A Guide to the Prince George County (Va.) Register of Convicts, 1871-1904 Prince George County (Va.) Register of Convicts, 1871-1904 Prince George County (Va.) Reel 26

A Guide to the Prince George County (Va.) Register of Convicts, 1871-1904

A Collection in
the Library of Virginia
Microfilm reel number: Prince George County (Va.) Reel 26


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Processed by: Library of Virginia staff

Repository
The Library of Virginia
Microfilm reel number
Prince George County (Va.) Reel 26
Title
Prince George County (Va.) Register of Convicts, 1871-1904
Physical Characteristics
1 microfilm reel.
Collector
Prince George County (Va.) County Court.
Location
Library of Virginia
Language
English

Administrative Information

Access Restrictions

There are no restrictions.

Use Restrictions

Use microfilm copy, Prince George County (Va.) Reel 26.

Preferred Citation

Prince George County (Va.) Register of Convicts, 1871-1904. Prince George County (Va.) Reel 26, Local government records collection, Prince George County Court Records. The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia 23219.

Acquisition Information

Microfilm Reel 26 was generated by a field operator from the Virginia State Library and Archives' (now Library of Virginia) Microfilm Section while filming in the Prince George's County Circuit Court Clerk's Office.

Historical Information

Prince George County was formed from Charles City County by a statute adopted on 28 August 1702 to take effect on 23 April 1703. The county was named for Prince George of Denmark, husband of Queen Anne of England.

Most court records were destroyed in 1782 by British troops during the Revolutionary War and again in 1864 by Union troops during the Civil War. A few volumes that record deeds, court orders, and wills exist.

During the 1869-1870 session, the General Assembly passed an "Act to Secure Identification of Persons Convicted of Criminal Offences." On 2 November 1870, the act was approved. The act specified that "every clerk of the court of each county and corporation shall keep a register of full and accurate descriptive lists of every person convicted in his own or any other court of record of his county or corporation, of felony or other infamous offence, and a duly certified and attested copy of any such descriptive list may be used as prima facie evidence of the facts therein stated in any question of identity. Such registers shall be kept written up, well indexed, and shall be open to public inspection at reasonable hours. The register shall follow a set form and each descriptive list shall be attested by said clerk."

In addition, "the clerk of every court of record of each county or corporation, other than the county or corporation court, shall within ten days from the date of conviction of any person in his court of any offence mentioned in the first section of this act, deliver to the clerk of the county or corporation court, for record in said register, an attested descriptive list of the person so convicted, in the form hereinbefore prescribed." The judges of the respective courts are responsible for seeing that the provisions of the act are "punctually and properly carried out" by their respective clerks. The act was amended on 18 January 1871 and outlined the following: "For the services mentioned in this or the first section of this act, the clerk shall be entitled to a fee of fifty cents, to be paid out of the state treasury." By and large, the county and circuit court clerks went about compiling these registers throughout the counties of Virginia as late as the 1960s.

Order books record all matters brought before the court when it was in session and may contain important information not found anywhere else. A wide variety of information is found in order books--including individuals convicted of felonies.

This original register was created by the County and Circuit Courts.

Scope and Content

Prince George County (Va.) Register of Convicts, 1871-1904, is a comprehensive register of convicted felons for the county. This register includes the name in full of the convict and whether there are any aliases, the present and last known residence of the accused, the color or race of the individual (including white, black, dark brown, and mulatto), the individual's height, eye color, hair color and any identifying marks, the apparent and known age of the criminal, his or her occupation, the offense, the court in which convicted, date of conviction and page of record book and whether the judgment was reversed or pardon granted.

Arrangement

Arranged alphabetically by first letter of surname.

Related Material

Additional Prince George Marriage Records can be found on microfilm at the Library of Virginia. Consult "A Guide to Virginia County and City Records on Microfilm."

Prince George County is one of Virginia's Lost Records Localities. Additional Prince George County Court Records may be found in the Virginia Lost Records Localities Collection at the Library of Virginia. Search the Lost Records Localities Database found on the Library of Virginia's web site.

Prince George County is one of Virginia's Lost Records Localities. Additional Prince George County Records may be found in the Virginia Lost Records Localities Collection at the Library of Virginia. Search the Lost Records Localities Digital Collection available at Virginia Memory.

For more information and a listing of lost records localities see Lost Records research note .

Index Terms

    Corporate Names:

  • Prince George County (Va.) Circuit Court.
  • Subjects:

  • African American prisoners--Virginia--Prince George County.
  • African Americans--Employment--Virginia--Prince George County.
  • African Americans--History--1863-1877.
  • African Americans--History--1877-1964.
  • African Americans--Virginia--Prince George County.
  • Crime--Virginia--Prince George County.
  • Occupations--Virginia--Prince George County.
  • Prisoners--Virginia--Prince George County.
  • Public records--Virginia--Prince George County.
  • Racially mixed people--Virginia--Prince George County.
  • Geographical Names:

  • Prince George County (Va.)--History.
  • Genre and Form Terms:

  • Criminal court records--Virginia--Prince George County.
  • Local government records--Virginia--Prince George County.
  • Order books--Virginia--Prince George County.
  • Registers (lists)--Virginia--Prince George County.
  • Added Entry - Corporate Name:

  • Prince George County (Va.) County Court.

Significant Places Associated With the Collection

  • Prince George County (Va.)--History.