between 1836 and 1843 when the congregation divided. The members living near Tar Wallet formed a separate church and the remaining members constituted Cumberland Baptist Church. The congregation met at Booker's Meeting House from 1856 until 1858 when the congregation began meeting at Jenkins' Meeting House.

Scope and Content: Cumberland Baptist Church Record Book, 1856-1896, kept by various members of the church, consists of 286 pages and largely records the church's monthly and quarterly meetings and additional church business.

Church business activities documented in the volume includes: date and location of meetings; names of members attending meetings; election of church officers; reports of church officers; reports to James River Association providing the number of both white and Black members; resolutions passed by church membership; and decisions made by the church membership related to the activities of the church such as excommunication of members, reconciliation of church members, and baptism of new church members.

The church's membership included Black and multiracial individuals, most of whom were enslaved by white church members. The record book lists the names of enslaved individuals baptized and their enslaver. The volume also records the withdrawal of Black and multiracial members from the church in 1866 for the purpose of forming a Baptist church for the Black community.

The record book includes an index that lists in alphabetical order the names of church members. The index includes additional information such as the year the individual joined the church, the year they were removed from the membership roll, and the reason for their removal (excommunication, death, transfer of membership, etc.)

Families indicated as members of Cumberland Baptist Church include: Jenkins family, Anderson family, Reynolds family, Dowdy family, Dunkum family, Meador family, Nunnally family, Parker family, Sanderson family, and Talley family.

Cumberland Baptist Church Record Book, 1856-1896, is digitized and available through the Virginia Untold Digital Collection. Please use Digitial Images

Scope and Content:The records of the Modern Woodmen of America Local 13195 consists of a cash account book. The volume records in chronological order amount received from the camp's clerk to go into camp's benefit and general funds and the amount paid from both funds.

Historical Information:Modern Woodmen of America was a fraternal organization founded in 1883 by Joseph Cullen Root, an Iowa businessman, to provide financial services, life insurance, and opportunities for fellowship for men ages 18 to 45.

Biographical / historical:

Context for Record Type: Organization Records, both volumes and loose records, are in some cases transferred to the Library of Virginia as components of court record transfers. These organization records in some cases were simply stored in the local court building for safe keeping by business owners. In other cases, organization records (particularly ledgers, account books, etc.) may have been filed in a court case as an exhibit. These organization record exhibits appeared both in chancery causes and in judgments, these records serving as exhibits for business dissolution cases, debt suits, and contract disputes.

Locality History: Cumberland County was named for William Augustus, duke of Cumberland, third son of King George II. It was formed from Goochland County in 1749. The county seat is Cumberland.

Acquisition information:

The Cumberland Baptist Church Record book came to the Library of Virginia in a transfer of court papers from Cumberland County in 2005 under the accession number 41989.

The Modern Woodmen of America Cash Account Book came to the Library of Virginia in a transfer of court papers from Cumberland County under an undated accession.

Processing information:

Prior to 2025, the various organization records in this collection were originally described as individual records, but they have been consolidated into one large organization record for the locality. Since 2025, these records additionally include identified but not processed records.

Conservation was performed by the Library of Virginia Conservation Lab in 2020 and funded by a donation made by Georga S. Williams to the Library of Virginia Foundation's Adopt Virginia History Program.

Encoded by G. Crawford, 2007; Updated by M. Mason, May 2024; updated by J. Taylor, October 2025.

Arrangement:

This collection is arranged into two series:

  • Series I: Cumberland Baptist Church Records, 1856-1896
  • Series II: Modern Woodmen of America Local 13195 Records, 1908-1914

Physical location:
Library of Virginia
Physical description:
Digital images; 2 volumes.