Collections : [Library of Virginia]

Manchester (Va.) Board/Committee Minute Books, 1875-1900 (bulk 1900-1910), provide an excellent historical overview of how the city functioned according to the mandates of the Mayor's Office and the City Council. The first volume is the Board of Police Commissioners' Minute Book. This volume dates from 1875-1910 and numbers 157 p. The volume deals with the board's rules, regulations and resolutions regarding the city's police force. The second volume is the Board of Fire Commissioners' Minute Book. This volume dates from 1892-1910 and numbers 196 p. This volume deals with with the board's rules, regulations and resolutions regarding the city's fire department. The third volume is composed of various and specialized committees--Light/Electric Light/Water/Clear Water/Fire--comprising the city's Utility Commission. This volume dates from 1902-1910 and numbers 288 p. This volume is comprised of various committee reports and resolutions. The page numbers for the various committee minutes are noted in the front of the volume. For these three volumes, all loose documents found in the volume were filmed at the end of the volume.

Manchester (Va.) Board of Alderman Minute Book, 1902-1910, covers the adminstrative functions of this governing body. The Board of Alderman of the City of Manchester, like the City Assembly, was formed on February 15, 1901 by Virginia's General Assembly. According to the Acts of the Assembly (p. 241), "the administration and government of the city shall be vested in one principal officer, to be styled the mayor; the City Council to be composed of the Board of Alderman, consisting of two members from each ward, and the City Assembly, consisting of three members from each ward." Furthermore, "each board composing the city council shall have one regular meeting during each month and as many special or called meetings as the interests of the city shall require. A majority of the members elected to each board shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business. No ordinances or resolutions shall become a law of the city until adopted by a majority of each board present and voting." Unlike the City Assembly, however, the Board of Alderman was not officially organized until July 2, 1902. The volume deals primarily with building permits, committees and ordinances. The volume has an internal index (A-W) organized alphabetically by subject according to the order in which it appears in the volume.

Manchester (Va.) Board of Trustees Minute Books, 1811-1875, are comprised of three separate volumes dealing with the business of the town of Manchester's Board of Trustees through the creation of the city of Manchester's City Council. When the town was established in 1769, directors and trustees were appointed to govern the town. The first volume dates from 1811-1850 and numbers 308 pages. The volume opens with surviving trustee, John Murchie, calling for a meeting of the town's freeholders to elect the proper persons to supply vacancies on the Board of Trustees. The town sheriff, in charge of the elections, appoints seven new trustees to the board. These trustees are then entrusted with running the town--dealing with bonds for town officials, passing town ordinances--relating to both free men and slaves--in order to create a code of law for the town, forming committees to deal with various issues, surveying land and lots, collecting subscriptions for studies and improvements to the town's infrastructure, noting assessments of taxable property, including Treasurer's accounts as well as various reports and claims for town services.

Manchester (Va.) Finance Committee Minute Books, 1878-1910, provide a comprehensive overview of the city's financial condition. The first volume dates from 1878-1902 and numbers 209 pages. The second volume dates from 1902-1910 and numbers 370 pages and the last volume dates from 1910 and numbers 19 pages. Taken as a whole, the volumes include the reports of the City's Treasurer, Auditor and Commissioner of Revenue as well as the City Collector of Delinquent Taxes; recommendations made to City Council; bills approved to pay for city services--fire, police, alms house, etc. and fines collected in the Mayor's Court. A series of loose documents, 1902-1910, were filmed at the beginning of each volume.

Manchester (Va.) Maury Cemetery Committee Minute Book, 1907-1910, was a volume kept and used to record the dealings of the Cemetery Committee as part of the City Council. On page eight, section 16, of the city charter, is found the following: "to provide in or near the said city, lands to be appropriated, improved and kept in order as places for the burial of the dead." As historian Benjamin Weisiger III indicates in his book, there were a number of small private cemeteries in town before the opening of Maury Cemetery in 1874. "In February 1872, the town trustees started looking into purchasing land outside of the town for a Cemetery. In April 1872, an ordinance was passed forbidding burial within the town limits. By 1877, all burials were moved outside the city and a suitable are in Maury was set aside for those previously buried in the center of town."

Manchester (Va.) Street Committee Records, 1888-1910, are comprised of three minute books which provide in-depth information on one of the City Council's various committees created to provide oversight of an important public service. Volume one dates from 1888-1898 and numbers 352 pages. Loose documents were filmed between pages 303-304. The second volume dates from 1898-1905 and numbers 499 pages. Loose documents are found at the beginning of the volume. Volume three dates from 1905-1910 and numbers 265 pages. Loose documents are found between pages 143 and 144. Only volumes one and two contain internal indexes. According to the volumes, the streets of Manchester were the purview of the Superintendent of Streets, the City Engineer and the city surveyors. All manner of improvements related to the city streets are noted in the volumes from the establishment of street grades, the examination of streets and filling of holes, the general work of curbing, guttering and paving to the submission of plans and specifications for paving sidewalks and bills for payment, the acceptance of bids and petitions for projects and the various reports of the responsible city officials.