{"links":{"self":"https://search.arvasarchive.org/catalog.json?f%5Bcollection%5D%5B%5D=Amherst+County+%28Va.%29+Judgments%2C+circa+1770-1950\u0026view=list","next":"https://search.arvasarchive.org/catalog.json?f%5Bcollection%5D%5B%5D=Amherst+County+%28Va.%29+Judgments%2C+circa+1770-1950\u0026page=2\u0026view=list","last":"https://search.arvasarchive.org/catalog.json?f%5Bcollection%5D%5B%5D=Amherst+County+%28Va.%29+Judgments%2C+circa+1770-1950\u0026page=8\u0026view=list"},"meta":{"pages":{"current_page":1,"next_page":2,"prev_page":null,"total_pages":8,"limit_value":10,"offset_value":0,"total_count":71,"first_page?":true,"last_page?":false}},"data":[{"id":"vi_vi06711","type":"collection","attributes":{"title":"Amherst County (Va.) Judgments, circa 1770-1950","creator":{"id":"https://search.arvasarchive.org/catalog/vi_vi06711#creator","type":"document_value","attributes":{"value":"Amherst County (Va.) Circuit Court","label":"Creator"}},"abstract_or_scope":{"id":"https://search.arvasarchive.org/catalog/vi_vi06711#abstract_or_scope","type":"document_value","attributes":{"value":"\u003cp\u003eAmherst County (Va.) Judgments, circa 1770-1950, consist of civil cases in which justice was administered on the strictly formulated rules of common law. The majority of cases in this record group relate to matters of debt. The county and circuit court judgments have undergone minimal processing. A small section of records remain completely unprocessed. \u003c/p\u003e","label":"Abstract Or Scope"}},"breadcrumbs":{"id":"https://search.arvasarchive.org/catalog/vi_vi06711#breadcrumbs","type":"document_value","attributes":{"value":{"id":"vi_vi06711","ead_ssi":"vi_vi06711","_root_":"vi_vi06711","_nest_parent_":"vi_vi06711","ead_source_url_ssi":"data/lva/vi06711.xml","title_ssm":["Amherst County (Va.) Judgments, circa 1770-1950"],"title_tesim":["Amherst County (Va.) Judgments, circa 1770-1950"],"normalized_title_ssm":["Amherst County (Va.) Judgments, circa 1770-1950"],"text":["Amherst County (Va.) Judgments, circa 1770-1950","Collection is open to research.","This collection is arranged into three series:\nSeries I: Judgments, 1849-1864, relating to free and enslaved Black and Multiracial individuals\nSeries II: Minimally Processed Judgments, 1831-1874\nSeries III: Unprocessed Judgments, 1770-1950 circa\nSeries IV: Judgment Volumes, 1818-1853","Context for Record Type: Judgments are identified as civil suits, often involving debt, heard by a jury on the \"law\" side of the court as opposed to the \"chancery\" (or equity) side. Should the defendant not have funds to repay the debt, the court ordered their property (including enslaved people) to be seized and sold to repay the debt owed to the plaintiff. Judgments also contain suits brought by enslaved people seeking to gain their freedom.","In Judgments, an assumpsit or declaration (sometimes referred to as a narratio) lays out the plaintiff's grievance as a petition acted as a formal application to the court requesting judicial action. Judgment suits also generally included record types like subpoenas, summons, and exhibit. Judgments may also include additional documentations such as executions, bonds, and various kinds of writs.","Judgment suits make up a large quantity of a locality's records; consequently, they provide a great deal of information concerning the activities and interests of the people who lived in the locality. Since the vast majority of judgment suits relate to financial matters, they are a valuable resource in studying the economic and social history of Virginia localities and are the impotence for many chancery suits.","Locality History: Amherst County was named for Major General Jeffery Amherst, British commander in North America during the latter part of the French and Indian War and governor of Virginia from 1759 to 1768. It was formed from Albemarle County in 1761. Islands in the Fluvanna (now the James) River were added in 1770. The county seat is Amherst.","Additional Judgment Types","Condemnations are judgments concerning the taking of private property for public use through the power of eminent domain. Most cases involve railroad or canal companies and contain maps/plats of the land in question.","Support for Divorce Petitions: The Virginia General Assembly, in 1803, granted the first divorce for the state of Virginia; over the next couple of decades, the volume of divorce petitions sent to the General Assembly grew to an overwhelming and unmanageable number. In response, the General Assembly granted the chancery courts the ability to divorce petitioners and slowly the number of divorce petitions decreased in the General Assembly before ceasing entirely in 1850. During the period in which the General Assembly still had a hand in granting divorces, plaintiffs might petition their locality's civil courts for their support in petitioning the General Assembly, possibly to increase the likelihood of being granted a divorce by the governmental body.","Ejectments are a formal court order that declares the property owner to be the rightful owner of a piece of land or building and legally removes the unauthorized occupant. The court might also declare financial damages for the lost use of the property.","Types of Courts","The County Court was the original colonial court of adjudication and recordation, and it was the principal tribunal for the administration of local justice. The individual justices could act on small claims matters as well as criminal matters where imminent bodily harm was a possibility, there being an appeal to the full County Court, which met monthly. This court ceased to exist in 1919 and the recordation function was transferred to the circuit court.","The Superior Court of Law was created in 1808. It met twice a year in each county, presided over by a circuit-riding General Court judge. Records were filed with the County Court. It had civil and criminal jurisdiction. The court ceased to exist in 1831.","The Circuit Court was authorized by the Constitution of 1851 and established by an act of the General Assembly passed in May 1852. Courts were held twice yearly in each county, presided over by 21 judges who rode circuits in the area of their jurisdiction. The records were filed with County Court records. These courts were granted original jurisdiction concurrent with that of the County Courts, as well as appellate jurisdiction in all civil cases of more than fifty dollars and criminal cases not \"expressly cognizable in some other court,\" including those involving loss of life.","Prior to 2026, the judgement descriptive records were not standardized in their inclusion of contextual information or content lists. Local Records staff reviewed this record and have updated to current standards as of 2026.","The county and circuit court judgments were minimally processed by C. Collins and J. Taylor in 2024-2025.","Encoded by J. Taylor: June 2026.","Records related to free and enslaved people of Amherst County (Va.) and other localities are available through the Virginia Untold: The African American Narrative Digital Collection  on the Library of Virginia website.","Additional Amherst County Court Records can be found on microfilm at The Library of Virginia web site. Consult \"A Guide to Virginia County and City Records on Microfilm\"","Amherst County (Va.) Judgments, circa 1770-1950, consist of civil cases in which justice was administered on the strictly formulated rules of common law. The majority of cases in this record group relate to matters of debt. The county and circuit court judgments have undergone minimal processing. A small section of records remain completely unprocessed.","There are no restrictions.","Library of Virginia","English"],"collection_title_tesim":["Amherst County (Va.) Judgments, circa 1770-1950"],"collection_ssim":["Amherst County (Va.) Judgments, circa 1770-1950"],"level_ssm":["collection"],"level_ssim":["Collection"],"repository_ssm":["Library of Virginia"],"repository_ssim":["Library of Virginia"],"creator_ssm":["Amherst County (Va.) Circuit Court"],"creator_ssim":["Amherst County (Va.) Circuit Court"],"access_terms_ssm":["There are no restrictions."],"acqinfo_ssim":["These records came to the Library of Virginia in a transfer of court papers from Amherst County in 2022 in accession number 53740 as well as in an undated accession."],"has_online_content_ssim":["false"],"extent_ssm":["28.3 cubic feet (58 boxes); 2 volumes"],"extent_tesim":["28.3 cubic feet (58 boxes); 2 volumes"],"accessrestrict_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eCollection is open to research.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n"],"accessrestrict_heading_ssm":["Access Restrictions"],"accessrestrict_tesim":["Collection is open to research."],"arrangement_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eThis collection is arranged into three series:\n\u003clist type=\"simple\"\u003e\u003citem\u003eSeries I: Judgments, 1849-1864, relating to free and enslaved Black and Multiracial individuals\u003c/item\u003e\n\u003citem\u003eSeries II: Minimally Processed Judgments, 1831-1874\u003c/item\u003e\n\u003citem\u003eSeries III: Unprocessed Judgments, 1770-1950 circa\u003c/item\u003e\n\u003citem\u003eSeries IV: Judgment Volumes, 1818-1853\u003c/item\u003e\n\u003c/list\u003e\n\u003c/p\u003e\n"],"arrangement_heading_ssm":["Arrangement"],"arrangement_tesim":["This collection is arranged into three series:\nSeries I: Judgments, 1849-1864, relating to free and enslaved Black and Multiracial individuals\nSeries II: Minimally Processed Judgments, 1831-1874\nSeries III: Unprocessed Judgments, 1770-1950 circa\nSeries IV: Judgment Volumes, 1818-1853"],"bioghist_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003e\u003cemph render=\"bold\"\u003eContext for Record Type:\u003c/emph\u003e Judgments are identified as civil suits, often involving debt, heard by a jury on the \"law\" side of the court as opposed to the \"chancery\" (or equity) side. Should the defendant not have funds to repay the debt, the court ordered their property (including enslaved people) to be seized and sold to repay the debt owed to the plaintiff. Judgments also contain suits brought by enslaved people seeking to gain their freedom.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eIn Judgments, an assumpsit or declaration (sometimes referred to as a narratio) lays out the plaintiff's grievance as a petition acted as a formal application to the court requesting judicial action. Judgment suits also generally included record types like subpoenas, summons, and exhibit. Judgments may also include additional documentations such as executions, bonds, and various kinds of writs.\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eJudgment suits make up a large quantity of a locality's records; consequently, they provide a great deal of information concerning the activities and interests of the people who lived in the locality. Since the vast majority of judgment suits relate to financial matters, they are a valuable resource in studying the economic and social history of Virginia localities and are the impotence for many chancery suits.\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003e\u003cemph render=\"bold\"\u003eLocality History:\u003c/emph\u003e Amherst County was named for Major General Jeffery Amherst, British commander in North America during the latter part of the French and Indian War and governor of Virginia from 1759 to 1768. It was formed from Albemarle County in 1761. Islands in the Fluvanna (now the James) River were added in 1770. The county seat is Amherst.\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003e\u003cemph render=\"underline\"\u003eAdditional Judgment Types\u003c/emph\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eCondemnations are judgments concerning the taking of private property for public use through the power of eminent domain. Most cases involve railroad or canal companies and contain maps/plats of the land in question.\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eSupport for Divorce Petitions: The Virginia General Assembly, in 1803, granted the first divorce for the state of Virginia; over the next couple of decades, the volume of divorce petitions sent to the General Assembly grew to an overwhelming and unmanageable number. In response, the General Assembly granted the chancery courts the ability to divorce petitioners and slowly the number of divorce petitions decreased in the General Assembly before ceasing entirely in 1850. During the period in which the General Assembly still had a hand in granting divorces, plaintiffs might petition their locality's civil courts for their support in petitioning the General Assembly, possibly to increase the likelihood of being granted a divorce by the governmental body.\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eEjectments are a formal court order that declares the property owner to be the rightful owner of a piece of land or building and legally removes the unauthorized occupant. The court might also declare financial damages for the lost use of the property.\u003c/p\u003e \n","\u003cp\u003e\u003cemph render=\"underline\"\u003eTypes of Courts\u003c/emph\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eThe County Court was the original colonial court of adjudication and recordation, and it was the principal tribunal for the administration of local justice. The individual justices could act on small claims matters as well as criminal matters where imminent bodily harm was a possibility, there being an appeal to the full County Court, which met monthly. This court ceased to exist in 1919 and the recordation function was transferred to the circuit court.\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eThe Superior Court of Law was created in 1808. It met twice a year in each county, presided over by a circuit-riding General Court judge. Records were filed with the County Court. It had civil and criminal jurisdiction. The court ceased to exist in 1831.\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eThe Circuit Court was authorized by the Constitution of 1851 and established by an act of the General Assembly passed in May 1852. Courts were held twice yearly in each county, presided over by 21 judges who rode circuits in the area of their jurisdiction. The records were filed with County Court records. These courts were granted original jurisdiction concurrent with that of the County Courts, as well as appellate jurisdiction in all civil cases of more than fifty dollars and criminal cases not \"expressly cognizable in some other court,\" including those involving loss of life.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],"bioghist_heading_ssm":["Historical Information"],"bioghist_tesim":["Context for Record Type: Judgments are identified as civil suits, often involving debt, heard by a jury on the \"law\" side of the court as opposed to the \"chancery\" (or equity) side. Should the defendant not have funds to repay the debt, the court ordered their property (including enslaved people) to be seized and sold to repay the debt owed to the plaintiff. Judgments also contain suits brought by enslaved people seeking to gain their freedom.","In Judgments, an assumpsit or declaration (sometimes referred to as a narratio) lays out the plaintiff's grievance as a petition acted as a formal application to the court requesting judicial action. Judgment suits also generally included record types like subpoenas, summons, and exhibit. Judgments may also include additional documentations such as executions, bonds, and various kinds of writs.","Judgment suits make up a large quantity of a locality's records; consequently, they provide a great deal of information concerning the activities and interests of the people who lived in the locality. Since the vast majority of judgment suits relate to financial matters, they are a valuable resource in studying the economic and social history of Virginia localities and are the impotence for many chancery suits.","Locality History: Amherst County was named for Major General Jeffery Amherst, British commander in North America during the latter part of the French and Indian War and governor of Virginia from 1759 to 1768. It was formed from Albemarle County in 1761. Islands in the Fluvanna (now the James) River were added in 1770. The county seat is Amherst.","Additional Judgment Types","Condemnations are judgments concerning the taking of private property for public use through the power of eminent domain. Most cases involve railroad or canal companies and contain maps/plats of the land in question.","Support for Divorce Petitions: The Virginia General Assembly, in 1803, granted the first divorce for the state of Virginia; over the next couple of decades, the volume of divorce petitions sent to the General Assembly grew to an overwhelming and unmanageable number. In response, the General Assembly granted the chancery courts the ability to divorce petitioners and slowly the number of divorce petitions decreased in the General Assembly before ceasing entirely in 1850. During the period in which the General Assembly still had a hand in granting divorces, plaintiffs might petition their locality's civil courts for their support in petitioning the General Assembly, possibly to increase the likelihood of being granted a divorce by the governmental body.","Ejectments are a formal court order that declares the property owner to be the rightful owner of a piece of land or building and legally removes the unauthorized occupant. The court might also declare financial damages for the lost use of the property.","Types of Courts","The County Court was the original colonial court of adjudication and recordation, and it was the principal tribunal for the administration of local justice. The individual justices could act on small claims matters as well as criminal matters where imminent bodily harm was a possibility, there being an appeal to the full County Court, which met monthly. This court ceased to exist in 1919 and the recordation function was transferred to the circuit court.","The Superior Court of Law was created in 1808. It met twice a year in each county, presided over by a circuit-riding General Court judge. Records were filed with the County Court. It had civil and criminal jurisdiction. The court ceased to exist in 1831.","The Circuit Court was authorized by the Constitution of 1851 and established by an act of the General Assembly passed in May 1852. Courts were held twice yearly in each county, presided over by 21 judges who rode circuits in the area of their jurisdiction. The records were filed with County Court records. These courts were granted original jurisdiction concurrent with that of the County Courts, as well as appellate jurisdiction in all civil cases of more than fifty dollars and criminal cases not \"expressly cognizable in some other court,\" including those involving loss of life."],"prefercite_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eAmherst County (Va.) Judgments, circa 1770-1950 [insert series or volume title].  Local government records collection, Amherst County Court Records.  The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Va.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n"],"prefercite_tesim":["Amherst County (Va.) Judgments, circa 1770-1950 [insert series or volume title].  Local government records collection, Amherst County Court Records.  The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Va."],"processinfo_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003ePrior to 2026, the judgement descriptive records were not standardized in their inclusion of contextual information or content lists. Local Records staff reviewed this record and have updated to current standards as of 2026.\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eThe county and circuit court judgments were minimally processed by C. Collins and J. Taylor in 2024-2025. \n\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eEncoded by J. Taylor: June 2026.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],"processinfo_heading_ssm":["Processing Information"],"processinfo_tesim":["Prior to 2026, the judgement descriptive records were not standardized in their inclusion of contextual information or content lists. Local Records staff reviewed this record and have updated to current standards as of 2026.","The county and circuit court judgments were minimally processed by C. Collins and J. Taylor in 2024-2025.","Encoded by J. Taylor: June 2026."],"relatedmaterial_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eRecords related to free and enslaved people of Amherst County (Va.) and other localities are available through the \u003cextref type=\"simple\" href=\"https://lva.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/discovery/search?vid=01LVA_INST:VU\"\u003eVirginia Untold: The African American Narrative Digital Collection \u003c/extref\u003e on the Library of Virginia website.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eAdditional Amherst County Court Records can be found on microfilm at The Library of Virginia web site. Consult \u003cextref type=\"simple\" href=\"https://www.lva.virginia.gov/public/local/results_all.asp?CountyID=VA003\"\u003e\"A Guide to Virginia County and City Records on Microfilm\"\u003c/extref\u003e\n\u003c/p\u003e\n"],"relatedmaterial_heading_ssm":["Related Material"],"relatedmaterial_tesim":["Records related to free and enslaved people of Amherst County (Va.) and other localities are available through the Virginia Untold: The African American Narrative Digital Collection  on the Library of Virginia website.","Additional Amherst County Court Records can be found on microfilm at The Library of Virginia web site. Consult \"A Guide to Virginia County and City Records on Microfilm\""],"scopecontent_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eAmherst County (Va.) Judgments, circa 1770-1950, consist of civil cases in which justice was administered on the strictly formulated rules of common law. The majority of cases in this record group relate to matters of debt. The county and circuit court judgments have undergone minimal processing. A small section of records remain completely unprocessed.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n"],"scopecontent_heading_ssm":["Scope and Content"],"scopecontent_tesim":["Amherst County (Va.) Judgments, circa 1770-1950, consist of civil cases in which justice was administered on the strictly formulated rules of common law. The majority of cases in this record group relate to matters of debt. The county and circuit court judgments have undergone minimal processing. A small section of records remain completely unprocessed."],"userestrict_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eThere are no restrictions.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n"],"userestrict_heading_ssm":["Use Restrictions"],"userestrict_tesim":["There are no restrictions."],"physloc_html_tesm":["\u003cphysloc label=\"Location\"\u003eLibrary of Virginia\n\u003c/physloc\u003e\n"],"physloc_tesim":["Library of Virginia"],"language_ssim":["English"],"total_component_count_is":70,"online_item_count_is":0,"component_level_isim":[0],"sort_isi":0,"timestamp":"2026-08-14T22:28:46.894Z","collection":{"numFound":1,"start":0,"numFoundExact":true,"docs":[{"id":"vi_vi06711","ead_ssi":"vi_vi06711","_root_":"vi_vi06711","_nest_parent_":"vi_vi06711","ead_source_url_ssi":"data/lva/vi06711.xml","title_ssm":["Amherst County (Va.) Judgments, circa 1770-1950"],"title_tesim":["Amherst County (Va.) Judgments, circa 1770-1950"],"normalized_title_ssm":["Amherst County (Va.) Judgments, circa 1770-1950"],"text":["Amherst County (Va.) Judgments, circa 1770-1950","Collection is open to research.","This collection is arranged into three series:\nSeries I: Judgments, 1849-1864, relating to free and enslaved Black and Multiracial individuals\nSeries II: Minimally Processed Judgments, 1831-1874\nSeries III: Unprocessed Judgments, 1770-1950 circa\nSeries IV: Judgment Volumes, 1818-1853","Context for Record Type: Judgments are identified as civil suits, often involving debt, heard by a jury on the \"law\" side of the court as opposed to the \"chancery\" (or equity) side. Should the defendant not have funds to repay the debt, the court ordered their property (including enslaved people) to be seized and sold to repay the debt owed to the plaintiff. Judgments also contain suits brought by enslaved people seeking to gain their freedom.","In Judgments, an assumpsit or declaration (sometimes referred to as a narratio) lays out the plaintiff's grievance as a petition acted as a formal application to the court requesting judicial action. Judgment suits also generally included record types like subpoenas, summons, and exhibit. Judgments may also include additional documentations such as executions, bonds, and various kinds of writs.","Judgment suits make up a large quantity of a locality's records; consequently, they provide a great deal of information concerning the activities and interests of the people who lived in the locality. Since the vast majority of judgment suits relate to financial matters, they are a valuable resource in studying the economic and social history of Virginia localities and are the impotence for many chancery suits.","Locality History: Amherst County was named for Major General Jeffery Amherst, British commander in North America during the latter part of the French and Indian War and governor of Virginia from 1759 to 1768. It was formed from Albemarle County in 1761. Islands in the Fluvanna (now the James) River were added in 1770. The county seat is Amherst.","Additional Judgment Types","Condemnations are judgments concerning the taking of private property for public use through the power of eminent domain. Most cases involve railroad or canal companies and contain maps/plats of the land in question.","Support for Divorce Petitions: The Virginia General Assembly, in 1803, granted the first divorce for the state of Virginia; over the next couple of decades, the volume of divorce petitions sent to the General Assembly grew to an overwhelming and unmanageable number. In response, the General Assembly granted the chancery courts the ability to divorce petitioners and slowly the number of divorce petitions decreased in the General Assembly before ceasing entirely in 1850. During the period in which the General Assembly still had a hand in granting divorces, plaintiffs might petition their locality's civil courts for their support in petitioning the General Assembly, possibly to increase the likelihood of being granted a divorce by the governmental body.","Ejectments are a formal court order that declares the property owner to be the rightful owner of a piece of land or building and legally removes the unauthorized occupant. The court might also declare financial damages for the lost use of the property.","Types of Courts","The County Court was the original colonial court of adjudication and recordation, and it was the principal tribunal for the administration of local justice. The individual justices could act on small claims matters as well as criminal matters where imminent bodily harm was a possibility, there being an appeal to the full County Court, which met monthly. This court ceased to exist in 1919 and the recordation function was transferred to the circuit court.","The Superior Court of Law was created in 1808. It met twice a year in each county, presided over by a circuit-riding General Court judge. Records were filed with the County Court. It had civil and criminal jurisdiction. The court ceased to exist in 1831.","The Circuit Court was authorized by the Constitution of 1851 and established by an act of the General Assembly passed in May 1852. Courts were held twice yearly in each county, presided over by 21 judges who rode circuits in the area of their jurisdiction. The records were filed with County Court records. These courts were granted original jurisdiction concurrent with that of the County Courts, as well as appellate jurisdiction in all civil cases of more than fifty dollars and criminal cases not \"expressly cognizable in some other court,\" including those involving loss of life.","Prior to 2026, the judgement descriptive records were not standardized in their inclusion of contextual information or content lists. Local Records staff reviewed this record and have updated to current standards as of 2026.","The county and circuit court judgments were minimally processed by C. Collins and J. Taylor in 2024-2025.","Encoded by J. Taylor: June 2026.","Records related to free and enslaved people of Amherst County (Va.) and other localities are available through the Virginia Untold: The African American Narrative Digital Collection  on the Library of Virginia website.","Additional Amherst County Court Records can be found on microfilm at The Library of Virginia web site. Consult \"A Guide to Virginia County and City Records on Microfilm\"","Amherst County (Va.) Judgments, circa 1770-1950, consist of civil cases in which justice was administered on the strictly formulated rules of common law. The majority of cases in this record group relate to matters of debt. The county and circuit court judgments have undergone minimal processing. A small section of records remain completely unprocessed.","There are no restrictions.","Library of Virginia","English"],"collection_title_tesim":["Amherst County (Va.) Judgments, circa 1770-1950"],"collection_ssim":["Amherst County (Va.) Judgments, circa 1770-1950"],"level_ssm":["collection"],"level_ssim":["Collection"],"repository_ssm":["Library of Virginia"],"repository_ssim":["Library of Virginia"],"creator_ssm":["Amherst County (Va.) Circuit Court"],"creator_ssim":["Amherst County (Va.) Circuit Court"],"access_terms_ssm":["There are no restrictions."],"acqinfo_ssim":["These records came to the Library of Virginia in a transfer of court papers from Amherst County in 2022 in accession number 53740 as well as in an undated accession."],"has_online_content_ssim":["false"],"extent_ssm":["28.3 cubic feet (58 boxes); 2 volumes"],"extent_tesim":["28.3 cubic feet (58 boxes); 2 volumes"],"accessrestrict_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eCollection is open to research.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n"],"accessrestrict_heading_ssm":["Access Restrictions"],"accessrestrict_tesim":["Collection is open to research."],"arrangement_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eThis collection is arranged into three series:\n\u003clist type=\"simple\"\u003e\u003citem\u003eSeries I: Judgments, 1849-1864, relating to free and enslaved Black and Multiracial individuals\u003c/item\u003e\n\u003citem\u003eSeries II: Minimally Processed Judgments, 1831-1874\u003c/item\u003e\n\u003citem\u003eSeries III: Unprocessed Judgments, 1770-1950 circa\u003c/item\u003e\n\u003citem\u003eSeries IV: Judgment Volumes, 1818-1853\u003c/item\u003e\n\u003c/list\u003e\n\u003c/p\u003e\n"],"arrangement_heading_ssm":["Arrangement"],"arrangement_tesim":["This collection is arranged into three series:\nSeries I: Judgments, 1849-1864, relating to free and enslaved Black and Multiracial individuals\nSeries II: Minimally Processed Judgments, 1831-1874\nSeries III: Unprocessed Judgments, 1770-1950 circa\nSeries IV: Judgment Volumes, 1818-1853"],"bioghist_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003e\u003cemph render=\"bold\"\u003eContext for Record Type:\u003c/emph\u003e Judgments are identified as civil suits, often involving debt, heard by a jury on the \"law\" side of the court as opposed to the \"chancery\" (or equity) side. Should the defendant not have funds to repay the debt, the court ordered their property (including enslaved people) to be seized and sold to repay the debt owed to the plaintiff. Judgments also contain suits brought by enslaved people seeking to gain their freedom.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eIn Judgments, an assumpsit or declaration (sometimes referred to as a narratio) lays out the plaintiff's grievance as a petition acted as a formal application to the court requesting judicial action. Judgment suits also generally included record types like subpoenas, summons, and exhibit. Judgments may also include additional documentations such as executions, bonds, and various kinds of writs.\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eJudgment suits make up a large quantity of a locality's records; consequently, they provide a great deal of information concerning the activities and interests of the people who lived in the locality. Since the vast majority of judgment suits relate to financial matters, they are a valuable resource in studying the economic and social history of Virginia localities and are the impotence for many chancery suits.