Affidavits for Ardent Spirits Collection

On March 10, 1916, the General Assembly of Virginia passed Chapter 146, an act foreshadowing the 18th Amendment of 1920. In this act, the General Assembly defined ardent spirits and went on to prohibit their manufacture, sale, transportation for sale, and general distribution. It further regulated the sale of alcohol for medicinal purposes by requiring those business who were allowed, by court license, to sell alcohol to file a monthly report, or inventory, of their alcohol on hand. This act was not written to prevent manufacture for consumption; it was intended to stimulate Virginia's temperance movement.

Chapter 146 was strengthened on March 19, 1918 with the passage of Chapter 388, which required that common carriers of ardent spirits be required to keep their records of quantities transported in an alphabetical file box. This was to include affidavits attesting to whom the alcohol was shipped, the amount and kind received, the date of delivery, and the cosignee. Both of these acts were repealed, however, with the passage of Chapter 403, section 504 (March 20, 1920), which required that the clerk of the circuit court of each county keep these affidavits in an alphabetically arranged book; therefore relieving the transportation companies of the duty.