Albemarle County (Va.) Samuel Miller Township Account Book, 1871

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:

Albemarle County (Va.) Samuel Miller Township Account Book, 1871. Local government records collection, Albemarle County Court Records. The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia 23219.

Summary

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

Albemarle County (Va.) Samuel Miller Township Account Book, 1871. Local government records collection, Albemarle County Court Records. The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia 23219.

Background

Scope and content:

Albemarle County (Va.) Samuel Miller Township Account Book, 1871, is a rough draft taken by a township official of the personal property and land taxes for that year. Included tax personal property tax categories are furniture, plate, bonds, capital, income, dogs, livestock, books, tools, farm implements, watches, clocks, and pianos. Included land tax categories are residence, fee or life, number of acres, description, bearing and distance, calue per acre, buildings value, and value of land and buildings. Taxed persons are listed alphabetically with the personal property tax lists preceeding the land tax lists. Following the tax lists are lists of births and deaths for 1871, other data on county residents listed as white and colored possibly for the purposes of county levies, and a list of licenses for 1872-1873. Page 13 contains a partial letter of apology composed to an unknown person and page 121 consists of a Latin lesson or practice. Several pages have been cut or torn from the book.

Biographical / historical:

Albemarle County was named for William Anne Keppel, second earl of Albemarle and governor of the Virginia colony from 1737 to 1754. It 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 in 1761 and 1838.

The 1870 Virginia Constitution required that each county in the state be divided into no less than three townships (see Article VII, section 2). Based on the New England administrative organization of a county, each township would elect the administration officials for the offices of supervisor, clerk, assessor, collector, commissioner of the roads, overseer of the poor, justice of the peace, and constable. The supervisors of each township would comprise the board of supervisors for the county, and would be responsible for auditing the county accounts, examining the assessors' books, regulating property valuation, and fixing the county levies. The Acts of Assembly provided that each township be divided into school and electoral districts (see Acts of Assembly 1869-1870, Chapter 39). A constitutional amendment in 1874 changed the townships into magisterial districts and each district elected one supervisor, three justices of the peace, one constable, and one overseer of the poor. The supervisors of the districts made up the county board of supervisors whose duties were identical as those set out in 1870. The published Acts of Assembly appended a list of township names by county following the acts for every year that townships existed in Virginia.

Acquisition information:
This item came to the Library of Virginia under the accession number 27155.
Physical location:
State Records Center - Archives Annex, Library of Virginia
Physical description:
1 v. (144 p.)