\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003e\u003cemph render=\"bold\"\u003eLocality History:\u003c/emph\u003e Amherst County was named for Major General Jeffery Amherst, British commander in North America during the latter part of the French and Indian War and governor of Virginia from 1759 to 1768. It was formed from Albemarle County in 1761. Islands in the Fluvanna (now the James) River were added in 1770. The county seat is Amherst.\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003e\u003cemph render=\"underline\"\u003eAdditional Judgment Types\u003c/emph\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eCondemnations are judgments concerning the taking of private property for public use through the power of eminent domain. Most cases involve railroad or canal companies and contain maps/plats of the land in question.\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eSupport for Divorce Petitions: The Virginia General Assembly, in 1803, granted the first divorce for the state of Virginia; over the next couple of decades, the volume of divorce petitions sent to the General Assembly grew to an overwhelming and unmanageable number. In response, the General Assembly granted the chancery courts the ability to divorce petitioners and slowly the number of divorce petitions decreased in the General Assembly before ceasing entirely in 1850. During the period in which the General Assembly still had a hand in granting divorces, plaintiffs might petition their locality's civil courts for their support in petitioning the General Assembly, possibly to increase the likelihood of being granted a divorce by the governmental body.\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eEjectments are a formal court order that declares the property owner to be the rightful owner of a piece of land or building and legally removes the unauthorized occupant. The court might also declare financial damages for the lost use of the property.\u003c/p\u003e \n","\u003cp\u003e\u003cemph render=\"underline\"\u003eTypes of Courts\u003c/emph\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eThe County Court was the original colonial court of adjudication and recordation, and it was the principal tribunal for the administration of local justice. The individual justices could act on small claims matters as well as criminal matters where imminent bodily harm was a possibility, there being an appeal to the full County Court, which met monthly. This court ceased to exist in 1919 and the recordation function was transferred to the circuit court.\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eThe Superior Court of Law was created in 1808. It met twice a year in each county, presided over by a circuit-riding General Court judge. Records were filed with the County Court. It had civil and criminal jurisdiction. The court ceased to exist in 1831.\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eThe Circuit Court was authorized by the Constitution of 1851 and established by an act of the General Assembly passed in May 1852. Courts were held twice yearly in each county, presided over by 21 judges who rode circuits in the area of their jurisdiction. The records were filed with County Court records. These courts were granted original jurisdiction concurrent with that of the County Courts, as well as appellate jurisdiction in all civil cases of more than fifty dollars and criminal cases not \"expressly cognizable in some other court,\" including those involving loss of life.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],"bioghist_heading_ssm":["Historical Information"],"bioghist_tesim":["Context for Record Type: Judgments are identified as civil suits, often involving debt, heard by a jury on the \"law\" side of the court as opposed to the \"chancery\" (or equity) side. Should the defendant not have funds to repay the debt, the court ordered their property (including enslaved people) to be seized and sold to repay the debt owed to the plaintiff. Judgments also contain suits brought by enslaved people seeking to gain their freedom.","In Judgments, an assumpsit or declaration (sometimes referred to as a narratio) lays out the plaintiff's grievance as a petition acted as a formal application to the court requesting judicial action. Judgment suits also generally included record types like subpoenas, summons, and exhibit. Judgments may also include additional documentations such as executions, bonds, and various kinds of writs.","Judgment suits make up a large quantity of a locality's records; consequently, they provide a great deal of information concerning the activities and interests of the people who lived in the locality. Since the vast majority of judgment suits relate to financial matters, they are a valuable resource in studying the economic and social history of Virginia localities and are the impotence for many chancery suits.","Locality History: Amherst County was named for Major General Jeffery Amherst, British commander in North America during the latter part of the French and Indian War and governor of Virginia from 1759 to 1768. It was formed from Albemarle County in 1761. Islands in the Fluvanna (now the James) River were added in 1770. The county seat is Amherst.","Additional Judgment Types","Condemnations are judgments concerning the taking of private property for public use through the power of eminent domain. Most cases involve railroad or canal companies and contain maps/plats of the land in question.","Support for Divorce Petitions: The Virginia General Assembly, in 1803, granted the first divorce for the state of Virginia; over the next couple of decades, the volume of divorce petitions sent to the General Assembly grew to an overwhelming and unmanageable number. In response, the General Assembly granted the chancery courts the ability to divorce petitioners and slowly the number of divorce petitions decreased in the General Assembly before ceasing entirely in 1850. During the period in which the General Assembly still had a hand in granting divorces, plaintiffs might petition their locality's civil courts for their support in petitioning the General Assembly, possibly to increase the likelihood of being granted a divorce by the governmental body.","Ejectments are a formal court order that declares the property owner to be the rightful owner of a piece of land or building and legally removes the unauthorized occupant. The court might also declare financial damages for the lost use of the property.","Types of Courts","The County Court was the original colonial court of adjudication and recordation, and it was the principal tribunal for the administration of local justice. The individual justices could act on small claims matters as well as criminal matters where imminent bodily harm was a possibility, there being an appeal to the full County Court, which met monthly. This court ceased to exist in 1919 and the recordation function was transferred to the circuit court.","The Superior Court of Law was created in 1808. It met twice a year in each county, presided over by a circuit-riding General Court judge. Records were filed with the County Court. It had civil and criminal jurisdiction. The court ceased to exist in 1831.","The Circuit Court was authorized by the Constitution of 1851 and established by an act of the General Assembly passed in May 1852. Courts were held twice yearly in each county, presided over by 21 judges who rode circuits in the area of their jurisdiction. The records were filed with County Court records. These courts were granted original jurisdiction concurrent with that of the County Courts, as well as appellate jurisdiction in all civil cases of more than fifty dollars and criminal cases not \"expressly cognizable in some other court,\" including those involving loss of life."],"prefercite_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eAmherst County (Va.) Judgments, circa 1770-1950 [insert series or volume title].  Local government records collection, Amherst County Court Records.  The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Va.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n"],"prefercite_tesim":["Amherst County (Va.) Judgments, circa 1770-1950 [insert series or volume title].  Local government records collection, Amherst County Court Records.  The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Va."],"processinfo_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003ePrior to 2026, the judgement descriptive records were not standardized in their inclusion of contextual information or content lists. Local Records staff reviewed this record and have updated to current standards as of 2026.\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eThe county and circuit court judgments were minimally processed by C. Collins and J. Taylor in 2024-2025. \n\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eEncoded by J. Taylor: June 2026.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],"processinfo_heading_ssm":["Processing Information"],"processinfo_tesim":["Prior to 2026, the judgement descriptive records were not standardized in their inclusion of contextual information or content lists. Local Records staff reviewed this record and have updated to current standards as of 2026.","The county and circuit court judgments were minimally processed by C. Collins and J. Taylor in 2024-2025.","Encoded by J. Taylor: June 2026."],"relatedmaterial_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eRecords related to free and enslaved people of Amherst County (Va.) and other localities are available through the \u003cextref type=\"simple\" href=\"https://lva.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/discovery/search?vid=01LVA_INST:VU\"\u003eVirginia Untold: The African American Narrative Digital Collection \u003c/extref\u003e on the Library of Virginia website.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eAdditional Amherst County Court Records can be found on microfilm at The Library of Virginia web site. Consult \u003cextref type=\"simple\" href=\"https://www.lva.virginia.gov/public/local/results_all.asp?CountyID=VA003\"\u003e\"A Guide to Virginia County and City Records on Microfilm\"\u003c/extref\u003e\n\u003c/p\u003e\n"],"relatedmaterial_heading_ssm":["Related Material"],"relatedmaterial_tesim":["Records related to free and enslaved people of Amherst County (Va.) and other localities are available through the Virginia Untold: The African American Narrative Digital Collection  on the Library of Virginia website.","Additional Amherst County Court Records can be found on microfilm at The Library of Virginia web site. Consult \"A Guide to Virginia County and City Records on Microfilm\""],"scopecontent_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eAmherst County (Va.) Judgments, circa 1770-1950, consist of civil cases in which justice was administered on the strictly formulated rules of common law. The majority of cases in this record group relate to matters of debt. The county and circuit court judgments have undergone minimal processing. A small section of records remain completely unprocessed.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n"],"scopecontent_heading_ssm":["Scope and Content"],"scopecontent_tesim":["Amherst County (Va.) Judgments, circa 1770-1950, consist of civil cases in which justice was administered on the strictly formulated rules of common law. The majority of cases in this record group relate to matters of debt. The county and circuit court judgments have undergone minimal processing. A small section of records remain completely unprocessed."],"userestrict_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eThere are no restrictions.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n"],"userestrict_heading_ssm":["Use Restrictions"],"userestrict_tesim":["There are no restrictions."],"physloc_html_tesm":["\u003cphysloc label=\"Location\"\u003eLibrary of Virginia\n\u003c/physloc\u003e\n"],"physloc_tesim":["Library of Virginia"],"language_ssim":["English"],"total_component_count_is":70,"online_item_count_is":0,"component_level_isim":[0],"sort_isi":0,"timestamp":"2026-08-14T22:28:46.894Z"}]}},"label":"Breadcrumbs"}}},"links":{"self":"https://search.arvasarchive.org/catalog/vi_vi06711"}},{"id":"vi_vi06711_c03_c02_c03","type":"Item","attributes":{"title":"Barcode number 0007698867: Commonwealth Causes, Judgments, Deeds\t\t1791-1950 circa","breadcrumbs":{"id":"https://search.arvasarchive.org/catalog/vi_vi06711_c03_c02_c03#breadcrumbs","type":"document_value","attributes":{"value":{"ref_ssi":"vi_vi06711_c03_c02_c03","ref_ssm":["vi_vi06711_c03_c02_c03"],"id":"vi_vi06711_c03_c02_c03","ead_ssi":"vi_vi06711","_root_":"vi_vi06711","_nest_parent_":"vi_vi06711_c03_c02","parent_ssi":"vi_vi06711_c03_c02","parent_ssim":["Amherst County (Va.) Judgments, circa 1770-1950","Series III: Unprocessed Judgments, 1770-1950 circa","Subseries B: Unidentified Court Judgments, 1770-1950 circa"],"parent_ids_ssim":["vi_vi06711","vi_vi06711_c03","vi_vi06711_c03_c02"],"title_filing_ssi":"Commonwealth Causes, Judgments, Deeds\t\t1791-1950 circa","title_ssm":["Barcode number 0007698867: Commonwealth Causes, Judgments, Deeds\t\t1791-1950 circa"],"title_tesim":["Barcode number 0007698867: Commonwealth Causes, Judgments, Deeds\t\t1791-1950 circa"],"normalized_title_ssm":["Barcode number 0007698867: Commonwealth Causes, Judgments, Deeds\t\t1791-1950 circa"],"text":["Barcode number 0007698867: Commonwealth Causes, Judgments, Deeds\t\t1791-1950 circa","Amherst County (Va.) Judgments, circa 1770-1950","Series III: Unprocessed Judgments, 1770-1950 circa","Subseries B: Unidentified Court Judgments, 1770-1950 circa"],"parent_unittitles_ssm":["Amherst County (Va.) Judgments, circa 1770-1950","Series III: Unprocessed Judgments, 1770-1950 circa","Subseries B: Unidentified Court Judgments, 1770-1950 circa"],"parent_unittitles_tesim":["Amherst County (Va.) Judgments, circa 1770-1950","Series III: Unprocessed Judgments, 1770-1950 circa","Subseries B: Unidentified Court Judgments, 1770-1950 circa"],"level_ssm":["Item"],"level_ssim":["Item"],"component_level_isim":[3],"sort_isi":65,"repository_ssim":["Library of Virginia"],"collection_ssim":["Amherst County (Va.) Judgments, circa 1770-1950"],"has_online_content_ssim":["false"],"child_component_count_isi":0,"parent_access_restrict_tesm":["Collection is open to research."],"parent_access_terms_tesm":["There are no restrictions."],"_nest_path_":"/components#2/components#1/components#2","timestamp":"2026-08-14T22:28:46.894Z","collection":{"numFound":1,"start":0,"numFoundExact":true,"docs":[{"id":"vi_vi06711","ead_ssi":"vi_vi06711","_root_":"vi_vi06711","_nest_parent_":"vi_vi06711","ead_source_url_ssi":"data/lva/vi06711.xml","title_ssm":["Amherst County (Va.) Judgments, circa 1770-1950"],"title_tesim":["Amherst County (Va.) Judgments, circa 1770-1950"],"normalized_title_ssm":["Amherst County (Va.) Judgments, circa 1770-1950"],"text":["Amherst County (Va.) Judgments, circa 1770-1950","Collection is open to research.","This collection is arranged into three series:\nSeries I: Judgments, 1849-1864, relating to free and enslaved Black and Multiracial individuals\nSeries II: Minimally Processed Judgments, 1831-1874\nSeries III: Unprocessed Judgments, 1770-1950 circa\nSeries IV: Judgment Volumes, 1818-1853","Context for Record Type: Judgments are identified as civil suits, often involving debt, heard by a jury on the \"law\" side of the court as opposed to the \"chancery\" (or equity) side. Should the defendant not have funds to repay the debt, the court ordered their property (including enslaved people) to be seized and sold to repay the debt owed to the plaintiff. Judgments also contain suits brought by enslaved people seeking to gain their freedom.","In Judgments, an assumpsit or declaration (sometimes referred to as a narratio) lays out the plaintiff's grievance as a petition acted as a formal application to the court requesting judicial action. Judgment suits also generally included record types like subpoenas, summons, and exhibit. Judgments may also include additional documentations such as executions, bonds, and various kinds of writs.","Judgment suits make up a large quantity of a locality's records; consequently, they provide a great deal of information concerning the activities and interests of the people who lived in the locality. Since the vast majority of judgment suits relate to financial matters, they are a valuable resource in studying the economic and social history of Virginia localities and are the impotence for many chancery suits.","Locality History: Amherst County was named for Major General Jeffery Amherst, British commander in North America during the latter part of the French and Indian War and governor of Virginia from 1759 to 1768. It was formed from Albemarle County in 1761. Islands in the Fluvanna (now the James) River were added in 1770. The county seat is Amherst.","Additional Judgment Types","Condemnations are judgments concerning the taking of private property for public use through the power of eminent domain. Most cases involve railroad or canal companies and contain maps/plats of the land in question.","Support for Divorce Petitions: The Virginia General Assembly, in 1803, granted the first divorce for the state of Virginia; over the next couple of decades, the volume of divorce petitions sent to the General Assembly grew to an overwhelming and unmanageable number. In response, the General Assembly granted the chancery courts the ability to divorce petitioners and slowly the number of divorce petitions decreased in the General Assembly before ceasing entirely in 1850. During the period in which the General Assembly still had a hand in granting divorces, plaintiffs might petition their locality's civil courts for their support in petitioning the General Assembly, possibly to increase the likelihood of being granted a divorce by the governmental body.","Ejectments are a formal court order that declares the property owner to be the rightful owner of a piece of land or building and legally removes the unauthorized occupant. The court might also declare financial damages for the lost use of the property.","Types of Courts","The County Court was the original colonial court of adjudication and recordation, and it was the principal tribunal for the administration of local justice. The individual justices could act on small claims matters as well as criminal matters where imminent bodily harm was a possibility, there being an appeal to the full County Court, which met monthly. This court ceased to exist in 1919 and the recordation function was transferred to the circuit court.","The Superior Court of Law was created in 1808. It met twice a year in each county, presided over by a circuit-riding General Court judge. Records were filed with the County Court. It had civil and criminal jurisdiction. The court ceased to exist in 1831.","The Circuit Court was authorized by the Constitution of 1851 and established by an act of the General Assembly passed in May 1852. Courts were held twice yearly in each county, presided over by 21 judges who rode circuits in the area of their jurisdiction. The records were filed with County Court records. These courts were granted original jurisdiction concurrent with that of the County Courts, as well as appellate jurisdiction in all civil cases of more than fifty dollars and criminal cases not \"expressly cognizable in some other court,\" including those involving loss of life.","Prior to 2026, the judgement descriptive records were not standardized in their inclusion of contextual information or content lists. Local Records staff reviewed this record and have updated to current standards as of 2026.","The county and circuit court judgments were minimally processed by C. Collins and J. Taylor in 2024-2025.","Encoded by J. Taylor: June 2026.","Records related to free and enslaved people of Amherst County (Va.) and other localities are available through the Virginia Untold: The African American Narrative Digital Collection  on the Library of Virginia website.","Additional Amherst County Court Records can be found on microfilm at The Library of Virginia web site. Consult \"A Guide to Virginia County and City Records on Microfilm\"","Amherst County (Va.) Judgments, circa 1770-1950, consist of civil cases in which justice was administered on the strictly formulated rules of common law. The majority of cases in this record group relate to matters of debt. The county and circuit court judgments have undergone minimal processing. A small section of records remain completely unprocessed.","There are no restrictions.","Library of Virginia","English"],"collection_title_tesim":["Amherst County (Va.) Judgments, circa 1770-1950"],"collection_ssim":["Amherst County (Va.) Judgments, circa 1770-1950"],"level_ssm":["collection"],"level_ssim":["Collection"],"repository_ssm":["Library of Virginia"],"repository_ssim":["Library of Virginia"],"creator_ssm":["Amherst County (Va.) Circuit Court"],"creator_ssim":["Amherst County (Va.) Circuit Court"],"access_terms_ssm":["There are no restrictions."],"acqinfo_ssim":["These records came to the Library of Virginia in a transfer of court papers from Amherst County in 2022 in accession number 53740 as well as in an undated accession."],"has_online_content_ssim":["false"],"extent_ssm":["28.3 cubic feet (58 boxes); 2 volumes"],"extent_tesim":["28.3 cubic feet (58 boxes); 2 volumes"],"accessrestrict_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eCollection is open to research.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n"],"accessrestrict_heading_ssm":["Access Restrictions"],"accessrestrict_tesim":["Collection is open to research."],"arrangement_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eThis collection is arranged into three series:\n\u003clist type=\"simple\"\u003e\u003citem\u003eSeries I: Judgments, 1849-1864, relating to free and enslaved Black and Multiracial individuals\u003c/item\u003e\n\u003citem\u003eSeries II: Minimally Processed Judgments, 1831-1874\u003c/item\u003e\n\u003citem\u003eSeries III: Unprocessed Judgments, 1770-1950 circa\u003c/item\u003e\n\u003citem\u003eSeries IV: Judgment Volumes, 1818-1853\u003c/item\u003e\n\u003c/list\u003e\n\u003c/p\u003e\n"],"arrangement_heading_ssm":["Arrangement"],"arrangement_tesim":["This collection is arranged into three series:\nSeries I: Judgments, 1849-1864, relating to free and enslaved Black and Multiracial individuals\nSeries II: Minimally Processed Judgments, 1831-1874\nSeries III: Unprocessed Judgments, 1770-1950 circa\nSeries IV: Judgment Volumes, 1818-1853"],"bioghist_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003e\u003cemph render=\"bold\"\u003eContext for Record Type:\u003c/emph\u003e Judgments are identified as civil suits, often involving debt, heard by a jury on the \"law\" side of the court as opposed to the \"chancery\" (or equity) side. Should the defendant not have funds to repay the debt, the court ordered their property (including enslaved people) to be seized and sold to repay the debt owed to the plaintiff. Judgments also contain suits brought by enslaved people seeking to gain their freedom.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eIn Judgments, an assumpsit or declaration (sometimes referred to as a narratio) lays out the plaintiff's grievance as a petition acted as a formal application to the court requesting judicial action. Judgment suits also generally included record types like subpoenas, summons, and exhibit. Judgments may also include additional documentations such as executions, bonds, and various kinds of writs.\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eJudgment suits make up a large quantity of a locality's records; consequently, they provide a great deal of information concerning the activities and interests of the people who lived in the locality. Since the vast majority of judgment suits relate to financial matters, they are a valuable resource in studying the economic and social history of Virginia localities and are the impotence for many chancery suits.\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003e\u003cemph render=\"bold\"\u003eLocality History:\u003c/emph\u003e Amherst County was named for Major General Jeffery Amherst, British commander in North America during the latter part of the French and Indian War and governor of Virginia from 1759 to 1768. It was formed from Albemarle County in 1761. Islands in the Fluvanna (now the James) River were added in 1770. The county seat is Amherst.\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003e\u003cemph render=\"underline\"\u003eAdditional Judgment Types\u003c/emph\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eCondemnations are judgments concerning the taking of private property for public use through the power of eminent domain. Most cases involve railroad or canal companies and contain maps/plats of the land in question.\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eSupport for Divorce Petitions: The Virginia General Assembly, in 1803, granted the first divorce for the state of Virginia; over the next couple of decades, the volume of divorce petitions sent to the General Assembly grew to an overwhelming and unmanageable number. In response, the General Assembly granted the chancery courts the ability to divorce petitioners and slowly the number of divorce petitions decreased in the General Assembly before ceasing entirely in 1850. During the period in which the General Assembly still had a hand in granting divorces, plaintiffs might petition their locality's civil courts for their support in petitioning the General Assembly, possibly to increase the likelihood of being granted a divorce by the governmental body.\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eEjectments are a formal court order that declares the property owner to be the rightful owner of a piece of land or building and legally removes the unauthorized occupant. The court might also declare financial damages for the lost use of the property.\u003c/p\u003e \n","\u003cp\u003e\u003cemph render=\"underline\"\u003eTypes of Courts\u003c/emph\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eThe County Court was the original colonial court of adjudication and recordation, and it was the principal tribunal for the administration of local justice. The individual justices could act on small claims matters as well as criminal matters where imminent bodily harm was a possibility, there being an appeal to the full County Court, which met monthly. This court ceased to exist in 1919 and the recordation function was transferred to the circuit court.\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eThe Superior Court of Law was created in 1808. It met twice a year in each county, presided over by a circuit-riding General Court judge. Records were filed with the County Court. It had civil and criminal jurisdiction. The court ceased to exist in 1831.\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eThe Circuit Court was authorized by the Constitution of 1851 and established by an act of the General Assembly passed in May 1852. Courts were held twice yearly in each county, presided over by 21 judges who rode circuits in the area of their jurisdiction. The records were filed with County Court records. These courts were granted original jurisdiction concurrent with that of the County Courts, as well as appellate jurisdiction in all civil cases of more than fifty dollars and criminal cases not \"expressly cognizable in some other court,\" including those involving loss of life.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],"bioghist_heading_ssm":["Historical Information"],"bioghist_tesim":["Context for Record Type: Judgments are identified as civil suits, often involving debt, heard by a jury on the \"law\" side of the court as opposed to the \"chancery\" (or equity) side. Should the defendant not have funds to repay the debt, the court ordered their property (including enslaved people) to be seized and sold to repay the debt owed to the plaintiff. Judgments also contain suits brought by enslaved people seeking to gain their freedom.","In Judgments, an assumpsit or declaration (sometimes referred to as a narratio) lays out the plaintiff's grievance as a petition acted as a formal application to the court requesting judicial action. Judgment suits also generally included record types like subpoenas, summons, and exhibit. Judgments may also include additional documentations such as executions, bonds, and various kinds of writs.","Judgment suits make up a large quantity of a locality's records; consequently, they provide a great deal of information concerning the activities and interests of the people who lived in the locality. Since the vast majority of judgment suits relate to financial matters, they are a valuable resource in studying the economic and social history of Virginia localities and are the impotence for many chancery suits.","Locality History: Amherst County was named for Major General Jeffery Amherst, British commander in North America during the latter part of the French and Indian War and governor of Virginia from 1759 to 1768. It was formed from Albemarle County in 1761. Islands in the Fluvanna (now the James) River were added in 1770. The county seat is Amherst.","Additional Judgment Types","Condemnations are judgments concerning the taking of private property for public use through the power of eminent domain. Most cases involve railroad or canal companies and contain maps/plats of the land in question.","Support for Divorce Petitions: The Virginia General Assembly, in 1803, granted the first divorce for the state of Virginia; over the next couple of decades, the volume of divorce petitions sent to the General Assembly grew to an overwhelming and unmanageable number. In response, the General Assembly granted the chancery courts the ability to divorce petitioners and slowly the number of divorce petitions decreased in the General Assembly before ceasing entirely in 1850. During the period in which the General Assembly still had a hand in granting divorces, plaintiffs might petition their locality's civil courts for their support in petitioning the General Assembly, possibly to increase the likelihood of being granted a divorce by the governmental body.","Ejectments are a formal court order that declares the property owner to be the rightful owner of a piece of land or building and legally removes the unauthorized occupant. The court might also declare financial damages for the lost use of the property.","Types of Courts","The County Court was the original colonial court of adjudication and recordation, and it was the principal tribunal for the administration of local justice. The individual justices could act on small claims matters as well as criminal matters where imminent bodily harm was a possibility, there being an appeal to the full County Court, which met monthly. This court ceased to exist in 1919 and the recordation function was transferred to the circuit court.","The Superior Court of Law was created in 1808. It met twice a year in each county, presided over by a circuit-riding General Court judge. Records were filed with the County Court. It had civil and criminal jurisdiction. The court ceased to exist in 1831.","The Circuit Court was authorized by the Constitution of 1851 and established by an act of the General Assembly passed in May 1852. Courts were held twice yearly in each county, presided over by 21 judges who rode circuits in the area of their jurisdiction. The records were filed with County Court records. These courts were granted original jurisdiction concurrent with that of the County Courts, as well as appellate jurisdiction in all civil cases of more than fifty dollars and criminal cases not \"expressly cognizable in some other court,\" including those involving loss of life."],"prefercite_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eAmherst County (Va.) Judgments, circa 1770-1950 [insert series or volume title].  Local government records collection, Amherst County Court Records.  The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Va.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n"],"prefercite_tesim":["Amherst County (Va.) Judgments, circa 1770-1950 [insert series or volume title].  Local government records collection, Amherst County Court Records.  The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Va."],"processinfo_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003ePrior to 2026, the judgement descriptive records were not standardized in their inclusion of contextual information or content lists. Local Records staff reviewed this record and have updated to current standards as of 2026.\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eThe county and circuit court judgments were minimally processed by C. Collins and J. Taylor in 2024-2025. \n\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eEncoded by J. Taylor: June 2026.