Collections

This file may include announcements, clippings, press releases, brochures, reviews, invitations, small exhibition catalogs, and other ephemeral material.

This file may include announcements, clippings, press releases, brochures, reviews, invitations, small exhibition catalogs, and other ephemeral material.

Accomack County (Va.) Apprenticeship Indentures, 1744, 1786-1796, 1820-1872, 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.

Accomack County (Va.) Birth and Death Records, 1912-1918, consist of birth and death records.

The Accomack County (Va.) Board of Overseers of the Poor Record Book is one volume dated 1820-1857 (bulk 1820-1846). The minutes are for Accomack and St. George's Parishes. The minutes give the names of people receiving financial support, food, and clothing, as well as binding children as apprentices, and the burial of the deceased. Records concerning the poorhouse are included. The minutes also include the details of the collection of the levy for the poor and how the money was spent. The minutes include lists of insolvents for 1818-1845. There is an index at the back of the book.

Accomack County (Va.) Bonds/Comissions/Oaths, 1700-1940 circa, typically consist of bonds, commissions, oaths, certificates, and appointments related to holding public office. Some collections can include ministers' bonds.

Accomack County (Va.) Census of Tobacco Plants, 1725, 1728-1729, are three lists of tobacco plants. The 1725 list records the names of tithable persons, half shares, and the number of tobacco plants grown. The precinct is not given although the counters state that this list was drawn up at the order of the vestry at the Middle Church. The 1728 list records the names of all tithable persons and how many plants they were growing along with the number of plots or plantations in which the crop was being grown. Slave names are given along with their owners. A total of the number of plants in the county is given at the end of the list. The 1729 list is for the second precinct and records the same information as the 1728 list although without the land information.

Accomack County (Va.) Certificates of Importation, 1795-1815, sometimes entitled certificates of nonimportation, contain information whereby an enslaver swears that they have not imported the enslaved person from Africa and that the enslaver has not brought the enslaved person into Virginia with the purpose of selling the enslaved person. The enslaved person is sometimes named, but not always, and occasionally information is given as to age, birthdate, and the state the individuals are moving from.

Accomack County (Va.) Chancery Causes, 1727-1876 (bulk 1769-1876) 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.

Accomack County (Va.) Commissioner of Wrecks Records, 1842-1880 (bulk 1846-1850), contain correspondence and accounts pertaining to the salvage and sale of cargo from four shipwrecks along the coast of Accomack County between 1846 and 1850. The correspondence consists mostly of letters written to Thomas Cropper, a commissioner of wrecks, or wreck master, and attorney, pertaining to his work as a commissioner of wrecks in Accomack County. The records document the value of the cargo salvaged and the amount owners recovered. The letters include information about the ships and shipwrecks.