Administrative Information

Access Restrictions

There are no restrictions.

Use Restrictions

Use microfilm copy, Bland County (Va.) Reel 34.

Preferred Citation

Bland County (Va.) Pleas, Board of Military Exemption Minutes and Board of Supervisors' Minute Book, 1861-1896 (bulk 1870-1896.) Bland County (Va.) Reel 34, local government records collection, Bland County Court Records. The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia 23219.

Acquisition Information

This original volume came to the Library of Virginia in a transfer of court papers from Bland County.

Reel 34 was generated by Backstage Library Works through the Library of Virginia's Circuit Court Records Program.

Historical Information

Bland County was formed from Giles, Wythe, and Tazewell Counties in 1861, and another part of Giles was added in 1900. The county was said to have been named for Richard Bland, a leader of colonial Virginia's resistance to Great Britain in the 1760s and 1770s.

The General Assembly of Virginia passed an act on October 1710 (Vol. III, p. 504) for establishing County Courts and for regulating and establishing the proceeding therein. The Clerk of the Court was to preserve the Declarations, Pleas and all evidences and other papers related to any cause and file them together in the Office. In accordance with an act passed by the General Assembly 1862 Feb. 18 and amended 1862, October 1 providing a mode of exemption from military service, the county and corporation courts were directed to appoint a Board of Exemption. The board was charged with deciding all claims for military exemptions brought before it, "carefully and rigidly conforming to all the provisions of the Act of Assembly." On 1863 Feb. 13, the Governor issued an order directing that where no board has been appointed, the presiding justices of the county and corporation court, together with the two senior justices, constitute the board.

The Board of Supervisors is the basic governing body of the county. County laws--called ordinances--may also be passed by this board. This form of government came into existence with the constitution of 1869 when the counties were divided into a minimum of three townships each, with a popularly elected supervisor from each township. When the township system was abolished in 1875, the counties were divided into magisterial districts. The Board of Supervisors are the current elected representatives of these districts and meet in regular monthly public sessions.

The original records, from which this volume was compiled, were created by the County Court.

Scope and Content

Bland County (Va.) Pleas, Board of Military Exemption Minutes and Board of Supervisors' Minute Book, 1861-1896 (bulk 1870-1896), document specific types of records (as noted) related to county court orders (such as the appointments of various Constitutional officers of the county) and exemption board rulings (related to permanent bodily infirmity) during the Civil War years (1861-1863) when paper was scarce. Pages for these two sections are not numbered. The bulk of the volume, 1870-1896, was used as a Board of Supervisors' Minute Book to record the various boards' official duties. There are loose papers in this section between pages 224 and 225.

Arrangement

Arranged chronologically.

Related Material

The volume is located at the State Records Center. Contact Archives Research Services for access information, directions and hours.

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

Bland County is one of Virginia's Lost Records Localities. Additional Bland 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 on the Library of Virginia's web site.

Index Terms

Corporate Names:

• Bland County (Va.) Board of Military Exemption.
• Bland County (Va.) Board of Supervisors.
• Bland County (Va.) Circuit Court.

Subjects:

• Confederate States of America--Army--Recruiting, Enlistment, etc.
• County officials and employees--Virginia--Bland County.
• Public records--Virginia--Bland County.

Geographical Names:

• Bland County (Va.)--History--Civil War, 1861-1865.
• Bland County (Va.)--History.

Genre and Form Terms:

• Appointments--Virginia--Bland County.
• Board of supervisors records--Virginia--Bland County.
• Judicial records--Virginia--Bland County.
• Local government records--Virginia--Bland County.
• Military records--Virginia--Bland County.
• Minute books--Virginia--Bland County.
• Minutes--Virginia--Bland County.

Adjunct Descriptive Data