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],"processinfo_heading_ssm":["Processing Information"],"processinfo_tesim":["Prior to 2026, the judgement descriptive records were not standardized in their inclusion of contextual information or content lists. Local Records staff reviewed this record and have updated to current standards as of 2026.","The county and circuit court judgments were minimally processed by C. Collins and J. Taylor in 2024-2025.","Encoded by J. Taylor: June 2026."],"relatedmaterial_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eRecords related to free and enslaved people of Amherst County (Va.) and other localities are available through the \u003cextref type=\"simple\" href=\"https://lva.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/discovery/search?vid=01LVA_INST:VU\"\u003eVirginia Untold: The African American Narrative Digital Collection \u003c/extref\u003e on the Library of Virginia website.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eAdditional Amherst County Court Records can be found on microfilm at The Library of Virginia web site. Consult \u003cextref type=\"simple\" href=\"https://www.lva.virginia.gov/public/local/results_all.asp?CountyID=VA003\"\u003e\"A Guide to Virginia County and City Records on Microfilm\"\u003c/extref\u003e\n\u003c/p\u003e\n"],"relatedmaterial_heading_ssm":["Related Material"],"relatedmaterial_tesim":["Records related to free and enslaved people of Amherst County (Va.) and other localities are available through the Virginia Untold: The African American Narrative Digital Collection  on the Library of Virginia website.","Additional Amherst County Court Records can be found on microfilm at The Library of Virginia web site. Consult \"A Guide to Virginia County and City Records on Microfilm\""],"scopecontent_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eAmherst County (Va.) Judgments, circa 1770-1950, consist of civil cases in which justice was administered on the strictly formulated rules of common law. The majority of cases in this record group relate to matters of debt. The county and circuit court judgments have undergone minimal processing. A small section of records remain completely unprocessed.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n"],"scopecontent_heading_ssm":["Scope and Content"],"scopecontent_tesim":["Amherst County (Va.) Judgments, circa 1770-1950, consist of civil cases in which justice was administered on the strictly formulated rules of common law. The majority of cases in this record group relate to matters of debt. The county and circuit court judgments have undergone minimal processing. A small section of records remain completely unprocessed."],"userestrict_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eThere are no restrictions.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n"],"userestrict_heading_ssm":["Use Restrictions"],"userestrict_tesim":["There are no restrictions."],"physloc_html_tesm":["\u003cphysloc label=\"Location\"\u003eLibrary of Virginia\n\u003c/physloc\u003e\n"],"physloc_tesim":["Library of Virginia"],"language_ssim":["English"],"total_component_count_is":70,"online_item_count_is":0,"component_level_isim":[0],"sort_isi":0,"timestamp":"2026-08-14T22:28:46.894Z"}]}},"label":"Breadcrumbs"}}},"links":{"self":"https://search.arvasarchive.org/catalog/vi_vi06711_c03_c02_c03"}},{"id":"vi_vi06711_c02_c01_c01","type":"Item","attributes":{"title":"Barcode number 0007833681: Judgments\t\t1831-1832","breadcrumbs":{"id":"https://search.arvasarchive.org/catalog/vi_vi06711_c02_c01_c01#breadcrumbs","type":"document_value","attributes":{"value":{"ref_ssi":"vi_vi06711_c02_c01_c01","ref_ssm":["vi_vi06711_c02_c01_c01"],"id":"vi_vi06711_c02_c01_c01","ead_ssi":"vi_vi06711","_root_":"vi_vi06711","_nest_parent_":"vi_vi06711_c02_c01","parent_ssi":"vi_vi06711_c02_c01","parent_ssim":["Amherst County (Va.) Judgments, circa 1770-1950","Series II: Minimally Processed Judgments\n1831-1874","Subseries A: Circuit Court Judgments, 1831-1874"],"parent_ids_ssim":["vi_vi06711","vi_vi06711_c02","vi_vi06711_c02_c01"],"title_filing_ssi":"Judgments\t\t1831-1832","title_ssm":["Barcode number 0007833681: Judgments\t\t1831-1832"],"title_tesim":["Barcode number 0007833681: Judgments\t\t1831-1832"],"normalized_title_ssm":["Barcode number 0007833681: Judgments\t\t1831-1832"],"text":["Barcode number 0007833681: Judgments\t\t1831-1832","Amherst County (Va.) Judgments, circa 1770-1950","Series II: Minimally Processed Judgments\n1831-1874","Subseries A: Circuit Court Judgments, 1831-1874"],"parent_unittitles_ssm":["Amherst County (Va.) Judgments, circa 1770-1950","Series II: Minimally Processed Judgments\n1831-1874","Subseries A: Circuit Court Judgments, 1831-1874"],"parent_unittitles_tesim":["Amherst County (Va.) Judgments, circa 1770-1950","Series II: Minimally Processed Judgments\n1831-1874","Subseries A: Circuit Court Judgments, 1831-1874"],"level_ssm":["Item"],"level_ssim":["Item"],"component_level_isim":[3],"sort_isi":5,"repository_ssim":["Library of Virginia"],"collection_ssim":["Amherst County (Va.) Judgments, circa 1770-1950"],"has_online_content_ssim":["false"],"child_component_count_isi":0,"parent_access_restrict_tesm":["Collection is open to research."],"parent_access_terms_tesm":["There are no restrictions."],"_nest_path_":"/components#1/components#0/components#0","timestamp":"2026-08-14T22:28:46.894Z","collection":{"numFound":1,"start":0,"numFoundExact":true,"docs":[{"id":"vi_vi06711","ead_ssi":"vi_vi06711","_root_":"vi_vi06711","_nest_parent_":"vi_vi06711","ead_source_url_ssi":"data/lva/vi06711.xml","title_ssm":["Amherst County (Va.) Judgments, circa 1770-1950"],"title_tesim":["Amherst County (Va.) Judgments, circa 1770-1950"],"normalized_title_ssm":["Amherst County (Va.) Judgments, circa 1770-1950"],"text":["Amherst County (Va.) Judgments, circa 1770-1950","Collection is open to research.","This collection is arranged into three series:\nSeries I: Judgments, 1849-1864, relating to free and enslaved Black and Multiracial individuals\nSeries II: Minimally Processed Judgments, 1831-1874\nSeries III: Unprocessed Judgments, 1770-1950 circa\nSeries IV: Judgment Volumes, 1818-1853","Context for Record Type: Judgments are identified as civil suits, often involving debt, heard by a jury on the \"law\" side of the court as opposed to the \"chancery\" (or equity) side. Should the defendant not have funds to repay the debt, the court ordered their property (including enslaved people) to be seized and sold to repay the debt owed to the plaintiff. Judgments also contain suits brought by enslaved people seeking to gain their freedom.","In Judgments, an assumpsit or declaration (sometimes referred to as a narratio) lays out the plaintiff's grievance as a petition acted as a formal application to the court requesting judicial action. Judgment suits also generally included record types like subpoenas, summons, and exhibit. Judgments may also include additional documentations such as executions, bonds, and various kinds of writs.","Judgment suits make up a large quantity of a locality's records; consequently, they provide a great deal of information concerning the activities and interests of the people who lived in the locality. Since the vast majority of judgment suits relate to financial matters, they are a valuable resource in studying the economic and social history of Virginia localities and are the impotence for many chancery suits.","Locality History: Amherst County was named for Major General Jeffery Amherst, British commander in North America during the latter part of the French and Indian War and governor of Virginia from 1759 to 1768. It was formed from Albemarle County in 1761. Islands in the Fluvanna (now the James) River were added in 1770. The county seat is Amherst.","Additional Judgment Types","Condemnations are judgments concerning the taking of private property for public use through the power of eminent domain. Most cases involve railroad or canal companies and contain maps/plats of the land in question.","Support for Divorce Petitions: The Virginia General Assembly, in 1803, granted the first divorce for the state of Virginia; over the next couple of decades, the volume of divorce petitions sent to the General Assembly grew to an overwhelming and unmanageable number. In response, the General Assembly granted the chancery courts the ability to divorce petitioners and slowly the number of divorce petitions decreased in the General Assembly before ceasing entirely in 1850. During the period in which the General Assembly still had a hand in granting divorces, plaintiffs might petition their locality's civil courts for their support in petitioning the General Assembly, possibly to increase the likelihood of being granted a divorce by the governmental body.","Ejectments are a formal court order that declares the property owner to be the rightful owner of a piece of land or building and legally removes the unauthorized occupant. The court might also declare financial damages for the lost use of the property.","Types of Courts","The County Court was the original colonial court of adjudication and recordation, and it was the principal tribunal for the administration of local justice. The individual justices could act on small claims matters as well as criminal matters where imminent bodily harm was a possibility, there being an appeal to the full County Court, which met monthly. This court ceased to exist in 1919 and the recordation function was transferred to the circuit court.","The Superior Court of Law was created in 1808. It met twice a year in each county, presided over by a circuit-riding General Court judge. Records were filed with the County Court. It had civil and criminal jurisdiction. The court ceased to exist in 1831.","The Circuit Court was authorized by the Constitution of 1851 and established by an act of the General Assembly passed in May 1852. Courts were held twice yearly in each county, presided over by 21 judges who rode circuits in the area of their jurisdiction. The records were filed with County Court records. These courts were granted original jurisdiction concurrent with that of the County Courts, as well as appellate jurisdiction in all civil cases of more than fifty dollars and criminal cases not \"expressly cognizable in some other court,\" including those involving loss of life.","Prior to 2026, the judgement descriptive records were not standardized in their inclusion of contextual information or content lists. Local Records staff reviewed this record and have updated to current standards as of 2026.","The county and circuit court judgments were minimally processed by C. Collins and J. Taylor in 2024-2025.","Encoded by J. Taylor: June 2026.","Records related to free and enslaved people of Amherst County (Va.) and other localities are available through the Virginia Untold: The African American Narrative Digital Collection  on the Library of Virginia website.","Additional Amherst County Court Records can be found on microfilm at The Library of Virginia web site. Consult \"A Guide to Virginia County and City Records on Microfilm\"","Amherst County (Va.) Judgments, circa 1770-1950, consist of civil cases in which justice was administered on the strictly formulated rules of common law. The majority of cases in this record group relate to matters of debt. The county and circuit court judgments have undergone minimal processing. A small section of records remain completely unprocessed.","There are no restrictions.","Library of Virginia","English"],"collection_title_tesim":["Amherst County (Va.) Judgments, circa 1770-1950"],"collection_ssim":["Amherst County (Va.) Judgments, circa 1770-1950"],"level_ssm":["collection"],"level_ssim":["Collection"],"repository_ssm":["Library of Virginia"],"repository_ssim":["Library of Virginia"],"creator_ssm":["Amherst County (Va.) Circuit Court"],"creator_ssim":["Amherst County (Va.) Circuit Court"],"access_terms_ssm":["There are no restrictions."],"acqinfo_ssim":["These records came to the Library of Virginia in a transfer of court papers from Amherst County in 2022 in accession number 53740 as well as in an undated accession."],"has_online_content_ssim":["false"],"extent_ssm":["28.3 cubic feet (58 boxes); 2 volumes"],"extent_tesim":["28.3 cubic feet (58 boxes); 2 volumes"],"accessrestrict_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eCollection is open to research.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n"],"accessrestrict_heading_ssm":["Access Restrictions"],"accessrestrict_tesim":["Collection is open to research."],"arrangement_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eThis collection is arranged into three series:\n\u003clist type=\"simple\"\u003e\u003citem\u003eSeries I: Judgments, 1849-1864, relating to free and enslaved Black and Multiracial individuals\u003c/item\u003e\n\u003citem\u003eSeries II: Minimally Processed Judgments, 1831-1874\u003c/item\u003e\n\u003citem\u003eSeries III: Unprocessed Judgments, 1770-1950 circa\u003c/item\u003e\n\u003citem\u003eSeries IV: Judgment Volumes, 1818-1853\u003c/item\u003e\n\u003c/list\u003e\n\u003c/p\u003e\n"],"arrangement_heading_ssm":["Arrangement"],"arrangement_tesim":["This collection is arranged into three series:\nSeries I: Judgments, 1849-1864, relating to free and enslaved Black and Multiracial individuals\nSeries II: Minimally Processed Judgments, 1831-1874\nSeries III: Unprocessed Judgments, 1770-1950 circa\nSeries IV: Judgment Volumes, 1818-1853"],"bioghist_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003e\u003cemph render=\"bold\"\u003eContext for Record Type:\u003c/emph\u003e Judgments are identified as civil suits, often involving debt, heard by a jury on the \"law\" side of the court as opposed to the \"chancery\" (or equity) side. Should the defendant not have funds to repay the debt, the court ordered their property (including enslaved people) to be seized and sold to repay the debt owed to the plaintiff. Judgments also contain suits brought by enslaved people seeking to gain their freedom.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eIn Judgments, an assumpsit or declaration (sometimes referred to as a narratio) lays out the plaintiff's grievance as a petition acted as a formal application to the court requesting judicial action. Judgment suits also generally included record types like subpoenas, summons, and exhibit. Judgments may also include additional documentations such as executions, bonds, and various kinds of writs.\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eJudgment suits make up a large quantity of a locality's records; consequently, they provide a great deal of information concerning the activities and interests of the people who lived in the locality. Since the vast majority of judgment suits relate to financial matters, they are a valuable resource in studying the economic and social history of Virginia localities and are the impotence for many chancery suits.\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003e\u003cemph render=\"bold\"\u003eLocality History:\u003c/emph\u003e Amherst County was named for Major General Jeffery Amherst, British commander in North America during the latter part of the French and Indian War and governor of Virginia from 1759 to 1768. It was formed from Albemarle County in 1761. Islands in the Fluvanna (now the James) River were added in 1770. The county seat is Amherst.\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003e\u003cemph render=\"underline\"\u003eAdditional Judgment Types\u003c/emph\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eCondemnations are judgments concerning the taking of private property for public use through the power of eminent domain. Most cases involve railroad or canal companies and contain maps/plats of the land in question.\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eSupport for Divorce Petitions: The Virginia General Assembly, in 1803, granted the first divorce for the state of Virginia; over the next couple of decades, the volume of divorce petitions sent to the General Assembly grew to an overwhelming and unmanageable number. In response, the General Assembly granted the chancery courts the ability to divorce petitioners and slowly the number of divorce petitions decreased in the General Assembly before ceasing entirely in 1850. During the period in which the General Assembly still had a hand in granting divorces, plaintiffs might petition their locality's civil courts for their support in petitioning the General Assembly, possibly to increase the likelihood of being granted a divorce by the governmental body.\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eEjectments are a formal court order that declares the property owner to be the rightful owner of a piece of land or building and legally removes the unauthorized occupant. The court might also declare financial damages for the lost use of the property.\u003c/p\u003e \n","\u003cp\u003e\u003cemph render=\"underline\"\u003eTypes of Courts\u003c/emph\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eThe County Court was the original colonial court of adjudication and recordation, and it was the principal tribunal for the administration of local justice. The individual justices could act on small claims matters as well as criminal matters where imminent bodily harm was a possibility, there being an appeal to the full County Court, which met monthly. This court ceased to exist in 1919 and the recordation function was transferred to the circuit court.\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eThe Superior Court of Law was created in 1808. It met twice a year in each county, presided over by a circuit-riding General Court judge. Records were filed with the County Court. It had civil and criminal jurisdiction. The court ceased to exist in 1831.\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eThe Circuit Court was authorized by the Constitution of 1851 and established by an act of the General Assembly passed in May 1852. Courts were held twice yearly in each county, presided over by 21 judges who rode circuits in the area of their jurisdiction. The records were filed with County Court records. These courts were granted original jurisdiction concurrent with that of the County Courts, as well as appellate jurisdiction in all civil cases of more than fifty dollars and criminal cases not \"expressly cognizable in some other court,\" including those involving loss of life.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],"bioghist_heading_ssm":["Historical Information"],"bioghist_tesim":["Context for Record Type: Judgments are identified as civil suits, often involving debt, heard by a jury on the \"law\" side of the court as opposed to the \"chancery\" (or equity) side. Should the defendant not have funds to repay the debt, the court ordered their property (including enslaved people) to be seized and sold to repay the debt owed to the plaintiff. Judgments also contain suits brought by enslaved people seeking to gain their freedom.","In Judgments, an assumpsit or declaration (sometimes referred to as a narratio) lays out the plaintiff's grievance as a petition acted as a formal application to the court requesting judicial action. Judgment suits also generally included record types like subpoenas, summons, and exhibit. Judgments may also include additional documentations such as executions, bonds, and various kinds of writs.","Judgment suits make up a large quantity of a locality's records; consequently, they provide a great deal of information concerning the activities and interests of the people who lived in the locality. Since the vast majority of judgment suits relate to financial matters, they are a valuable resource in studying the economic and social history of Virginia localities and are the impotence for many chancery suits.","Locality History: Amherst County was named for Major General Jeffery Amherst, British commander in North America during the latter part of the French and Indian War and governor of Virginia from 1759 to 1768. It was formed from Albemarle County in 1761. Islands in the Fluvanna (now the James) River were added in 1770. The county seat is Amherst.","Additional Judgment Types","Condemnations are judgments concerning the taking of private property for public use through the power of eminent domain. Most cases involve railroad or canal companies and contain maps/plats of the land in question.","Support for Divorce Petitions: The Virginia General Assembly, in 1803, granted the first divorce for the state of Virginia; over the next couple of decades, the volume of divorce petitions sent to the General Assembly grew to an overwhelming and unmanageable number. In response, the General Assembly granted the chancery courts the ability to divorce petitioners and slowly the number of divorce petitions decreased in the General Assembly before ceasing entirely in 1850. During the period in which the General Assembly still had a hand in granting divorces, plaintiffs might petition their locality's civil courts for their support in petitioning the General Assembly, possibly to increase the likelihood of being granted a divorce by the governmental body.","Ejectments are a formal court order that declares the property owner to be the rightful owner of a piece of land or building and legally removes the unauthorized occupant. The court might also declare financial damages for the lost use of the property.","Types of Courts","The County Court was the original colonial court of adjudication and recordation, and it was the principal tribunal for the administration of local justice. The individual justices could act on small claims matters as well as criminal matters where imminent bodily harm was a possibility, there being an appeal to the full County Court, which met monthly. This court ceased to exist in 1919 and the recordation function was transferred to the circuit court.","The Superior Court of Law was created in 1808. It met twice a year in each county, presided over by a circuit-riding General Court judge. Records were filed with the County Court. It had civil and criminal jurisdiction. The court ceased to exist in 1831.","The Circuit Court was authorized by the Constitution of 1851 and established by an act of the General Assembly passed in May 1852. Courts were held twice yearly in each county, presided over by 21 judges who rode circuits in the area of their jurisdiction. The records were filed with County Court records. These courts were granted original jurisdiction concurrent with that of the County Courts, as well as appellate jurisdiction in all civil cases of more than fifty dollars and criminal cases not \"expressly cognizable in some other court,\" including those involving loss of life."],"prefercite_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eAmherst County (Va.) Judgments, circa 1770-1950 [insert series or volume title].  Local government records collection, Amherst County Court Records.  The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Va.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n"],"prefercite_tesim":["Amherst County (Va.) Judgments, circa 1770-1950 [insert series or volume title].  Local government records collection, Amherst County Court Records.  The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Va."],"processinfo_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003ePrior to 2026, the judgement descriptive records were not standardized in their inclusion of contextual information or content lists. Local Records staff reviewed this record and have updated to current standards as of 2026.\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eThe county and circuit court judgments were minimally processed by C. Collins and J. Taylor in 2024-2025. \n\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eEncoded by J. Taylor: June 2026.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],"processinfo_heading_ssm":["Processing Information"],"processinfo_tesim":["Prior to 2026, the judgement descriptive records were not standardized in their inclusion of contextual information or content lists. Local Records staff reviewed this record and have updated to current standards as of 2026.","The county and circuit court judgments were minimally processed by C. Collins and J. Taylor in 2024-2025.","Encoded by J. Taylor: June 2026."],"relatedmaterial_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eRecords related to free and enslaved people of Amherst County (Va.) and other localities are available through the \u003cextref type=\"simple\" href=\"https://lva.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/discovery/search?vid=01LVA_INST:VU\"\u003eVirginia Untold: The African American Narrative Digital Collection \u003c/extref\u003e on the Library of Virginia website.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eAdditional Amherst County Court Records can be found on microfilm at The Library of Virginia web site. Consult \u003cextref type=\"simple\" href=\"https://www.lva.virginia.gov/public/local/results_all.asp?CountyID=VA003\"\u003e\"A Guide to Virginia County and City Records on Microfilm\"\u003c/extref\u003e\n\u003c/p\u003e\n"],"relatedmaterial_heading_ssm":["Related Material"],"relatedmaterial_tesim":["Records related to free and enslaved people of Amherst County (Va.) and other localities are available through the Virginia Untold: The African American Narrative Digital Collection  on the Library of Virginia website.","Additional Amherst County Court Records can be found on microfilm at The Library of Virginia web site. Consult \"A Guide to Virginia County and City Records on Microfilm\""],"scopecontent_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eAmherst County (Va.) Judgments, circa 1770-1950, consist of civil cases in which justice was administered on the strictly formulated rules of common law. The majority of cases in this record group relate to matters of debt. The county and circuit court judgments have undergone minimal processing. A small section of records remain completely unprocessed.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n"],"scopecontent_heading_ssm":["Scope and Content"],"scopecontent_tesim":["Amherst County (Va.) Judgments, circa 1770-1950, consist of civil cases in which justice was administered on the strictly formulated rules of common law. The majority of cases in this record group relate to matters of debt. The county and circuit court judgments have undergone minimal processing. A small section of records remain completely unprocessed."],"userestrict_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eThere are no restrictions.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n"],"userestrict_heading_ssm":["Use Restrictions"],"userestrict_tesim":["There are no restrictions."],"physloc_html_tesm":["\u003cphysloc label=\"Location\"\u003eLibrary of Virginia\n\u003c/physloc\u003e\n"],"physloc_tesim":["Library of Virginia"],"language_ssim":["English"],"total_component_count_is":70,"online_item_count_is":0,"component_level_isim":[0],"sort_isi":0,"timestamp":"2026-08-14T22:28:46.894Z"}]}},"label":"Breadcrumbs"}}},"links":{"self":"https://search.arvasarchive.org/catalog/vi_vi06711_c02_c01_c01"}},{"id":"vi_vi06711_c02_c01_c02","type":"Item","attributes":{"title":"Barcode number 0007833682: Judgments\t\t1832","breadcrumbs":{"id":"https://search.arvasarchive.org/catalog/vi_vi06711_c02_c01_c02#breadcrumbs","type":"document_value","attributes":{"value":{"ref_ssi":"vi_vi06711_c02_c01_c02","ref_ssm":["vi_vi06711_c02_c01_c02"],"id":"vi_vi06711_c02_c01_c02","ead_ssi":"vi_vi06711","_root_":"vi_vi06711","_nest_parent_":"vi_vi06711_c02_c01","parent_ssi":"vi_vi06711_c02_c01","parent_ssim":["Amherst County (Va.) Judgments, circa 1770-1950","Series II: Minimally Processed Judgments\n1831-1874","Subseries A: Circuit Court Judgments, 1831-1874"],"parent_ids_ssim":["vi_vi06711","vi_vi06711_c02","vi_vi06711_c02_c01"],"title_filing_ssi":"Judgments\t\t1832","title_ssm":["Barcode number 0007833682: Judgments\t\t1832"],"title_tesim":["Barcode number 0007833682: Judgments\t\t1832"],"normalized_title_ssm":["Barcode number 0007833682: Judgments\t\t1832"],"text":["Barcode number 0007833682: Judgments\t\t1832","Amherst County (Va.) Judgments, circa 1770-1950","Series II: Minimally Processed Judgments\n1831-1874","Subseries A: Circuit Court Judgments, 1831-1874"],"parent_unittitles_ssm":["Amherst County (Va.) Judgments, circa 1770-1950","Series II: Minimally Processed Judgments\n1831-1874","Subseries A: Circuit Court Judgments, 1831-1874"],"parent_unittitles_tesim":["Amherst County (Va.) Judgments, circa 1770-1950","Series II: Minimally Processed Judgments\n1831-1874","Subseries A: Circuit Court Judgments, 1831-1874"],"level_ssm":["Item"],"level_ssim":["Item"],"component_level_isim":[3],"sort_isi":6,"repository_ssim":["Library of Virginia"],"collection_ssim":["Amherst County (Va.) Judgments, circa 1770-1950"],"has_online_content_ssim":["false"],"child_component_count_isi":0,"parent_access_restrict_tesm":["Collection is open to research."],"parent_access_terms_tesm":["There are no restrictions."],"_nest_path_":"/components#1/components#0/components#1","timestamp":"2026-08-14T22:28:46.894Z","collection":{"numFound":1,"start":0,"numFoundExact":true,"docs":[{"id":"vi_vi06711","ead_ssi":"vi_vi06711","_root_":"vi_vi06711","_nest_parent_":"vi_vi06711","ead_source_url_ssi":"data/lva/vi06711.xml","title_ssm":["Amherst County (Va.) Judgments, circa 1770-1950"],"title_tesim":["Amherst County (Va.) Judgments, circa 1770-1950"],"normalized_title_ssm":["Amherst County (Va.) Judgments, circa 1770-1950"],"text":["Amherst County (Va.) Judgments, circa 1770-1950","Collection is open to research.","This collection is arranged into three series:\nSeries I: Judgments, 1849-1864, relating to free and enslaved Black and Multiracial individuals\nSeries II: Minimally Processed Judgments, 1831-1874\nSeries III: Unprocessed Judgments, 1770-1950 circa\nSeries IV: Judgment Volumes, 1818-1853","Context for Record Type: Judgments are identified as civil suits, often involving debt, heard by a jury on the \"law\" side of the court as opposed to the \"chancery\" (or equity) side. Should the defendant not have funds to repay the debt, the court ordered their property (including enslaved people) to be seized and sold to repay the debt owed to the plaintiff. Judgments also contain suits brought by enslaved people seeking to gain their freedom.","In Judgments, an assumpsit or declaration (sometimes referred to as a narratio) lays out the plaintiff's grievance as a petition acted as a formal application to the court requesting judicial action. Judgment suits also generally included record types like subpoenas, summons, and exhibit. Judgments may also include additional documentations such as executions, bonds, and various kinds of writs.","Judgment suits make up a large quantity of a locality's records; consequently, they provide a great deal of information concerning the activities and interests of the people who lived in the locality. Since the vast majority of judgment suits relate to financial matters, they are a valuable resource in studying the economic and social history of Virginia localities and are the impotence for many chancery suits.","Locality History: Amherst County was named for Major General Jeffery Amherst, British commander in North America during the latter part of the French and Indian War and governor of Virginia from 1759 to 1768. It was formed from Albemarle County in 1761. Islands in the Fluvanna (now the James) River were added in 1770. The county seat is Amherst.","Additional Judgment Types","Condemnations are judgments concerning the taking of private property for public use through the power of eminent domain. Most cases involve railroad or canal companies and contain maps/plats of the land in question.","Support for Divorce Petitions: The Virginia General Assembly, in 1803, granted the first divorce for the state of Virginia; over the next couple of decades, the volume of divorce petitions sent to the General Assembly grew to an overwhelming and unmanageable number. In response, the General Assembly granted the chancery courts the ability to divorce petitioners and slowly the number of divorce petitions decreased in the General Assembly before ceasing entirely in 1850. During the period in which the General Assembly still had a hand in granting divorces, plaintiffs might petition their locality's civil courts for their support in petitioning the General Assembly, possibly to increase the likelihood of being granted a divorce by the governmental body.","Ejectments are a formal court order that declares the property owner to be the rightful owner of a piece of land or building and legally removes the unauthorized occupant. The court might also declare financial damages for the lost use of the property.","Types of Courts","The County Court was the original colonial court of adjudication and recordation, and it was the principal tribunal for the administration of local justice. The individual justices could act on small claims matters as well as criminal matters where imminent bodily harm was a possibility, there being an appeal to the full County Court, which met monthly. This court ceased to exist in 1919 and the recordation function was transferred to the circuit court.","The Superior Court of Law was created in 1808. It met twice a year in each county, presided over by a circuit-riding General Court judge. Records were filed with the County Court. It had civil and criminal jurisdiction. The court ceased to exist in 1831.","The Circuit Court was authorized by the Constitution of 1851 and established by an act of the General Assembly passed in May 1852. Courts were held twice yearly in each county, presided over by 21 judges who rode circuits in the area of their jurisdiction. The records were filed with County Court records. These courts were granted original jurisdiction concurrent with that of the County Courts, as well as appellate jurisdiction in all civil cases of more than fifty dollars and criminal cases not \"expressly cognizable in some other court,\" including those involving loss of life.","Prior to 2026, the judgement descriptive records were not standardized in their inclusion of contextual information or content lists. Local Records staff reviewed this record and have updated to current standards as of 2026.","The county and circuit court judgments were minimally processed by C. Collins and J. Taylor in 2024-2025.","Encoded by J. Taylor: June 2026.","Records related to free and enslaved people of Amherst County (Va.) and other localities are available through the Virginia Untold: The African American Narrative Digital Collection  on the Library of Virginia website.","Additional Amherst County Court Records can be found on microfilm at The Library of Virginia web site. Consult \"A Guide to Virginia County and City Records on Microfilm\"","Amherst County (Va.) Judgments, circa 1770-1950, consist of civil cases in which justice was administered on the strictly formulated rules of common law. The majority of cases in this record group relate to matters of debt. The county and circuit court judgments have undergone minimal processing. A small section of records remain completely unprocessed.","There are no restrictions.","Library of Virginia","English"],"collection_title_tesim":["Amherst County (Va.) Judgments, circa 1770-1950"],"collection_ssim":["Amherst County (Va.) Judgments, circa 1770-1950"],"level_ssm":["collection"],"level_ssim":["Collection"],"repository_ssm":["Library of Virginia"],"repository_ssim":["Library of Virginia"],"creator_ssm":["Amherst County (Va.) Circuit Court"],"creator_ssim":["Amherst County (Va.) Circuit Court"],"access_terms_ssm":["There are no restrictions."],"acqinfo_ssim":["These records came to the Library of Virginia in a transfer of court papers from Amherst County in 2022 in accession number 53740 as well as in an undated accession."],"has_online_content_ssim":["false"],"extent_ssm":["28.3 cubic feet (58 boxes); 2 volumes"],"extent_tesim":["28.3 cubic feet (58 boxes); 2 volumes"],"accessrestrict_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eCollection is open to research.