# Schema: Names on the petitions to divide Frederick County, 1831-1836

Dataset `clarke-founding-petitions-1831-1836`, version 1.0.0, published 2026-10-17. One row per record; the CSV and the "Records" sheet of the XLSX carry the same columns in the same order.

| Column | Type | Description |
| --- | --- | --- |
| `line_id` | string | Stable Our Clarke identifier for the name line: petition, scan page, side and column, line. Does not change between versions. |
| `petition_id` | string | Our Clarke identifier for the Library of Virginia file (LP-001 to LP-030). |
| `lva_file` | string | The Library of Virginia's file name for the scan. |
| `file_date` | string | The date the Library of Virginia catalogs for the file, usually the day the House received it. |
| `catalog_title` | string | The Library of Virginia's title for the file. |
| `stance` | string | What the document the name is on asks for, read from its own words: for, against, or neither. Several catalog summaries get this wrong. |
| `county` | string | Which proposed county the stance is about. |
| `line_is` | string | signature: a name signed on the sheet. clerk copy: a name written out by a clerk or copyist, usually repeating a signature elsewhere. official: an official's signature on a certificate or letter, not a petitioner. |
| `scan_page` | integer | Page of the Library of Virginia scan (PDF), counted from 1. |
| `side` | string | L or R of a two-page opening, or W for a single page. |
| `column` | integer | Signature column on that side, from the left. |
| `line` | integer | Position in the column, from the top. |
| `name_as_written` | string | The name as written on the sheet: the writer's spelling and abbreviations, ? for a letter not read, [...] for a run not read. Never corrected or matched to anyone. |
| `reading` | string | clear: every letter read. probable: read, a letter or two doubtful. doubtful: the surname itself uncertain. illegible: a line that could not be read; it is kept so the count stays true. |
| `mark` | string | yes when the line is a mark ("his X mark") with the name written by someone else. |
| `note` | string | The transcriber's note: alternative readings, "Jr." or a title on the page, a struck line, a residence written beside the name. |
| `source_url` | url | The Library of Virginia catalog record for the file, with its scan. |

An empty cell means the value is not recorded in the source, or could not be read from it. It never means zero.