Administrative Information

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Preferred Citation

Albemarle County   (Va.) Apprenticeship Indentures, 1817-1887. Local government records collection, Albemarle County   Court Records. The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Va. 23219.

Acquisition Information

These items came to the Library of Virginia in a transfer of court records from Albemarle County  .

Historical Information

Albemarle County   was named for William Anne Keppel, second earl of Albemarle, and governor of Virginia from 1737 to 1754. It was created by a statute of 1744 and formed from Goochland County  ; part of Louisa County   was added in 1761 and islands in the Fluvanna (now the James  ) River in 1770. The court met for the first time on 8 February 1745. The county   seat is the city   of Charlottesville.

In 1780 the Virginia General Assembly replaced the Anglican vestries and churchwardens of the colonial period with elected bodies called Overseers of the Poor. The Overseers provided food, clothing, shelter, and medical treatment for the persons who were too poor to support themselves or too ill to provide for their basic needs. They also bound out children whose parents could not support them or who failed to educate or instruct them, as well as orphans to become apprentices. The boys learned a trade and the girls learned domestic skills.

Scope and Content

Albemarle County   (Va.) Apprenticeship Indentures, 1817-1887, are bonds and contracts of apprenticeship given by the Overseers of the Poor, showing the names of master and apprentice, the trade to be taught, details of the contract, the amount of the bond and the names of sureties. Many of the apprentices bound out prior to 1866 were free persons of color.

A donation to the Library of Virginia's Adopt Virginia History's program to conserve this volume was made by Shirley Haas.

Related Material

Additional Albemarle County   Records can be found on microfilm at the Library of Virginia. Consult "A Guide to Virginia County   and City Records on Microfilm" found on the Library of Virginia's web site.

Index Terms

Corporate Names:

• Albemarle County   (Va.) Circuit Court.

Subjects:

• African Americans--History.
• Apprentices--Virginia--Albemarle County  .
• Free African Americans--Virginia--Albemarle County  .

Geographical Names:

• Albemarle County   (Va.)--History.

Genre and Form Terms:

• Indentures--Virginia--Albemarle County  .
• Local government records--Virginia--Albemarle County  .

Adjunct Descriptive Data