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n"],"accessrestrict_heading_ssm":["Access Restrictions"],"accessrestrict_tesim":["Collection is open to research."],"arrangement_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eThis collection is arranged into three series:\n\u003clist type=\"simple\"\u003e\u003citem\u003eSeries I: Judgments, 1849-1864, relating to free and enslaved Black and Multiracial individuals\u003c/item\u003e\n\u003citem\u003eSeries II: Minimally Processed Judgments, 1831-1874\u003c/item\u003e\n\u003citem\u003eSeries III: Unprocessed Judgments, 1770-1950 circa\u003c/item\u003e\n\u003citem\u003eSeries IV: Judgment Volumes, 1818-1853\u003c/item\u003e\n\u003c/list\u003e\n\u003c/p\u003e\n"],"arrangement_heading_ssm":["Arrangement"],"arrangement_tesim":["This collection is arranged into three series:\nSeries I: Judgments, 1849-1864, relating to free and enslaved Black and Multiracial individuals\nSeries II: Minimally Processed Judgments, 1831-1874\nSeries III: Unprocessed Judgments, 1770-1950 circa\nSeries IV: Judgment Volumes, 1818-1853"],"bioghist_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003e\u003cemph render=\"bold\"\u003eContext for Record Type:\u003c/emph\u003e Judgments are identified as civil suits, often involving debt, heard by a jury on the \"law\" side of the court as opposed to the \"chancery\" (or equity) side. Should the defendant not have funds to repay the debt, the court ordered their property (including enslaved people) to be seized and sold to repay the debt owed to the plaintiff. Judgments also contain suits brought by enslaved people seeking to gain their freedom.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eIn Judgments, an assumpsit or declaration (sometimes referred to as a narratio) lays out the plaintiff's grievance as a petition acted as a formal application to the court requesting judicial action. Judgment suits also generally included record types like subpoenas, summons, and exhibit. Judgments may also include additional documentations such as executions, bonds, and various kinds of writs.\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eJudgment suits make up a large quantity of a locality's records; consequently, they provide a great deal of information concerning the activities and interests of the people who lived in the locality. Since the vast majority of judgment suits relate to financial matters, they are a valuable resource in studying the economic and social history of Virginia localities and are the impotence for many chancery suits.\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003e\u003cemph render=\"bold\"\u003eLocality History:\u003c/emph\u003e Amherst County was named for Major General Jeffery Amherst, British commander in North America during the latter part of the French and Indian War and governor of Virginia from 1759 to 1768. It was formed from Albemarle County in 1761. Islands in the Fluvanna (now the James) River were added in 1770. The county seat is Amherst.\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003e\u003cemph render=\"underline\"\u003eAdditional Judgment Types\u003c/emph\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eCondemnations are judgments concerning the taking of private property for public use through the power of eminent domain. Most cases involve railroad or canal companies and contain maps/plats of the land in question.\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eSupport for Divorce Petitions: The Virginia General Assembly, in 1803, granted the first divorce for the state of Virginia; over the next couple of decades, the volume of divorce petitions sent to the General Assembly grew to an overwhelming and unmanageable number. In response, the General Assembly granted the chancery courts the ability to divorce petitioners and slowly the number of divorce petitions decreased in the General Assembly before ceasing entirely in 1850. During the period in which the General Assembly still had a hand in granting divorces, plaintiffs might petition their locality's civil courts for their support in petitioning the General Assembly, possibly to increase the likelihood of being granted a divorce by the governmental body.\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eEjectments are a formal court order that declares the property owner to be the rightful owner of a piece of land or building and legally removes the unauthorized occupant. The court might also declare financial damages for the lost use of the property.\u003c/p\u003e \n","\u003cp\u003e\u003cemph render=\"underline\"\u003eTypes of Courts\u003c/emph\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eThe County Court was the original colonial court of adjudication and recordation, and it was the principal tribunal for the administration of local justice. The individual justices could act on small claims matters as well as criminal matters where imminent bodily harm was a possibility, there being an appeal to the full County Court, which met monthly. This court ceased to exist in 1919 and the recordation function was transferred to the circuit court.\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eThe Superior Court of Law was created in 1808. It met twice a year in each county, presided over by a circuit-riding General Court judge. Records were filed with the County Court. It had civil and criminal jurisdiction. The court ceased to exist in 1831.\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eThe Circuit Court was authorized by the Constitution of 1851 and established by an act of the General Assembly passed in May 1852. Courts were held twice yearly in each county, presided over by 21 judges who rode circuits in the area of their jurisdiction. The records were filed with County Court records. These courts were granted original jurisdiction concurrent with that of the County Courts, as well as appellate jurisdiction in all civil cases of more than fifty dollars and criminal cases not \"expressly cognizable in some other court,\" including those involving loss of life.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],"bioghist_heading_ssm":["Historical Information"],"bioghist_tesim":["Context for Record Type: Judgments are identified as civil suits, often involving debt, heard by a jury on the \"law\" side of the court as opposed to the \"chancery\" (or equity) side. Should the defendant not have funds to repay the debt, the court ordered their property (including enslaved people) to be seized and sold to repay the debt owed to the plaintiff. Judgments also contain suits brought by enslaved people seeking to gain their freedom.","In Judgments, an assumpsit or declaration (sometimes referred to as a narratio) lays out the plaintiff's grievance as a petition acted as a formal application to the court requesting judicial action. Judgment suits also generally included record types like subpoenas, summons, and exhibit. Judgments may also include additional documentations such as executions, bonds, and various kinds of writs.","Judgment suits make up a large quantity of a locality's records; consequently, they provide a great deal of information concerning the activities and interests of the people who lived in the locality. Since the vast majority of judgment suits relate to financial matters, they are a valuable resource in studying the economic and social history of Virginia localities and are the impotence for many chancery suits.","Locality History: Amherst County was named for Major General Jeffery Amherst, British commander in North America during the latter part of the French and Indian War and governor of Virginia from 1759 to 1768. It was formed from Albemarle County in 1761. Islands in the Fluvanna (now the James) River were added in 1770. The county seat is Amherst.","Additional Judgment Types","Condemnations are judgments concerning the taking of private property for public use through the power of eminent domain. Most cases involve railroad or canal companies and contain maps/plats of the land in question.","Support for Divorce Petitions: The Virginia General Assembly, in 1803, granted the first divorce for the state of Virginia; over the next couple of decades, the volume of divorce petitions sent to the General Assembly grew to an overwhelming and unmanageable number. In response, the General Assembly granted the chancery courts the ability to divorce petitioners and slowly the number of divorce petitions decreased in the General Assembly before ceasing entirely in 1850. During the period in which the General Assembly still had a hand in granting divorces, plaintiffs might petition their locality's civil courts for their support in petitioning the General Assembly, possibly to increase the likelihood of being granted a divorce by the governmental body.","Ejectments are a formal court order that declares the property owner to be the rightful owner of a piece of land or building and legally removes the unauthorized occupant. The court might also declare financial damages for the lost use of the property.","Types of Courts","The County Court was the original colonial court of adjudication and recordation, and it was the principal tribunal for the administration of local justice. The individual justices could act on small claims matters as well as criminal matters where imminent bodily harm was a possibility, there being an appeal to the full County Court, which met monthly. This court ceased to exist in 1919 and the recordation function was transferred to the circuit court.","The Superior Court of Law was created in 1808. It met twice a year in each county, presided over by a circuit-riding General Court judge. Records were filed with the County Court. It had civil and criminal jurisdiction. The court ceased to exist in 1831.","The Circuit Court was authorized by the Constitution of 1851 and established by an act of the General Assembly passed in May 1852. Courts were held twice yearly in each county, presided over by 21 judges who rode circuits in the area of their jurisdiction. The records were filed with County Court records. These courts were granted original jurisdiction concurrent with that of the County Courts, as well as appellate jurisdiction in all civil cases of more than fifty dollars and criminal cases not \"expressly cognizable in some other court,\" including those involving loss of life."],"prefercite_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eAmherst County (Va.) Judgments, circa 1770-1950 [insert series or volume title].  Local government records collection, Amherst County Court Records.  The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Va.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n"],"prefercite_tesim":["Amherst County (Va.) Judgments, circa 1770-1950 [insert series or volume title].  Local government records collection, Amherst County Court Records.  The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Va."],"processinfo_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003ePrior to 2026, the judgement descriptive records were not standardized in their inclusion of contextual information or content lists. Local Records staff reviewed this record and have updated to current standards as of 2026.\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eThe county and circuit court judgments were minimally processed by C. Collins and J. Taylor in 2024-2025. \n\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eEncoded by J. Taylor: June 2026.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],"processinfo_heading_ssm":["Processing Information"],"processinfo_tesim":["Prior to 2026, the judgement descriptive records were not standardized in their inclusion of contextual information or content lists. Local Records staff reviewed this record and have updated to current standards as of 2026.","The county and circuit court judgments were minimally processed by C. Collins and J. Taylor in 2024-2025.","Encoded by J. Taylor: June 2026."],"relatedmaterial_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eRecords related to free and enslaved people of Amherst County (Va.) and other localities are available through the \u003cextref type=\"simple\" href=\"https://lva.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/discovery/search?vid=01LVA_INST:VU\"\u003eVirginia Untold: The African American Narrative Digital Collection \u003c/extref\u003e on the Library of Virginia website.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eAdditional Amherst County Court Records can be found on microfilm at The Library of Virginia web site. Consult \u003cextref type=\"simple\" href=\"https://www.lva.virginia.gov/public/local/results_all.asp?CountyID=VA003\"\u003e\"A Guide to Virginia County and City Records on Microfilm\"\u003c/extref\u003e\n\u003c/p\u003e\n"],"relatedmaterial_heading_ssm":["Related Material"],"relatedmaterial_tesim":["Records related to free and enslaved people of Amherst County (Va.) and other localities are available through the Virginia Untold: The African American Narrative Digital Collection  on the Library of Virginia website.","Additional Amherst County Court Records can be found on microfilm at The Library of Virginia web site. Consult \"A Guide to Virginia County and City Records on Microfilm\""],"scopecontent_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eAmherst County (Va.) Judgments, circa 1770-1950, consist of civil cases in which justice was administered on the strictly formulated rules of common law. The majority of cases in this record group relate to matters of debt. The county and circuit court judgments have undergone minimal processing. A small section of records remain completely unprocessed.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n"],"scopecontent_heading_ssm":["Scope and Content"],"scopecontent_tesim":["Amherst County (Va.) Judgments, circa 1770-1950, consist of civil cases in which justice was administered on the strictly formulated rules of common law. The majority of cases in this record group relate to matters of debt. The county and circuit court judgments have undergone minimal processing. A small section of records remain completely unprocessed."],"userestrict_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eThere are no restrictions.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n"],"userestrict_heading_ssm":["Use Restrictions"],"userestrict_tesim":["There are no restrictions."],"physloc_html_tesm":["\u003cphysloc label=\"Location\"\u003eLibrary of Virginia\n\u003c/physloc\u003e\n"],"physloc_tesim":["Library of Virginia"],"language_ssim":["English"],"total_component_count_is":70,"online_item_count_is":0,"component_level_isim":[0],"sort_isi":0,"timestamp":"2026-08-14T22:28:46.894Z"}]}},"label":"Breadcrumbs"}}},"links":{"self":"https://search.arvasarchive.org/catalog/vi_vi06711_c02_c01_c02"}},{"id":"vi_vi06711_c02_c01_c03","type":"Item","attributes":{"title":"Barcode number 0007833691: Judgments\t\t1832-1833","breadcrumbs":{"id":"https://search.arvasarchive.org/catalog/vi_vi06711_c02_c01_c03#breadcrumbs","type":"document_value","attributes":{"value":{"ref_ssi":"vi_vi06711_c02_c01_c03","ref_ssm":["vi_vi06711_c02_c01_c03"],"id":"vi_vi06711_c02_c01_c03","ead_ssi":"vi_vi06711","_root_":"vi_vi06711","_nest_parent_":"vi_vi06711_c02_c01","parent_ssi":"vi_vi06711_c02_c01","parent_ssim":["Amherst County (Va.) Judgments, circa 1770-1950","Series II: Minimally Processed Judgments\n1831-1874","Subseries A: Circuit Court Judgments, 1831-1874"],"parent_ids_ssim":["vi_vi06711","vi_vi06711_c02","vi_vi06711_c02_c01"],"title_filing_ssi":"Judgments\t\t1832-1833","title_ssm":["Barcode number 0007833691: Judgments\t\t1832-1833"],"title_tesim":["Barcode number 0007833691: Judgments\t\t1832-1833"],"normalized_title_ssm":["Barcode number 0007833691: Judgments\t\t1832-1833"],"text":["Barcode number 0007833691: Judgments\t\t1832-1833","Amherst County (Va.) Judgments, circa 1770-1950","Series II: Minimally Processed Judgments\n1831-1874","Subseries A: Circuit Court Judgments, 1831-1874"],"parent_unittitles_ssm":["Amherst County (Va.) Judgments, circa 1770-1950","Series II: Minimally Processed Judgments\n1831-1874","Subseries A: Circuit Court Judgments, 1831-1874"],"parent_unittitles_tesim":["Amherst County (Va.) Judgments, circa 1770-1950","Series II: Minimally Processed Judgments\n1831-1874","Subseries A: Circuit Court Judgments, 1831-1874"],"level_ssm":["Item"],"level_ssim":["Item"],"component_level_isim":[3],"sort_isi":7,"repository_ssim":["Library of Virginia"],"collection_ssim":["Amherst County (Va.) Judgments, circa 1770-1950"],"has_online_content_ssim":["false"],"child_component_count_isi":0,"parent_access_restrict_tesm":["Collection is open to research."],"parent_access_terms_tesm":["There are no restrictions."],"_nest_path_":"/components#1/components#0/components#2","timestamp":"2026-08-14T22:28:46.894Z","collection":{"numFound":1,"start":0,"numFoundExact":true,"docs":[{"id":"vi_vi06711","ead_ssi":"vi_vi06711","_root_":"vi_vi06711","_nest_parent_":"vi_vi06711","ead_source_url_ssi":"data/lva/vi06711.xml","title_ssm":["Amherst County (Va.) Judgments, circa 1770-1950"],"title_tesim":["Amherst County (Va.) Judgments, circa 1770-1950"],"normalized_title_ssm":["Amherst County (Va.) Judgments, circa 1770-1950"],"text":["Amherst County (Va.) Judgments, circa 1770-1950","Collection is open to research.","This collection is arranged into three series:\nSeries I: Judgments, 1849-1864, relating to free and enslaved Black and Multiracial individuals\nSeries II: Minimally Processed Judgments, 1831-1874\nSeries III: Unprocessed Judgments, 1770-1950 circa\nSeries IV: Judgment Volumes, 1818-1853","Context for Record Type: Judgments are identified as civil suits, often involving debt, heard by a jury on the \"law\" side of the court as opposed to the \"chancery\" (or equity) side. Should the defendant not have funds to repay the debt, the court ordered their property (including enslaved people) to be seized and sold to repay the debt owed to the plaintiff. Judgments also contain suits brought by enslaved people seeking to gain their freedom.","In Judgments, an assumpsit or declaration (sometimes referred to as a narratio) lays out the plaintiff's grievance as a petition acted as a formal application to the court requesting judicial action. Judgment suits also generally included record types like subpoenas, summons, and exhibit. Judgments may also include additional documentations such as executions, bonds, and various kinds of writs.","Judgment suits make up a large quantity of a locality's records; consequently, they provide a great deal of information concerning the activities and interests of the people who lived in the locality. Since the vast majority of judgment suits relate to financial matters, they are a valuable resource in studying the economic and social history of Virginia localities and are the impotence for many chancery suits.","Locality History: Amherst County was named for Major General Jeffery Amherst, British commander in North America during the latter part of the French and Indian War and governor of Virginia from 1759 to 1768. It was formed from Albemarle County in 1761. Islands in the Fluvanna (now the James) River were added in 1770. The county seat is Amherst.","Additional Judgment Types","Condemnations are judgments concerning the taking of private property for public use through the power of eminent domain. Most cases involve railroad or canal companies and contain maps/plats of the land in question.","Support for Divorce Petitions: The Virginia General Assembly, in 1803, granted the first divorce for the state of Virginia; over the next couple of decades, the volume of divorce petitions sent to the General Assembly grew to an overwhelming and unmanageable number. In response, the General Assembly granted the chancery courts the ability to divorce petitioners and slowly the number of divorce petitions decreased in the General Assembly before ceasing entirely in 1850. During the period in which the General Assembly still had a hand in granting divorces, plaintiffs might petition their locality's civil courts for their support in petitioning the General Assembly, possibly to increase the likelihood of being granted a divorce by the governmental body.","Ejectments are a formal court order that declares the property owner to be the rightful owner of a piece of land or building and legally removes the unauthorized occupant. The court might also declare financial damages for the lost use of the property.","Types of Courts","The County Court was the original colonial court of adjudication and recordation, and it was the principal tribunal for the administration of local justice. The individual justices could act on small claims matters as well as criminal matters where imminent bodily harm was a possibility, there being an appeal to the full County Court, which met monthly. This court ceased to exist in 1919 and the recordation function was transferred to the circuit court.","The Superior Court of Law was created in 1808. It met twice a year in each county, presided over by a circuit-riding General Court judge. Records were filed with the County Court. It had civil and criminal jurisdiction. The court ceased to exist in 1831.","The Circuit Court was authorized by the Constitution of 1851 and established by an act of the General Assembly passed in May 1852. Courts were held twice yearly in each county, presided over by 21 judges who rode circuits in the area of their jurisdiction. The records were filed with County Court records. These courts were granted original jurisdiction concurrent with that of the County Courts, as well as appellate jurisdiction in all civil cases of more than fifty dollars and criminal cases not \"expressly cognizable in some other court,\" including those involving loss of life.","Prior to 2026, the judgement descriptive records were not standardized in their inclusion of contextual information or content lists. Local Records staff reviewed this record and have updated to current standards as of 2026.","The county and circuit court judgments were minimally processed by C. Collins and J. Taylor in 2024-2025.","Encoded by J. Taylor: June 2026.","Records related to free and enslaved people of Amherst County (Va.) and other localities are available through the Virginia Untold: The African American Narrative Digital Collection  on the Library of Virginia website.","Additional Amherst County Court Records can be found on microfilm at The Library of Virginia web site. Consult \"A Guide to Virginia County and City Records on Microfilm\"","Amherst County (Va.) Judgments, circa 1770-1950, consist of civil cases in which justice was administered on the strictly formulated rules of common law. The majority of cases in this record group relate to matters of debt. The county and circuit court judgments have undergone minimal processing. A small section of records remain completely unprocessed.","There are no restrictions.","Library of Virginia","English"],"collection_title_tesim":["Amherst County (Va.) Judgments, circa 1770-1950"],"collection_ssim":["Amherst County (Va.) Judgments, circa 1770-1950"],"level_ssm":["collection"],"level_ssim":["Collection"],"repository_ssm":["Library of Virginia"],"repository_ssim":["Library of Virginia"],"creator_ssm":["Amherst County (Va.) Circuit Court"],"creator_ssim":["Amherst County (Va.) Circuit Court"],"access_terms_ssm":["There are no restrictions."],"acqinfo_ssim":["These records came to the Library of Virginia in a transfer of court papers from Amherst County in 2022 in accession number 53740 as well as in an undated accession."],"has_online_content_ssim":["false"],"extent_ssm":["28.3 cubic feet (58 boxes); 2 volumes"],"extent_tesim":["28.3 cubic feet (58 boxes); 2 volumes"],"accessrestrict_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eCollection is open to research.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n"],"accessrestrict_heading_ssm":["Access Restrictions"],"accessrestrict_tesim":["Collection is open to research."],"arrangement_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eThis collection is arranged into three series:\n\u003clist type=\"simple\"\u003e\u003citem\u003eSeries I: Judgments, 1849-1864, relating to free and enslaved Black and Multiracial individuals\u003c/item\u003e\n\u003citem\u003eSeries II: Minimally Processed Judgments, 1831-1874\u003c/item\u003e\n\u003citem\u003eSeries III: Unprocessed Judgments, 1770-1950 circa\u003c/item\u003e\n\u003citem\u003eSeries IV: Judgment Volumes, 1818-1853\u003c/item\u003e\n\u003c/list\u003e\n\u003c/p\u003e\n"],"arrangement_heading_ssm":["Arrangement"],"arrangement_tesim":["This collection is arranged into three series:\nSeries I: Judgments, 1849-1864, relating to free and enslaved Black and Multiracial individuals\nSeries II: Minimally Processed Judgments, 1831-1874\nSeries III: Unprocessed Judgments, 1770-1950 circa\nSeries IV: Judgment Volumes, 1818-1853"],"bioghist_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003e\u003cemph render=\"bold\"\u003eContext for Record Type:\u003c/emph\u003e Judgments are identified as civil suits, often involving debt, heard by a jury on the \"law\" side of the court as opposed to the \"chancery\" (or equity) side. Should the defendant not have funds to repay the debt, the court ordered their property (including enslaved people) to be seized and sold to repay the debt owed to the plaintiff. Judgments also contain suits brought by enslaved people seeking to gain their freedom.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eIn Judgments, an assumpsit or declaration (sometimes referred to as a narratio) lays out the plaintiff's grievance as a petition acted as a formal application to the court requesting judicial action. Judgment suits also generally included record types like subpoenas, summons, and exhibit. Judgments may also include additional documentations such as executions, bonds, and various kinds of writs.\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eJudgment suits make up a large quantity of a locality's records; consequently, they provide a great deal of information concerning the activities and interests of the people who lived in the locality. Since the vast majority of judgment suits relate to financial matters, they are a valuable resource in studying the economic and social history of Virginia localities and are the impotence for many chancery suits.\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003e\u003cemph render=\"bold\"\u003eLocality History:\u003c/emph\u003e Amherst County was named for Major General Jeffery Amherst, British commander in North America during the latter part of the French and Indian War and governor of Virginia from 1759 to 1768. It was formed from Albemarle County in 1761. Islands in the Fluvanna (now the James) River were added in 1770. The county seat is Amherst.\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003e\u003cemph render=\"underline\"\u003eAdditional Judgment Types\u003c/emph\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eCondemnations are judgments concerning the taking of private property for public use through the power of eminent domain. Most cases involve railroad or canal companies and contain maps/plats of the land in question.\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eSupport for Divorce Petitions: The Virginia General Assembly, in 1803, granted the first divorce for the state of Virginia; over the next couple of decades, the volume of divorce petitions sent to the General Assembly grew to an overwhelming and unmanageable number. In response, the General Assembly granted the chancery courts the ability to divorce petitioners and slowly the number of divorce petitions decreased in the General Assembly before ceasing entirely in 1850. During the period in which the General Assembly still had a hand in granting divorces, plaintiffs might petition their locality's civil courts for their support in petitioning the General Assembly, possibly to increase the likelihood of being granted a divorce by the governmental body.\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eEjectments are a formal court order that declares the property owner to be the rightful owner of a piece of land or building and legally removes the unauthorized occupant. The court might also declare financial damages for the lost use of the property.\u003c/p\u003e \n","\u003cp\u003e\u003cemph render=\"underline\"\u003eTypes of Courts\u003c/emph\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eThe County Court was the original colonial court of adjudication and recordation, and it was the principal tribunal for the administration of local justice. The individual justices could act on small claims matters as well as criminal matters where imminent bodily harm was a possibility, there being an appeal to the full County Court, which met monthly. This court ceased to exist in 1919 and the recordation function was transferred to the circuit court.\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eThe Superior Court of Law was created in 1808. It met twice a year in each county, presided over by a circuit-riding General Court judge. Records were filed with the County Court. It had civil and criminal jurisdiction. The court ceased to exist in 1831.