Administrative Information

Access Restrictions

Collection is open to research.

Use Restrictions

There are no restrictions.

Preferred Citation

Rockingham County (Va.) Letter from the Auditor of Public Accounts to the Clerk of Court, 1840. Local government records collection, Rockingham County Court Records. The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Va. 23219.

Acquisition Information

This item came to the Library of Virginia under the accession number 38198.

Historical Information

Created in 1778. A courthouse fire in 1787 destroyed wills and estate records, primarily. In June 1864 during the Civil War, court records (mostly volumes) were removed from the courthouse and loaded on a wagon to be taken to place of safety on or beyond the Blue Ridge. The wagon was overtaken by Union troops near Port Republic and set on fire, which was put out by local citizens. Many order books, deed books, will books, and fiduciary books, however, were lost or severely damaged by the fire. The loose records that remained at the courthouse were undamaged. Pre-1865 records including deeds and wills were rerecorded following an act of assembly passed in November 1884.

Scope and Content

Rockingham County (Va.) Letter from the Auditor of Public Accounts to the Clerk of Court, 1840. Consists of a signed request from James E. Heath, Auditor of Public Accounts, requesting transfer, as required by law, of copies of records of committees of lunatics, specifically bonds of lunatic committees, orders of court pertaining to lunatic committees, and inventories or accounts of the estates of lunatics.

Related Material

Additional Rockingham County Miscellaneous Records can be found on microfilm at The Library of Virginia. Consult "A Guide to Virginia County and City Records on Microfilm."

Rockingham County is one of Virginia's Lost Records Localities. Additional Rockingham County Court Records may be found in the Virginia Lost Records Localities Collection at the Library of Virginia. Search the Lost Records Localities Database found at the Library of Virginia web site.

Index Terms

Corporate Names:

• Rockingham County (Va.)--Circuit Court.
• Virginia. Auditor of Public Accounts (1776-1928).

Subjects:

• Clerks of court--Virginia--Rockingham County.
• Insanity--Jurisprudence--Virginia--Rockingham County.

Geographical Names:

• Rockingham County (Va.)--History--19th century.

Genre and Form Terms:

• Letters (correspondence)--Virginia--Rockingham County.
• Local government records--Virginia--Rockingham County.

Adjunct Descriptive Data

Originals are located at the Henry E. Huntington Library, San Marino, California.