A Guide to the Richmond (Va.) Apprenticeship Indentures, 1793-1861 Richmond (Va.) Apprenticeship Indentures, 1793-1861 1048056; 0007833618

A Guide to the Richmond (Va.) Apprenticeship Indentures, 1793-1861

A Collection in
the Library of Virginia
Barcode number: 1048056; 0007833618


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Library of Virginia

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© 2020 By The Library of Virginia. All Rights Reserved.

Processed by: E. Jordan and L. Neuroth

Repository
Library of Virginia
Barcode number
1048056; 0007833618
Title
Richmond (Va.) Apprenticeship Indentures 1793-1861
Physical Characteristics
.68 cubic feet (2 boxes)
Collector
Richmond (Va.) Circuit Court.
Location
Library of Virginia
Language
English

Administrative Information

Access Restrictions

Apprenticeship Indentures involving Black and multiracial individuals are digitized and available through Virginia Untold: The African American Narrative Digital Collection on the Library of Virginia website. Please use digital images.

Use Restrictions

There are no restrictions.

Preferred Citation

Richmond (Va.) Apprenticeship Indentures, 1793-1861. Local government records collection, Richmond (City) Court Records. The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Va. 23219.

Acquisition Information

These records came to the Library of Virginia in 1968 a transfer of court papers from the city of Richmond under accession number 26922 and in an undated accession.

Processing Information

Encoded by G. Crawford in 2020; updated by M. Mason 2023

Richmond Apprenticeship Indentures were processed in two parts: the first set consisting of indentures of white, Black, and multiracial individuals, was removed from an unknown record set, potentially Richmond (Va.) Ended Causes or Richmond (Va.) Deeds at an unknown date. Ed Jordan later indexed the indentures pertaining to Black and multiracial individuals for the purposes of digitizing them for the digital project Virginia Untold: The African American Narrative in 2020.

The second set of Apprenticeship Indentures pertaining to Black and multiracial individuals were removed from the Richmond (Va.) Ended Causes and then processed and indexed as a distinct unit by Lydia Neuroth for the purposes of digitizing them for the digital project Virginia Untold: The African American Narrative in 2023. Other apprenticeship indentures pertaining to white and non-Black individuals are still unprocessed and filed with the Richmond (Va.) Ended Causes or possibly in deeds for Richmond (Va.).

Historical Information

Context for Record Type: In 1765, the General Assembly established that illegitimate children of “woman servants, Negroes, white women by Negroes were to be bound out” until the age of 21 for males and 18 for females. In the late eighteenth century, the General Assembly established the Overseers of the Poor, an appointed body that provided food, clothing, shelter, and medical treatment for people 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 and those who were orphaned through apprenticeship contracts. These agreements arranged for white children to be taught a trade or domestic skills as well as educated in reading, writing, and arithmetic. In 1805, the General Assembly amended the previous act to no longer require the master of “black or mulatto orphans” to teach reading, writing, or arithmetic, with the intent that this would prevent Black children from learning these skills.

Locality History Note: The 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 Records Note: 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.) Apprenticeship Indentures, 1793-1861, consists of contracts or agreements binding out white, Black, or multiracial children, sometimes those who were orphaned, to learn a particular trade or craft. These indentures may be written agreements between the family of the apprentice and those responsible for the indentured. In many cases this includes the direct involvement of the Overseers of the Poor. They typically contain the name of the person or institution binding out, the person to whom bound, the name of the person being indentured, the length of the apprenticeship, and the responsibilities of the person taking on the indenture

The first box [Barcode 1048056] consists of Apprenticeship Indentures,1821-1854, for Black, multiracial, and white children.

The second box [Barcode 7833618] consists of Apprenticeship Indentures,1793-1861, for Black and multiracial children removed from Richmond City Ended Causes.

Related Material

See Richmond (Va.) Ended Causes, 1782-1951 (bulk 1900-1951) for possible additional apprenticeship indentures concerning white individuals.

Records related to free Black and multircial individuals 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.