Today I leave the Library of Virginia and, hopefully, leave our state’s historic records in a little better shape than when I first came through the door. Like the archivists who worked here before me and those who will come after me, we try to save the building blocks of history, organize and preserve them, and make sure that they are accessible not only to visiting scholars but also to the citizens of this state and those who live around this country with roots deep in the soil of the commonwealth’s history.

I once heard a career counselor say that a job is what you do and the things you are passionate about become hobbies. I have been fortunate enough to do for nearly six years what most people could never dream of – having a job that is a passion and a passion that is a job. It has been an honor to work here and I am so sad to leave the Library of Virginia and my wonderful, dedicated co-workers and supervisors.

Yesterday the expertly-conserved pages of the Smith family Bible landed on my desk. This afternoon I’ll put them in a folder and reunite them with the chancery court case of which they have been a part for more than 100 years. And then I will clear my desk and walk out the doors of the Library of Virginia one last time. The caretakers come and go; the records and the institution remain.

Goodbye everyone.

-Dale Dulaney, Former Local Records Archival Assistant

When I found an unopened envelope labeled “Exhibit A” among the papers of a Rockingham County Chancery cause, I was curious to see what could be inside. Curiosity quickly turned to excitement when I opened the envelope to find a genealogical gem.

These tattered pages of a family Bible were used as an exhibit in Dorman L. Smith, etc. v. S. K. Wine, etc., 1903. It was a complicated land inheritance case made more difficult by the destruction of court records during the Civil War and three generations of Smith family land dealings.

Interestingly, the answer and depositions record an attempt by some war-weary residents of Rockingham County to settle in Bartow County, Georgia, around 1863. In 1901, Caroline Smith, of Lytle, Georgia, gave a deposition detailing the Smith family genealogy. She read from these pages during the deposition and later either gave or loaned them to the court to be used as an exhibit.

These pieces of the Smith family Bible have since remained as part of the court record. The Bible is dated 1722 and was printed in Edinburgh, Scotland, by James Watson, “Printer to the King’s Most Excellent Majesty.” The earliest entry records the birth of Abraham Smith on 29 December 1792.

The Rockingham County Chancery collection is housed in more than 530 Hollinger boxes and 14 oversize boxes. It spans the years 1783-1913. It is currently closed for processing in order to bring the collection up to current standards so that it can be digitized. These pages from the Smith family Bible will be professionally conserved by the LVA’s in-house conservation lab.

To read more about chancery court records and efforts to preserve and digitize them click here.

-Dale Dulaney, Local Records Archival Assistant