Administrative Information

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Preferred Citation

Spotsylvania County (Va.) Tax Accounts, 1775-1845 (bulk 1775-1777.) Local government records collection, Spotsylvania County. The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia 23219.

Acquisition Information

The original manuscript volume was lent to the Virgnia State Library (now the Library of Virginia) by its owner, Emma Towles Duerson. The staff of the Library's Archives Division, under the accession number 20283, created a negative photostatic copy of the volume.

Historical Information

Spotsylvania County was formed from Essex, King William, and King and Queen Counties by a statute adopted in 1720 to take effect on 1 May 1721. The county was named for Alexander Spotswood, lieutenant governor of Virginia from 1710 to 1722.

The sheriff was "the most powerful and the best paid of any county official in colonial times." Among his many duties, he collected the taxes, which were paid in tobacco, took custody of it and paid the county expenses as directed by the court. By doing so, he acted as a combination of both the commissioner of revenue and the county treasurer. He was appointed by the governor from a list of three names submitted by the county court. His term of office was for one year until 1731, after which it was two years. His two deputies, also known as sub(under) sheriffs, did most of the work.

The original tax records, from which this volume was compiled, were created by the county court.

Created by an act of 1720 to take effect on May 1, 1721. Many loose county court papers prior to 1839, when the courthouse moved from Fredericksburg to Spotsylvania Courthouse, are missing. Volumes that record deeds, court orders, and wills exist. The district court, superior court, and circuit court records of Spotsylvania County from 1813 to 1889 are in Fredericksburg.

Scope and Content

Spotsylvania County (Va.) Tax Accounts, 1775-1845 (bulk 1775-1777) has seen many uses over the years. The bulk of the volume was used by county sheriffs, William Smith and Charles Yates, to record early tax information. The volume is divided into two sections. Both sections record individual tax accounts--noting parish and county levies, quit rents and muster fines as well as county accounts. Section one covers 1775-1777 on pages 1-90 and section two covers only 1776 on pages 1-114. Each section has its own unnumbered internal index. The index for section one lists surnames A-Y according to the order the individual's last name appears in the volume. The index for section two lists surnames C-Y according to the order the individual's last name appears in the volume. A list of insolvent debtors is found on page 73 of the first section.

Additional items of interest follow the tax accounts. An unidentified personal cashbook, 1835-1839, is found on pages 115-140. Recipes, from 1844, for buck wheat and hops yeast are found on pages 141 and 142. The father of the volume's owner, a noted county physician Thomas Terit Towles, recorded his musings and patient treatments on pages 141-146 in 1845.

Related Material

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

Spotsylvania County is one of Virginia's Lost Records Localities. Additional Spotsylvania 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's web site.

William Smith was appointed sheriff on November 17th, 1774 according to Minute Book, 1774-1782, p. 19 found in the Library of Virginia's Local Government Records Collection. Charles Yates was appointed sheriff on December 19, 1776 as noted in the same volume.

For an excellent description of the role of the sheriff in colonial times, consult "A History of Early Spotsylvania" by James Roger Mansfield, pages 112-113 found in the Library of Virginia's book collection.

Index Terms

Corporate Names:

• Spotsylvania County (Va.) Circuit Court.

Subjects:

• Church lands--Virginia--Spotsylvania County.
• Land value taxation--Virginia--Spotsylvania County.
• Public records--Virginia--Spotsylvania County.
• Sheriffs--Virginia--Spotsylvania County.
• Tax collection--Virginia--Spotsylvania County.

Geographical Names:

• Spotsylvania County (Va.)--History.

Genre and Form Terms:

• Cashbooks--Virginia--Spotsylvania County.
• County administrative records--Virginia--Spotsylvania County.
• Diaries--Virginia--Spotsylvania County.
• Local government records--Virginia--Spotsylvania County.
• Military records--Virginia--Spotsylvania County.
• Recipes--Virginia--Spotsylvania County.
• Sheriffs' records--Virginia--Spotsylvania County.

Added Entry - Corporate Name:

• Spotsylvania County (Va.) County Court.

Adjunct Descriptive Data