Administrative Information

Access Restrictions

There are no restrictions.

Use Restrictions

There are no restrictions.

Preferred Citation

Accomack County (Va.) Minute Books, 1727-1871. 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.A significant number of loose records from the 1700s suffered extreme water and pest damage. Volumes that record deeds, court orders, and wills exist.

Scope and Content

Accomack County (Va.) Minute Books, 1727-1871, record all matters brought before the court on a daily basis when it was in session including but not limited to: civil and criminal suits, appointments of county officers, appointments of guardians and administrators, deed recordings, free negro registrations, naturalization registrations, and court fees. Clerks would transfer information from minute books to appropriate order book, deed book, fiduciary book, free negro register, etc. Collection includes minute books from County Court, District Court, Superior Court of Law, Circuit Superior Court of Law and Chancery.

Arrangement

Chronological by entry date.

Related Material

Additional Accomack County 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:

• Accomack County (Va.) Circuit Court.

Subjects:

• Public records--Virginia--Accomack County.

Geographical Names:

• Accomack County (Va.)--History--18th century.

Genre and Form Terms:

• Judicial records--Virginia--Accomack County.
• Local government records--Virginia--Accomack County.
• Minute books--Virginia--Accomack County.

Adjunct Descriptive Data