Administrative Information

Access Restrictions

There are no restrictions.

Use Restrictions

Should you wish to quote from or reproduce images of any of the materials, you must write to the Librarian of the Huntington Library, 1151 Oxford Road, San Marino, CA 91108, requesting formal permission to do so. Please note that you do not have to obtain permission if you are quoting fewer than fifty words, or if you are only citing the document. Images made with microfilm-reader printers are for research use only and may not be used for publication without permission.

Preferred Citation

Richmond (Va.) Court Records, 1743-1900, Robert Alonzo Brock Collection, Henry E. Huntington Library, San Marino, California.

Acquisition Information

The Robert Alonzo Brock Collection was filmed by The Huntington Library in cooperation with The Library of Virginia with funding provided by The Library of Virginia Foundation with the support of The Roller-Bottimore Foundation and The Robins Foundation. Microfilm received 15 April 2004.

Historical Information

The city of Richmond was named by William Byrd II, who envisioned the development of a city at the falls of the James River and with the help of William Mayo laid out the town in 1737. The name probably came from the English borough of Richmond upon Thames, which Byrd visited on several occasions. Richmond was established in 1742 and in 1779 was designated the capital of Virginia effective April 1780. It was incorporated as a city in 1842. It was capital of the Confederacy from 1861 to 1865. Richmond was enlarged by the annexation of Manchester (or South Richmond) in 1910, and by the addition of Barton Heights, Fairmount, and Highland Park in 1914. A further annexation from Chesterfield County occurred in 1970.

Scope and Content

Richmond (Va.) Court Records, 1743-1900. The collection contains wills, deeds, and scattered additional court records pertaining to Richmond city government, particularly the development of the city in the nineteenth century. The collection is comprised mostly of Land Records (deeds, surveys, and plats). Also included are Wills, Criminal Records, Chancery Records, Free Negro and Slave Records, Judgments, Tax and Fiscal Records, Bonds, Commissions, and Oaths; Overseer of the Poor Records, School Records, Election Records, and a small amount of Private Correspondence.

The first reel (4640) contains Wills, 1803-1863; Fiduciary Records, 1820 and 1823; Criminal Records, 1823-1824, 1860, and 1866-1875; Chancery Court Records, 1805-1887; Judgments, 1855-1867; a letter and Board of Commissioners' report pertaining to an outbreak of disease at the National Hotel in Washington D.C., 1857 May 13; and Clerk's Records, 1866.

Included are the will of James Swinton, 1803 Oct. 10; the will of John J. Johnson, 1820 Nov. 18; the will of William Hewlett, 1820 Apr. (includes two slaves, Jack and Milly); a copy of the will of Larance Lottier, 1849 Aug. 25; the will of John Cosby, 1859 Mar. 17; the will of Robert E. Clarke, 1859 Feb. 28; a copy of the will of William James Ragland, 1860; a copy of the will of Bacon Tait, 1861 Mar. 14; and a copy of the will of John Allan, 1863 Oct. 31 (includes slaves).

The chancery records include documents in German, with English translations, pertaining to the estate of John Elias Hubner, the younger, of Richmond, 1823; a copy of proceedings of the chancery cause, Joseph Allen vs. Ira Tichenor, etc., 1859; the chancery cause Julia A. W. Kendall, by etc., vs. Henry Warwick Moncure, etc., 1858; a notice from the chancery cause, John W. Pratt vs. Mary A. Pratt, 1865 Dec. 9; records from the chancery cause, Corbin vs. Exrs. of Mills, circa 1866; the chancery cause, W.M. Justis vs. William H. Clarke, circa 1870; an order from the chancery cause, Admr. of John Allan vs. Allan, etc., 1872; a commissioner's report from the chancery cause, Allen vs. Bargamen, 1873; records from the chancery cause, Breathed vs. Cullen, etc., 1875 Jan. 26; and a note for decree from the chancery cause, Stephenson vs. Stevenson, etc., 1887 Jul.

Also included on this reel is a draft, by Mayor Joseph Mayo of Richmond, for a statement to the Hustings Court regarding habeas corpus and the detention of Charles Riddell on a charge of assault and battery, 1860 Aug. 28.

The second reel (4641) contains scattered records of the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction, 1872-1914; private correspondence of H.H. Harris, 1872-1873 and 1887; and records of the Board of Health, the Post Office, and the School Board. Also included are various plats, surveys, and deeds pertaining to city buildings, circa 1803-circa 1870; a copy, 1822, of a report on the division of the city into wards; various tax records, 1848-1870; a certificate pertaining to an escaped slave, 1848; a petition, 1873, from the Lee Monument Committee to city council requesting designation of a location for a monument to Robert E. Lee; correspondence pertaining to a commission for Joel Hart to create a sculpture of Henry Clay for Virginia, 1877; oaths of allegiance taken by city officials, 1877-1878; petitions regarding the city almshouse, 1888; and records pertaining to Jackson Ward Park and the Richmond Reformatory School.

The third reel contains Deeds and Surveys, 1743-1900. It includes 68 deeds, and several surveys, plans, assessments, and lists. Included are a copy, 1820, of assessments of the lots and tenements with the Improvements in the City, 1782; a copy, 1858, of an 1815 plan of lots on Duval and Baker streets; a plan of a portion of the city showing the location of Monumental Church and Christ Church, circa 1830; a survey of lots in the city, 1836 June 21; a survey of a tract of land on the main road leading from Richmond by the poor house, 1838 Jan. 20; Lists and Descriptions of Real Estate from the Deed Book, 1868; and unidentified building plans, circa 1870.

Related Material

Additional city of Richmond court records can be found on microfilm at the Library of Virginia. Consult "A Guide to Virginia County and City Records on Microfilm."

The city of Richmond is one of Virginia's Lost Records Localities. Additional city of Richmond 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

Persons:

• Hart, Joel Tanner, 1810-1877.

Corporate Names:

• Richmond (Va.) Circuit Court.

Subjects:

• Disease management--Washington, D.C.
• Habeas corpus--Virginia--Richmond.
• Monuments--Virginia--Richmond.
• Public records-- Virginia--Richmond.
• Slavery-- Virginia--Richmond.

Geographical Names:

• Richmond (Va.)--History--18th century.
• Richmond (Va.)--History--19th century.

Genre and Form Terms:

• Almshouses--Virginia--Richmond.
• Art commissions--Virginia--Richmond.
• Assessing--Virginia--Richmond.
• Bonds (legal records)--Virginia--Richmond.
• Chancery causes--Virginia--Richmond.
• Correspondence--Virginia--Richmond.
• Court records--Virginia--Richmond.
• Criminal court records--Virginia--Richmond.
• Decisions--Virginia--Richmond.
• Deeds--Virginia--Richmond.
• Election Records--Virginia--Richmond.
• Fiduciary records--Virginia--Richmond.
• Free Negro and Slave Records--Virginia--Richmond.
• Land records-- Virginia--Richmond.
• Land surveys-- Virginia--Richmond.
• Local government records--Virginia--Richmond.
• Loyalty oaths--Virginia--Richmond.
• Medical records--Virginia--Richmond.
• Oaths--Virginia--Richmond.
• Petitions--Virginia--Richmond.
• Plats--Virginia--Richmond.
• School Records--Virginia--Richmond.
• Surveys--Virginia--Richmond.
• Tax and Fiscal Records--Virginia--Richmond.
• Wills--Virginia--Richmond.

Adjunct Descriptive Data

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