\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eThe Circuit Court was authorized by the Constitution of 1851 and established by an act of the General Assembly passed in May 1852. Courts were held twice yearly in each county, presided over by 21 judges who rode circuits in the area of their jurisdiction. The records were filed with County Court records. These courts were granted original jurisdiction concurrent with that of the County Courts, as well as appellate jurisdiction in all civil cases of more than fifty dollars and criminal cases not \"expressly cognizable in some other court,\" including those involving loss of life.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],"bioghist_heading_ssm":["Historical Information"],"bioghist_tesim":["Context for Record Type: Judgments are identified as civil suits, often involving debt, heard by a jury on the \"law\" side of the court as opposed to the \"chancery\" (or equity) side. Should the defendant not have funds to repay the debt, the court ordered their property (including enslaved people) to be seized and sold to repay the debt owed to the plaintiff. Judgments also contain suits brought by enslaved people seeking to gain their freedom.","In Judgments, an assumpsit or declaration (sometimes referred to as a narratio) lays out the plaintiff's grievance as a petition acted as a formal application to the court requesting judicial action. Judgment suits also generally included record types like subpoenas, summons, and exhibit. Judgments may also include additional documentations such as executions, bonds, and various kinds of writs.","Judgment suits make up a large quantity of a locality's records; consequently, they provide a great deal of information concerning the activities and interests of the people who lived in the locality. Since the vast majority of judgment suits relate to financial matters, they are a valuable resource in studying the economic and social history of Virginia localities and are the impotence for many chancery suits.","Locality History: Amherst County was named for Major General Jeffery Amherst, British commander in North America during the latter part of the French and Indian War and governor of Virginia from 1759 to 1768. It was formed from Albemarle County in 1761. Islands in the Fluvanna (now the James) River were added in 1770. The county seat is Amherst.","Additional Judgment Types","Condemnations are judgments concerning the taking of private property for public use through the power of eminent domain. Most cases involve railroad or canal companies and contain maps/plats of the land in question.","Support for Divorce Petitions: The Virginia General Assembly, in 1803, granted the first divorce for the state of Virginia; over the next couple of decades, the volume of divorce petitions sent to the General Assembly grew to an overwhelming and unmanageable number. In response, the General Assembly granted the chancery courts the ability to divorce petitioners and slowly the number of divorce petitions decreased in the General Assembly before ceasing entirely in 1850. During the period in which the General Assembly still had a hand in granting divorces, plaintiffs might petition their locality's civil courts for their support in petitioning the General Assembly, possibly to increase the likelihood of being granted a divorce by the governmental body.","Ejectments are a formal court order that declares the property owner to be the rightful owner of a piece of land or building and legally removes the unauthorized occupant. The court might also declare financial damages for the lost use of the property.","Types of Courts","The County Court was the original colonial court of adjudication and recordation, and it was the principal tribunal for the administration of local justice. The individual justices could act on small claims matters as well as criminal matters where imminent bodily harm was a possibility, there being an appeal to the full County Court, which met monthly. This court ceased to exist in 1919 and the recordation function was transferred to the circuit court.","The Superior Court of Law was created in 1808. It met twice a year in each county, presided over by a circuit-riding General Court judge. Records were filed with the County Court. It had civil and criminal jurisdiction. The court ceased to exist in 1831.","The Circuit Court was authorized by the Constitution of 1851 and established by an act of the General Assembly passed in May 1852. Courts were held twice yearly in each county, presided over by 21 judges who rode circuits in the area of their jurisdiction. The records were filed with County Court records. These courts were granted original jurisdiction concurrent with that of the County Courts, as well as appellate jurisdiction in all civil cases of more than fifty dollars and criminal cases not \"expressly cognizable in some other court,\" including those involving loss of life."],"prefercite_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eAmherst County (Va.) Judgments, circa 1770-1950 [insert series or volume title].  Local government records collection, Amherst County Court Records.  The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Va.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n"],"prefercite_tesim":["Amherst County (Va.) Judgments, circa 1770-1950 [insert series or volume title].  Local government records collection, Amherst County Court Records.  The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Va."],"processinfo_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003ePrior to 2026, the judgement descriptive records were not standardized in their inclusion of contextual information or content lists. Local Records staff reviewed this record and have updated to current standards as of 2026.\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eThe county and circuit court judgments were minimally processed by C. Collins and J. Taylor in 2024-2025. \n\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eEncoded by J. Taylor: June 2026.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],"processinfo_heading_ssm":["Processing Information"],"processinfo_tesim":["Prior to 2026, the judgement descriptive records were not standardized in their inclusion of contextual information or content lists. Local Records staff reviewed this record and have updated to current standards as of 2026.","The county and circuit court judgments were minimally processed by C. Collins and J. Taylor in 2024-2025.","Encoded by J. Taylor: June 2026."],"relatedmaterial_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eRecords related to free and enslaved people of Amherst County (Va.) and other localities are available through the \u003cextref type=\"simple\" href=\"https://lva.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/discovery/search?vid=01LVA_INST:VU\"\u003eVirginia Untold: The African American Narrative Digital Collection \u003c/extref\u003e on the Library of Virginia website.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eAdditional Amherst County Court Records can be found on microfilm at The Library of Virginia web site. Consult \u003cextref type=\"simple\" href=\"https://www.lva.virginia.gov/public/local/results_all.asp?CountyID=VA003\"\u003e\"A Guide to Virginia County and City Records on Microfilm\"\u003c/extref\u003e\n\u003c/p\u003e\n"],"relatedmaterial_heading_ssm":["Related Material"],"relatedmaterial_tesim":["Records related to free and enslaved people of Amherst County (Va.) and other localities are available through the Virginia Untold: The African American Narrative Digital Collection  on the Library of Virginia website.","Additional Amherst County Court Records can be found on microfilm at The Library of Virginia web site. Consult \"A Guide to Virginia County and City Records on Microfilm\""],"scopecontent_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eAmherst County (Va.) Judgments, circa 1770-1950, consist of civil cases in which justice was administered on the strictly formulated rules of common law. The majority of cases in this record group relate to matters of debt. The county and circuit court judgments have undergone minimal processing. A small section of records remain completely unprocessed.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n"],"scopecontent_heading_ssm":["Scope and Content"],"scopecontent_tesim":["Amherst County (Va.) Judgments, circa 1770-1950, consist of civil cases in which justice was administered on the strictly formulated rules of common law. The majority of cases in this record group relate to matters of debt. The county and circuit court judgments have undergone minimal processing. A small section of records remain completely unprocessed."],"userestrict_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eThere are no restrictions.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n"],"userestrict_heading_ssm":["Use Restrictions"],"userestrict_tesim":["There are no restrictions."],"physloc_html_tesm":["\u003cphysloc label=\"Location\"\u003eLibrary of Virginia\n\u003c/physloc\u003e\n"],"physloc_tesim":["Library of Virginia"],"language_ssim":["English"],"total_component_count_is":70,"online_item_count_is":0,"component_level_isim":[0],"sort_isi":0,"timestamp":"2026-08-14T22:28:46.894Z"}]}},"label":"Breadcrumbs"}}},"links":{"self":"https://search.arvasarchive.org/catalog/vi_vi06711_c02_c01_c03"}},{"id":"vi_vi06711_c02_c01_c04","type":"Item","attributes":{"title":"Barcode number 0007833695: Judgments\t\t1833-1834","breadcrumbs":{"id":"https://search.arvasarchive.org/catalog/vi_vi06711_c02_c01_c04#breadcrumbs","type":"document_value","attributes":{"value":{"ref_ssi":"vi_vi06711_c02_c01_c04","ref_ssm":["vi_vi06711_c02_c01_c04"],"id":"vi_vi06711_c02_c01_c04","ead_ssi":"vi_vi06711","_root_":"vi_vi06711","_nest_parent_":"vi_vi06711_c02_c01","parent_ssi":"vi_vi06711_c02_c01","parent_ssim":["Amherst County (Va.) Judgments, circa 1770-1950","Series II: Minimally Processed Judgments\n1831-1874","Subseries A: Circuit Court Judgments, 1831-1874"],"parent_ids_ssim":["vi_vi06711","vi_vi06711_c02","vi_vi06711_c02_c01"],"title_filing_ssi":"Judgments\t\t1833-1834","title_ssm":["Barcode number 0007833695: Judgments\t\t1833-1834"],"title_tesim":["Barcode number 0007833695: Judgments\t\t1833-1834"],"normalized_title_ssm":["Barcode number 0007833695: Judgments\t\t1833-1834"],"text":["Barcode number 0007833695: Judgments\t\t1833-1834","Amherst County (Va.) Judgments, circa 1770-1950","Series II: Minimally Processed Judgments\n1831-1874","Subseries A: Circuit Court Judgments, 1831-1874"],"parent_unittitles_ssm":["Amherst County (Va.) Judgments, circa 1770-1950","Series II: Minimally Processed Judgments\n1831-1874","Subseries A: Circuit Court Judgments, 1831-1874"],"parent_unittitles_tesim":["Amherst County (Va.) Judgments, circa 1770-1950","Series II: Minimally Processed Judgments\n1831-1874","Subseries A: Circuit Court Judgments, 1831-1874"],"level_ssm":["Item"],"level_ssim":["Item"],"component_level_isim":[3],"sort_isi":8,"repository_ssim":["Library of Virginia"],"collection_ssim":["Amherst County (Va.) Judgments, circa 1770-1950"],"has_online_content_ssim":["false"],"child_component_count_isi":0,"parent_access_restrict_tesm":["Collection is open to research."],"parent_access_terms_tesm":["There are no restrictions."],"_nest_path_":"/components#1/components#0/components#3","timestamp":"2026-08-14T22:28:46.894Z","collection":{"numFound":1,"start":0,"numFoundExact":true,"docs":[{"id":"vi_vi06711","ead_ssi":"vi_vi06711","_root_":"vi_vi06711","_nest_parent_":"vi_vi06711","ead_source_url_ssi":"data/lva/vi06711.xml","title_ssm":["Amherst County (Va.) Judgments, circa 1770-1950"],"title_tesim":["Amherst County (Va.) Judgments, circa 1770-1950"],"normalized_title_ssm":["Amherst County (Va.) Judgments, circa 1770-1950"],"text":["Amherst County (Va.) Judgments, circa 1770-1950","Collection is open to research.","This collection is arranged into three series:\nSeries I: Judgments, 1849-1864, relating to free and enslaved Black and Multiracial individuals\nSeries II: Minimally Processed Judgments, 1831-1874\nSeries III: Unprocessed Judgments, 1770-1950 circa\nSeries IV: Judgment Volumes, 1818-1853","Context for Record Type: Judgments are identified as civil suits, often involving debt, heard by a jury on the \"law\" side of the court as opposed to the \"chancery\" (or equity) side. Should the defendant not have funds to repay the debt, the court ordered their property (including enslaved people) to be seized and sold to repay the debt owed to the plaintiff. Judgments also contain suits brought by enslaved people seeking to gain their freedom.","In Judgments, an assumpsit or declaration (sometimes referred to as a narratio) lays out the plaintiff's grievance as a petition acted as a formal application to the court requesting judicial action. Judgment suits also generally included record types like subpoenas, summons, and exhibit. Judgments may also include additional documentations such as executions, bonds, and various kinds of writs.","Judgment suits make up a large quantity of a locality's records; consequently, they provide a great deal of information concerning the activities and interests of the people who lived in the locality. Since the vast majority of judgment suits relate to financial matters, they are a valuable resource in studying the economic and social history of Virginia localities and are the impotence for many chancery suits.","Locality History: Amherst County was named for Major General Jeffery Amherst, British commander in North America during the latter part of the French and Indian War and governor of Virginia from 1759 to 1768. It was formed from Albemarle County in 1761. Islands in the Fluvanna (now the James) River were added in 1770. The county seat is Amherst.","Additional Judgment Types","Condemnations are judgments concerning the taking of private property for public use through the power of eminent domain. Most cases involve railroad or canal companies and contain maps/plats of the land in question.","Support for Divorce Petitions: The Virginia General Assembly, in 1803, granted the first divorce for the state of Virginia; over the next couple of decades, the volume of divorce petitions sent to the General Assembly grew to an overwhelming and unmanageable number. In response, the General Assembly granted the chancery courts the ability to divorce petitioners and slowly the number of divorce petitions decreased in the General Assembly before ceasing entirely in 1850. During the period in which the General Assembly still had a hand in granting divorces, plaintiffs might petition their locality's civil courts for their support in petitioning the General Assembly, possibly to increase the likelihood of being granted a divorce by the governmental body.","Ejectments are a formal court order that declares the property owner to be the rightful owner of a piece of land or building and legally removes the unauthorized occupant. The court might also declare financial damages for the lost use of the property.","Types of Courts","The County Court was the original colonial court of adjudication and recordation, and it was the principal tribunal for the administration of local justice. The individual justices could act on small claims matters as well as criminal matters where imminent bodily harm was a possibility, there being an appeal to the full County Court, which met monthly. This court ceased to exist in 1919 and the recordation function was transferred to the circuit court.","The Superior Court of Law was created in 1808. It met twice a year in each county, presided over by a circuit-riding General Court judge. Records were filed with the County Court. It had civil and criminal jurisdiction. The court ceased to exist in 1831.","The Circuit Court was authorized by the Constitution of 1851 and established by an act of the General Assembly passed in May 1852. Courts were held twice yearly in each county, presided over by 21 judges who rode circuits in the area of their jurisdiction. The records were filed with County Court records. These courts were granted original jurisdiction concurrent with that of the County Courts, as well as appellate jurisdiction in all civil cases of more than fifty dollars and criminal cases not \"expressly cognizable in some other court,\" including those involving loss of life.","Prior to 2026, the judgement descriptive records were not standardized in their inclusion of contextual information or content lists. Local Records staff reviewed this record and have updated to current standards as of 2026.","The county and circuit court judgments were minimally processed by C. Collins and J. Taylor in 2024-2025.","Encoded by J. Taylor: June 2026.","Records related to free and enslaved people of Amherst County (Va.) and other localities are available through the Virginia Untold: The African American Narrative Digital Collection  on the Library of Virginia website.","Additional Amherst County Court Records can be found on microfilm at The Library of Virginia web site. Consult \"A Guide to Virginia County and City Records on Microfilm\"","Amherst County (Va.) Judgments, circa 1770-1950, consist of civil cases in which justice was administered on the strictly formulated rules of common law. The majority of cases in this record group relate to matters of debt. The county and circuit court judgments have undergone minimal processing. A small section of records remain completely unprocessed.","There are no restrictions.","Library of Virginia","English"],"collection_title_tesim":["Amherst County (Va.) Judgments, circa 1770-1950"],"collection_ssim":["Amherst County (Va.) Judgments, circa 1770-1950"],"level_ssm":["collection"],"level_ssim":["Collection"],"repository_ssm":["Library of Virginia"],"repository_ssim":["Library of Virginia"],"creator_ssm":["Amherst County (Va.) Circuit Court"],"creator_ssim":["Amherst County (Va.) Circuit Court"],"access_terms_ssm":["There are no restrictions."],"acqinfo_ssim":["These records came to the Library of Virginia in a transfer of court papers from Amherst County in 2022 in accession number 53740 as well as in an undated accession."],"has_online_content_ssim":["false"],"extent_ssm":["28.3 cubic feet (58 boxes); 2 volumes"],"extent_tesim":["28.3 cubic feet (58 boxes); 2 volumes"],"accessrestrict_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eCollection is open to research.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n"],"accessrestrict_heading_ssm":["Access Restrictions"],"accessrestrict_tesim":["Collection is open to research."],"arrangement_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eThis collection is arranged into three series:\n\u003clist type=\"simple\"\u003e\u003citem\u003eSeries I: Judgments, 1849-1864, relating to free and enslaved Black and Multiracial individuals\u003c/item\u003e\n\u003citem\u003eSeries II: Minimally Processed Judgments, 1831-1874\u003c/item\u003e\n\u003citem\u003eSeries III: Unprocessed Judgments, 1770-1950 circa\u003c/item\u003e\n\u003citem\u003eSeries IV: Judgment Volumes, 1818-1853\u003c/item\u003e\n\u003c/list\u003e\n\u003c/p\u003e\n"],"arrangement_heading_ssm":["Arrangement"],"arrangement_tesim":["This collection is arranged into three series:\nSeries I: Judgments, 1849-1864, relating to free and enslaved Black and Multiracial individuals\nSeries II: Minimally Processed Judgments, 1831-1874\nSeries III: Unprocessed Judgments, 1770-1950 circa\nSeries IV: Judgment Volumes, 1818-1853"],"bioghist_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003e\u003cemph render=\"bold\"\u003eContext for Record Type:\u003c/emph\u003e Judgments are identified as civil suits, often involving debt, heard by a jury on the \"law\" side of the court as opposed to the \"chancery\" (or equity) side. Should the defendant not have funds to repay the debt, the court ordered their property (including enslaved people) to be seized and sold to repay the debt owed to the plaintiff. Judgments also contain suits brought by enslaved people seeking to gain their freedom.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eIn Judgments, an assumpsit or declaration (sometimes referred to as a narratio) lays out the plaintiff's grievance as a petition acted as a formal application to the court requesting judicial action. Judgment suits also generally included record types like subpoenas, summons, and exhibit. Judgments may also include additional documentations such as executions, bonds, and various kinds of writs.\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eJudgment suits make up a large quantity of a locality's records; consequently, they provide a great deal of information concerning the activities and interests of the people who lived in the locality. Since the vast majority of judgment suits relate to financial matters, they are a valuable resource in studying the economic and social history of Virginia localities and are the impotence for many chancery suits.\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003e\u003cemph render=\"bold\"\u003eLocality History:\u003c/emph\u003e Amherst County was named for Major General Jeffery Amherst, British commander in North America during the latter part of the French and Indian War and governor of Virginia from 1759 to 1768. It was formed from Albemarle County in 1761. Islands in the Fluvanna (now the James) River were added in 1770. The county seat is Amherst.\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003e\u003cemph render=\"underline\"\u003eAdditional Judgment Types\u003c/emph\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eCondemnations are judgments concerning the taking of private property for public use through the power of eminent domain. Most cases involve railroad or canal companies and contain maps/plats of the land in question.\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eSupport for Divorce Petitions: The Virginia General Assembly, in 1803, granted the first divorce for the state of Virginia; over the next couple of decades, the volume of divorce petitions sent to the General Assembly grew to an overwhelming and unmanageable number. In response, the General Assembly granted the chancery courts the ability to divorce petitioners and slowly the number of divorce petitions decreased in the General Assembly before ceasing entirely in 1850. During the period in which the General Assembly still had a hand in granting divorces, plaintiffs might petition their locality's civil courts for their support in petitioning the General Assembly, possibly to increase the likelihood of being granted a divorce by the governmental body.\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eEjectments are a formal court order that declares the property owner to be the rightful owner of a piece of land or building and legally removes the unauthorized occupant. The court might also declare financial damages for the lost use of the property.\u003c/p\u003e \n","\u003cp\u003e\u003cemph render=\"underline\"\u003eTypes of Courts\u003c/emph\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eThe County Court was the original colonial court of adjudication and recordation, and it was the principal tribunal for the administration of local justice. The individual justices could act on small claims matters as well as criminal matters where imminent bodily harm was a possibility, there being an appeal to the full County Court, which met monthly. This court ceased to exist in 1919 and the recordation function was transferred to the circuit court.\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eThe Superior Court of Law was created in 1808. It met twice a year in each county, presided over by a circuit-riding General Court judge. Records were filed with the County Court. It had civil and criminal jurisdiction. The court ceased to exist in 1831.\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eThe Circuit Court was authorized by the Constitution of 1851 and established by an act of the General Assembly passed in May 1852. Courts were held twice yearly in each county, presided over by 21 judges who rode circuits in the area of their jurisdiction. The records were filed with County Court records. These courts were granted original jurisdiction concurrent with that of the County Courts, as well as appellate jurisdiction in all civil cases of more than fifty dollars and criminal cases not \"expressly cognizable in some other court,\" including those involving loss of life.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],"bioghist_heading_ssm":["Historical Information"],"bioghist_tesim":["Context for Record Type: Judgments are identified as civil suits, often involving debt, heard by a jury on the \"law\" side of the court as opposed to the \"chancery\" (or equity) side. Should the defendant not have funds to repay the debt, the court ordered their property (including enslaved people) to be seized and sold to repay the debt owed to the plaintiff. Judgments also contain suits brought by enslaved people seeking to gain their freedom.","In Judgments, an assumpsit or declaration (sometimes referred to as a narratio) lays out the plaintiff's grievance as a petition acted as a formal application to the court requesting judicial action. Judgment suits also generally included record types like subpoenas, summons, and exhibit. Judgments may also include additional documentations such as executions, bonds, and various kinds of writs.","Judgment suits make up a large quantity of a locality's records; consequently, they provide a great deal of information concerning the activities and interests of the people who lived in the locality. Since the vast majority of judgment suits relate to financial matters, they are a valuable resource in studying the economic and social history of Virginia localities and are the impotence for many chancery suits.","Locality History: Amherst County was named for Major General Jeffery Amherst, British commander in North America during the latter part of the French and Indian War and governor of Virginia from 1759 to 1768. It was formed from Albemarle County in 1761. Islands in the Fluvanna (now the James) River were added in 1770. The county seat is Amherst.","Additional Judgment Types","Condemnations are judgments concerning the taking of private property for public use through the power of eminent domain. Most cases involve railroad or canal companies and contain maps/plats of the land in question.","Support for Divorce Petitions: The Virginia General Assembly, in 1803, granted the first divorce for the state of Virginia; over the next couple of decades, the volume of divorce petitions sent to the General Assembly grew to an overwhelming and unmanageable number. In response, the General Assembly granted the chancery courts the ability to divorce petitioners and slowly the number of divorce petitions decreased in the General Assembly before ceasing entirely in 1850. During the period in which the General Assembly still had a hand in granting divorces, plaintiffs might petition their locality's civil courts for their support in petitioning the General Assembly, possibly to increase the likelihood of being granted a divorce by the governmental body.","Ejectments are a formal court order that declares the property owner to be the rightful owner of a piece of land or building and legally removes the unauthorized occupant. The court might also declare financial damages for the lost use of the property.","Types of Courts","The County Court was the original colonial court of adjudication and recordation, and it was the principal tribunal for the administration of local justice. The individual justices could act on small claims matters as well as criminal matters where imminent bodily harm was a possibility, there being an appeal to the full County Court, which met monthly. This court ceased to exist in 1919 and the recordation function was transferred to the circuit court.","The Superior Court of Law was created in 1808. It met twice a year in each county, presided over by a circuit-riding General Court judge. Records were filed with the County Court. It had civil and criminal jurisdiction. The court ceased to exist in 1831.","The Circuit Court was authorized by the Constitution of 1851 and established by an act of the General Assembly passed in May 1852. Courts were held twice yearly in each county, presided over by 21 judges who rode circuits in the area of their jurisdiction. The records were filed with County Court records. These courts were granted original jurisdiction concurrent with that of the County Courts, as well as appellate jurisdiction in all civil cases of more than fifty dollars and criminal cases not \"expressly cognizable in some other court,\" including those involving loss of life."],"prefercite_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eAmherst County (Va.) Judgments, circa 1770-1950 [insert series or volume title].  Local government records collection, Amherst County Court Records.  The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Va.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n"],"prefercite_tesim":["Amherst County (Va.) Judgments, circa 1770-1950 [insert series or volume title].  Local government records collection, Amherst County Court Records.  The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Va."],"processinfo_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003ePrior to 2026, the judgement descriptive records were not standardized in their inclusion of contextual information or content lists. Local Records staff reviewed this record and have updated to current standards as of 2026.\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eThe county and circuit court judgments were minimally processed by C. Collins and J. Taylor in 2024-2025. \n\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eEncoded by J. Taylor: June 2026.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],"processinfo_heading_ssm":["Processing Information"],"processinfo_tesim":["Prior to 2026, the judgement descriptive records were not standardized in their inclusion of contextual information or content lists. Local Records staff reviewed this record and have updated to current standards as of 2026.","The county and circuit court judgments were minimally processed by C. Collins and J. Taylor in 2024-2025.","Encoded by J. Taylor: June 2026."],"relatedmaterial_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eRecords related to free and enslaved people of Amherst County (Va.) and other localities are available through the \u003cextref type=\"simple\" href=\"https://lva.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/discovery/search?vid=01LVA_INST:VU\"\u003eVirginia Untold: The African American Narrative Digital Collection \u003c/extref\u003e on the Library of Virginia website.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eAdditional Amherst County Court Records can be found on microfilm at The Library of Virginia web site. Consult \u003cextref type=\"simple\" href=\"https://www.lva.virginia.gov/public/local/results_all.asp?CountyID=VA003\"\u003e\"A Guide to Virginia County and City Records on Microfilm\"\u003c/extref\u003e\n\u003c/p\u003e\n"],"relatedmaterial_heading_ssm":["Related Material"],"relatedmaterial_tesim":["Records related to free and enslaved people of Amherst County (Va.) and other localities are available through the Virginia Untold: The African American Narrative Digital Collection  on the Library of Virginia website.","Additional Amherst County Court Records can be found on microfilm at The Library of Virginia web site. Consult \"A Guide to Virginia County and City Records on Microfilm\""],"scopecontent_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eAmherst County (Va.) Judgments, circa 1770-1950, consist of civil cases in which justice was administered on the strictly formulated rules of common law. The majority of cases in this record group relate to matters of debt. The county and circuit court judgments have undergone minimal processing. A small section of records remain completely unprocessed.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n"],"scopecontent_heading_ssm":["Scope and Content"],"scopecontent_tesim":["Amherst County (Va.) Judgments, circa 1770-1950, consist of civil cases in which justice was administered on the strictly formulated rules of common law. The majority of cases in this record group relate to matters of debt. The county and circuit court judgments have undergone minimal processing. A small section of records remain completely unprocessed."],"userestrict_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eThere are no restrictions.