Administrative Information

Access Restrictions

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Use Restrictions

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Preferred Citation

Hanover County   (Va.) Virginia Manual Labor School Board and Clothing Accounts, 1905-1909, Hanover County   (Va.) Reel 60. Local government records collection, Hanover County   Court Records. The Library of Virginia, Richmond, VA 23219.

Acquisition Information

These records were loaned for microfilming by the Hanover County clerk of circuit court. The microfilm was generated by OCLC through the Library of Virginia's Circuit Court Records Preservation Program under the accession number 43625.

Historical Information

Hanover County   was formed in 1720 from New Kent County  .

An Act of Assembly from 15 February 1900 established the procedures by which African American minors could be committed to the negro reformatory and the procedures for receiving compensation from the commonwealth. Compensation for care costs was received by submitting accounts to the Hanover county   judge and was paid in the same amounts as jailors for prisoners in jail.

The Virginia Manual Labor School, sometimes called the Virginia Manual Labor School for Colored Boys, was established in 1897 by John Henry Smyth   in Hanover County  , Virginia, to where African American youths who were arrested were sent, instead of Virginia's penal institutions. African American minors sentenced to the school were sent there to be rehabilitated. In the process, they learned a trade. Smyth   served as president until his death 5 September 1908.

Most county   court records, particularly deeds, wills, and marriage records, were destroyed by fire in Richmond on 3 April 1865, where they had been moved for safekeeping during the Civil War. The circuit court records were not moved to Richmond and were relatively unscathed. Consequently, there is a strong run of common law papers and chancery papers after 1831 that were generated by the circuit superior court of law and chancery and its successor, the circuit court.

Scope and Content

Hanover County   (Va.) Virginia Manual Labor School Board and Clothing Accounts, 1905-1909, are accounts submitted by the school to the Negro Reformatory Association of Virginia via the Hanover County   court for compensation for the care of African Americans minors sentenced to the reformatory. Information listed includes the name of the person sentenced to the reformatory, how much compensation was requested for board and clothing, and the date of the request.

Arrangement

Arranged chronologically.

Related Material

See 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:

• Hanover County   (Va.). Circuit Court.
• Negro Reformatory Association of Virginia (Richmond, Va.)
• Virginia Manual Labor School (Hanover, Va.)

Subjects:

• African Americans -- Virginia.
• Juvenile delinquents -- Rehabilitation -- Virginia.
• Reformatories -- Virginia.

Geographical Names:

• Hanover County   (Va.) -- History -- 20th century.

Genre and Form Terms:

• Accounts -- Virginia -- Hanover County  .
• Local government records -- Virginia -- Hanover County   (Va.)

Adjunct Descriptive Data