Northumberland County (Va.) Military and Pension Records, circa 1785-1919

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:

There are no restrictions.

Preferred citation:

Northumberland County (Va.) Military and Pension Records, circa 1785-1919. Local government records collection, Northumberland County Court Records. The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Va. 23219.

Summary

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

Northumberland County (Va.) Military and Pension Records, circa 1785-1919. Local government records collection, Northumberland County Court Records. The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Va. 23219.

Background

Scope and content:

Northumberland County (Va.) Military and Pension Records, circa 1785-1919 consist of applications for commutation money and artifical limbs (1882-1886), applications for pensions (circa 1888-1908), a bond from Northumberland County to the widows and minor children of confederate soldiers and sailors (1877), confederate pension board minutes and appointments (1900-1915), a declaration of Revolutionary War military service (undated), exemptions from military service (1862), General Assembly resolutions regarding money and property expended during the Revolutionary War (1788), lists of applications for pensions (1906-1919), certification of pensioners (1785-1791, 1902), militia officer qualifications (1804), the muster roll of infantry attached to the 2nd battalion of the 3rd regiment (1850), a petition for an exemption from military duty (1862), records regarding soldiers' heirs and bounty warrants (1836-1858), reports of indigent families of soldiers (1862-1865), and salt agents' reports (1864-1865).

Biographical / historical:

Northumberland County probably was named for the English county. It was formed about 1645 from the district of Chickacoan, the early-seventeenth-century name for the region between the Potomac and the Rappahannock rivers.

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

Acquisition information:
These items came to the Library of Virginia in a transfer of court papers from Northumberland County under the accession number 43283.
Arrangement:

Arranged alphabetically by subject and then chronologically.

Physical location:
Library of Virginia
Physical description:
0.2 cu. ft.