Recently, the Library of Virginia’s Local Records Services staff visited the Dinwiddie County Circuit Court Clerk’s office in preparation for the spring grants cycle of the Circuit Court Records Preservation (CCRP) program. While discussing the records available in the records room at the courthouse, Clerk of the Circuit Court Barrett Chappell, Jr., informed us that his office has provided free online access to some historical Dinwiddie County documents.
These records include a surveyor’s plat book (1752-1865), Works Progress Administration historical inventory, Board of Supervisors books (1870-2004), book of fiduciaries (1871-1904), land tax records (1782-1875), and a compilation of land tax, grant, and patent records (1752-1820). In addition, Chappell will be adding additional records as they are preserved and digitized in the coming years with funding provided by Dinwiddie County. He foresees adding orders books that range in date from 1789 to 1900 and a marriage register dated 1867-1874 by June 2015.
In addition to the Dinwiddie County chancery causes digitized and made freely available online by the CCRP, these records may be of particular interest to those researching Dinwiddie County history or family connections. The records might also be useful to persons determining modern boundary lines or other property issues.
The records are available from the Dinwiddie County website. We thank Mr. Chappell for sharing news of this resource with us, and appreciate his and other local officials’ efforts to make these materials available for research online.
–Vince Brooks, Senior Local Records Archivist
