Administrative Information

Access Restrictions

There are no restrictions.

Use Restrictions

There are no restrictions.

Preferred Citation

Culpeper County (Va.), Circuit Court, Court Records, 1793-1926 circa. Local government records collection, Library of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia.

Acquisition Information

These records came to the Library of Virginia in a transfer of court papers from Culpeper County Circuit Court.

Historical Information

Culpeper County probably was name for Catherine Culpeper, or for her mother, Margaret Lady Culpeper, or for Thomas Culpeper, second baron Culpeper of Thoresway, governor of Virginia from 1677 to 1683, or for their family, which long held proprietary right in the Northern Neck. It was formed from Orange County in 1749.

These records were returned by mail to the Culpeper County Courthouse on December 13, 1965 by Miss Agnes Morewood of Pittsfield, Massachusetts. The details of how Miss Morewood came to hold these records is unknown. Her great-uncle, Herman Melville, and his brother, Alan, had come to Virginia in the spring of 1864 on the eve of the Wilderness Campaign and, amongst other activities, joined a scouting party in search of Confederate partisan John Mosby in nearby Loudoun County. One theory holds that Melville or his brother acquired the records as souvenirs. See NAGARA Clearinghouse, 2008, vol 24 no 3, p. 18 for additional information on the documents.

Scope and Content

The Culpeper County (Va.), Circuit Court, Court Records, 1793-1926 circa, includes miscellaneous court records of the following type: Bonds, Criminal, Deeds, Grants, and Judgments. The criminal causes related to free African Americans who stayed in Virginia beyond 12 months following their emancipation. Chancery causes previously included in this material have been removed and indexed with the Culpeper County (Va.) Chancery Causes, 1829-1913.

Index Terms

Corporate Names:

• Culpeper County (Va.) Circuit Court

Subjects:

• African Americans--History
• Debt--Virginia--Culpeper County.
• Free African Americans--Virginia--Culpeper County.

Geographical Names:

• Culpeper County (Va.)--Genealogy
• Culpeper County (Va.)--History

Genre and Form Terms:

• Deeds--Virginia--Culpeper County.
• Judicial records--Virginia--Culpeper County.
• Land records--Virginia--Culpeper County.
• Local government records--Virginia--Culpeper County.