Administrative Information

Access Restrictions

Common and City Council Journals, 1782-1883, use microfilm copies, Richmond (Va.) Reels 099-111. See "A Guide to Virginia County and City Records on Microfilm."

Use Restrictions

There are no restrictions.

Preferred Citation

Richmond (Va.) City Administration Records, 1782-1979, [cite volume and year (if a volume)]. Local government records collection, Richmond (City) Court Records. The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia, 23219.

Alternative Form Available

Common and City Council Journals, 1782-1883, use microfilm copies, Richmond (Va.) Reels 099-111.

Custodial History

Richmond (Va.) City Sergeant register, 1841-1846 and 1842-1844, with loose records, came to the Library of Virginia as a gift from the Virginia History Society (or the Virginia Museum of History and Culture) in 2021. The Virginia Historical Society received the original records in 1975 as a gift made by the New York State Library (Albany, N.Y.).

Acquisition Information

Richmond City Common Council, Alderman, and Ordinance volumes came to the Library of Virginia in a transfer of court papers from the city of Richmond in 2015 under accession number 51527.

Loose Ordinance records came to Library of Virginia in a transfer of court papers from the city of Richmond in an undated accession.

City Sergeant records came to Library of Virginia in a transfer of court papers from the City of Richmond in 1997 under accessions 37370 and 37381.

An additional gift of City Sergeant records came from the Virginia Museum of History and Culture (Richmond, Va.) in 2022 under accession 53554.

Processing Information

Originally processed in 2017 under the title "Richmond (Va.) City Administration Records, 1804-1979" consisting of 142 volumes from accession 51527, but combined with additional accessions and records in 2023 to make a more complete and "Richmond (Va.) City Administration Records" descriptive record and finding aid.

Richmond (Va.) City Sergeant Register, 1841-1846 and 1842-1844, with loose records, were processed in various sections by archvisits at the Virginia Museum of History& Culture, they have largely remained in the same arrangement though described differently

Richmond (Va.) Sheriff's Record Book, undated, 1856-1858 now Richmond (Va.) City Sergeant Record Book, 1856-1858, undated was orginally described in a seperate record but was combined with the current record in November 2023 to improve access

Richmond (Va.) Ordinances, 1884-1980, was orginally described in a seperate record but was combined with the current record in November 2023 to improve access

Encoded be G. Crawford, 2017; edited by M. Mason, November 2023

Historical Information

Context for Record Type:

Richmond City Council

The Council largely took shape after the 1782 charter which called for the election of twelve property owners. Of these twelve one would be chosen mayor, one recorder, and a bicameral council comprised of four alderman, and six members of a Common Council. Together this group of elected officials became the Common Hall. In 1851 the Richmond charter changed to allow for the popular election of the mayor directly, as well as other municipals officers, but retained the bicameral council. This largely remained the structure until the 1947 charter which eliminated the bicameral council and instead created a nine-person council from which the council chose one of its member to serve as mayor and appointed a city manager. This system remained until 2004 when the mayor's position reverted to being popularly elected, serving as the chief administrative officer to the city with the nine-member city council acting as the main governing body.

City Sergeant Records

The City Sergeant(s) (sometimes spelt "Serjeant") were appointed and later elected positions that served municipalities in a function parallel to the sheriffs of Virginia's counties. The position originated from English law and was tied to the creation of a town/ cities independent court system, with the position of "serjeant to the City of Williamsburg" appearing as early as 1755. City Sergeant's generally acted as the chief police officer, and were charged with the issuing of subpoenas and warrants, seizure of property, collection of fees and other functions of the Hustings or Corporation court of a municipality.

Locality History:

City of Richmond, located between Henrico and Chesterfield Counties, was named by William Byrd (1674-1744), who envisioned the development of a city at the falls of the James River and with the help of William Mayo laid out the town in 1737. The name probably came from the English borough of Richmond upon Thames, which Byrd visited on several occasions. Richmond was established in 1742 and in 1779 was designated the capital of Virginia effective 30 April 1780. It was incorporated as a town, although "stiled the city of Richmond," in 1782 and was incorporated as a city in 1842. It served as the capital of the Confederacy from mid-1861 to April 1865. Richmond was enlarged by the annexation of Manchester (or South Richmond) in 1910, and by the addition of Barton Heights, Fairmount, and Highland Park in 1914. Further annexations from Chesterfield County occurred in 1942 and 1970.

