Administrative Information

Access Restrictions

Collection open for research.

Use Restrictions

No physical characteristics affect use of this material.

Preferred Citation

Notes from Loudoun County Order Books (1757-1873) and Deed Books (1791-1821), c. 1987 (SC 0104), Thomas Balch Library, Leesburg, VA.

Acquisition Information

Louisa S. Hutchison, Leesburg, VA.

Alternative Form Available

None

Accruals

2012.0116

Processing Information

Elizabeth E. Preston, 14 November 2012

Historical Information

In June 1757 the Virginia Assembly voted to establish Loudoun County out of land in the western portion of Fairfax County. Virginia's piedmont had seen strong population growth during the first half of the eighteenth century. That growth, coupled with the difficulties colonists faced reaching the Fairfax County courthouse in Alexandria, led to the creation of Loudoun County. The first justices were named in Order Book A on 12 July 1757. The establishment of county courts and governance went smoothly in Loudoun because the Virginia Assembly mandated the structure of county government, and because many of the men appointed or elected to positions of power in the first years of Loudoun County's existence had served in those positions in Fairfax County. As a result, the records produced by the Loudoun County courts are similar in nature and function to those of Fairfax and other Virginia counties. Deed books contain records of transfers of property. There are several kinds of transfers, including deeds of sale or indenture, estate settlements, property distribution, and mortgage sales. Order books contain general court business and may include references to orphans, guardians, manumissions, mills, ordinaries, roads, and administrations of estates. In addition to recording the business of the courts, deed books and order books are a rich source of genealogical and historical information.

Scope and Content

This collection is comprised of a spiral-bound notebook that belonged to researcher and Leesburg, VA resident Louisa S. Hutchison. It contains selective indexing to Loudoun County Order Books A-G (1757-1783) and Loudoun County Deed Books T-3B (1791-1821). From the order books, Hutchison created indexes under the following headings: Administrations, Attorneys at Law, Constables, County Surveyors, Coroners, Deputy Sheriffs, Deputy Clerks, Ferries, Guardians, Levy Free (individuals not responsible for taxes), Marriages Mentioned, Mills, Ordinaries, Provisions Furnished (Revolutionary War), Vestrymen, and Miscellaneous. From the deed books there is an index of the Importation of Slaves. Hutchison created these indexes in the course of researching genealogical and historical projects in the 1980s. She worked from the original records in the Loudoun County courthouse. Though the items she recorded had little direct bearing on the projects she was researching at the time, Hutchison recorded the items because she felt they might be of use to other researchers.

Arrangement

Folder

Related Material

See Loudoun County Public Library catalogue for books by Louisa S. Hutchison and for abstracts of Loudoun County Deed Books. Loudoun County Deed Books for the years 1757-1901 available on microfilm.

Adjunct Descriptive Data

Bibliography

Notes from Loudoun County Order Books (1757-1783) and Deed Books (1791-1821), c. 1987 (SC 0104), Thomas Balch Library, Leesburg, VA.

Phillips II, John T. The Historian's Guide to Loudoun County, Virginia, Vol. I: Colonial Laws of Virginia and County Court Orders, 1757-1766 . Leesburg, VA: Goose Creek Productions, 1996.

"Records in the Archives." Loudoun County Clerk of Circuit Court. http://www.loudoun.gov/index.aspx?NID=2167 (accessed 14 November 2012).

Other Finding Aid

None

Technical Requirements

None