Alexandria County – The UncommonWealth

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Virginia Untold: Certificates of Importation

This is the second in a series of blog posts on the record types found in the forthcoming Library of Virginia research database: Virginia Untold: The…

Greg CrawfordJanuary 13, 2016

Archives

A Wedding, a Death, and a Pension: Charles and Sarah Butler’s Story

Portsmouth, Virginia, occupied by the Union army, was the scene of a wedding in November 1863. The happy couple was Charles “Charley” Butler, a private…

Bill BynumJune 3, 2015

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Anatomy of a Marriage

Divorces reveal much about the inner-workings of a family, usually much more than outsiders should ever discover. While processing the Arlington County chancery causes, I…

Bari HelmsSeptember 18, 2013

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Mr. Christmas and his Flights of Fancy

Former Local Records archivist Catherine OBrion was given the task of processing the chancery causes of Arlington (formerly Alexandria) County. Perhaps the most interesting case…

Callie FreedDecember 21, 2011

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Mapping segregation in Virginia’s early public schools

Before the Civil War, Virginia did not have a comprehensive public school system. Lawmakers passed various measures to fund public schools, but these measures were…

Catherine OBrionMay 18, 2011