Early Albemarle County Judgments To Be Transcribed And Placed On Virginia Untold

If you enjoy transcription, here’s a great project for you —

June 24, 2020:

For those who enjoy the art and intricacy of transcribing historical documents, the Library of Virginia is pleased to announce that a selection of Albemarle County Judgments, 1780-1852, are available for transcription on Making History: Transcribe. The judgments specifically involve African Americans and were identified and scanned to be added to Virginia Untold: The African American Narrative. Like chancery cases, judgments are useful primary sources for understanding social, legal, and economic history of a locality, and often for genealogical purposes as well. This is a small selection of judgments involving African Americans, identified through an index of early Albemarle judgments by Library of Virginia Senior Local Records Consulting Archivist Eddie Woodward.

Judgments are civil suits that typically involve debt or monetary damages, and were heard by a jury on the law side of the court. Documents such as assumpsits or declarations explain the reason for the plaintiff’s charge, and depositions often give the reader a glimpse into events from the perspective of witnesses in their own words. Additionally, judgments can include a variety of documents that were used as exhibits by the plaintiff or defendant, including wills, contracts, deeds, coroner’s inquests, correspondence, accounts, and receipts.

The rest of the article may be found on the blog, The UncommonWealth:

Early Albemarle County Judgments to be Transcribed and Placed on Virginia Untold

Peter Jefferson’s Snowdon published by CVGA

Front cover of Peter Jefferson's Snowdon (2020)

Hi all — We are very fortunate that CVGA has been given the opportunity to publish a new book by Joanne L. Yeck — Peter Jefferson’s Snowdon —  as CVGA’s first Occasional paper. Here’s the Amazon link:

https://www.amazon.com/Peter-Jeffersons-Snowdon-publications-Genealogical/dp/B088B833B7

An Occasional paper is a work of interest to historians and researchers on a Central Virginia topic, but which is too long to fit in our newsletter, Central Virginia Heritage.

These papers are not published on a set schedule, but as they are completed. The only requirement is that the topic of the paper has something to do with Central Virginia history or research. The average length of these publications will be approximately 40-100 pages, but that is flexible. Contact the newsletter editor, Jean Cooper, if you have a suggestion for future Occasional papers.

In this case, the book is a detailed essay on the history of Snowdon, a plantation created by Peter Jefferson in the first half of the 18th century.

“Beginning in the 1720s, a small group of men based in Goochland County, Virginia, began to migrate west, along the James River, settling the frontier which lay at the foot of the Blue Ridge Mountains. A few stopped at what is known as the Horseshoe Bend, a particularly beautiful and fertile spot in the river. Today, the modern counties of Albemarle, Buckingham, and Fluvanna converge there at the village of Scottsville.In the early 1740s, President Thomas Jefferson’s father, Peter, already a successful surveyor and land speculator, was quick to realize the commercial value of the spot when the newly formed Albemarle County located its seat at the Horseshoe Bend. This volume tells the story of settlement on the south side of the James River and the development of the plantation Peter Jefferson would call Snowdon, a very valuable farm with a complex history.”

Note: The Occasional papers are not part of the membership benefits of CVGA but must be purchased separately.

 

#RVAHistoryHunt

The #RVAHistoryHunt is a collaboration by Richmond cultural organizations to present a unique scavenger hunt experience. Launching just in time for National Scavenger Hunt Day (May 24) and running through August 23, this initiative has been carefully tailored to create a new way of engaging with the Richmond community while being aware of the unique challenges brought about by the COVID-19 global pandemic.

For more information, go to: https://www.virginiahistory.org/node/2858

Ethnic Diversity Sculptor Needs People Willing to Volunteer their Ethnic Percentages

If you have had a DNA test done and are willing to share your ethnic percentages (no personal information needed), sculptor Patty Swygert will convert your data into a color-coded pie chart and mount it on translucent silk panels in a grid with other charts from the community. Using color-matching thread, she will link similar colors of your chart to similar colors of other charts.

The sculpture is designed to address our uniqueness and diversity (the pie charts) and our interconnectedness (the web of colored threads) and will be part of the international art event, Art in Odd Places/Charlottesville. It will be on display on April 5, 2018 (10 am-5 pm) in front of Booker Hall at UVA (across from the Corner) and on April 6, 2018 (10 am-5 pm) near the fountain on the downtown mall.

