Administrative Information

Access Restrictions

There are no restrictions.

Use Restrictions

There are no restrictions.

Preferred Citation

Prince George County (Va.) Apprenticeship Indentures, 1816-1838. Local government records collection, Prince George 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 Prince George County under the accession number 44500.

Historical Information

Prince George County was named for Prince George of Denmark, husband of Queen Anne of England. It was formed from Charles City County by a statute adopted on 28 August 1702 to take effect on 23 April 1703. The county seat is Prince George.

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.

Most court records were destroyed in 1782 by British troops during the Revolutionary War and again in 1864 by Union troops during the Civil War. A few volumes that record deeds, court orders, and wills exist.

Scope and Content

Prince George County (Va.) Apprenticeship Indentures, 1816-1838, 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 African Americans.

Related Material

Additional Prince George 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.

Prince George County is one of Virginia's Lost Records Localities. Additional Prince George County Records may be found in the Virginia Lost Records Localities Collection at the Library of Virginia. Search the Lost Records Localities Digital Collection available at Virginia Memory.

For more information and a listing of lost records localities see Lost Records research note .

Index Terms

Corporate Names:

• Prince George County (Va.) Circuit Court.

Subjects:

• African Americans--History.
• Apprentices--Virginia--Prince George County.
• Free African Americans--Virginia--Prince George County.

Geographical Names:

• Prince George County (Va.)--History.

Genre and Form Terms:

• Indentures--Virginia--Prince George County.
• Local government records--Virginia--Prince George County.

Adjunct Descriptive Data