Administrative Information

Access Restrictions

There are no restrictions.

Use Restrictions

There are no restrictions.

Preferred Citation

Caroline County (Va.). Health and Medical Records, 1802-1888. Local government records collection, Caroline County Court Records, The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia.

Acquisition Information

This item came to the Library of Virginia in a transfer of court papers from Caroline County.

Historical Information

Mental Health Records may consist of a variety of documents that historically were referred to as lunacy papers in the courthouses of Virginia localities and municipalities.

During its session begun in November 1769, the Virginia House of Burgesses passed an act establishing a hospital in Williamsburg for the mentally ill. The Eastern Lunatic Asylum (now Eastern State Hospital) was the first institution in America constructed as a mental hospital. The first patients were admitted in October 1773.

Caroline County was named for Caroline of Anspach, wife of King George II. It was formed from Essex, King and Queen, and King William Counties on 1 May 1728, and additional parts of King and Queen County were added in 1742 and in 1763. The county seat is Bowling Green.

Scope and Content

Caroline County (Va.) Health and Medical Records, 1802-1888, consist of one folder of Mental Health Records. These include warrants, orders, petitions, depositions, reports, etc. for or by justices of the peace and others regarding the mental condition of individuals who were released to the recognizance of a family member or who were committed to a mental hospital. Fiduciary records such as estate inventories of a person judged insane may also be present.

Cases of interest: William Redd (1802) Estate inventory references 22 unnamed enslaved people, and the hospital in Williamsburg; James West (1808) Estate inventory references seven-year-old enslaved boy, whose name is illegible.

Arrangement

Chronological by entry date.

Related Material

Additional Caroline County court records can be found on microfilm and in the Chancery Records Index at the Library of Virginia. Consult "A Guide to Virginia County and City Records on Microfilm" and The Chancery Records Index .

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

Index Terms

Corporate Names:

• Caroline County (Va.) Circuit Court.
• Eastern State Hospital (Va.).

Subjects:

• Insanity--Jurisprudence--Virginia--Caroline County.
• Mental health facilities--Virginia.
• Mental illness--Virginia--Caroline County.
• Psychiatric hospitals--Virginia.
• Public records--Virginia--Caroline County.
• Slaves--Virginia--Caroline County.

Geographical Names:

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

Genre and Form Terms:

• Health and medical records--Virginia--Caroline County.
• Local government records--Virginia--Caroline County.

Adjunct Descriptive Data