Administrative Information

Access Restrictions

There are no restrictions.

Use Restrictions

There are no restrictions.

Preferred Citation

Mathews County (Va.) Property Records, 1814-1952, Local government records collection, Mathews County Court Records. The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Va. 23219.

Acquisition Information

These records came to the Library of Virginia in transfers of court papers under accession 22302 on 12/30/1944, accession 22735 on 01/01/1948, accession 54190 on 05/23/2024, and undated accessions.

Processing Information

The majority of these records are unprocessed. Records in Series I: Processed Property Records, 1814-1952, have been flat-filed and arranged in loose chronological order.

These records were processed by S. Walters, and Library of Virginia staff.

Encoded by S. Walters: April 2012; Edited by V. Brooks: August 2025.

Historical Information

Context for Record Type: On presentation to the court, deeds were proved and recorded. If the deed was not witnessed, the grantor acknowledged the deed in open court. Some deeds include plats. Under Virginia law, enslaved people were considered to be personal property and did not need to be conveyed by a deed. However, they were often transferred in deeds of gift or were the property listed in mortgages and deeds of trust.

Deeds of bargain and sale are the most commonly recorded deed in which one individual sells property, usually land, but occasionally personal property, to another individual. Such deeds show the names of the grantor and grantee, the residence of both parties, a description of what is being sold, the consideration (or price), the location of the tract of land, the tract's boundaries, and any limitations on the property being sold. The deed was signed by the grantor, and possibly his wife or anyone else having a claim to the property, and by at least two witnesses. Appended to the deed may be a memorandum of livery of seisin, indicating that the property has changed hands and that peaceful possession has taken place.

Deeds of gift are often found transferring property, either real or personal, from one individual to another "for love and affection." The degree of kinship, if any, between the grantor and grantee is sometimes stated.

Mortgages and deeds of trust are types of deeds wherein one party is indebted to another and transfers or mortgages property to a third party in order to secure the debt.

In 1860, the Code of Virginia authorized county courts to appoint inspectors of oysters to enforce oyster laws and collect fines and fees. The inspectors were compensated by retaining a portion of fines and other fees collected. Their oyster inspection work was generally a sideline to other jobs held in the communities. The General Assembly passed an act on March 3, 1866, amending the code's provisions and requiring the oyster inspectors to report their collections periodically to the auditor of public accounts. On February, 5 1900, the General Assembly passed an act authorizing the State Board of Fisheries to employ county surveyors to resurvey the oyster planting grounds and any part of the survey made in the 1890s by James B. Baylor that needed revision. When the State Fisheries Commission assumed full control of oyster administration in 1920, nineteen oyster districts were established. One full-time inspector was employed for each district at $60.00 per month.

Locality History: Mathews County was named for Thomas Mathews, of Norfolk, the Speaker of the Virginia House of Delegates when it was formed from Gloucester County by a statute passed on 16 December 1790 to take effect on 1 May 1791.

Lost Locality Note: Most records were burned in Richmond on 3 April 1865, where they had been moved for safekeeping during the Civil War.

Scope and Content

Mathews County (Va.) Land Records, 1814-1952, consists of deeds, plats, plat books [photostats], indexes to plat books [photostats], county real estate surveys, lists of oyster planters, and oyster inspector reports.

Arrangement

For descriptive purposes, the collection has been divided into two series:

Related Material

Additional Mathews County Property Records can be found on microfilm at the Library of Virginia. Consult "A Guide to Virginia County and City Records on Microfilm."

See the Lost Records Localities Digital Collection available at Virginia Memory.

Adjunct Descriptive Data