Administrative Information

Access Restrictions

There are no restrictions.

Use Restrictions

Use microfilm copy, Scott County   (Va.) Reel 98.

Preferred Citation

Scott County   (Va.) Register of Convicts, 1870-1930. Scott County   (Va.) Reel 98, Local government records collection, Scott County   Court Records. The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia 23219.

Acquisition Information

Microfilm Reel 98 was generated by a field operator from the Virginia State Library's (now the Library of Virginia) Microfilm Section while filming in the Scott County   Circuit Court Clerk's Office.

Historical Information

Scott County   was formed from Lee  , Russell, and Washington Counties   by a statute adopted on 24 November 1814. The county   court first met on 14 February 1815. The county   was named for General Winfield Scott, a native of Virginia, in recognition of his victories during the War of 1812; he was later commanding general of the American army during the war with Mexico.

During the 1869-1870 session, the General Assembly passed an "Act to Secure Identification of Persons Convicted of Criminal Offences." On 2 November 1870, the act was approved. The act specified that "every clerk of the court of each county   and corporation shall keep a register of full and accurate descriptive lists of every person convicted in his own or any other court of record of his county   or corporation, of felony or other infamous offence, and a duly certified and attested copy of any such descriptive list may be used as prima facie evidence of the facts therein stated in any question of identity. Such registers shall be kept written up, well indexed, and shall be open to public inspection at reasonable hours. The register shall follow a set form and each descriptive list shall be attested by said clerk."

In addition, "the clerk of every court of record of each county   or corporation, other than the county   or corporation court, shall within ten days from the date of conviction of any person in his court of any offence mentioned in the first section of this act, deliver to the clerk of the county   or corporation court, for record in said register, an attested descriptive list of the person so convicted, in the form hereinbefore prescribed." The judges of the respective courts are responsible for seeing that the provisions of the act are "punctually and properly carried out" by their respective clerks. The act was amended on 18 January 1871 and outlined the following: "For the services mentioned in this or the first section of this act, the clerk shall be entitled to a fee of fifty cents, to be paid out of the state treasury." By and large, the county   and circuit court clerks went about compiling these registers throughout the counties   of Virginia as late as the 1960s.

Order books and/or Minute books record all matters brought before the court when it was in session and may contain important information not found anywhere else. A wide variety of information is found in order/mintute books--including individuals convicted of felonies.

This original register was created by the County   and Circuit Courts.

Scope and Content

Scott County   (Va.) Register of Convicts, 1870-1930, is a comprehensive register of "every person convicted in the County   Court or other Court of Record of Henrico County  , of Felony, or other infamous offence." Based on a form, the listings of each conviction include the individual's name in full and any aliases, the present and last known residence of the accused, the color or race of the individual (including white, black or colored, dark brown and mixed), the individual's height, eye color, hair color and any identifying marks, the apparent or known age of the accused, his or her occupation, the offence, the court in which convicted, the date of conviction and page of record and whether the judgment was reversed or pardon granted and date thereof.

Related Material

Additional Scott County   Court Records can be found on microfilm at the Library of Virginia. Consult "A Guide to Virginia County and City Records on Microfilm."

Index Terms

Corporate Names:

• Scott County   (Va.) Circuit Court.

Subjects:

• African American prisoners--Virginia--Scott County  .
• African Americans--Employment--Virginia--Scott County  .
• African Americans--History--1863-1877.
• African Americans--History--1877-1964.
• African Americans--Virginia--Scott County  .
• Occupations--Virginia--Scott County  .
• Prisoners--Virginia--Scott County  .
• Public records--Virginia--Scott County  .
• Racially mixed people--Virginia--Scott County  .

Geographical Names:

• Scott County   (Va.)--History.

Genre and Form Terms:

• Criminal court records--Virginia--Scott County  .
• Local government records--Virginia--Scott County  .
• Minute books--Virginia--Scott County  .
• Order books--Virginia--Scott County  .
• Registers (lists)--Virginia--Scott County  .

Added Entry - Corporate Name:

• Scott County   (Va.) County   Court.

Adjunct Descriptive Data