Administrative Information

Access Restrictions

There are no restrictions.

Use Restrictions

There are no restrictions.

Preferred Citation

Accomack County   (Va.) Processioner's Records, 1788-1850. Local government records collection, Accomack County   Court Records. The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia 23219.

Acquisition Information

These items came to the Library of Virginia in a transfer of court papers from Accomack County  .

Historical Information

Accomack County   was named for the Accomac Indians, who lived on the Eastern Shore at the time of the first English settlement in Virginia. The word means "on-the-other-side-of-water place" or "across the water." It was one of the original eight shires, or counties  , first enumerated in 1634 and spelled Accomac without the k. The county's   name was changed to Northampton   County   in 1643. The present county   was formed from Northampton   about 1663. In October 1670, the General Assembly temporarily reunited Accomack and Northampton   Counties   as Northampton   County  . In November 1673, Accomack County   was again separated from Northampton  . In early records, the county's   name was spelled many ways. In 1940 the General Assembly adopted the present spelling, Accomack. The county   gained a small part of the southern end of Smith's Island from Somerset County  , Maryland, in 1879, after the United States had approved boundary changes between Virginia and Maryland that had been agreed to in 1877. The county   seat is Accomac.

Accomack County   is one of Virginia's Lost Records Localities. A significant number of loose records from the 1700s suffered extreme water and pest damage. Volumes that record deeds, court orders, and wills exist.

Two freeholders were appointed on order of the county   court to procession or review the bounds of farms or tracts of land in each precinct in order to renew or replace old landmarks. This was originally a function of the church vestry, but was continued by the court after disestablishment. Persons who walked the boundaries were called processioners.

Scope and Content

Accomack County   (Va.) Processioner's Records, 1788-1850 typically record an area of land processioned with geographical landmarks, roads, property lines noted, the names of the persons present, the date(s) when the processioning occurred, the names of the processioners, and the date that the return was recorded by the local court.

Arrangement

Chronological.

Related Material

Additional Accomack County   records can be found on microfilm at The Library of Virginia web site. Consult "A Guide to Virginia County   and City Records on Microfilm."

Accomack County   is one of Virginia's Lost Records Localities. Additional Accomack County Court Records may be found in the "Virginia Lost Records Localities Digital Collection."

Adjunct Descriptive Data