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Northumberland County (Va.) Health and Medical Records, 1826-1896. Local government records collection, Northumberland County Court Records, The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia.
This collection came to the Library of Virginia in a transfer of court papers from Northumberland County, accession number 43487.
Mental Health Records may consist of a variety of documents that historically were referred to as lunacy papers in the courthouses of Virginia localities and municipalities.
The separate office of coroner appeared in Virginia about 1660. The judicial duty of the office is to hold inquisitions in cases when persons meet sudden, violent, unnatural or suspicious death, or death without medical attendance. The coroner would summon a jury to assist him in determining cause of death. Prior to November 1877, the jurors numbered twelve. Between November 1877 and March 1926, the jurors numbered six.The jury viewed the body of the deceased and heard the testimony of witnesses.The coroner was required to write down witness testimony. After seeing and hearing the evidence, the jury delivered in writing to the coroner their conclusion concerning cause of death referred to as the inquisition. After March 1926, only the coroner determined cause of death. He could require physicians to assist him with determing cause of death. If a criminal act was determined to be the cause of death, the coroner was to deliver the guilty person to the sheriff and the coroners' inquests would be used as evidence in the criminal trial.
See also: Fiduciary Records. A fiduciary is an individual who enters into a confidential and legal relationship which binds them to act on behalf of another. Guardians are legally invested to take care of another person, and of the property and rights of that person. Thus, some records referred to as insanity papers are housed with fiduciary records and not with mental health records.
First known as commissions, the Justice of the Peace office originated with the county quarterly court in 1623. Commanders of Plantations (1607-1629) were predecessors of the commissioners, who since 1662 have been called justices of the peace. They have traditionally had both civil and criminal jurisdiction, and have served other functions, including performing coroners' and lunacy inquisitions. Until 1869 justices served both as judges of the county court and as individual justices; since then they have had only the latter function.
During its session begun in November 1769, the House of Burgesses passed an act establishing a hospital in Williamsburg for the mentally ill. The Eastern Lunatic Asylum (now Eastern State Hospital) was the first institution in America constructed as a mental hospital. The first patients were admitted in October 1773.
Northumberland County was named probably for the English county. It was formed about 1645 from the district of Chickacoan, the early-seventeenth-century name for the region between the Potomac and the Rappahannock Rivers. The date of the county's formation is conjectural because the act of assembly creating it is no longer extant, but internal evidence shows that the county was functioning in 1645. The county suffered some losses in a fire in the clerk's office on October 25, 1710. Volumes beginning in 1650 that record deeds, court orders, and wills exist. The county seat is Heathsville.
Northumberland County (Va.) Health and Medical Records, 1826-1896, consist of two folders: Coroners' Inquisitions, 1861-1896, and Mental Health Records, 1826-1869.
Northumberland County (Va.) Coroners' Inquisitions, 1861-1896, are investigations into the deaths of individuals who died by a sudden, violent, unnatural or suspicious manner, or died without medical attendance. Causes of death found in coroners' inquisitions include murder, infanticide, suicide, domestic violence, exposure to elements, drownings, train accidents, automobile accidents, and natural causes, or as commonly referred to in the 19th century, visitation by God. Documents commonly found include in coroners' inquests include the inquisition, depositions, and summons. Criminal papers such as recognizance bonds can be found in coroner inquisitions. Information found in the inquisition include the name of the coroner, the names of the jurors, the name and age of the deceased if known, gender and race of the deceased, and when, how, and by what means the deceased came to his or her death. If the deceased was Black or a "person of color," the inquest would identify the deceased as enslaved or free if known. If the deceased was an enslaved person, the inquest would include, if known, the name of the enslaver and the enslaver's residence. Information found in the depositions include the name of the deponent and his or her account of the circumstances that led to the death of the deceased.
Northumberland County (Va.) Mental Health Records, 1826-1869, may include warrants, orders, petitions, depositions, reports, etc. for or by justices of the peace and others regarding the mental condition of five individuals (Henry Bayless [or Bailey], Joseph M. Burton, James Conway, Ferriol Walker, and Cyrus Eubank), who were examined and released to the recognizance of a family member or who were recommended to be committed to the mental hospital in Williamsburg. Fiduciary records such as estate inventories of a person judged insane may also be present.
Chronologically by year, then alphabetically by last name of individual.
Northumberland County is one of Virginia's Lost Records Localities. Additional Northumberland County Records may be found in the Virginia Lost Records Localities Collection at the Library of Virginia. Search the Lost Records Digital Collection .
For more information and a listing of lost records localities see Lost Records research note .
Additional Northumberland County court records can be found on microfilm and in the Chancery Records Index at the Library of Virginia. Consult "A Guide to Virginia County and City Records on Microfilm" and The Chancery Records Index .