The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1892-01-27
ORR OLD COUNTY RECORDs,
Their Incalculable Nalue-Hecessity oil Their
Preservation.
To the General Assembly of Virginia

]
Preservation.
| To tho General Assembly of Virginia,
Asan educator and one who loves Virginia
and taxes pride in her history hope may
be excused for appearing IN the public prints
! in advocacy Of the bill now pending IN the
/ House for copying the ancient records Oh the
/ county courts / desire 20 discuss very
/ briehy-frst the nature and imp rtance OF
these records: second. their present cond-
/ ton: and third. the bill which the Legis.a-
ture has been asked by the Virginia Historical
| Society and Others outside OF that organIza-
/ ton o. pass
And first. the nature and importance Of the
county court records The county courts
were composed OF eight OF the foremost men
/ IN the community IN which they resided. BE
/ fore the statutes had marked ont INTO preci-
I sion their functions and authority tney eX-
/ erted a very varied aud Discretionary power.
/ so that the orders Of court, in the seventeenth
/ century. are legislative as well a. judicial IN
| their character. Every question that could
/ touch tho social and political con-
| Germs Of Virginia came before tLiS
ADJUST tribunal for review. IN
| these courts. too. were recorded all the DEEDS
/ and wills OF the inhabitants he custom OF
| pref King q long whereas 10 all proceedings
/ Las pre- eryed for posterty an immense mum,
Der of details respecting every de artinent 81
!
/ the colonial governors. IN quaint letters and
/ i'm nets of tho General Assembly and orders
of councils not 20 B. G found III Henng's Sta
tutes or anywhere else. The inventories OF
! the dead are full OF the minutest details
and record. with singular fidelity every arti-
Gle OF personal property from ilsh-hook T. a
/ horse.
The fact is. the history Of Virginia has not
/ yet been written. The works Of Campbell and
rttn and Beverly are at best mere chronicles
/ of events. but they do not represent the life
of the Virginia people. The real life OF our
fOretathers can only be understood by thor
/ Ough study Of the county records. and that
study IS only beginning 10 be made. More
/ over. these records convey the highest au-
/ thority for facts. since they obtain "a Judicial
/ c0gnizance and are devoid of the character
/ istic exaggeratiOns and imperlecti0ns OF mar
ratives. most Of them hearsay, on which our
/ historians have 50 far depended. In them
/ every profession IS represented.
The doctor who is Of an inquiring mind can
/ observe through the centuries the practice
/ and fees and habits of the deyOtees OF medi-
cine and can Gather a thousand important
/ facts concerning hygiene and health. HE
/ lawyer can note the gradual gr with and de
/ velOpmelt OF his profession. The merchant
/ the price of goods, the course OF trade and
/ the elect of $ Ill and climate on business and
/ commerce. The law-giyer the history OF
/ crime and the rise and development Of modern
| law and all the changes of society from year
/ to year and century 10 century. Nowhere else
can such an immense amount OF satisfactory
/ history be found.
The brief examination which. during the
/ past year or two. has been devoted T. their in
valuable contents has struck down ages OF
error. Nirgnians have been represented as
uueducated and uncOuth IN the mass. neg
lectiul or literature and of schools. II has
been reserved 10 the researches Of the last
two or three years TO show that in nearly
every county IN the colony there were IN the
| seventeenth and eighteenth centuries free
schools and parish schools. In general culture
| the people of Virginia could challenge, by the
! record. a comparison with any people on earth.
| Allthe histories say that SpOtswO OdintrOduced
the writ of habeas corpus in l7l0. but the
( same authority-the county court records
declares that the writ was granted by Sir
| William Berkely thirty years before. None
of the historians find the date when Charles
/ IN. was proclaimed IN Virginia and fierce bat
| ties have been fought over the question OF the
loyalty OF Virginia TO the crown. II they had
searched the county records they might
/ have found the exact date Of the restoration
| in Virginia which was on September 20, 1860,
/ about four months after the restoration IN
England And so with a thousand other de
tails historical social, political ami gen.
ealogical.
But the ancient county records are not only
/ valuable to the historian. but 20 the business
[ man Every purchaser wishes a good title
| and the best knowledge Of the land, and
| many cases occur in which vast sums of
! money are dependent upon some remote link
ia the chain. The extent of the examination
must depend on each individual case, and no
/ lnau can assign any general rule for the termi-
| nation of title examinations
/ now pass 70 the condition of the records
in the various clerks Offices. | can speak
| from personal knowledge. az 1 have visited
! the cOurt-hOuses or many of the counties and
/ know tier condition. Such counties as I
have not visited have tried 20 inform my
self about by writing o. the C erks and cues
tloniug persons who ought 70 know. Out OF
the whole number of counties only thirteen
| have books previous 10 1 90. and respecting
these the language of AIr. Samuel
! h. Gresham, clerk of Lancaster County
| Court. who wrote concerning the
condition Of the books in his Office is ap-
plicable some Of them are in bad condition,
soon wall be illegibe, and are now being de-
faced by the moth" is not TINS dep!OrGble
news? We know that many of the counties
lost tleir books during the late terrible war,
! aud as many as three ha lost theirs
/ by ire since tie war. and now we are told
| that neglect. dampness and the worm Will
\ SO wipe out the balance Is 1t not
time 10 mOVe> Many important demands
! are made uuon the Legislature this session.
! l have nothing to say against any OF them,
I Tut J do say that there IS no duty more
sacred resting upon the shoulders OF the
| Legislature than thI, OF preserving the an
Client county records of the Common
wealth The love OF literature and OF letters
speaks largely for the character and rehne-
/ ment OF a people.
And now as 10 the bill itself; Ii proposes
! 10 invest the $ ecretary OF the Commonwealth
| with power % have copies made Ol all re-
cords prior 20 100 and apprOpflates $4,000
| TOR tie purpose. I have ascertMned that
! there are .betv cen ~ OJ0 and 20 900 pages of
matter 10 be copied which, at four cents per
/ 100 words. and estimating the average OF 400
! wor.s to the page. Will full thin tue GpprO-
/ priatl0n. The elect OF The bill will be to
provide two books containing the same COZ
/ tents " ere Ony one now exists.
/ II disaster should happen 10 one the other
| would still remain a new duplicate could
/ he made. But il disaster Uefalls records
| ia their present condition the loss then 8
! irremedlable. Then again. even the best pre-
| served book previous 70 llOO is Ell gmatlcal
| TO the ordinary exam. ner on account OF the
/ pecu.iarties o. the handwriting. Copy the
! book. however and any one can acQUalut
! himself with its contents. Again. bv bring
| ing the Co les 10 the library In kichm nd. rs
/ the bill cOntempiateS. person 50 desiring
Will be able 70 carry his investigations. with
out extra expense. into all the county records
preserved. As things are now 20 pursue any
| study requiring "a general examination OF the
| books would consume vast time and vast