Administrative Information

Access Restrictions

There are no restrictions.

Use Restrictions

Greene County (Va.) Apprenticeship Indentures, 1806-1868, of "free Blacks" and "free persons of color" are available at Virginia Untold: the African American Narrative digital collection .

Preferred Citation

Greene County (Va.) Apprenticeship Indentures, 1844-1867. Local government records collection, Greene County Court Records. The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Va. 23219.

Acquisition Information

These items came to the Library of Virginia in a transfer of court records from Greene County.

Historical Information

Greene County was named for Nathanael Greene, commanding general of the Continental army in the South during part of the Revolutionary War. It was formed from Orange County in 1838. The county seat is Stanardsville.

In 1780 the Virginia General Assembly replaced the Anglican vestries and churchwardens of the colonial period with elected bodies called Overseers of the Poor. The Overseers provided food, clothing, shelter, and medical treatment for the persons who were too poor to support themselves or too ill to provide for their basic needs. They also bound out children whose parents could not support them or who failed to educate or instruct them, as well as orphans to become apprentices. The boys learned a trade and the girls learned domestic skills.

Scope and Content

Greene County (Va.) Apprenticeship Indentures, 1844-1867, are bonds and contracts of apprenticeship given by the Overseers of the Poor, showing the names of master and apprentice, the trade to be taught, details of the contract, the amount of the bond and the names of sureties. Many of the apprentices bound out prior to 1866 were "free Blacks" and "free persons of color."

Related Material

Additional Greene County Records can be found on microfilm at the Library of Virginia. Consult "A Guide to Virginia County and City Records on Microfilm" found on the Library of Virginia's web site.

Adjunct Descriptive Data