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n"],"userestrict_heading_ssm":["Use Restrictions"],"userestrict_tesim":["There are no restrictions."],"physloc_html_tesm":["\u003cphysloc label=\"Location\"\u003eLibrary of Virginia\n\u003c/physloc\u003e\n"],"physloc_tesim":["Library of Virginia"],"language_ssim":["English"],"total_component_count_is":70,"online_item_count_is":0,"component_level_isim":[0],"sort_isi":0,"timestamp":"2026-08-14T22:28:46.894Z"}]}},"label":"Breadcrumbs"}}},"links":{"self":"https://search.arvasarchive.org/catalog/vi_vi06711_c02_c01_c04"}},{"id":"vi_vi06711_c02_c01_c05","type":"Item","attributes":{"title":"Barcode number 0007833697: Judgments\t\t1834-1835","breadcrumbs":{"id":"https://search.arvasarchive.org/catalog/vi_vi06711_c02_c01_c05#breadcrumbs","type":"document_value","attributes":{"value":{"ref_ssi":"vi_vi06711_c02_c01_c05","ref_ssm":["vi_vi06711_c02_c01_c05"],"id":"vi_vi06711_c02_c01_c05","ead_ssi":"vi_vi06711","_root_":"vi_vi06711","_nest_parent_":"vi_vi06711_c02_c01","parent_ssi":"vi_vi06711_c02_c01","parent_ssim":["Amherst County (Va.) Judgments, circa 1770-1950","Series II: Minimally Processed Judgments\n1831-1874","Subseries A: Circuit Court Judgments, 1831-1874"],"parent_ids_ssim":["vi_vi06711","vi_vi06711_c02","vi_vi06711_c02_c01"],"title_filing_ssi":"Judgments\t\t1834-1835","title_ssm":["Barcode number 0007833697: Judgments\t\t1834-1835"],"title_tesim":["Barcode number 0007833697: Judgments\t\t1834-1835"],"normalized_title_ssm":["Barcode number 0007833697: Judgments\t\t1834-1835"],"text":["Barcode number 0007833697: Judgments\t\t1834-1835","Amherst County (Va.) Judgments, circa 1770-1950","Series II: Minimally Processed Judgments\n1831-1874","Subseries A: Circuit Court Judgments, 1831-1874"],"parent_unittitles_ssm":["Amherst County (Va.) Judgments, circa 1770-1950","Series II: Minimally Processed Judgments\n1831-1874","Subseries A: Circuit Court Judgments, 1831-1874"],"parent_unittitles_tesim":["Amherst County (Va.) Judgments, circa 1770-1950","Series II: Minimally Processed Judgments\n1831-1874","Subseries A: Circuit Court Judgments, 1831-1874"],"level_ssm":["Item"],"level_ssim":["Item"],"component_level_isim":[3],"sort_isi":9,"repository_ssim":["Library of Virginia"],"collection_ssim":["Amherst County (Va.) Judgments, circa 1770-1950"],"has_online_content_ssim":["false"],"child_component_count_isi":0,"parent_access_restrict_tesm":["Collection is open to research."],"parent_access_terms_tesm":["There are no restrictions."],"_nest_path_":"/components#1/components#0/components#4","timestamp":"2026-08-14T22:28:46.894Z","collection":{"numFound":1,"start":0,"numFoundExact":true,"docs":[{"id":"vi_vi06711","ead_ssi":"vi_vi06711","_root_":"vi_vi06711","_nest_parent_":"vi_vi06711","ead_source_url_ssi":"data/lva/vi06711.xml","title_ssm":["Amherst County (Va.) Judgments, circa 1770-1950"],"title_tesim":["Amherst County (Va.) Judgments, circa 1770-1950"],"normalized_title_ssm":["Amherst County (Va.) Judgments, circa 1770-1950"],"text":["Amherst County (Va.) Judgments, circa 1770-1950","Collection is open to research.","This collection is arranged into three series:\nSeries I: Judgments, 1849-1864, relating to free and enslaved Black and Multiracial individuals\nSeries II: Minimally Processed Judgments, 1831-1874\nSeries III: Unprocessed Judgments, 1770-1950 circa\nSeries IV: Judgment Volumes, 1818-1853","Context for Record Type: Judgments are identified as civil suits, often involving debt, heard by a jury on the \"law\" side of the court as opposed to the \"chancery\" (or equity) side. Should the defendant not have funds to repay the debt, the court ordered their property (including enslaved people) to be seized and sold to repay the debt owed to the plaintiff. Judgments also contain suits brought by enslaved people seeking to gain their freedom.","In Judgments, an assumpsit or declaration (sometimes referred to as a narratio) lays out the plaintiff's grievance as a petition acted as a formal application to the court requesting judicial action. Judgment suits also generally included record types like subpoenas, summons, and exhibit. Judgments may also include additional documentations such as executions, bonds, and various kinds of writs.","Judgment suits make up a large quantity of a locality's records; consequently, they provide a great deal of information concerning the activities and interests of the people who lived in the locality. Since the vast majority of judgment suits relate to financial matters, they are a valuable resource in studying the economic and social history of Virginia localities and are the impotence for many chancery suits.","Locality History: Amherst County was named for Major General Jeffery Amherst, British commander in North America during the latter part of the French and Indian War and governor of Virginia from 1759 to 1768. It was formed from Albemarle County in 1761. Islands in the Fluvanna (now the James) River were added in 1770. The county seat is Amherst.","Additional Judgment Types","Condemnations are judgments concerning the taking of private property for public use through the power of eminent domain. Most cases involve railroad or canal companies and contain maps/plats of the land in question.","Support for Divorce Petitions: The Virginia General Assembly, in 1803, granted the first divorce for the state of Virginia; over the next couple of decades, the volume of divorce petitions sent to the General Assembly grew to an overwhelming and unmanageable number. In response, the General Assembly granted the chancery courts the ability to divorce petitioners and slowly the number of divorce petitions decreased in the General Assembly before ceasing entirely in 1850. During the period in which the General Assembly still had a hand in granting divorces, plaintiffs might petition their locality's civil courts for their support in petitioning the General Assembly, possibly to increase the likelihood of being granted a divorce by the governmental body.","Ejectments are a formal court order that declares the property owner to be the rightful owner of a piece of land or building and legally removes the unauthorized occupant. The court might also declare financial damages for the lost use of the property.","Types of Courts","The County Court was the original colonial court of adjudication and recordation, and it was the principal tribunal for the administration of local justice. The individual justices could act on small claims matters as well as criminal matters where imminent bodily harm was a possibility, there being an appeal to the full County Court, which met monthly. This court ceased to exist in 1919 and the recordation function was transferred to the circuit court.","The Superior Court of Law was created in 1808. It met twice a year in each county, presided over by a circuit-riding General Court judge. Records were filed with the County Court. It had civil and criminal jurisdiction. The court ceased to exist in 1831.","The Circuit Court was authorized by the Constitution of 1851 and established by an act of the General Assembly passed in May 1852. Courts were held twice yearly in each county, presided over by 21 judges who rode circuits in the area of their jurisdiction. The records were filed with County Court records. These courts were granted original jurisdiction concurrent with that of the County Courts, as well as appellate jurisdiction in all civil cases of more than fifty dollars and criminal cases not \"expressly cognizable in some other court,\" including those involving loss of life.","Prior to 2026, the judgement descriptive records were not standardized in their inclusion of contextual information or content lists. Local Records staff reviewed this record and have updated to current standards as of 2026.","The county and circuit court judgments were minimally processed by C. Collins and J. Taylor in 2024-2025.","Encoded by J. Taylor: June 2026.","Records related to free and enslaved people of Amherst County (Va.) and other localities are available through the Virginia Untold: The African American Narrative Digital Collection  on the Library of Virginia website.","Additional Amherst County Court Records can be found on microfilm at The Library of Virginia web site. Consult \"A Guide to Virginia County and City Records on Microfilm\"","Amherst County (Va.) Judgments, circa 1770-1950, consist of civil cases in which justice was administered on the strictly formulated rules of common law. The majority of cases in this record group relate to matters of debt. The county and circuit court judgments have undergone minimal processing. A small section of records remain completely unprocessed.","There are no restrictions.","Library of Virginia","English"],"collection_title_tesim":["Amherst County (Va.) Judgments, circa 1770-1950"],"collection_ssim":["Amherst County (Va.) Judgments, circa 1770-1950"],"level_ssm":["collection"],"level_ssim":["Collection"],"repository_ssm":["Library of Virginia"],"repository_ssim":["Library of Virginia"],"creator_ssm":["Amherst County (Va.) Circuit Court"],"creator_ssim":["Amherst County (Va.) Circuit Court"],"access_terms_ssm":["There are no restrictions."],"acqinfo_ssim":["These records came to the Library of Virginia in a transfer of court papers from Amherst County in 2022 in accession number 53740 as well as in an undated accession."],"has_online_content_ssim":["false"],"extent_ssm":["28.3 cubic feet (58 boxes); 2 volumes"],"extent_tesim":["28.3 cubic feet (58 boxes); 2 volumes"],"accessrestrict_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eCollection is open to research.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n"],"accessrestrict_heading_ssm":["Access Restrictions"],"accessrestrict_tesim":["Collection is open to research."],"arrangement_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eThis collection is arranged into three series:\n\u003clist type=\"simple\"\u003e\u003citem\u003eSeries I: Judgments, 1849-1864, relating to free and enslaved Black and Multiracial individuals\u003c/item\u003e\n\u003citem\u003eSeries II: Minimally Processed Judgments, 1831-1874\u003c/item\u003e\n\u003citem\u003eSeries III: Unprocessed Judgments, 1770-1950 circa\u003c/item\u003e\n\u003citem\u003eSeries IV: Judgment Volumes, 1818-1853\u003c/item\u003e\n\u003c/list\u003e\n\u003c/p\u003e\n"],"arrangement_heading_ssm":["Arrangement"],"arrangement_tesim":["This collection is arranged into three series:\nSeries I: Judgments, 1849-1864, relating to free and enslaved Black and Multiracial individuals\nSeries II: Minimally Processed Judgments, 1831-1874\nSeries III: Unprocessed Judgments, 1770-1950 circa\nSeries IV: Judgment Volumes, 1818-1853"],"bioghist_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003e\u003cemph render=\"bold\"\u003eContext for Record Type:\u003c/emph\u003e Judgments are identified as civil suits, often involving debt, heard by a jury on the \"law\" side of the court as opposed to the \"chancery\" (or equity) side. Should the defendant not have funds to repay the debt, the court ordered their property (including enslaved people) to be seized and sold to repay the debt owed to the plaintiff. Judgments also contain suits brought by enslaved people seeking to gain their freedom.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eIn Judgments, an assumpsit or declaration (sometimes referred to as a narratio) lays out the plaintiff's grievance as a petition acted as a formal application to the court requesting judicial action. Judgment suits also generally included record types like subpoenas, summons, and exhibit. Judgments may also include additional documentations such as executions, bonds, and various kinds of writs.\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eJudgment suits make up a large quantity of a locality's records; consequently, they provide a great deal of information concerning the activities and interests of the people who lived in the locality. Since the vast majority of judgment suits relate to financial matters, they are a valuable resource in studying the economic and social history of Virginia localities and are the impotence for many chancery suits.\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003e\u003cemph render=\"bold\"\u003eLocality History:\u003c/emph\u003e Amherst County was named for Major General Jeffery Amherst, British commander in North America during the latter part of the French and Indian War and governor of Virginia from 1759 to 1768. It was formed from Albemarle County in 1761. Islands in the Fluvanna (now the James) River were added in 1770. The county seat is Amherst.\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003e\u003cemph render=\"underline\"\u003eAdditional Judgment Types\u003c/emph\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eCondemnations are judgments concerning the taking of private property for public use through the power of eminent domain. Most cases involve railroad or canal companies and contain maps/plats of the land in question.\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eSupport for Divorce Petitions: The Virginia General Assembly, in 1803, granted the first divorce for the state of Virginia; over the next couple of decades, the volume of divorce petitions sent to the General Assembly grew to an overwhelming and unmanageable number. In response, the General Assembly granted the chancery courts the ability to divorce petitioners and slowly the number of divorce petitions decreased in the General Assembly before ceasing entirely in 1850. During the period in which the General Assembly still had a hand in granting divorces, plaintiffs might petition their locality's civil courts for their support in petitioning the General Assembly, possibly to increase the likelihood of being granted a divorce by the governmental body.\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eEjectments are a formal court order that declares the property owner to be the rightful owner of a piece of land or building and legally removes the unauthorized occupant. The court might also declare financial damages for the lost use of the property.\u003c/p\u003e \n","\u003cp\u003e\u003cemph render=\"underline\"\u003eTypes of Courts\u003c/emph\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eThe County Court was the original colonial court of adjudication and recordation, and it was the principal tribunal for the administration of local justice. The individual justices could act on small claims matters as well as criminal matters where imminent bodily harm was a possibility, there being an appeal to the full County Court, which met monthly. This court ceased to exist in 1919 and the recordation function was transferred to the circuit court.\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eThe Superior Court of Law was created in 1808. It met twice a year in each county, presided over by a circuit-riding General Court judge. Records were filed with the County Court. It had civil and criminal jurisdiction. The court ceased to exist in 1831.\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eThe Circuit Court was authorized by the Constitution of 1851 and established by an act of the General Assembly passed in May 1852. Courts were held twice yearly in each county, presided over by 21 judges who rode circuits in the area of their jurisdiction. The records were filed with County Court records. These courts were granted original jurisdiction concurrent with that of the County Courts, as well as appellate jurisdiction in all civil cases of more than fifty dollars and criminal cases not \"expressly cognizable in some other court,\" including those involving loss of life.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],"bioghist_heading_ssm":["Historical Information"],"bioghist_tesim":["Context for Record Type: Judgments are identified as civil suits, often involving debt, heard by a jury on the \"law\" side of the court as opposed to the \"chancery\" (or equity) side. Should the defendant not have funds to repay the debt, the court ordered their property (including enslaved people) to be seized and sold to repay the debt owed to the plaintiff. Judgments also contain suits brought by enslaved people seeking to gain their freedom.","In Judgments, an assumpsit or declaration (sometimes referred to as a narratio) lays out the plaintiff's grievance as a petition acted as a formal application to the court requesting judicial action. Judgment suits also generally included record types like subpoenas, summons, and exhibit. Judgments may also include additional documentations such as executions, bonds, and various kinds of writs.","Judgment suits make up a large quantity of a locality's records; consequently, they provide a great deal of information concerning the activities and interests of the people who lived in the locality. Since the vast majority of judgment suits relate to financial matters, they are a valuable resource in studying the economic and social history of Virginia localities and are the impotence for many chancery suits.","Locality History: Amherst County was named for Major General Jeffery Amherst, British commander in North America during the latter part of the French and Indian War and governor of Virginia from 1759 to 1768. It was formed from Albemarle County in 1761. Islands in the Fluvanna (now the James) River were added in 1770. The county seat is Amherst.","Additional Judgment Types","Condemnations are judgments concerning the taking of private property for public use through the power of eminent domain. Most cases involve railroad or canal companies and contain maps/plats of the land in question.","Support for Divorce Petitions: The Virginia General Assembly, in 1803, granted the first divorce for the state of Virginia; over the next couple of decades, the volume of divorce petitions sent to the General Assembly grew to an overwhelming and unmanageable number. In response, the General Assembly granted the chancery courts the ability to divorce petitioners and slowly the number of divorce petitions decreased in the General Assembly before ceasing entirely in 1850. During the period in which the General Assembly still had a hand in granting divorces, plaintiffs might petition their locality's civil courts for their support in petitioning the General Assembly, possibly to increase the likelihood of being granted a divorce by the governmental body.","Ejectments are a formal court order that declares the property owner to be the rightful owner of a piece of land or building and legally removes the unauthorized occupant. The court might also declare financial damages for the lost use of the property.","Types of Courts","The County Court was the original colonial court of adjudication and recordation, and it was the principal tribunal for the administration of local justice. The individual justices could act on small claims matters as well as criminal matters where imminent bodily harm was a possibility, there being an appeal to the full County Court, which met monthly. This court ceased to exist in 1919 and the recordation function was transferred to the circuit court.","The Superior Court of Law was created in 1808. It met twice a year in each county, presided over by a circuit-riding General Court judge. Records were filed with the County Court. It had civil and criminal jurisdiction. The court ceased to exist in 1831.","The Circuit Court was authorized by the Constitution of 1851 and established by an act of the General Assembly passed in May 1852. Courts were held twice yearly in each county, presided over by 21 judges who rode circuits in the area of their jurisdiction. The records were filed with County Court records. These courts were granted original jurisdiction concurrent with that of the County Courts, as well as appellate jurisdiction in all civil cases of more than fifty dollars and criminal cases not \"expressly cognizable in some other court,\" including those involving loss of life."],"prefercite_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eAmherst County (Va.) Judgments, circa 1770-1950 [insert series or volume title].  Local government records collection, Amherst County Court Records.  The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Va.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n"],"prefercite_tesim":["Amherst County (Va.) Judgments, circa 1770-1950 [insert series or volume title].  Local government records collection, Amherst County Court Records.  The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Va."],"processinfo_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003ePrior to 2026, the judgement descriptive records were not standardized in their inclusion of contextual information or content lists. Local Records staff reviewed this record and have updated to current standards as of 2026.\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eThe county and circuit court judgments were minimally processed by C. Collins and J. Taylor in 2024-2025. \n\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eEncoded by J. Taylor: June 2026.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],"processinfo_heading_ssm":["Processing Information"],"processinfo_tesim":["Prior to 2026, the judgement descriptive records were not standardized in their inclusion of contextual information or content lists. Local Records staff reviewed this record and have updated to current standards as of 2026.","The county and circuit court judgments were minimally processed by C. Collins and J. Taylor in 2024-2025.","Encoded by J. Taylor: June 2026."],"relatedmaterial_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eRecords related to free and enslaved people of Amherst County (Va.) and other localities are available through the \u003cextref type=\"simple\" href=\"https://lva.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/discovery/search?vid=01LVA_INST:VU\"\u003eVirginia Untold: The African American Narrative Digital Collection \u003c/extref\u003e on the Library of Virginia website.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eAdditional Amherst County Court Records can be found on microfilm at The Library of Virginia web site. Consult \u003cextref type=\"simple\" href=\"https://www.lva.virginia.gov/public/local/results_all.asp?CountyID=VA003\"\u003e\"A Guide to Virginia County and City Records on Microfilm\"\u003c/extref\u003e\n\u003c/p\u003e\n"],"relatedmaterial_heading_ssm":["Related Material"],"relatedmaterial_tesim":["Records related to free and enslaved people of Amherst County (Va.) and other localities are available through the Virginia Untold: The African American Narrative Digital Collection  on the Library of Virginia website.","Additional Amherst County Court Records can be found on microfilm at The Library of Virginia web site. Consult \"A Guide to Virginia County and City Records on Microfilm\""],"scopecontent_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eAmherst County (Va.) Judgments, circa 1770-1950, consist of civil cases in which justice was administered on the strictly formulated rules of common law. The majority of cases in this record group relate to matters of debt. The county and circuit court judgments have undergone minimal processing. A small section of records remain completely unprocessed.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n"],"scopecontent_heading_ssm":["Scope and Content"],"scopecontent_tesim":["Amherst County (Va.) Judgments, circa 1770-1950, consist of civil cases in which justice was administered on the strictly formulated rules of common law. The majority of cases in this record group relate to matters of debt. The county and circuit court judgments have undergone minimal processing. A small section of records remain completely unprocessed."],"userestrict_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eThere are no restrictions.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n"],"userestrict_heading_ssm":["Use Restrictions"],"userestrict_tesim":["There are no restrictions."],"physloc_html_tesm":["\u003cphysloc label=\"Location\"\u003eLibrary of Virginia\n\u003c/physloc\u003e\n"],"physloc_tesim":["Library of Virginia"],"language_ssim":["English"],"total_component_count_is":70,"online_item_count_is":0,"component_level_isim":[0],"sort_isi":0,"timestamp":"2026-08-14T22:28:46.894Z"}]}},"label":"Breadcrumbs"}}},"links":{"self":"https://search.arvasarchive.org/catalog/vi_vi06711_c02_c01_c05"}},{"id":"vi_vi06711_c02_c01_c06","type":"Item","attributes":{"title":"Barcode number 0007833740: Judgments\t\t1835-1836","breadcrumbs":{"id":"https://search.arvasarchive.org/catalog/vi_vi06711_c02_c01_c06#breadcrumbs","type":"document_value","attributes":{"value":{"ref_ssi":"vi_vi06711_c02_c01_c06","ref_ssm":["vi_vi06711_c02_c01_c06"],"id":"vi_vi06711_c02_c01_c06","ead_ssi":"vi_vi06711","_root_":"vi_vi06711","_nest_parent_":"vi_vi06711_c02_c01","parent_ssi":"vi_vi06711_c02_c01","parent_ssim":["Amherst County (Va.) Judgments, circa 1770-1950","Series II: Minimally Processed Judgments\n1831-1874","Subseries A: Circuit Court Judgments, 1831-1874"],"parent_ids_ssim":["vi_vi06711","vi_vi06711_c02","vi_vi06711_c02_c01"],"title_filing_ssi":"Judgments\t\t1835-1836","title_ssm":["Barcode number 0007833740: Judgments\t\t1835-1836"],"title_tesim":["Barcode number 0007833740: Judgments\t\t1835-1836"],"normalized_title_ssm":["Barcode number 0007833740: Judgments\t\t1835-1836"],"text":["Barcode number 0007833740: Judgments\t\t1835-1836","Amherst County (Va.) Judgments, circa 1770-1950","Series II: Minimally Processed Judgments\n1831-1874","Subseries A: Circuit Court Judgments, 1831-1874"],"parent_unittitles_ssm":["Amherst County (Va.) Judgments, circa 1770-1950","Series II: Minimally Processed Judgments\n1831-1874","Subseries A: Circuit Court Judgments, 1831-1874"],"parent_unittitles_tesim":["Amherst County (Va.) Judgments, circa 1770-1950","Series II: Minimally Processed Judgments\n1831-1874","Subseries A: Circuit Court Judgments, 1831-1874"],"level_ssm":["Item"],"level_ssim":["Item"],"component_level_isim":[3],"sort_isi":10,"repository_ssim":["Library of Virginia"],"collection_ssim":["Amherst County (Va.) Judgments, circa 1770-1950"],"has_online_content_ssim":["false"],"child_component_count_isi":0,"parent_access_restrict_tesm":["Collection is open to research."],"parent_access_terms_tesm":["There are no restrictions."],"_nest_path_":"/components#1/components#0/components#5","timestamp":"2026-08-14T22:28:46.894Z","collection":{"numFound":1,"start":0,"numFoundExact":true,"docs":[{"id":"vi_vi06711","ead_ssi":"vi_vi06711","_root_":"vi_vi06711","_nest_parent_":"vi_vi06711","ead_source_url_ssi":"data/lva/vi06711.xml","title_ssm":["Amherst County (Va.) Judgments, circa 1770-1950"],"title_tesim":["Amherst County (Va.) Judgments, circa 1770-1950"],"normalized_title_ssm":["Amherst County (Va.) Judgments, circa 1770-1950"],"text":["Amherst County (Va.) Judgments, circa 1770-1950","Collection is open to research.","This collection is arranged into three series:\nSeries I: Judgments, 1849-1864, relating to free and enslaved Black and Multiracial individuals\nSeries II: Minimally Processed Judgments, 1831-1874\nSeries III: Unprocessed Judgments, 1770-1950 circa\nSeries IV: Judgment Volumes, 1818-1853","Context for Record Type: Judgments are identified as civil suits, often involving debt, heard by a jury on the \"law\" side of the court as opposed to the \"chancery\" (or equity) side. Should the defendant not have funds to repay the debt, the court ordered their property (including enslaved people) to be seized and sold to repay the debt owed to the plaintiff. Judgments also contain suits brought by enslaved people seeking to gain their freedom.","In Judgments, an assumpsit or declaration (sometimes referred to as a narratio) lays out the plaintiff's grievance as a petition acted as a formal application to the court requesting judicial action. Judgment suits also generally included record types like subpoenas, summons, and exhibit. Judgments may also include additional documentations such as executions, bonds, and various kinds of writs.","Judgment suits make up a large quantity of a locality's records; consequently, they provide a great deal of information concerning the activities and interests of the people who lived in the locality. Since the vast majority of judgment suits relate to financial matters, they are a valuable resource in studying the economic and social history of Virginia localities and are the impotence for many chancery suits.","Locality History: Amherst County was named for Major General Jeffery Amherst, British commander in North America during the latter part of the French and Indian War and governor of Virginia from 1759 to 1768. It was formed from Albemarle County in 1761. Islands in the Fluvanna (now the James) River were added in 1770. The county seat is Amherst.","Additional Judgment Types","Condemnations are judgments concerning the taking of private property for public use through the power of eminent domain. Most cases involve railroad or canal companies and contain maps/plats of the land in question.","Support for Divorce Petitions: The Virginia General Assembly, in 1803, granted the first divorce for the state of Virginia; over the next couple of decades, the volume of divorce petitions sent to the General Assembly grew to an overwhelming and unmanageable number. In response, the General Assembly granted the chancery courts the ability to divorce petitioners and slowly the number of divorce petitions decreased in the General Assembly before ceasing entirely in 1850. During the period in which the General Assembly still had a hand in granting divorces, plaintiffs might petition their locality's civil courts for their support in petitioning the General Assembly, possibly to increase the likelihood of being granted a divorce by the governmental body.","Ejectments are a formal court order that declares the property owner to be the rightful owner of a piece of land or building and legally removes the unauthorized occupant. The court might also declare financial damages for the lost use of the property.","Types of Courts","The County Court was the original colonial court of adjudication and recordation, and it was the principal tribunal for the administration of local justice. The individual justices could act on small claims matters as well as criminal matters where imminent bodily harm was a possibility, there being an appeal to the full County Court, which met monthly. This court ceased to exist in 1919 and the recordation function was transferred to the circuit court.","The Superior Court of Law was created in 1808. It met twice a year in each county, presided over by a circuit-riding General Court judge. Records were filed with the County Court. It had civil and criminal jurisdiction. The court ceased to exist in 1831.","The Circuit Court was authorized by the Constitution of 1851 and established by an act of the General Assembly passed in May 1852. Courts were held twice yearly in each county, presided over by 21 judges who rode circuits in the area of their jurisdiction. The records were filed with County Court records. These courts were granted original jurisdiction concurrent with that of the County Courts, as well as appellate jurisdiction in all civil cases of more than fifty dollars and criminal cases not \"expressly cognizable in some other court,\" including those involving loss of life.","Prior to 2026, the judgement descriptive records were not standardized in their inclusion of contextual information or content lists. Local Records staff reviewed this record and have updated to current standards as of 2026.","The county and circuit court judgments were minimally processed by C. Collins and J. Taylor in 2024-2025.","Encoded by J. Taylor: June 2026.","Records related to free and enslaved people of Amherst County (Va.) and other localities are available through the Virginia Untold: The African American Narrative Digital Collection  on the Library of Virginia website.","Additional Amherst County Court Records can be found on microfilm at The Library of Virginia web site. Consult \"A Guide to Virginia County and City Records on Microfilm\"","Amherst County (Va.) Judgments, circa 1770-1950, consist of civil cases in which justice was administered on the strictly formulated rules of common law. The majority of cases in this record group relate to matters of debt. The county and circuit court judgments have undergone minimal processing. A small section of records remain completely unprocessed.","There are no restrictions.","Library of Virginia","English"],"collection_title_tesim":["Amherst County (Va.) Judgments, circa 1770-1950"],"collection_ssim":["Amherst County (Va.) Judgments, circa 1770-1950"],"level_ssm":["collection"],"level_ssim":["Collection"],"repository_ssm":["Library of Virginia"],"repository_ssim":["Library of Virginia"],"creator_ssm":["Amherst County (Va.) Circuit Court"],"creator_ssim":["Amherst County (Va.) Circuit Court"],"access_terms_ssm":["There are no restrictions."],"acqinfo_ssim":["These records came to the Library of Virginia in a transfer of court papers from Amherst County in 2022 in accession number 53740 as well as in an undated accession."],"has_online_content_ssim":["false"],"extent_ssm":["28.3 cubic feet (58 boxes); 2 volumes"],"extent_tesim":["28.3 cubic feet (58 boxes); 2 volumes"],"accessrestrict_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eCollection is open to research.