Clerk's Office Provides Free Tour

Historic Records Manager John Fishback led a free tour of the in downtown Leesburg, Monday night. The purpose of the event was to discuss the extent of Loudoun County’s records holdings, where to look for records of births, deaths, marriages, and deeds, and how to use these records in research.

“The Clerk’s Office in Loudoun County, they’re the keepers of the records from 1757 to yesterday,” said Mary Fishback, library assistant at the . “[John] explains what they have and what they don’t have. He also explains how to use them and how they’re indexed. He does this on his own time; he does it as a courtesy to the Balch library.”

Monday night’s event was free and open to the public. It was one of two tours, which take place each year. During the two hour event, John Fishback shared a number of items that some people might not know exist. One of the oldest pieces on hand was a Deed Book from 1757.

“We like to get the word out about the types of records that we have. We’re very proud of the collection,” John Fishback said. “Loudoun County has all of its records going back to the beginning of the county and we’re one of the few counties in Virginia that do. So we like to get the word out to the Loudoun County residents and other people as well about what we have and how to use them.”

According to information provided by the Clerk’s Office, Loudoun County was formed from Fairfax County in 1757 when Charles Binns was sworn as the first Clerk of Court on July 12. He lived on a large estate near Leesburg  where the County records were kept. Less than 50 years later, a building was erected on the Court House lot in 1800, adjacent to the Courthouse, so the Clerk and records would be close to the court. Binns promptly retired.

During the Civil War there was no Court and the Justices instructed Clerk George K. Fox, Jr. to take the records to a safe place until the war was over.  Fox loaded over 250 books and countless drawers of loose papers to Campbell County, Va., until after the war was over. All of the records were returned to Leesburg where they have been ever since.

Today, the records contained in the Circuit Court Archives cover over 200 years of the lives of the inhabitants of Loudoun County giving present day citizens a window into the past.

“You benefit by knowing what the county records are, what they keep and why they keep it,” Mary Fishback said. “They’re very valuable to anyone doing any genealogy or historical research in the area.”

“Title people do research here for land records, attorneys do research here for court cases,” John Fishback explained. “There’s a lot of good reasons to let people know what we have.”

The next tour is scheduled to take place next May, however the Clerk’s Office is available for research by the general public, the legal field and other professional throughout the area. Visit www.loudoun.gov/clerk.