Administrative Information

Access Restrictions

There are no restrictions.

Use Restrictions

There are no restrictions.

Preferred Citation

Fluvanna County (Va.) Board of Public School Commissioners, 1819-1861. Local government records collection, Fluvanna County (Va.) Court Records. The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Va. 23219.

Acquisition Information

These items came to the Library of Virginia in a transfer of records from Fluvanna County Circuit Court.

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

Historical Information

On February 21, 1818, the Virginia legislature passed a school bill which appropriated $45,000 annually from the Literary Fund for the education of poor children. (The Literary Fund had been established in 1810 with passage of a bill to appropriate "certain escheats, confiscated, and forfeited lands" for the "encouragement of learning.") Under the provisions of the 1818 School Act, each county court was required to appoint five to fifteen commissioners to establish and/or administer schools for children of the poor. A more comprehensive public school system was established by the legislature in 1870. Prior to 1818, county courts were given the option of whether to appoint a Board of School Commissioners.

Fluvanna County takes its name from an eighteenth-century term for the upper James River. The name, meaning river of Anne, was originally bestowed in honor of Queen Anne of England. The county was formed from Albemarle County in 1777.

Scope and Content

Fluvanna County (Va.) Board of School Commissioners Records, 1819-1861, contain treasurer's accounts, annual reports, minutes, orders, and bonds documenting the use of the county's allotment from the state Literary Fund for the education of indigent children.

Treasurer's accounts, 1818-1829, record the amount of money drawn from the state Literary Fund each year, expenses paid for the teacher salaries, and tuition for each child. Reports, 1829-1861, include treasurers accounts, minutes, annual reports, bonds, and orders appointing commissioners, treasurers, and superintendents. Reports and minutes also record the number of schools operating in the county, estimates of the number of children who qualified to attend them, the number attending, names of schoolmasters and schoolmistresses teaching in the schools, salaries paid to teachers, tuition expenses, and expenses for books and paper. Reports and minutes also include remarks on issues such as difficulties encountered in encouraging children to continue attending school. The records also document the role of school commissioners in identifying children eligible for the schools.

Index Terms

Corporate Names:

• Fluvanna County (Va.). Board of School Commissioners for Indigent Children.
• Fluvanna County (Va.). Circuit Court.
• Virginia. Literary Fund -- Appropriations and expenditures -- 19th century.

Subjects:

• Government aid to education -- Virginia -- Fluvanna County.
• Poor children -- Virginia -- Fluvanna County.
• Public schools -- Virginia -- Fluvanna County.
• School reports -- Virginia -- Fluvanna County.
• Schools -- records and correspondence -- Virginia -- Fluvanna County.
• Teachers -- Virginia -- Fluvanna County.

Geographical Names:

• Fluvanna County (Va.) -- History -- 19th century.

Genre and Form Terms:

• Accounts -- Virginia -- Fluvanna County.
• Annual reports -- Virginia -- Fluvanna County.
• Attendance records -- Virginia -- Fluvanna County.
• Bonds (negotiable instruments) -- Virginia -- Fluvanna County.
• Financial records -- Virginia -- Fluvanna County.
• Local government records -- Virginia -- Fluvanna County.
• Minutes -- Virginia -- Fluvanna County.
• School records -- Virginia -- Fluvanna County.