New Kent County (Va.) Organization Records, 1868-1914

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:

There are no restrictions.

Terms of access:

There are no restrictions.

Preferred citation:

New Kent County (Va.) Organization Records, 1868-1914, [series or volume title]. Local government records collection, New Kent County Court Records. The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Va. 23219.

Summary

Extent:
0.45 cubic feet (1 box)
Creator:
New Kent County (Va.) Circuit Court
Language:
English
Preferred citation:

New Kent County (Va.) Organization Records, 1868-1914, [series or volume title]. Local government records collection, New Kent County Court Records. The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Va. 23219.

Background

Scope and content:

New Kent County (Va.) Organization Records, 1868-1914 is comprised of records created by groups in New Kent County. These records consist of unprocessed, loose records. The records typically consist of appointments of trustees, minutes, and miscellaneous records of religious organizations, fraternal organizations, independent associations, and cooperatives.

Includes boxes containing material identified as organization records. These records may be flat fliled or foldered but not fully processed.

Primarily contains church records, including appointment of trustees.

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: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 county seat is New Kent.

Lost Locality Notes: 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 records came to the Library of Virginia in a transfer of court papers from New Kent 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.

Encoded by J. Taylor: January 2026.

Arrangement:

This collection is arranged into one series:

  • Series I: New Kent County (Va.) Organization Records, 1868-1914 [UNPROCESSED]

Physical location:
Library of Virginia
Physical description:
.