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n"],"accessrestrict_heading_ssm":["Access Restrictions"],"accessrestrict_tesim":["Collection is open to research."],"arrangement_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eThis collection is arranged into three series:\n\u003clist type=\"simple\"\u003e\u003citem\u003eSeries I: Judgments, 1849-1864, relating to free and enslaved Black and Multiracial individuals\u003c/item\u003e\n\u003citem\u003eSeries II: Minimally Processed Judgments, 1831-1874\u003c/item\u003e\n\u003citem\u003eSeries III: Unprocessed Judgments, 1770-1950 circa\u003c/item\u003e\n\u003citem\u003eSeries IV: Judgment Volumes, 1818-1853\u003c/item\u003e\n\u003c/list\u003e\n\u003c/p\u003e\n"],"arrangement_heading_ssm":["Arrangement"],"arrangement_tesim":["This collection is arranged into three series:\nSeries I: Judgments, 1849-1864, relating to free and enslaved Black and Multiracial individuals\nSeries II: Minimally Processed Judgments, 1831-1874\nSeries III: Unprocessed Judgments, 1770-1950 circa\nSeries IV: Judgment Volumes, 1818-1853"],"bioghist_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003e\u003cemph render=\"bold\"\u003eContext for Record Type:\u003c/emph\u003e Judgments are identified as civil suits, often involving debt, heard by a jury on the \"law\" side of the court as opposed to the \"chancery\" (or equity) side. Should the defendant not have funds to repay the debt, the court ordered their property (including enslaved people) to be seized and sold to repay the debt owed to the plaintiff. Judgments also contain suits brought by enslaved people seeking to gain their freedom.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eIn Judgments, an assumpsit or declaration (sometimes referred to as a narratio) lays out the plaintiff's grievance as a petition acted as a formal application to the court requesting judicial action. Judgment suits also generally included record types like subpoenas, summons, and exhibit. Judgments may also include additional documentations such as executions, bonds, and various kinds of writs.\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eJudgment suits make up a large quantity of a locality's records; consequently, they provide a great deal of information concerning the activities and interests of the people who lived in the locality. Since the vast majority of judgment suits relate to financial matters, they are a valuable resource in studying the economic and social history of Virginia localities and are the impotence for many chancery suits.\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003e\u003cemph render=\"bold\"\u003eLocality History:\u003c/emph\u003e Amherst County was named for Major General Jeffery Amherst, British commander in North America during the latter part of the French and Indian War and governor of Virginia from 1759 to 1768. It was formed from Albemarle County in 1761. Islands in the Fluvanna (now the James) River were added in 1770. The county seat is Amherst.\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003e\u003cemph render=\"underline\"\u003eAdditional Judgment Types\u003c/emph\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eCondemnations are judgments concerning the taking of private property for public use through the power of eminent domain. Most cases involve railroad or canal companies and contain maps/plats of the land in question.\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eSupport for Divorce Petitions: The Virginia General Assembly, in 1803, granted the first divorce for the state of Virginia; over the next couple of decades, the volume of divorce petitions sent to the General Assembly grew to an overwhelming and unmanageable number. In response, the General Assembly granted the chancery courts the ability to divorce petitioners and slowly the number of divorce petitions decreased in the General Assembly before ceasing entirely in 1850. During the period in which the General Assembly still had a hand in granting divorces, plaintiffs might petition their locality's civil courts for their support in petitioning the General Assembly, possibly to increase the likelihood of being granted a divorce by the governmental body.\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eEjectments are a formal court order that declares the property owner to be the rightful owner of a piece of land or building and legally removes the unauthorized occupant. The court might also declare financial damages for the lost use of the property.\u003c/p\u003e \n","\u003cp\u003e\u003cemph render=\"underline\"\u003eTypes of Courts\u003c/emph\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eThe County Court was the original colonial court of adjudication and recordation, and it was the principal tribunal for the administration of local justice. The individual justices could act on small claims matters as well as criminal matters where imminent bodily harm was a possibility, there being an appeal to the full County Court, which met monthly. This court ceased to exist in 1919 and the recordation function was transferred to the circuit court.\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eThe Superior Court of Law was created in 1808. It met twice a year in each county, presided over by a circuit-riding General Court judge. Records were filed with the County Court. It had civil and criminal jurisdiction. The court ceased to exist in 1831.\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eThe Circuit Court was authorized by the Constitution of 1851 and established by an act of the General Assembly passed in May 1852. Courts were held twice yearly in each county, presided over by 21 judges who rode circuits in the area of their jurisdiction. The records were filed with County Court records. These courts were granted original jurisdiction concurrent with that of the County Courts, as well as appellate jurisdiction in all civil cases of more than fifty dollars and criminal cases not \"expressly cognizable in some other court,\" including those involving loss of life.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],"bioghist_heading_ssm":["Historical Information"],"bioghist_tesim":["Context for Record Type: Judgments are identified as civil suits, often involving debt, heard by a jury on the \"law\" side of the court as opposed to the \"chancery\" (or equity) side. Should the defendant not have funds to repay the debt, the court ordered their property (including enslaved people) to be seized and sold to repay the debt owed to the plaintiff. Judgments also contain suits brought by enslaved people seeking to gain their freedom.","In Judgments, an assumpsit or declaration (sometimes referred to as a narratio) lays out the plaintiff's grievance as a petition acted as a formal application to the court requesting judicial action. Judgment suits also generally included record types like subpoenas, summons, and exhibit. Judgments may also include additional documentations such as executions, bonds, and various kinds of writs.","Judgment suits make up a large quantity of a locality's records; consequently, they provide a great deal of information concerning the activities and interests of the people who lived in the locality. Since the vast majority of judgment suits relate to financial matters, they are a valuable resource in studying the economic and social history of Virginia localities and are the impotence for many chancery suits.","Locality History: Amherst County was named for Major General Jeffery Amherst, British commander in North America during the latter part of the French and Indian War and governor of Virginia from 1759 to 1768. It was formed from Albemarle County in 1761. Islands in the Fluvanna (now the James) River were added in 1770. The county seat is Amherst.","Additional Judgment Types","Condemnations are judgments concerning the taking of private property for public use through the power of eminent domain. Most cases involve railroad or canal companies and contain maps/plats of the land in question.","Support for Divorce Petitions: The Virginia General Assembly, in 1803, granted the first divorce for the state of Virginia; over the next couple of decades, the volume of divorce petitions sent to the General Assembly grew to an overwhelming and unmanageable number. In response, the General Assembly granted the chancery courts the ability to divorce petitioners and slowly the number of divorce petitions decreased in the General Assembly before ceasing entirely in 1850. During the period in which the General Assembly still had a hand in granting divorces, plaintiffs might petition their locality's civil courts for their support in petitioning the General Assembly, possibly to increase the likelihood of being granted a divorce by the governmental body.","Ejectments are a formal court order that declares the property owner to be the rightful owner of a piece of land or building and legally removes the unauthorized occupant. The court might also declare financial damages for the lost use of the property.","Types of Courts","The County Court was the original colonial court of adjudication and recordation, and it was the principal tribunal for the administration of local justice. The individual justices could act on small claims matters as well as criminal matters where imminent bodily harm was a possibility, there being an appeal to the full County Court, which met monthly. This court ceased to exist in 1919 and the recordation function was transferred to the circuit court.","The Superior Court of Law was created in 1808. It met twice a year in each county, presided over by a circuit-riding General Court judge. Records were filed with the County Court. It had civil and criminal jurisdiction. The court ceased to exist in 1831.","The Circuit Court was authorized by the Constitution of 1851 and established by an act of the General Assembly passed in May 1852. Courts were held twice yearly in each county, presided over by 21 judges who rode circuits in the area of their jurisdiction. The records were filed with County Court records. These courts were granted original jurisdiction concurrent with that of the County Courts, as well as appellate jurisdiction in all civil cases of more than fifty dollars and criminal cases not \"expressly cognizable in some other court,\" including those involving loss of life."],"prefercite_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eAmherst County (Va.) Judgments, circa 1770-1950 [insert series or volume title].  Local government records collection, Amherst County Court Records.  The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Va.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n"],"prefercite_tesim":["Amherst County (Va.) Judgments, circa 1770-1950 [insert series or volume title].  Local government records collection, Amherst County Court Records.  The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Va."],"processinfo_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003ePrior to 2026, the judgement descriptive records were not standardized in their inclusion of contextual information or content lists. Local Records staff reviewed this record and have updated to current standards as of 2026.\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eThe county and circuit court judgments were minimally processed by C. Collins and J. Taylor in 2024-2025. \n\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eEncoded by J. Taylor: June 2026.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],"processinfo_heading_ssm":["Processing Information"],"processinfo_tesim":["Prior to 2026, the judgement descriptive records were not standardized in their inclusion of contextual information or content lists. Local Records staff reviewed this record and have updated to current standards as of 2026.","The county and circuit court judgments were minimally processed by C. Collins and J. Taylor in 2024-2025.","Encoded by J. Taylor: June 2026."],"relatedmaterial_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eRecords related to free and enslaved people of Amherst County (Va.) and other localities are available through the \u003cextref type=\"simple\" href=\"https://lva.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/discovery/search?vid=01LVA_INST:VU\"\u003eVirginia Untold: The African American Narrative Digital Collection \u003c/extref\u003e on the Library of Virginia website.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eAdditional Amherst County Court Records can be found on microfilm at The Library of Virginia web site. Consult \u003cextref type=\"simple\" href=\"https://www.lva.virginia.gov/public/local/results_all.asp?CountyID=VA003\"\u003e\"A Guide to Virginia County and City Records on Microfilm\"\u003c/extref\u003e\n\u003c/p\u003e\n"],"relatedmaterial_heading_ssm":["Related Material"],"relatedmaterial_tesim":["Records related to free and enslaved people of Amherst County (Va.) and other localities are available through the Virginia Untold: The African American Narrative Digital Collection  on the Library of Virginia website.","Additional Amherst County Court Records can be found on microfilm at The Library of Virginia web site. Consult \"A Guide to Virginia County and City Records on Microfilm\""],"scopecontent_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eAmherst County (Va.) Judgments, circa 1770-1950, consist of civil cases in which justice was administered on the strictly formulated rules of common law. The majority of cases in this record group relate to matters of debt. The county and circuit court judgments have undergone minimal processing. A small section of records remain completely unprocessed.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n"],"scopecontent_heading_ssm":["Scope and Content"],"scopecontent_tesim":["Amherst County (Va.) Judgments, circa 1770-1950, consist of civil cases in which justice was administered on the strictly formulated rules of common law. The majority of cases in this record group relate to matters of debt. The county and circuit court judgments have undergone minimal processing. A small section of records remain completely unprocessed."],"userestrict_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eThere are no restrictions.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n"],"userestrict_heading_ssm":["Use Restrictions"],"userestrict_tesim":["There are no restrictions."],"physloc_html_tesm":["\u003cphysloc label=\"Location\"\u003eLibrary of Virginia\n\u003c/physloc\u003e\n"],"physloc_tesim":["Library of Virginia"],"language_ssim":["English"],"total_component_count_is":70,"online_item_count_is":0,"component_level_isim":[0],"sort_isi":0,"timestamp":"2026-08-14T22:28:46.894Z"}]}},"label":"Breadcrumbs"}}},"links":{"self":"https://search.arvasarchive.org/catalog/vi_vi06711_c02_c01_c06"}},{"id":"vi_vi06711_c02_c01_c07","type":"Item","attributes":{"title":"Barcode number 0007833741: Judgments\t\t1836-1837","breadcrumbs":{"id":"https://search.arvasarchive.org/catalog/vi_vi06711_c02_c01_c07#breadcrumbs","type":"document_value","attributes":{"value":{"ref_ssi":"vi_vi06711_c02_c01_c07","ref_ssm":["vi_vi06711_c02_c01_c07"],"id":"vi_vi06711_c02_c01_c07","ead_ssi":"vi_vi06711","_root_":"vi_vi06711","_nest_parent_":"vi_vi06711_c02_c01","parent_ssi":"vi_vi06711_c02_c01","parent_ssim":["Amherst County (Va.) Judgments, circa 1770-1950","Series II: Minimally Processed Judgments\n1831-1874","Subseries A: Circuit Court Judgments, 1831-1874"],"parent_ids_ssim":["vi_vi06711","vi_vi06711_c02","vi_vi06711_c02_c01"],"title_filing_ssi":"Judgments\t\t1836-1837","title_ssm":["Barcode number 0007833741: Judgments\t\t1836-1837"],"title_tesim":["Barcode number 0007833741: Judgments\t\t1836-1837"],"normalized_title_ssm":["Barcode number 0007833741: Judgments\t\t1836-1837"],"text":["Barcode number 0007833741: Judgments\t\t1836-1837","Amherst County (Va.) Judgments, circa 1770-1950","Series II: Minimally Processed Judgments\n1831-1874","Subseries A: Circuit Court Judgments, 1831-1874"],"parent_unittitles_ssm":["Amherst County (Va.) Judgments, circa 1770-1950","Series II: Minimally Processed Judgments\n1831-1874","Subseries A: Circuit Court Judgments, 1831-1874"],"parent_unittitles_tesim":["Amherst County (Va.) Judgments, circa 1770-1950","Series II: Minimally Processed Judgments\n1831-1874","Subseries A: Circuit Court Judgments, 1831-1874"],"level_ssm":["Item"],"level_ssim":["Item"],"component_level_isim":[3],"sort_isi":11,"repository_ssim":["Library of Virginia"],"collection_ssim":["Amherst County (Va.) Judgments, circa 1770-1950"],"has_online_content_ssim":["false"],"child_component_count_isi":0,"parent_access_restrict_tesm":["Collection is open to research."],"parent_access_terms_tesm":["There are no restrictions."],"_nest_path_":"/components#1/components#0/components#6","timestamp":"2026-08-14T22:28:46.894Z","collection":{"numFound":1,"start":0,"numFoundExact":true,"docs":[{"id":"vi_vi06711","ead_ssi":"vi_vi06711","_root_":"vi_vi06711","_nest_parent_":"vi_vi06711","ead_source_url_ssi":"data/lva/vi06711.xml","title_ssm":["Amherst County (Va.) Judgments, circa 1770-1950"],"title_tesim":["Amherst County (Va.) Judgments, circa 1770-1950"],"normalized_title_ssm":["Amherst County (Va.) Judgments, circa 1770-1950"],"text":["Amherst County (Va.) Judgments, circa 1770-1950","Collection is open to research.","This collection is arranged into three series:\nSeries I: Judgments, 1849-1864, relating to free and enslaved Black and Multiracial individuals\nSeries II: Minimally Processed Judgments, 1831-1874\nSeries III: Unprocessed Judgments, 1770-1950 circa\nSeries IV: Judgment Volumes, 1818-1853","Context for Record Type: Judgments are identified as civil suits, often involving debt, heard by a jury on the \"law\" side of the court as opposed to the \"chancery\" (or equity) side. Should the defendant not have funds to repay the debt, the court ordered their property (including enslaved people) to be seized and sold to repay the debt owed to the plaintiff. Judgments also contain suits brought by enslaved people seeking to gain their freedom.","In Judgments, an assumpsit or declaration (sometimes referred to as a narratio) lays out the plaintiff's grievance as a petition acted as a formal application to the court requesting judicial action. Judgment suits also generally included record types like subpoenas, summons, and exhibit. Judgments may also include additional documentations such as executions, bonds, and various kinds of writs.","Judgment suits make up a large quantity of a locality's records; consequently, they provide a great deal of information concerning the activities and interests of the people who lived in the locality. Since the vast majority of judgment suits relate to financial matters, they are a valuable resource in studying the economic and social history of Virginia localities and are the impotence for many chancery suits.","Locality History: Amherst County was named for Major General Jeffery Amherst, British commander in North America during the latter part of the French and Indian War and governor of Virginia from 1759 to 1768. It was formed from Albemarle County in 1761. Islands in the Fluvanna (now the James) River were added in 1770. The county seat is Amherst.","Additional Judgment Types","Condemnations are judgments concerning the taking of private property for public use through the power of eminent domain. Most cases involve railroad or canal companies and contain maps/plats of the land in question.","Support for Divorce Petitions: The Virginia General Assembly, in 1803, granted the first divorce for the state of Virginia; over the next couple of decades, the volume of divorce petitions sent to the General Assembly grew to an overwhelming and unmanageable number. In response, the General Assembly granted the chancery courts the ability to divorce petitioners and slowly the number of divorce petitions decreased in the General Assembly before ceasing entirely in 1850. During the period in which the General Assembly still had a hand in granting divorces, plaintiffs might petition their locality's civil courts for their support in petitioning the General Assembly, possibly to increase the likelihood of being granted a divorce by the governmental body.","Ejectments are a formal court order that declares the property owner to be the rightful owner of a piece of land or building and legally removes the unauthorized occupant. The court might also declare financial damages for the lost use of the property.","Types of Courts","The County Court was the original colonial court of adjudication and recordation, and it was the principal tribunal for the administration of local justice. The individual justices could act on small claims matters as well as criminal matters where imminent bodily harm was a possibility, there being an appeal to the full County Court, which met monthly. This court ceased to exist in 1919 and the recordation function was transferred to the circuit court.","The Superior Court of Law was created in 1808. It met twice a year in each county, presided over by a circuit-riding General Court judge. Records were filed with the County Court. It had civil and criminal jurisdiction. The court ceased to exist in 1831.","The Circuit Court was authorized by the Constitution of 1851 and established by an act of the General Assembly passed in May 1852. Courts were held twice yearly in each county, presided over by 21 judges who rode circuits in the area of their jurisdiction. The records were filed with County Court records. These courts were granted original jurisdiction concurrent with that of the County Courts, as well as appellate jurisdiction in all civil cases of more than fifty dollars and criminal cases not \"expressly cognizable in some other court,\" including those involving loss of life.","Prior to 2026, the judgement descriptive records were not standardized in their inclusion of contextual information or content lists. Local Records staff reviewed this record and have updated to current standards as of 2026.","The county and circuit court judgments were minimally processed by C. Collins and J. Taylor in 2024-2025.","Encoded by J. Taylor: June 2026.","Records related to free and enslaved people of Amherst County (Va.) and other localities are available through the Virginia Untold: The African American Narrative Digital Collection  on the Library of Virginia website.","Additional Amherst County Court Records can be found on microfilm at The Library of Virginia web site. Consult \"A Guide to Virginia County and City Records on Microfilm\"","Amherst County (Va.) Judgments, circa 1770-1950, consist of civil cases in which justice was administered on the strictly formulated rules of common law. The majority of cases in this record group relate to matters of debt. The county and circuit court judgments have undergone minimal processing. A small section of records remain completely unprocessed.","There are no restrictions.","Library of Virginia","English"],"collection_title_tesim":["Amherst County (Va.) Judgments, circa 1770-1950"],"collection_ssim":["Amherst County (Va.) Judgments, circa 1770-1950"],"level_ssm":["collection"],"level_ssim":["Collection"],"repository_ssm":["Library of Virginia"],"repository_ssim":["Library of Virginia"],"creator_ssm":["Amherst County (Va.) Circuit Court"],"creator_ssim":["Amherst County (Va.) Circuit Court"],"access_terms_ssm":["There are no restrictions."],"acqinfo_ssim":["These records came to the Library of Virginia in a transfer of court papers from Amherst County in 2022 in accession number 53740 as well as in an undated accession."],"has_online_content_ssim":["false"],"extent_ssm":["28.3 cubic feet (58 boxes); 2 volumes"],"extent_tesim":["28.3 cubic feet (58 boxes); 2 volumes"],"accessrestrict_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eCollection is open to research.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n"],"accessrestrict_heading_ssm":["Access Restrictions"],"accessrestrict_tesim":["Collection is open to research."],"arrangement_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eThis collection is arranged into three series:\n\u003clist type=\"simple\"\u003e\u003citem\u003eSeries I: Judgments, 1849-1864, relating to free and enslaved Black and Multiracial individuals\u003c/item\u003e\n\u003citem\u003eSeries II: Minimally Processed Judgments, 1831-1874\u003c/item\u003e\n\u003citem\u003eSeries III: Unprocessed Judgments, 1770-1950 circa\u003c/item\u003e\n\u003citem\u003eSeries IV: Judgment Volumes, 1818-1853\u003c/item\u003e\n\u003c/list\u003e\n\u003c/p\u003e\n"],"arrangement_heading_ssm":["Arrangement"],"arrangement_tesim":["This collection is arranged into three series:\nSeries I: Judgments, 1849-1864, relating to free and enslaved Black and Multiracial individuals\nSeries II: Minimally Processed Judgments, 1831-1874\nSeries III: Unprocessed Judgments, 1770-1950 circa\nSeries IV: Judgment Volumes, 1818-1853"],"bioghist_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003e\u003cemph render=\"bold\"\u003eContext for Record Type:\u003c/emph\u003e Judgments are identified as civil suits, often involving debt, heard by a jury on the \"law\" side of the court as opposed to the \"chancery\" (or equity) side. Should the defendant not have funds to repay the debt, the court ordered their property (including enslaved people) to be seized and sold to repay the debt owed to the plaintiff. Judgments also contain suits brought by enslaved people seeking to gain their freedom.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eIn Judgments, an assumpsit or declaration (sometimes referred to as a narratio) lays out the plaintiff's grievance as a petition acted as a formal application to the court requesting judicial action. Judgment suits also generally included record types like subpoenas, summons, and exhibit. Judgments may also include additional documentations such as executions, bonds, and various kinds of writs.\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eJudgment suits make up a large quantity of a locality's records; consequently, they provide a great deal of information concerning the activities and interests of the people who lived in the locality. Since the vast majority of judgment suits relate to financial matters, they are a valuable resource in studying the economic and social history of Virginia localities and are the impotence for many chancery suits.\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003e\u003cemph render=\"bold\"\u003eLocality History:\u003c/emph\u003e Amherst County was named for Major General Jeffery Amherst, British commander in North America during the latter part of the French and Indian War and governor of Virginia from 1759 to 1768. It was formed from Albemarle County in 1761. Islands in the Fluvanna (now the James) River were added in 1770. The county seat is Amherst.\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003e\u003cemph render=\"underline\"\u003eAdditional Judgment Types\u003c/emph\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eCondemnations are judgments concerning the taking of private property for public use through the power of eminent domain. Most cases involve railroad or canal companies and contain maps/plats of the land in question.\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eSupport for Divorce Petitions: The Virginia General Assembly, in 1803, granted the first divorce for the state of Virginia; over the next couple of decades, the volume of divorce petitions sent to the General Assembly grew to an overwhelming and unmanageable number. In response, the General Assembly granted the chancery courts the ability to divorce petitioners and slowly the number of divorce petitions decreased in the General Assembly before ceasing entirely in 1850. During the period in which the General Assembly still had a hand in granting divorces, plaintiffs might petition their locality's civil courts for their support in petitioning the General Assembly, possibly to increase the likelihood of being granted a divorce by the governmental body.\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eEjectments are a formal court order that declares the property owner to be the rightful owner of a piece of land or building and legally removes the unauthorized occupant. The court might also declare financial damages for the lost use of the property.\u003c/p\u003e \n","\u003cp\u003e\u003cemph render=\"underline\"\u003eTypes of Courts\u003c/emph\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eThe County Court was the original colonial court of adjudication and recordation, and it was the principal tribunal for the administration of local justice. The individual justices could act on small claims matters as well as criminal matters where imminent bodily harm was a possibility, there being an appeal to the full County Court, which met monthly. This court ceased to exist in 1919 and the recordation function was transferred to the circuit court.\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eThe Superior Court of Law was created in 1808. It met twice a year in each county, presided over by a circuit-riding General Court judge. Records were filed with the County Court. It had civil and criminal jurisdiction. The court ceased to exist in 1831.\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eThe Circuit Court was authorized by the Constitution of 1851 and established by an act of the General Assembly passed in May 1852. Courts were held twice yearly in each county, presided over by 21 judges who rode circuits in the area of their jurisdiction. The records were filed with County Court records. These courts were granted original jurisdiction concurrent with that of the County Courts, as well as appellate jurisdiction in all civil cases of more than fifty dollars and criminal cases not \"expressly cognizable in some other court,\" including those involving loss of life.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],"bioghist_heading_ssm":["Historical Information"],"bioghist_tesim":["Context for Record Type: Judgments are identified as civil suits, often involving debt, heard by a jury on the \"law\" side of the court as opposed to the \"chancery\" (or equity) side. Should the defendant not have funds to repay the debt, the court ordered their property (including enslaved people) to be seized and sold to repay the debt owed to the plaintiff. Judgments also contain suits brought by enslaved people seeking to gain their freedom.","In Judgments, an assumpsit or declaration (sometimes referred to as a narratio) lays out the plaintiff's grievance as a petition acted as a formal application to the court requesting judicial action. Judgment suits also generally included record types like subpoenas, summons, and exhibit. Judgments may also include additional documentations such as executions, bonds, and various kinds of writs.","Judgment suits make up a large quantity of a locality's records; consequently, they provide a great deal of information concerning the activities and interests of the people who lived in the locality. Since the vast majority of judgment suits relate to financial matters, they are a valuable resource in studying the economic and social history of Virginia localities and are the impotence for many chancery suits.","Locality History: Amherst County was named for Major General Jeffery Amherst, British commander in North America during the latter part of the French and Indian War and governor of Virginia from 1759 to 1768. It was formed from Albemarle County in 1761. Islands in the Fluvanna (now the James) River were added in 1770. The county seat is Amherst.","Additional Judgment Types","Condemnations are judgments concerning the taking of private property for public use through the power of eminent domain. Most cases involve railroad or canal companies and contain maps/plats of the land in question.","Support for Divorce Petitions: The Virginia General Assembly, in 1803, granted the first divorce for the state of Virginia; over the next couple of decades, the volume of divorce petitions sent to the General Assembly grew to an overwhelming and unmanageable number. In response, the General Assembly granted the chancery courts the ability to divorce petitioners and slowly the number of divorce petitions decreased in the General Assembly before ceasing entirely in 1850. During the period in which the General Assembly still had a hand in granting divorces, plaintiffs might petition their locality's civil courts for their support in petitioning the General Assembly, possibly to increase the likelihood of being granted a divorce by the governmental body.","Ejectments are a formal court order that declares the property owner to be the rightful owner of a piece of land or building and legally removes the unauthorized occupant. The court might also declare financial damages for the lost use of the property.","Types of Courts","The County Court was the original colonial court of adjudication and recordation, and it was the principal tribunal for the administration of local justice. The individual justices could act on small claims matters as well as criminal matters where imminent bodily harm was a possibility, there being an appeal to the full County Court, which met monthly. This court ceased to exist in 1919 and the recordation function was transferred to the circuit court.","The Superior Court of Law was created in 1808. It met twice a year in each county, presided over by a circuit-riding General Court judge. Records were filed with the County Court. It had civil and criminal jurisdiction. The court ceased to exist in 1831.","The Circuit Court was authorized by the Constitution of 1851 and established by an act of the General Assembly passed in May 1852. Courts were held twice yearly in each county, presided over by 21 judges who rode circuits in the area of their jurisdiction. The records were filed with County Court records. These courts were granted original jurisdiction concurrent with that of the County Courts, as well as appellate jurisdiction in all civil cases of more than fifty dollars and criminal cases not \"expressly cognizable in some other court,\" including those involving loss of life."],"prefercite_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eAmherst County (Va.) Judgments, circa 1770-1950 [insert series or volume title].  