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Preferred Citation

Prince Edward County (Va.) School Trustees' Records and Cashbook, 1870-1912. Local government records collection, Prince Edward County Court Records. The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia 23219.

Acquisition Information

These volumes were purchased by the Library of Virginia under the accession number 40961.

Historical Information

Prince Edward County was formed from Amelia County in 1753. The county court first met on 8 January 1754. The county was named in honor of Edward Augustus, a son of Prince Frederick Louis, a grandson of King George II, and a younger brother of King George III.

On 11 July 1870, the General Assembly of Virginia passed an act to establish and maintain a uniform system of public free schools. The Board of Education appointed in each school district three school trustees--one was appointed clerk. According to the "Acts of Assembly, 1869-1870", Section 22 page 409, the act of the General Assembly in relation to public schools provides that the clerk of the Trustees shall "keep in a bound volume a record of the proceedings of the board and in another book a cash account and a record of his official duties." The two volumes mentioned were the two volumes kept by Lockett District Clerks, S.J. Atkins and J.N. Watkins. Along with vouchers and contracts, these volumes were open to inspection by the county superintendent of schools and every citizen and were periodically examined by the board of education. The Lockett District was named after two members of a very important Prince Edward family, Osborne and Edmund Lockett.

Scope and Content

Prince Edward County (Va.) School Trustees' Records and Cashbook, 1870-1912, provide a very detailed account of the history of the public school system in Prince Edward County. These two volumes, kept by the clerk of the School Trustees, cover the Lockett District--one of the county's six magisterial districts. For the establishment of public free schools, the district corresponds with the boundaries of the county townships. The School Trustees' Records, 1870-1907, describe the organization of the district's board of school trustees, the order for a census in the district to determine how many schools are needed, raising money for a tax on schools, the setting up of funds, approving accounts, the establishment of white and colored schools, the location of schools, the employment of teachers and teacher salaries. A folder in the front of the volume contains loose records--school furniture contracts from 1907. The Cashbook, 1871-1912, accounts for all expenditures and disbursements of district (white and colored), county and state school funds. A folder in the front of the volume contains loose records--a report of teachers contracted with in 1912. As these two volumes indicate, the school trustees' duties were administration of school matters and maintenance of school buildings.

Arrangement

Arranged chronologically by month, day and year.

Related Material

Additional Prince Edward County School 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:

• Prince Edward County (Va.) Public Schools.

Subjects:

• African Americans--Virginia--Prince Edward County.
• Education--Finance.
• Education--Virginia--Prince Edward County.
• School districts-Virginia--Prince Edward County.

Geographical Names:

• Prince Edward County (Va.)--History.

Genre and Form Terms:

• Cashbooks--Virginia--Prince Edward County.
• Financial records--Virginia--Prince Edward County.
• Local government records--Virginia--Prince Edward County.
• School records--Virginia--Prince Edward County.

Adjunct Descriptive Data