Administrative Information

Access Restrictions

Commonwealth Causes, 1830-1864, involving enslaved and free Black individuals are digitized and available through Virginia Untold: The African American Narrative Digital Collection on the Library of Virginia website. Please use digital images.

Criminal Records, 1792-1870 that were transferred in accession 53810 under the title “Greensville County Dead Papers” and in adjacent boxes have undergone minimal processing. The remaining criminal records from this locality are still unprocessed and need review prior to use by researchers. All records remain tri-folded or in original bundles and may be fragile. Contact Archives Research services for availability.

Use Restrictions

There are no restrictions.

Preferred Citation

Greensville County (Va.) Criminal Records, 1792-1929. Local government records collection, Greensville County Court Records. The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Va. 23219.

Acquisition Information

These records came to the Library of Virginia in a 2023 transfer of court papers from Greensville County under accession number 53810.

Processing Information

Encoded by M. Long: August 2023.

Commonwealth Causes, 1830-1864, pertaining to enslaved and free Black individuals were removed from the “Greensville County Dead Papers” and adjacent boxes during minimal processing and then processed and indexed as a distinct unit by Lydia Neuroth for the purposes of digitizing them for the digital project Virginia Untold: The African American Narrative.

Criminal Records, 1792-1870 that were transferred in accession 53810 under the title “Greensville County Dead Papers” and in adjacent boxes were processed using minimal processing standards: Locality records were organized by broad record category (election records, fiduciary records, etc.) with minimal other arrangement. These records have not been flattened, foldered, mended, or separated by individual record type (like summons, appraisements, etc.).

The remaining Criminal Records for Greensville County are still unprocessed.

Historical Information

Context for Record Type: Commonwealth causes are criminal court cases filed by the state government that consist primarily of warrants, summons, subpoenas, indictments, recognizances, and verdicts handed down by juries and other legal authorities in order to prosecute individuals who violated the penal code.

The commonwealth causes reveal an inconsistency in forms of conviction and punishment for white versus Black and multiracial individuals. Throughout the early nineteenth century, Virginia legislators revised the laws in ways that reduced the legal status of free Black and multiracial people to that of enslaved, thereby creating a legal system based on race. White Virginians and legislators feared insurrection and passed laws restricting the number of Black and multiracial people allowed to gather in groups. Enslavers could be fined for permitting their enslaved people to hire themselves out for work and enslaved people were jailed on these occasions. While public whipping originated as a form of punishment for all those convicted, in Virginia, it was retained for those who were Black, free or enslaved, and officially outlawed as a punishment for white criminals in 1848. Often, Black individuals served much longer penitentiary sentences while the cases of white men, who had committed the same or similar crimes, were dismissed.

The documents that frequently appear in criminal records include warrants that were issued by grand juries, judges, and justices of the peace directing law enforcement officials to either arrest and imprison a person suspected of having committed a crime or to cause an individual to appear in court to answer accusations made against them. Peace warrants directing an offender to "keep the peace of the Commonwealth" or to restrain from any violent acts are commonly found in assault and battery cases. They also contain summonses, used to call a suspected person, witness, or victim(s) to appear in court, and indictments (sometimes called presentments) are the official, written description of the crime that an accused individual is suspected of committing, which is approved by a grand jury and presented to a court in order to begin legal proceedings. Criminal record additionally include verdicts are the formal pronouncements made by juries on issues submitted to them by a judge or other law enforcement official. In the case of a guilty verdict, a judge will sentence the offender.

Locality History: Greensville County was named either for Revolutionary War general Nathanael Greene, commanding general of the Continental army in the South during part of the Revolutionary War, or for Sir Richard Grenville, leader of the Roanoke Island settlement of 1585. The county was formed from Brunswick County on 28 November 1780.

Scope and Content

Materials in the Library of Virginia's collections contain historical terms, phrases, and images that are offensive to modern readers. These include demeaning and dehumanizing references to race, ethnicity, and nationality; enslaved or free status; physical and mental ability; religion; sex; and sexual orientation and gender identity.

Greensville County (Va.) Criminal Records, 1792-1929 consist of Commonwealth Causes, 1830-1864, involving enslaved and free Black individuals; and a portion of the Criminal Records, 1792-1870, that have undergone minimal processing, which has allowed for the documentation of specific record types and various trends found in this set of records. The remaining criminal records are completely unprocessed.

Commonwealth Causes, 1830-1864, involving free and enslaved Black individuals consist of criminal cases where the defendants themselves are either free or enslaved Black individuals. These cases also consist of white defendants who are charged with crimes involving matters of chattel slavery; violence against free or enslaved Black persons; or other violations of laws involving the policing of Black communities.

Causes commonly found against free Black and enslaved people might include breaking and entering, stealing, assault, murder, arson, and aiding enslaved people to self-emancipate. Formerly enslaved men and women could also be tried for remaining in the commonwealth more than one year following emancipation. There are also cases against enslavers who permitted a gathering of enslaved people on their property.

Criminal Records, 1792-1870 that have undergone minimal processing consist of the following:

Significant materials include several grand jury presentments that describe causes involving free and enslaved people, as well as several criminal cases surrounding the railroad industry, including defendants who allowed sections of railroads to fall into unsafe levels of disrepair and others who deliberately obstructed the railways in order to cause public harm.

Arrangement

This collection is arranged into the following series:

Series I: Commonwealth Causes involving enslaved and free Black individuals, 1830-1864, are arranged chronologically. Series II: Minimally Processed Criminal Records, 1792-1870, are loosely arranged chronologically. Series III: Unprocessed Criminal Records, 1860-1929, are housed in boxes with other unprocessed court records for Greensville County.

Related Material

Records related to free and enslaved people of Greensville County (Va.) and other localities are available through the Virginia Untold: The African American Narrative Digital Collection on the Library of Virginia website.

Additional Greensville County Court Records can be found on microfilm at The Library of Virginia. Consult "A Guide to Virginia County and City Records on Microfilm."

Adjunct Descriptive Data