A Guide to the Virginia Auditor of Public Accounts - Attorney General Opinions, 1781-1875, #APA 87

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Preferred Citation

Virginia. Auditor of Public Accounts (1776-1928). Attorney General Opinions, 1781-1875. Accession APA 87, State government records collection, The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia.

Acquisition Information

Transferred from the Auditor of Public Accounts in 1913.

From 1776 to 1851, the Attorney General was elected by the General Assembly, or, in case of vacancy, appointed by the governor for an undefined term. The Virginia Constitution of 1851 introduced popular election and four-year terms. After the 1851 constitution, vacancies would be filled by the General Assembly, if they were in session, or by the governor. Edmund Randolph served as the first Attorney General of Virginia after Independence.

Scope and Content

Opinions, 1781-1875, of the Attorney General for the Auditor of Public Accounts. The opinions are often written into letters or on notes. Virginia Attorney Generals include Edmund Randolph (1776-1786), James Innes (1786-1796), Robert Brooke (1796-1800), Philip Norborne Nicholas (1800-1819), John Robertson (1819-1834), Sidney Smith Baxter (1834-1852), Willis Perry Bocock (1852-1857), John Randolph Tucker (1857-1865), James Craig Taylor (1870-1874), and Raleigh Travers Daniel (1874-1877). Topics include: pay for militia and military; salary of Penitentiary keeper; sale of delinquent lands; appropriations for Virginia Military Institute; court costs; right to tax persons employed and residing in Harpers Ferry; railroad taxes; acts regulating Life Insurance Companies; payment for slaves condemned to sale and transportation; tax exemptions of theatrical performances; taxation for the manufacturers of ale or beer; if merchants can sell apple or peach barndy without an additional license; taxing circus performers; interest on bank dividends; taxes on emancipated slaves; sale of liquor by physicians and apothecaries; taxation of penitentiary convicts; taxation of officers and employees of the Navy; taxation of Confederate officers; and funding of Treasury notes, among other topics.