Administrative Information

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Preferred Citation

Prince William County (Va.) Town of Brentsville Minute Book, 1882-1891. Local Government Records Collection, Prince William County Court Records. The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Va. 23219.

Acquisition Information

This volume came to the Library of Virginia in a shipment of court records from Prince William County.

Historical Information

Prince William County was formed from Stafford and King George Counties by a statute adopted in 1730, to take effect on 12 March 1731. The county was named for William Augustus, duke of Cumberland and third son of King George II.

Many pre-Civil War records were lost, destroyed, or stolen by Union troops in 1863 during the Civil War. Sixteen deed books and five will books are missing.

The land that the town now encompasses was originally part of the Brent Town Grant of 1687. George Brent and three others were granted 30,000 acres by King James II to exercise their religion. These men were among the first English Catholic settlers in Virginia.

The town of Brentsville was created by the General Assembly in 1820. The town was originally laid out in a grid pattern on 50 acres. As residents continued to move farther west for better farm land, officials moved the county seat from Dumfries to Brentsville in 1822. The town grew around the new county courthouse. In 1893, the county seat was moved to Manassas. Four of the six historic structures in the town survived the Civil War--the courthouse, the jail, a log cabin and the "White House."

This volume was originally created by the town's Corporation Court.

Scope and Content

Town of Brenstsville Mintue Book, 1882-1891, covers the time period when the town was Prince William County's fourth county seat.

Related Material

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

Prince William County is one of Virginia's Lost Records Localities. Additional Prince William County Records may be found in the Virginia Lost Records Localities Collection at the Library of Virginia. Search the Lost Records Localities Digital Collection available at Virginia Memory.

For more information and a listing of lost records localities see Lost Records research note .

Index Terms

Corporate Names:

• Prince William County (Va.) Circuit Court.

Subjects:

• Public records--Virginia--Prince William County.

Geographical Names:

• Prince William County (Va.)--History--19th century.

Genre and Form Terms:

• Local government records--Virginia--Prince William County.

Added Entry - Corporate Name:

• Prince William County (Va.) Corporation Court.

Adjunct Descriptive Data