Administrative Information

Access Restrictions

Collection is open to research.

Use Restrictions

There are no use restrictions.

Preferred Citation

Virginia. Auditor of Public Accounts (1776-1928), Literary Fund Records, 1794-1869 (bulk 1811-1850), [Cite Specific Accession Number]. State government records collection, The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia.

Acquisition Information

Details of acquisition unknown.

Biographical Information

The Commonwealth of Virginia set aside money for public education for the first time in its history in 1811. The General assembly passed the bill that formally established the literary fund for education, first on January 24, 1810 in the House, and in the Senate February 8, 1810: "Be it enacted; that all escheats, confiscations, fines, penalties and forfeitures, and all rights in personal property accruing to the Commonwealth, as derelict, and having no rightful proprietor, be, and the same are hereby appropriated to the encouragement of learning. That the aforesaid fund shall be appropriated to the sole benefit of a school or schools, to be kept in each and every county within this Commonwealth." (House Journal, Feb. 2, 1810, Chap. 14, p. 15). Revenues derived from fines (except milita fines) and the sale of land escheated for unpaid taxes were deposited in the Literary fund and the money was used to build schools and educate the lower income children in the state.

As such, this allowed for the Second Auditor of the State Treasury, at the time James Brown Jr., to open an account with the Treasurer to be known as the Literary Fund to, "..be divided and appropriated as to the next legislature sees best adapted to the promotion of literature … Its direction is cast into the "Act to provide for the education of the Poor," in which is made a "solemn protest" against any future legislature's misapplying the Literary Fund to any other purpose than that of the education of the Poor. The President and the Directors of the Fund shall, as soon as sufficient funds be provided, establish schools for the education of the poor in each and every county and shall appoint an agent in every county to look after the returns to the fund and to prevent misappropriation." (Acts of Virginia Assembly, Feb. 12, 1811, Chap. 8, pp. 8-9. ).

The directors of the Literary Fund were formally designated to include the Governor, the Lieutenant Governor, Treasurer, Attorney General, and the President of Court of Appeals.

In 1818, the state legislature passed an act to appropriate a portion of the fund annually for the support of a state university (the University of Virginia) as well as for the education of the poor. (Acts of Virginia Assembly, Feb. 21, 1818, p. 14). Some of the other higher education institutions that received funding from the act were the Virginia Military Institute in Lexington, and the Medical College of Virginia in Richmond.The literary fund is still in existence today and provides services such as low-interest loans for school construction, grants under the interest rate subsidy program, debt service for technology funding, and support for the state’s share of teacher retirement required by the Standards of Quality.

Scope and Content

This is an artificial collection of multiple accessions from the Auditor of Public Accounts concerning the Virginia Literary Fund. The collection consists of seven (7) series of records housed in various boxes and volumes. The collection includes ledgers for fines, various receipts and vouchers (including for cash, bonds, surety debts, and other judgment). Given that the Literary Fund was financed by money from fines, land and property forfeitures, penalties, confiscations, escheats, and repayment of the debt for the War of 1812, this collection documents the financial histories of Virginians across various localities.

Arrangement

This collection is arranged in the seven following Series: