Context for Record Type:

Mental health records may consist of a variety of documents that historically were referred to as “lunacy papers” in the courthouses of Virginia localities and municipalities.

In 1863, the Virginia General Assembly passed two pieces of legislation affecting persons committed to mental hospitals. In February, it passed legislation allowing for a committee to sell any stock and for any proceeds beyond that necessary for an individual's care to be invested in any stock, to include Confederate bonds. In March, the General Assembly widened the scope of this by passing legislation authorizing any fiduciaries such as the committee or trustee of the estate of any person to petition their circuit court to allow them to invest any part of estate funds in Confederate bonds or certificates.

On February 13, 1872, the General Assembly passed legislation to create a State Board of Health made up of 7 physicians appointed by the Governor. The Board was responsible for communicating with local boards of health, the hospitals, asylums and public institutions across the state. Local boards of health had been established in some cities as early as 1780 (Petersburg). The local and state boards made sanitary investigations regarding disease outbreaks such as smallpox or scarlet fever, documented sources of mortality, and any other information deemed relevant to public health. The local boards gathered information and reported to the state board. The State Board of Health also acted as an advisory board to the state in all hygienic and medical matters concerning the location, construction, sewerage, and administration of hospitals, prisons, asylums, and other public institutions.

Locality History:

Bland County is said to have been named for Richard Bland, a leader of colonial Virginia's resistance to Great Britain in the 1760s and 1770s. It was formed from Giles, Wythe, and Tazewell Counties in 1861, and another part of Giles was added in 1900. Its area is 369 square miles, and the county seat is Bland.