Lost Locality: During the burning of Richmond on April 3, 1865, during the Civil War, Richmond circuit court judge John A. Meredith led efforts to save the circuit court records found at the State Court House. Rescuers successfully removed all the papers that were necessary to pending suits and many of the order books, but all of the wills and deed books were lost. Records of the superior court and circuit superior court of law and chancery were also destroyed. Most of the pre-Civil War Hustings Court records exist.

Scope and Content

Richmond (Va.) City Administration Records, 1782-1979, consists of records including minutes, journals, ordinances, records books, etc. created by various administrative offices and officials for the city of Richmond. These include:

Richmond City Council records, 1782-1979, which consist of records of the historic Common Hall comprised of the Common Council and Board of Alderman and modern City Council; records solely created by the Board of Alderman, records solely created by the Common Council.

City Council Records,1782-1979, consists of records created by bicameral Richmond's Common Hall which included the Board of Alderman and Common Council as well as other administrative officers, as well as records created by the modern system of the nine person city council. The majority of these records consists of ordinances inacted by the city council, but also includes some general records, accounts, budgets, and miscellaneous records.

Board of Alderman Records,1874-1948, consists of various volumes of the Board of Alderman Journal as well as indexes to the journals.

Common Council Records, 1808-1954, includes various volumes of the Common Council Journal as well as indexes to the journals.

City Sergeant Records, 1841-1913, consists of a City Sergeant Record Book, 1841-1846,kept by John M. Fergusson, City Sergeant, and Edward D. Eacho, N. E. Green, John Lynch, Francis Spragins, and Stanley J. Spragins, Deputy City Sergeants. The volume includes names of "runaway" enslaved persons and free Black and multiracial individuals as well as costs levied during imprisonment in the city jail. Also includes, City Sergeant Record Book, 1842-1844, kept by John M. Fergusson, City Sergeant, and John Lynch, Francis Spragins, and Stanley J. Spragins, Deputy City Sergeants. The volume includes names of persons imprisoned and costs levied during imprisonment in the city jail. Also includes, City Sergeant Record Book,1856-1858, undated, kept by city sergeant Thomas Underwood Dudley. In the first part of the volume, the city sergeant records his fees for the prosecution of court cases--serving writs, subpoenas, notices and summonses in chancery to both individuals and companies around the city and various counties and other cities in the state from April to September. The rest of the volume consists of committals to and releases from the city jail from 1856-1858. Notations were made about certain individuals upon their committal to the jail and were marked through and initialed by the city sergeant when the individual was released. Fees paid as a result of an individual's release from the city jail are also noted.

Also includes, Feebook,1902; a Fee Book, 1909-1913; and loose records, 1844-1851. The loose records include accounts concerning the operations of the City jail as well as Letter, n.d., of W[illiam] H. Armstrong to Richard [D.] Sanxay; list, 1849, of persons in the Richmond City Jail; affidavits, 1844, of R. T. Adams and William Lambert; petition, 1849, of Samuel Yancy as an insolvent debtor (witnessed by R. T. Adams); bond, 1850, of James A. Gibson to Daniel Hunt; summonses; and miscellany.

Arrangement

This collection is arranged into the following series:

Related Material

See also: Richmond (Va.) Criminal Records, 1782-1963 (bulk 1945-1963) for commonwealth corresponds that correspond to the the City Sergeant Record books

See also: Richmond (Va.) Ended Causes, 1782-1951 (bulk 1900-1951) for additional criminial records unprocessed.

Records related to free and enslaved people of Richmond (Va.) and other localities are available through the Virginia Untold: The African American Narrative Digital Collection on the Library of Virginia website.

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

Richmond City is one of Virginia's Lost Records Localities. Additional Richmond City Court Records may be found in the Lost Records Localities Digital Collection on the Library of Virginia website.

Adjunct Descriptive Data