Collections : [Library of Virginia]

Cumberland County (Va.) Apprenticeship Indentures, 1759-1856, consist of contracts or agreements binding out white, Black, or Multiracial children, sometimes those who were orphaned, to learn a particular trade or craft. These indentures may be written agreements between the family of the apprentice and those responsible for the indentured. In many cases this includes the direct involvement of the Overseers of the Poor. They typically contain the name of the person or institution binding out, the person to whom bound, the name of the person being indentured, the length of the apprenticeship, and the responsibilities of the person taking on the indenture.

Cumberland County (Va.) Board of Madison Township Checkbook, 1875, contains blank checks and used check stubs that indicate to whom payment was made, the amount, and for what reason. Payments were made for services as grand juror, services as election judge, support of the township's poor, service as superintendent of the poor, and for bridge repair. The majority of the volume is blank.

Cumberland County (Va.) Bonds/Comissions/Oaths, 1759-1920 circa, typically consist of bonds, commissions, oaths, certificates, and appointments related to holding public office. Some collections can include ministers' bonds.

Cumberland County (Va.) Chancery Causes, 1750-1912, consists of cases concerning issues of equity brought largely by residents of the county and filed in the circuit court. These cases often involve the following actions: divisions of estates or land, disputes over wills, disputes regarding contracts, debt, divorce, and business disputes. Other less prevalent issues include freedom suits, permissions to sell property, and disputes concerning trespass. Predominant documents found in these chancery causes include bills (documents the plaintiff's complaint), answers (defendant's response to the plaintiff's complaint), decrees (court's decision), depositions, affidavits, correspondence, lists of heirs, deeds, plats, wills, records involving enslaved individuals, business records or vital statistics.

Cumberland County (Va.) Deeds of Emancipation, 1824, include one deed. Deeds of emancipation typically record the name of the enslaver, the name of the enslaved person or persons to be freed, the date the enslaved person or persons achieved freedom, and the date the manumission was proved or certified. Sometimes, the deeds describe the reason for emancipation or manumission. Deeds of emancipation could be generated after the enslaver’s death by those executing a last will and testament.

Cumberland County (Va.) Estray Records, 1751-1879, contain various loose and bound records giving public notice of valuable, tame animals, either lost or found wandering and presumed escaped from their owners, allowing the owners to reclaim the animals. Enteries generally indicate by whom the animal was taken up, before what justice the person went and when, and the description and appraisement (value) of the animal.

Cumberland County (Va.) Fiduciary Records, 1752-1928, include miscellaneous records filed in a local court by trustees, administrators, executors, guardians, and committees that related to the performance of their duties managing a person's estate. These records typically include the following; bonds, appraisements, audits, inventories, accounts, estate divisions, settlements, dowery records, etc. Information related to enslaved people are commonly found in these records.

Cumberland County (Va.) Free and Enslaved Records, 1753-1865, consist of "Free Negro" Tax Records, 1837-1861; Patrol Records, 1759-1860; Requisitions for Public Use, 1862-1865; Runaway Records, 1839; and additional single records, circa 1753-1855.

Cumberland County (Va.) Marriage Register, 1850-1861, is a list of marriages celebrated in the county and recorded by the county clerk. The register is very basic and includes only the date of the license and the names of the persons for whom the marriage license was issued. The volume contains only eight numbered pages. Marriages between free negroes or free persons of color are noted in parentheses between 1850 and 1859.

Cumberland County (Va.) Organization Records, 1856-1914 is comprised of various records created by groups in Cumberland County. These records consist of a record book and a cash account book.