Frederick County – The UncommonWealth

Archives

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

The Mystic Chords of Memory: The Payne Family of Frederick County

It’s often repeated that “those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”1 I’m starting to think I misunderstood that quote. It seems to…

Vince BrooksOctober 28, 2015

Newspapers

From Middletown to Salem: Virginia Chronicle takes a road trip

The Virginia Newspaper Project is happy to announce new additions to the Library of Virginia’s Virginia Chronicle. The number of historical newspaper pages available on…

Kelley EwingAugust 25, 2015

Archives

Paint Your Wagon

A chancery case from Frederick County looked like any other business dispute except for a unique item presented as an exhibit. Columbia Wagon Company vs. John…

Joanne PorterApril 23, 2014

Archives Digital Projects

Frederick Co. Chancery Goes Digital

The Library of Virginia, in partnership with the Frederick County Circuit Court Clerk’s Office, is pleased to announce that the digitization of Frederick County’s historic…

Sam WaltersOctober 23, 2013

Archives

Commonwealth of Virginia versus Abolitionism

During the 1820s and 1830s, northern antislavery groups that demanded the immediate abolition of slavery began to emerge. Led by abolitionists such as William Lloyd…

Greg CrawfordJanuary 30, 2013

Archives

"And the piano, it sounds like a carnival"

In May of 1883, H. W. Gray, president of the Schomacker Piano-Forte Manufacturing Company, brought suit against Bettie L. Payne in the Frederick County Circuit…

Sarah NerneyOctober 24, 2012

Archives

A Horse in the Frederick Co. Courthouse

All eyes in the horse world may be directed towards Churchill Downs this week for this year’s Kentucky Derby, but Kentucky isn’t the only state…

Bari HelmsMay 2, 2012

Archives

My Vindictive Valentine

Among the character witnesses called in the divorce case of Minerva Alice Nulton and John M. Nulton included John’s widowed sister, Annie Sloat, a dry-goods…

Sam WaltersFebruary 14, 2012

Archives

CSI: Old Virginia: Coroners Edition

At one o’clock in the morning on 1 September 1859, Milly T. King arrived at the home of James Clary and found his slave Hannah…

Bari HelmsNovember 7, 2011

Archives

Happy Belated Presidents Day

This writ of capias caught our eye for two reasons. First, it concerns George Washington. Second, Washington, probably with sword or firearm, refused to enter…

Dale DulaneyFebruary 23, 2011

Archives

What’s In A Name?

Editor’s note: Archivists at The Library of Virginia often find people from the past in the collection who are so appropriately named that they seem…

Sherri BagleyJanuary 26, 2011

Archives

Don’t Throw That One Out!

Sometimes an archivist must be a detective looking for things everyone else missed. As part of an appraisal project in local records, I reviewed blank…

Jennifer Davis McDaidSeptember 22, 2010