The sculpture consists of three panels: one including pie charts for the UVA community (students, faculty, staff, alumni), one for residents of the greater Charlottesville area, and one for residents of the rest of Virginia. Hopefully, the sculpture will grow as more people volunteer their percentages.

You can submit your percentages via email (pcs5g@virginia.edu) or by mail to: Patty Swygert, 5724 Lawson Lane, Earlysville, VA  22936. Please indicate whether you are affiliated with UVA, a resident of greater Charlottesville, or from anywhere else in Virginia, so she will know which panel to put your chart on.

Ms. Swygert also invites those of you interested in genealogy to stop by the sculpture to chat with onlookers about genealogy.

African American Civil War Soldiers Transcription Project

If you enjoy transcribing historical documents, you might be interested in this announcement:


This transcription project is a collaboration between historians, social scientists, and the African American Civil War Museum. Their goals are to improve our knowledge of the African Americans who fought for freedom in the American Civil War, to provide descendants with access to information on their ancestors, and to present students of history with primary documents from a pivotal moment in African American history. To do this we are building a comprehensive database of the estimated 200,000 soldiers who formed the United States Colored Troops (USCT).

Help them out now at www.zooniverse.org/projects/usct/african-american-civil-war-soldiers.

CALL FOR PAPERS: 39th NATIONAL AFRO-AMERICAN HISTORICAL & GENEALOGICAL SOCIETY, INC (AAHGS)

In the Call for Papers, you will find both the proceedings & submission instructions. 
To submit your Call for Papers – Click on the link above.

AAHGS is pleased to announce an invitation to submit lecture proposals for the 39th National AAHGS Conference to be held at The Valley Forge Casino and Resort, King of Prussia, Philadelphia, October 11-13, 2018, hosted by the Family Quest Chapter.
The conference welcomes theoretical and empirical papers from historian, genealogist, librarians, authors, and academics.
Submission of Proposals:
Proposals must be submitted electronically at Call for Papers (Click on Register HERE button and use your existing membership account or create new account to submit), in Microsoft Word format only. Proposals must contain complete information suitable for submission in the printed version of the conference syllabus.
IMPORTANT DEADLINES
Call for Papers will be accepted no later than March 31, 2018
Notifications of accepted Papers will be provided no later than April 30, 2018

Central Virginia Heritage (online edition), Winter 2016 Available Now

A snippet from Sam Towler’s article, “Albemarle County Chancery Cases Preservation Project”:

In the 1970s, Albemarle County sent most of the chancery cases in its files which ended before 1912 to the Library of Virginia. The Library of Virginia preserved all the cases they received and put them in acid-free folders to prevent deterioration.  With the Albemarle County Clerk’s approval, I have been working on a project to preserve the post-1900 cases that Albemarle still had at the Courthouse in Charlottesville by unfolding the documents and putting the papers in acid-free folders provided by the Clerk’s Office.

For the rest of this article, and several others, go to “Members Only” on the menu bar above, and choose “Central Virginia Heritage — Current Issue.” (Note: You have to be logged in to this website in order to see “Members Only.”)

For those who are not members, we offer the opportunity to purchase a printed copy of each issue. The Winter 2016 issue is available from CreateSpace.com/6782694 for $6.50. Click on the CreateSpace.com link above or search for “Central Virginia Heritage” on the Createspace.com Store site.

If you have trouble logging in to the site to download your copy, or if you have trouble with the CreateSpace.com site, please contact me at the webmaster link at the bottom of this page.

