CHARLOTTESVILLE — Depression-era land records that included notes on family histories on local properties were tossed out by Albemarle County officials in an effort to save space, officials said.
Local historians say the records, compiled by workers for the Works Progress Administration, were often used by modern-day researchers interested in determining how properties were used and who lived there.
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The records were discarded in May in an effort to conserve space in county offices, said Lee Catlin, Albemarle County spokeswoman.
“We were making efforts to look at how we could reduce the number of records and increase space for our offices and we discussed with the state what we needed to retained and what could be discarded,” Catlin said. “We followed those guidelines closely. The (Albemarle Charlottesville) Historical Society and (Albemarle County) Historic Preservation Committee feel those records had additional historic value, however.”
State guidelines require any records created before January 1904 to be offered to the Library of Virginia before being thrown away. But the library does not require records more recent than 1904 to be reviewed for historic value.
The discarded Albemarle records were compiled as part of a national effort to catalog land use and farming methods, said Steven Meeks, head of the Albemarle Charlottesville Historical Society.
“In 1937, the U.S. Department of Agriculture did aerial photography of the entire country and part of that effort was to look at farmland because of Dust Bowl conditions,” Meeks said. “They wanted to work with farmers in improving land use methods.”
The photographs also were used by county governments across the country to develop land use maps and chart, for the first time, tax parcels, according to Meeks and USDA historians.
“Workers went out to the properties to interview those who were living there because, in many cases, there had been land sales that were never recorded but done by handshake and agreement,” Meeks said. “Those notes from the field were made on the documents as well as notations on buildings that were on site.”
“The records included photographs and notes … and were attached to the deeds,” Catlin said. “They went out to have conversations with owners and made notes to document what they saw and heard in the field. Some of that was retained, but some of it was not.”
The photos were among notes retained, she said.
In Albemarle County, the records were the first time that race was included on land documentation, Meeks noted.
“In the corner, in red pencil, the interviewers would write COL for colored. In the years that followed, that’s allowed people to determine which properties were owned by black families,” he said.
Among those families tracked down through the records were the Sammonses, who were descendants of Mary Hemings of Monticello, the sister of Sally Hemings. Many historians say Sally Hemings, a slave owned by Thomas Jefferson, bore several of the founder’s children.
Most Albemarle County notations probably were not extensively detailed, but the local information was still important, Meeks said.
“For people interested in history or genealogical research, these were the first places to start their research,” Meeks said. “I’m disappointed, and the Historic Preservation Committee is disappointed. The historical society would have gladly received them, if we had known.”
The Library of Virginia requires paper copies of real estate assessment records to be held for a year before being discarded.
Agricultural land use records are to be held for six years before discarding, and tax mapping records are to be kept until they are replaced by newer, up-to-date versions, according to the Library of Virginia.
Catlin said county officials are reviewing their document purging policy.
“We’re taking a look at our procedures for the future and, when we go back and look at records that may have historic value, we may use additional criteria not required by the state,” she said. “We have very strict guidelines about what we keep, but there are cases when the documents may have more historic value than just as records themselves.” 