New Kent County (Va) Board of Supervisors Records, 1858-1921

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:

New Kent County (Va.) Board of Supervisors Records, 1858-1921. Local government records collection, New Kent County Court Records. The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Va. 23219.

Summary

Extent:
5 boxes and 2 volumes
Creator:
New Kent County (Va.) Circuit Court
Language:
English
Preferred citation:

New Kent County (Va.) Board of Supervisors Records, 1858-1921. Local government records collection, New Kent County Court Records. The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Va. 23219.

Background

Scope and content:

New Kent County (Va.) Board of Supervisors Records, 1858-1921 contains two volumes, Records of Board of Supervisiors, 1870-1890 and Board of Supervisors Book, 1890-1907. Five boxes include loose records and some undated records. The other five boxes include Road and Bridge Records such as Road Accounts, Bridge Records, Bridge, Ferry & Public Landing Records, Road Petitions, Road Overseer & Road Superintendent Records related to the Commissioner of Roads & Road Construction Records.

This box contains Road Accounts and Bridge Records.

This box contains Bridge, Ferry & Public Landing Records.

This box contains Road Accounts.

This box contains Road Petitions, Road Overseer and Road Construction Records.

This box contains Road Accounts.

This box contains loose records.

This box contains loose records.

This box contains loose records.

This box contains loose records.

This box contains loose records.

This volume contains the records of the Board of Supervisors for 1870-1890. It is part of Accession Number 42127.

This volume contains the records of the Board of Supervisors for 1890-1900. It is part of Accession Number 42127.

Biographical / historical:

New Kent County may have been named either for the English county of Kent or for Kent Island, in the upper waters of the Chesapeake Bay. William Claiborne, a native of Kent who had been driven from Kent Island by Lord Baltimore, was a prominent resident of the New Kent area about 1654 when the county was formed from York County. Part of James City County was added in 1767.

The Board of Supervisors is the basic governing body of the county. County laws--called ordinances--may also be passed by this board. This form of government came into existence with the state constitution of 1869 when the counties were divided into a minimum of three townships each, with a popularly elected supervisor from each township. When the township system was abolished in 1875, the counties were divided into magisterial districts. The Board of Supervisors are the current elected representatives of these districts and meet in regular monthly public sessions.

Until 1869 the county court controlled construction, alteration of, and maintenance of roads. The state constitution of 1869 created overseers of the roads and road boards which fell under the jurisdiction of the county's board of supervisors.

Records were destroyed when John Posey set fire to the courthouse on 15 July 1787. Many records were lost when the courthouse was partially destroyed by fire during Civil War hostilities in 1862. Additional records were burned in Richmond on 3 April 1865, where they had been moved for safekeeping during the Civil War.

Acquisition information:
These item came to the Library of Virginia in shipments of court records from New Kent County (Va.) The two volumes came to the Library of Virginia under the accession number 42127.
Physical location:
State Records Center-Archives Annex, Library of Virginia