Table of Contents for the Winter 2016 issue:

  • Division of the Negro Property of the Estate of William Morris of Louisa County, Virginia, 1832 … page 1
  • Albemarle County Chancery Cases Preservation Project … page 4
  • Last Will and Testament of Benjamin Franklin, of St. Anne’s Parish, Albemarle Co., VA … page 6
  • Early Broadus Wood High School History … page 7
  • The Wyatt Family of Albemarle County, Virginia … page 9
  • Reductions in Service at the Library of Virginia … page 11
  • The Times-Dispatch Genealogical Column: The Walker Family of Virginia … page 12
  • Castle Hill … page 16
  • James Govan Estate Settlement and Division of Slaves (1831-1835), Hanover Co., VA … page 18
  • List of the Hire of Negroes [of the Heirs of] Richard Terrell of Louisa Co., VA (1771) … page 19
  • Funeral Home Records Available Online … page 20
  • Letter from Edward Govan to Mary Govan Hill, near Fredericksburg, VA (1831) … page 22
  • Slaves of John Ambler (April 1829) at his Plantations in Amherst and Louisa Counties … page 23
  • President’s Column, by Patricia Lukas … page 24

P.S. Wouldn’t you like to see your research published in this beautiful magazine? Send it to any of the CVGA officers on the About CVGA page.

Central Virginia Heritage (online edition), Fall 2016 Available Now

Cover of Central Virginia Heritage, Fall 2016 issue.

Here is a snippet from Patricia Lukas’ article “Hill & Wood Funeral Service Records:
A Brief Overview”:

The business now known as Hill & Wood Funeral Service was founded in 1907 as the Irving, Way, Hill Company. Mr. Willard Irving handled the livery business, Mr. C.T. Way was a carriage maker, and J. Hercules Hill was the undertaker. It was located at Water and Main Streets. After one relocation, the business was moved to its present location at 201 N. First Street, Charlottesville, VA in 1936.

The company was incorporated as Hill and Irving in 1929. Mr. Paul H. Wood assumed the presidency in 1975 when a new corporation named Hill and Irving Funeral Home, Inc. was formed. Hill and Wood Funeral Service, Inc. became the name of the firm on January 1, 1978.

The earliest records held by the company date from August 1914. The first book consists of preprinted pages with the record of services provided …

For the rest of this article, and several others, go to “Members Only” on the menu bar above, and choose “Central Virginia Heritage — Current Issue.” (Note: You have to be logged in to this website in order to see “Members Only.”)

For those who are not members, we offer the opportunity to purchase a printed copy of each issue. The Fall 2016 issue is available from CreateSpace.com/6549428 for $6.50. Click on the CreateSpace.com link above or search for “Central Virginia Heritage” on the Createspace.com Store site.

If you have trouble logging in to the site to download your copy, or if you have trouble with the CreateSpace.com site, please contact me at the webmaster link at the bottom of this page.

Table of Contents for Fall 2016 issue:

  • Excerpts from A Census of Pensioners for Revolutionary or Military Services … page 1
  • Burial Records of Jewish Cemeteries in Central Virginia … page 5
  • Thomas M. Appling (1 Jan 1832-ca. 22 Aug. 1862) … page 6
  • Hill & Wood Funeral Service Records: A Brief Overview … page 7
  • Genetic Genealogy in Practice: Book Announcement … page 8
  • Pension Testimony from Veterans of the American Revolution in Albemarle County … page 9
  • The Pension Act of 1818 … page 13
  • An 18th-Century Pre-Nuptial Agreement from Fluvanna County … page 14
  • Three Lists of Negro Slaves Owned by Lewis Holladay of Bellefonte, Spotsylvania County, Va., 1800-1817 … page 19
  • Spotsylvania County, Va. Tax Assessments, 1779-1780 … page 20
  • Central Virginia Historical Organizations … page 24
  • President’s Column, by Patricia Lukas … page 27

Family Stories Survey

One of the things that I’ve observed as I talk to people about their family histories is that there are certain “tropes” that appear over and over again. By tropes, I’m talking about common themes or stories that are the same from family to family. Some examples of these tropes are:

  • “three brothers came from the Old World”
  • “my family is descended from royalty or nobility”
  • “one of my ancestors is an Indian princess”
  • “one of my ancestors ran moonshine”

I am interested in finding out more about these family stories, and the first step is to collect the stories told by a wide range of families, and analyze the data. So, I have compiled a survey for you to complete if you wish, to tell me about the stories that your family tells.

If you wish to complete the survey, click on this link: Family Stories Survey and tell us your stories!

Jean L. Cooper
Webmaster, CVGA Website