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Lunenburg County (Va.) Health and Medical Records, 1862-1935 ca. Local government records collection, Lunenburg County Court Records, The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia.
This collection came to the Library of Virginia in a transfer of court papers from Lunenburg County Circuit Court.
Encoded be T. Harter: 2020; edited by V. Brooks: August 2026.
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.
During its session begun in November 1769, the House of Burgesses passed an act establishing a hospital in Williamsburg for the mentally ill. The Eastern Lunatic Asylum (now Eastern State Hospital) was the first institution in America constructed as a mental hospital. The first patients were admitted in October 1773.
By 1792, Virginia's General Assembly enacted very strict laws governing the practice of inoculation. The new act required a license from the county court to administer vaccinations. It also included a penalty of $1,500 or six months' imprisonment for anyone willfully spreading smallpox in a manner other than that specified by the act.
Lunenburg County was named for George II, duke of Brunswick-Luneburg, a German possession of the Hanoverian kings of England. It was formed from Brunswick County in 1745.
Lunenburg County (Va.) Health and Medical Records, 1862-1935 ca., consist of : Mental Health Records, 1900-1935 ca., Military Field Hospital Visit Reports, 1863-1864, and Smallpox Epidemic Records, 1862-1863.
Mental Health Records may include warrants, orders, petitions, depositions, reports, etc. for or by justices of the peace and others regarding the mental condition of individuals who were released to the recognizance of a family member or who were recommended to be committed to a mental hospital, Eastern State Hospital in Williamsburg and Central State Hospital in Petersburg.
Military Field Hospital Visit Reports include two reports of committees formed to visit battlefields and hospitals to attend the wounded of Lunenburg County. One report of June 1863 refers to six wounded soldiers from 22nd Virginia Battalion and details about their injuries. An August 1864 report narrates the visits of three doctors traveling between May and June to battle sites and field hospitals in Petersburg, Richmond, and surrounding areas, listing over twenty soldiers' names and injuries.
Smallpox Epidemic Records, 1862-1863, consist of three documents relating to quarantines and hospitals for the containment and/or treatment of smallpox outbreaks in Lunenburg County. Confederate soldier James House was diagnosed in November 1862, and the residence of George W. Gee, where he was staying, was recommended as a quarantine hospital. Justices also determined an outbreak at the residence of James Inge, formerly of William B. Moore, in December 1862.
This collection is arranged into the following series:
Chronological. The Mental Health Records are arranged chronologically, then alphabetically by last name of individual when applicable.
Additional Lunenburg County court records can be found on microfilm at the Library of Virginia. Consult