Accomack County (VA.) Board of Overseers of the Poor Record Book, 1820-1857 (bulk 1820-1846)

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:

There are no restrictions.

Terms of access:

Use microfilm copy, Accomack County (Va.) Reel 345

Preferred citation:

Accomack County, (Va.) Board of Overseers of the Poor Record Book, 1820-1857 (bulk 1820-1846). Local Government Records Collection, Accomack County Court Records. The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Va. 23219.

Summary

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

Accomack County, (Va.) Board of Overseers of the Poor Record Book, 1820-1857 (bulk 1820-1846). Local Government Records Collection, Accomack County Court Records. The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Va. 23219.

Background

Scope and content:

The Accomack County (Va.) Board of Overseers of the Poor Record Book is one volume dated 1820-1857 (bulk 1820-1846). The minutes are for Accomack and St. George's Parishes. The minutes give the names of people receiving financial support, food, and clothing, as well as binding children as apprentices, and the burial of the deceased. Records concerning the poorhouse are included. The minutes also include the details of the collection of the levy for the poor and how the money was spent. The minutes include lists of insolvents for 1818-1845. There is an index at the back of the book.

An undated list of names and accounts is found in the volume. There is a page with the introduction for the 6 April 1857 meeting. This page does not have any information about the meeting.

Biographical / historical:

Accomack County was named for the Accomac Indians, who lived on the eastern Shore at the time of the first English settlement in Virginia. One of the original eight shires established in 1634, Accomac County (spelled without a k) became Northampton County in 1643. The present country was formed from Northampton about 1663. In 1940 the General Assembly adopted the county's present spelling.

In 1780 the Virginia General Assembly replaced the Anglican vestries and churchwardens of the colonial period with elected bodies called Overseers of the Poor. The Overseers provided food, clothing, shelter, and medical treatment for the persons who were too poor to support themselves or too ill to provide for their basic needs. They also bound out children whose parents could not support them or who failed to educate or instruct them, as well as orphans to become apprentices. The boys learned a trade and the girls learned domestic skills.

Acquisition information:

This item came to the Library of Virginia in shipments of court papers from Accomack County.

The microfilm was generated by Backstage Library Works through the Library of Virginia's Circuit Court Records Preservation Program.

Arrangement:

Chronological

Physical location:
State Records Center - Archives Annex, Library of Virginia
Physical description:
1 v. and 1 microfilm reel.