Administrative Information

Access Restrictions

There are no restrictions.

Use Restrictions

There are no restrictions.

Preferred Citation

Petersburg (Va.) Register of Voters, 1854. Local government records collection, Petersburg (City) Court Records. The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia 23219.

Acquisition Information

These items came to the Library of Virginia in transfers of court papers from the City of Petersburg included under accession 43614.

Historical Information

Petersburg was formed from parts of Dinwiddie, Prince George, and Chesterfield counties. A garrison and fur trading post called Fort Henry was established in 1645 on the site of the Indian village of Appamattuck. The present name, suggested in 1733 by William Byrd II, honors Peter Jones, Byrd's companion on expeditions into the Virginia backcountry. Petersburg was established in 1748 and incorporated as a town in 1784. In the latter year the towns of Blandford, Pocahontas, and Ravenscroft were added to Petersburg. It was incorporated as a city in 1850. Petersburg was enlarged by annexation from both Prince George and Dinwiddie counties in 1972.

Scope and Content

Petersburg (Va.) Register of Voters, 1854, contains a list of persons registered who were qualified to vote at the general election for the City of Petersburg agreeable to an act passed 9 April 1853. The volume is arranged alphabetically and divided by wards: East, West, South, and Centre.

Related Material

Additional Petersburg (City) Election Records can be found on microfilm at the Library of Virginia. Consult "A Guide to Virginia County and City Records on Microfilm."

Index Terms

Corporate Names:

• Petersburg (Va.) Circuit Court

Subjects:

• Suffrage--Virginia--Petersburg
• Voter Registration--Virginia--Petersburg

Geographical Names:

• Petersburg (Va.)--Genealogy
• Petersburg (Va.)--History--19th century

Genre and Form Terms:

• Election records--Virginia--Petersburg
• Local government records--Virginia--Petersburg
• Voters' lists--Virginia--Petersburg

Adjunct Descriptive Data