Local government records collection, Amherst County Court Records.  The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Va.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n"],"prefercite_tesim":["Amherst County (Va.) Judgments, circa 1770-1950 [insert series or volume title].  Local government records collection, Amherst County Court Records.  The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Va."],"processinfo_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003ePrior to 2026, the judgement descriptive records were not standardized in their inclusion of contextual information or content lists. Local Records staff reviewed this record and have updated to current standards as of 2026.\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eThe county and circuit court judgments were minimally processed by C. Collins and J. Taylor in 2024-2025. \n\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eEncoded by J. Taylor: June 2026.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],"processinfo_heading_ssm":["Processing Information"],"processinfo_tesim":["Prior to 2026, the judgement descriptive records were not standardized in their inclusion of contextual information or content lists. Local Records staff reviewed this record and have updated to current standards as of 2026.","The county and circuit court judgments were minimally processed by C. Collins and J. Taylor in 2024-2025.","Encoded by J. Taylor: June 2026."],"relatedmaterial_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eRecords related to free and enslaved people of Amherst County (Va.) and other localities are available through the \u003cextref type=\"simple\" href=\"https://lva.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/discovery/search?vid=01LVA_INST:VU\"\u003eVirginia Untold: The African American Narrative Digital Collection \u003c/extref\u003e on the Library of Virginia website.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eAdditional Amherst County Court Records can be found on microfilm at The Library of Virginia web site. Consult \u003cextref type=\"simple\" href=\"https://www.lva.virginia.gov/public/local/results_all.asp?CountyID=VA003\"\u003e\"A Guide to Virginia County and City Records on Microfilm\"\u003c/extref\u003e\n\u003c/p\u003e\n"],"relatedmaterial_heading_ssm":["Related Material"],"relatedmaterial_tesim":["Records related to free and enslaved people of Amherst County (Va.) and other localities are available through the Virginia Untold: The African American Narrative Digital Collection  on the Library of Virginia website.","Additional Amherst County Court Records can be found on microfilm at The Library of Virginia web site. Consult \"A Guide to Virginia County and City Records on Microfilm\""],"scopecontent_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eAmherst County (Va.) Judgments, circa 1770-1950, consist of civil cases in which justice was administered on the strictly formulated rules of common law. The majority of cases in this record group relate to matters of debt. The county and circuit court judgments have undergone minimal processing. A small section of records remain completely unprocessed.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n"],"scopecontent_heading_ssm":["Scope and Content"],"scopecontent_tesim":["Amherst County (Va.) Judgments, circa 1770-1950, consist of civil cases in which justice was administered on the strictly formulated rules of common law. The majority of cases in this record group relate to matters of debt. The county and circuit court judgments have undergone minimal processing. A small section of records remain completely unprocessed."],"userestrict_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eThere are no restrictions.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n"],"userestrict_heading_ssm":["Use Restrictions"],"userestrict_tesim":["There are no restrictions."],"physloc_html_tesm":["\u003cphysloc label=\"Location\"\u003eLibrary of Virginia\n\u003c/physloc\u003e\n"],"physloc_tesim":["Library of Virginia"],"language_ssim":["English"],"total_component_count_is":70,"online_item_count_is":0,"component_level_isim":[0],"sort_isi":0,"timestamp":"2026-08-14T22:28:46.894Z"}]}},"label":"Breadcrumbs"}}},"links":{"self":"https://search.arvasarchive.org/catalog/vi_vi06711_c02_c01_c07"}},{"id":"vi_vi06711_c02_c01_c08","type":"Item","attributes":{"title":"Barcode number 0007833742: Judgments\t\t1837-1838","breadcrumbs":{"id":"https://search.arvasarchive.org/catalog/vi_vi06711_c02_c01_c08#breadcrumbs","type":"document_value","attributes":{"value":{"ref_ssi":"vi_vi06711_c02_c01_c08","ref_ssm":["vi_vi06711_c02_c01_c08"],"id":"vi_vi06711_c02_c01_c08","ead_ssi":"vi_vi06711","_root_":"vi_vi06711","_nest_parent_":"vi_vi06711_c02_c01","parent_ssi":"vi_vi06711_c02_c01","parent_ssim":["Amherst County (Va.) Judgments, circa 1770-1950","Series II: Minimally Processed Judgments\n1831-1874","Subseries A: Circuit Court Judgments, 1831-1874"],"parent_ids_ssim":["vi_vi06711","vi_vi06711_c02","vi_vi06711_c02_c01"],"title_filing_ssi":"Judgments\t\t1837-1838","title_ssm":["Barcode number 0007833742: Judgments\t\t1837-1838"],"title_tesim":["Barcode number 0007833742: Judgments\t\t1837-1838"],"normalized_title_ssm":["Barcode number 0007833742: Judgments\t\t1837-1838"],"text":["Barcode number 0007833742: Judgments\t\t1837-1838","Amherst County (Va.) Judgments, circa 1770-1950","Series II: Minimally Processed Judgments\n1831-1874","Subseries A: Circuit Court Judgments, 1831-1874"],"parent_unittitles_ssm":["Amherst County (Va.) Judgments, circa 1770-1950","Series II: Minimally Processed Judgments\n1831-1874","Subseries A: Circuit Court Judgments, 1831-1874"],"parent_unittitles_tesim":["Amherst County (Va.) Judgments, circa 1770-1950","Series II: Minimally Processed Judgments\n1831-1874","Subseries A: Circuit Court Judgments, 1831-1874"],"level_ssm":["Item"],"level_ssim":["Item"],"component_level_isim":[3],"sort_isi":12,"repository_ssim":["Library of Virginia"],"collection_ssim":["Amherst County (Va.) Judgments, circa 1770-1950"],"has_online_content_ssim":["false"],"child_component_count_isi":0,"parent_access_restrict_tesm":["Collection is open to research."],"parent_access_terms_tesm":["There are no restrictions."],"_nest_path_":"/components#1/components#0/components#7","timestamp":"2026-08-14T22:28:46.894Z","collection":{"numFound":1,"start":0,"numFoundExact":true,"docs":[{"id":"vi_vi06711","ead_ssi":"vi_vi06711","_root_":"vi_vi06711","_nest_parent_":"vi_vi06711","ead_source_url_ssi":"data/lva/vi06711.xml","title_ssm":["Amherst County (Va.) Judgments, circa 1770-1950"],"title_tesim":["Amherst County (Va.) Judgments, circa 1770-1950"],"normalized_title_ssm":["Amherst County (Va.) Judgments, circa 1770-1950"],"text":["Amherst County (Va.) Judgments, circa 1770-1950","Collection is open to research.","This collection is arranged into three series:\nSeries I: Judgments, 1849-1864, relating to free and enslaved Black and Multiracial individuals\nSeries II: Minimally Processed Judgments, 1831-1874\nSeries III: Unprocessed Judgments, 1770-1950 circa\nSeries IV: Judgment Volumes, 1818-1853","Context for Record Type: Judgments are identified as civil suits, often involving debt, heard by a jury on the \"law\" side of the court as opposed to the \"chancery\" (or equity) side. Should the defendant not have funds to repay the debt, the court ordered their property (including enslaved people) to be seized and sold to repay the debt owed to the plaintiff. Judgments also contain suits brought by enslaved people seeking to gain their freedom.","In Judgments, an assumpsit or declaration (sometimes referred to as a narratio) lays out the plaintiff's grievance as a petition acted as a formal application to the court requesting judicial action. Judgment suits also generally included record types like subpoenas, summons, and exhibit. Judgments may also include additional documentations such as executions, bonds, and various kinds of writs.","Judgment suits make up a large quantity of a locality's records; consequently, they provide a great deal of information concerning the activities and interests of the people who lived in the locality. Since the vast majority of judgment suits relate to financial matters, they are a valuable resource in studying the economic and social history of Virginia localities and are the impotence for many chancery suits.","Locality History: Amherst County was named for Major General Jeffery Amherst, British commander in North America during the latter part of the French and Indian War and governor of Virginia from 1759 to 1768. It was formed from Albemarle County in 1761. Islands in the Fluvanna (now the James) River were added in 1770. The county seat is Amherst.","Additional Judgment Types","Condemnations are judgments concerning the taking of private property for public use through the power of eminent domain. Most cases involve railroad or canal companies and contain maps/plats of the land in question.","Support for Divorce Petitions: The Virginia General Assembly, in 1803, granted the first divorce for the state of Virginia; over the next couple of decades, the volume of divorce petitions sent to the General Assembly grew to an overwhelming and unmanageable number. In response, the General Assembly granted the chancery courts the ability to divorce petitioners and slowly the number of divorce petitions decreased in the General Assembly before ceasing entirely in 1850. During the period in which the General Assembly still had a hand in granting divorces, plaintiffs might petition their locality's civil courts for their support in petitioning the General Assembly, possibly to increase the likelihood of being granted a divorce by the governmental body.","Ejectments are a formal court order that declares the property owner to be the rightful owner of a piece of land or building and legally removes the unauthorized occupant. The court might also declare financial damages for the lost use of the property.","Types of Courts","The County Court was the original colonial court of adjudication and recordation, and it was the principal tribunal for the administration of local justice. The individual justices could act on small claims matters as well as criminal matters where imminent bodily harm was a possibility, there being an appeal to the full County Court, which met monthly. This court ceased to exist in 1919 and the recordation function was transferred to the circuit court.","The Superior Court of Law was created in 1808. It met twice a year in each county, presided over by a circuit-riding General Court judge. Records were filed with the County Court. It had civil and criminal jurisdiction. The court ceased to exist in 1831.","The Circuit Court was authorized by the Constitution of 1851 and established by an act of the General Assembly passed in May 1852. Courts were held twice yearly in each county, presided over by 21 judges who rode circuits in the area of their jurisdiction. The records were filed with County Court records. These courts were granted original jurisdiction concurrent with that of the County Courts, as well as appellate jurisdiction in all civil cases of more than fifty dollars and criminal cases not \"expressly cognizable in some other court,\" including those involving loss of life.","Prior to 2026, the judgement descriptive records were not standardized in their inclusion of contextual information or content lists. Local Records staff reviewed this record and have updated to current standards as of 2026.","The county and circuit court judgments were minimally processed by C. Collins and J. Taylor in 2024-2025.","Encoded by J. Taylor: June 2026.","Records related to free and enslaved people of Amherst County (Va.) and other localities are available through the Virginia Untold: The African American Narrative Digital Collection  on the Library of Virginia website.","Additional Amherst County Court Records can be found on microfilm at The Library of Virginia web site. Consult \"A Guide to Virginia County and City Records on Microfilm\"","Amherst County (Va.) Judgments, circa 1770-1950, consist of civil cases in which justice was administered on the strictly formulated rules of common law. The majority of cases in this record group relate to matters of debt. The county and circuit court judgments have undergone minimal processing. A small section of records remain completely unprocessed.","There are no restrictions.","Library of Virginia","English"],"collection_title_tesim":["Amherst County (Va.) Judgments, circa 1770-1950"],"collection_ssim":["Amherst County (Va.) Judgments, circa 1770-1950"],"level_ssm":["collection"],"level_ssim":["Collection"],"repository_ssm":["Library of Virginia"],"repository_ssim":["Library of Virginia"],"creator_ssm":["Amherst County (Va.) Circuit Court"],"creator_ssim":["Amherst County (Va.) Circuit Court"],"access_terms_ssm":["There are no restrictions."],"acqinfo_ssim":["These records came to the Library of Virginia in a transfer of court papers from Amherst County in 2022 in accession number 53740 as well as in an undated accession."],"has_online_content_ssim":["false"],"extent_ssm":["28.3 cubic feet (58 boxes); 2 volumes"],"extent_tesim":["28.3 cubic feet (58 boxes); 2 volumes"],"accessrestrict_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eCollection is open to research.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n"],"accessrestrict_heading_ssm":["Access Restrictions"],"accessrestrict_tesim":["Collection is open to research."],"arrangement_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eThis collection is arranged into three series:\n\u003clist type=\"simple\"\u003e\u003citem\u003eSeries I: Judgments, 1849-1864, relating to free and enslaved Black and Multiracial individuals\u003c/item\u003e\n\u003citem\u003eSeries II: Minimally Processed Judgments, 1831-1874\u003c/item\u003e\n\u003citem\u003eSeries III: Unprocessed Judgments, 1770-1950 circa\u003c/item\u003e\n\u003citem\u003eSeries IV: Judgment Volumes, 1818-1853\u003c/item\u003e\n\u003c/list\u003e\n\u003c/p\u003e\n"],"arrangement_heading_ssm":["Arrangement"],"arrangement_tesim":["This collection is arranged into three series:\nSeries I: Judgments, 1849-1864, relating to free and enslaved Black and Multiracial individuals\nSeries II: Minimally Processed Judgments, 1831-1874\nSeries III: Unprocessed Judgments, 1770-1950 circa\nSeries IV: Judgment Volumes, 1818-1853"],"bioghist_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003e\u003cemph render=\"bold\"\u003eContext for Record Type:\u003c/emph\u003e Judgments are identified as civil suits, often involving debt, heard by a jury on the \"law\" side of the court as opposed to the \"chancery\" (or equity) side. Should the defendant not have funds to repay the debt, the court ordered their property (including enslaved people) to be seized and sold to repay the debt owed to the plaintiff. Judgments also contain suits brought by enslaved people seeking to gain their freedom.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eIn Judgments, an assumpsit or declaration (sometimes referred to as a narratio) lays out the plaintiff's grievance as a petition acted as a formal application to the court requesting judicial action. Judgment suits also generally included record types like subpoenas, summons, and exhibit. Judgments may also include additional documentations such as executions, bonds, and various kinds of writs.\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eJudgment suits make up a large quantity of a locality's records; consequently, they provide a great deal of information concerning the activities and interests of the people who lived in the locality. Since the vast majority of judgment suits relate to financial matters, they are a valuable resource in studying the economic and social history of Virginia localities and are the impotence for many chancery suits.\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003e\u003cemph render=\"bold\"\u003eLocality History:\u003c/emph\u003e Amherst County was named for Major General Jeffery Amherst, British commander in North America during the latter part of the French and Indian War and governor of Virginia from 1759 to 1768. It was formed from Albemarle County in 1761. Islands in the Fluvanna (now the James) River were added in 1770. The county seat is Amherst.\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003e\u003cemph render=\"underline\"\u003eAdditional Judgment Types\u003c/emph\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eCondemnations are judgments concerning the taking of private property for public use through the power of eminent domain. Most cases involve railroad or canal companies and contain maps/plats of the land in question.\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eSupport for Divorce Petitions: The Virginia General Assembly, in 1803, granted the first divorce for the state of Virginia; over the next couple of decades, the volume of divorce petitions sent to the General Assembly grew to an overwhelming and unmanageable number. In response, the General Assembly granted the chancery courts the ability to divorce petitioners and slowly the number of divorce petitions decreased in the General Assembly before ceasing entirely in 1850. During the period in which the General Assembly still had a hand in granting divorces, plaintiffs might petition their locality's civil courts for their support in petitioning the General Assembly, possibly to increase the likelihood of being granted a divorce by the governmental body.\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eEjectments are a formal court order that declares the property owner to be the rightful owner of a piece of land or building and legally removes the unauthorized occupant. The court might also declare financial damages for the lost use of the property.\u003c/p\u003e \n","\u003cp\u003e\u003cemph render=\"underline\"\u003eTypes of Courts\u003c/emph\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eThe County Court was the original colonial court of adjudication and recordation, and it was the principal tribunal for the administration of local justice. The individual justices could act on small claims matters as well as criminal matters where imminent bodily harm was a possibility, there being an appeal to the full County Court, which met monthly. This court ceased to exist in 1919 and the recordation function was transferred to the circuit court.\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eThe Superior Court of Law was created in 1808. It met twice a year in each county, presided over by a circuit-riding General Court judge. Records were filed with the County Court. It had civil and criminal jurisdiction. The court ceased to exist in 1831.\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eThe Circuit Court was authorized by the Constitution of 1851 and established by an act of the General Assembly passed in May 1852. Courts were held twice yearly in each county, presided over by 21 judges who rode circuits in the area of their jurisdiction. The records were filed with County Court records. These courts were granted original jurisdiction concurrent with that of the County Courts, as well as appellate jurisdiction in all civil cases of more than fifty dollars and criminal cases not \"expressly cognizable in some other court,\" including those involving loss of life.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],"bioghist_heading_ssm":["Historical Information"],"bioghist_tesim":["Context for Record Type: Judgments are identified as civil suits, often involving debt, heard by a jury on the \"law\" side of the court as opposed to the \"chancery\" (or equity) side. Should the defendant not have funds to repay the debt, the court ordered their property (including enslaved people) to be seized and sold to repay the debt owed to the plaintiff. Judgments also contain suits brought by enslaved people seeking to gain their freedom.","In Judgments, an assumpsit or declaration (sometimes referred to as a narratio) lays out the plaintiff's grievance as a petition acted as a formal application to the court requesting judicial action. Judgment suits also generally included record types like subpoenas, summons, and exhibit. Judgments may also include additional documentations such as executions, bonds, and various kinds of writs.","Judgment suits make up a large quantity of a locality's records; consequently, they provide a great deal of information concerning the activities and interests of the people who lived in the locality. Since the vast majority of judgment suits relate to financial matters, they are a valuable resource in studying the economic and social history of Virginia localities and are the impotence for many chancery suits.","Locality History: Amherst County was named for Major General Jeffery Amherst, British commander in North America during the latter part of the French and Indian War and governor of Virginia from 1759 to 1768. It was formed from Albemarle County in 1761. Islands in the Fluvanna (now the James) River were added in 1770. The county seat is Amherst.","Additional Judgment Types","Condemnations are judgments concerning the taking of private property for public use through the power of eminent domain. Most cases involve railroad or canal companies and contain maps/plats of the land in question.","Support for Divorce Petitions: The Virginia General Assembly, in 1803, granted the first divorce for the state of Virginia; over the next couple of decades, the volume of divorce petitions sent to the General Assembly grew to an overwhelming and unmanageable number. In response, the General Assembly granted the chancery courts the ability to divorce petitioners and slowly the number of divorce petitions decreased in the General Assembly before ceasing entirely in 1850. During the period in which the General Assembly still had a hand in granting divorces, plaintiffs might petition their locality's civil courts for their support in petitioning the General Assembly, possibly to increase the likelihood of being granted a divorce by the governmental body.","Ejectments are a formal court order that declares the property owner to be the rightful owner of a piece of land or building and legally removes the unauthorized occupant. The court might also declare financial damages for the lost use of the property.","Types of Courts","The County Court was the original colonial court of adjudication and recordation, and it was the principal tribunal for the administration of local justice. The individual justices could act on small claims matters as well as criminal matters where imminent bodily harm was a possibility, there being an appeal to the full County Court, which met monthly. This court ceased to exist in 1919 and the recordation function was transferred to the circuit court.","The Superior Court of Law was created in 1808. It met twice a year in each county, presided over by a circuit-riding General Court judge. Records were filed with the County Court. It had civil and criminal jurisdiction. The court ceased to exist in 1831.","The Circuit Court was authorized by the Constitution of 1851 and established by an act of the General Assembly passed in May 1852. Courts were held twice yearly in each county, presided over by 21 judges who rode circuits in the area of their jurisdiction. The records were filed with County Court records. These courts were granted original jurisdiction concurrent with that of the County Courts, as well as appellate jurisdiction in all civil cases of more than fifty dollars and criminal cases not \"expressly cognizable in some other court,\" including those involving loss of life."],"prefercite_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eAmherst County (Va.) Judgments, circa 1770-1950 [insert series or volume title].  Local government records collection, Amherst County Court Records.  The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Va.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n"],"prefercite_tesim":["Amherst County (Va.) Judgments, circa 1770-1950 [insert series or volume title].  Local government records collection, Amherst County Court Records.  The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Va."],"processinfo_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003ePrior to 2026, the judgement descriptive records were not standardized in their inclusion of contextual information or content lists. Local Records staff reviewed this record and have updated to current standards as of 2026.\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eThe county and circuit court judgments were minimally processed by C. Collins and J. Taylor in 2024-2025. \n\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eEncoded by J. Taylor: June 2026.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],"processinfo_heading_ssm":["Processing Information"],"processinfo_tesim":["Prior to 2026, the judgement descriptive records were not standardized in their inclusion of contextual information or content lists. Local Records staff reviewed this record and have updated to current standards as of 2026.","The county and circuit court judgments were minimally processed by C. Collins and J. Taylor in 2024-2025.","Encoded by J. Taylor: June 2026."],"relatedmaterial_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eRecords related to free and enslaved people of Amherst County (Va.) and other localities are available through the \u003cextref type=\"simple\" href=\"https://lva.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/discovery/search?vid=01LVA_INST:VU\"\u003eVirginia Untold: The African American Narrative Digital Collection \u003c/extref\u003e on the Library of Virginia website.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eAdditional Amherst County Court Records can be found on microfilm at The Library of Virginia web site. Consult \u003cextref type=\"simple\" href=\"https://www.lva.virginia.gov/public/local/results_all.asp?CountyID=VA003\"\u003e\"A Guide to Virginia County and City Records on Microfilm\"\u003c/extref\u003e\n\u003c/p\u003e\n"],"relatedmaterial_heading_ssm":["Related Material"],"relatedmaterial_tesim":["Records related to free and enslaved people of Amherst County (Va.) and other localities are available through the Virginia Untold: The African American Narrative Digital Collection  on the Library of Virginia website.","Additional Amherst County Court Records can be found on microfilm at The Library of Virginia web site. Consult \"A Guide to Virginia County and City Records on Microfilm\""],"scopecontent_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eAmherst County (Va.) Judgments, circa 1770-1950, consist of civil cases in which justice was administered on the strictly formulated rules of common law. The majority of cases in this record group relate to matters of debt. The county and circuit court judgments have undergone minimal processing. A small section of records remain completely unprocessed.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n"],"scopecontent_heading_ssm":["Scope and Content"],"scopecontent_tesim":["Amherst County (Va.) Judgments, circa 1770-1950, consist of civil cases in which justice was administered on the strictly formulated rules of common law. The majority of cases in this record group relate to matters of debt. The county and circuit court judgments have undergone minimal processing. A small section of records remain completely unprocessed."],"userestrict_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eThere are no restrictions.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n"],"userestrict_heading_ssm":["Use Restrictions"],"userestrict_tesim":["There are no restrictions."],"physloc_html_tesm":["\u003cphysloc label=\"Location\"\u003eLibrary of Virginia\n\u003c/physloc\u003e\n"],"physloc_tesim":["Library of Virginia"],"language_ssim":["English"],"total_component_count_is":70,"online_item_count_is":0,"component_level_isim":[0],"sort_isi":0,"timestamp":"2026-08-14T22:28:46.894Z"}]}},"label":"Breadcrumbs"}}},"links":{"self":"https://search.arvasarchive.org/catalog/vi_vi06711_c02_c01_c08"}}],"included":[{"type":"facet","id":"repository_ssim","attributes":{"label":"Repository","items":[{"attributes":{"label":"Library of Virginia","value":"Library of Virginia","hits":71},"links":{"self":"https://search.arvasarchive.org/catalog.json?f%5Bcollection%5D%5B%5D=Amherst+County+%28Va.%29+Judgments%2C+circa+1770-1950\u0026f%5Brepository%5D%5B%5D=Library+of+Virginia\u0026view=list"}}]},"links":{"self":"https://search.arvasarchive.org/catalog/facet/repository_ssim.json?f%5Bcollection%5D%5B%5D=Amherst+County+%28Va.%29+Judgments%2C+circa+1770-1950\u0026view=list"}},{"type":"facet","id":"collection_ssim","attributes":{"label":"Collection","items":[{"attributes":{"label":"Amherst County (Va.) Judgments, circa 1770-1950","value":"Amherst County (Va.) Judgments, circa 1770-1950","hits":71},"links":{"remove":"https://search.arvasarchive.org/catalog.json?f%5Bcollection%5D%5B%5D=Amherst+County+%28Va.%29+Judgments%2C+circa+1770-1950\u0026view=list"}}]},"links":{"self":"https://search.arvasarchive.org/catalog/facet/collection_ssim.json?f%5Bcollection%5D%5B%5D=Amherst+County+%28Va.%29+Judgments%2C+circa+1770-1950\u0026view=list"}},{"type":"facet","id":"creator_ssim","attributes":{"label":"Creator","items":[{"attributes":{"label":"Amherst County (Va.) Circuit Court","value":"Amherst County (Va.) Circuit Court","hits":1},"links":{"self":"https://search.arvasarchive.org/catalog.json?f%5Bcollection%5D%5B%5D=Amherst+County+%28Va.%29+Judgments%2C+circa+1770-1950\u0026f%5Bcreators%5D%5B%5D=Amherst+County+%28Va.%29+Circuit+Court\u0026view=list"}}]},"links":{"self":"https://search.arvasarchive.org/catalog/facet/creator_ssim.json?f%5Bcollection%5D%5B%5D=Amherst+County+%28Va.%29+Judgments%2C+circa+1770-1950\u0026view=list"}},{"type":"facet","id":"level_ssim","attributes":{"label":"Level","items":[{"attributes":{"label":"Collection","value":"Collection","hits":1},"links":{"self":"https://search.arvasarchive.org/catalog.json?f%5Bcollection%5D%5B%5D=Amherst+County+%28Va.%29+Judgments%2C+circa+1770-1950\u0026f%5Blevel%5D%5B%5D=Collection\u0026view=list"}},{"attributes":{"label":"File","value":"File","hits":1},"links":{"self":"https://search.arvasarchive.org/catalog.json?f%5Bcollection%5D%5B%5D=Amherst+County+%28Va.%29+Judgments%2C+circa+1770-1950\u0026f%5Blevel%5D%5B%5D=File\u0026view=list"}},{"attributes":{"label":"Item","value":"Item","hits":59},"links":{"self":"https://search.arvasarchive.org/catalog.json?f%5Bcollection%5D%5B%5D=Amherst+County+%28Va.%29+Judgments%2C+circa+1770-1950\u0026f%5Blevel%5D%5B%5D=Item\u0026view=list"}},{"attributes":{"label":"Series","value":"Series","hits":4},"links":{"self":"https://search.arvasarchive.org/catalog.json?f%5Bcollection%5D%5B%5D=Amherst+County+%28Va.%29+Judgments%2C+circa+1770-1950\u0026f%5Blevel%5D%5B%5D=Series\u0026view=list"}},{"attributes":{"label":"Sub-series","value":"Sub-series","hits":6},"links":{"self":"https://search.arvasarchive.org/catalog.json?f%5Bcollection%5D%5B%5D=Amherst+County+%28Va.%29+Judgments%2C+circa+1770-1950\u0026f%5Blevel%5D%5B%5D=Sub-series\u0026view=list"}}]},"links":{"self":"https://search.arvasarchive.org/catalog/facet/level_ssim.json?f%5Bcollection%5D%5B%5D=Amherst+County+%28Va.%29+Judgments%2C+circa+1770-1950\u0026view=list"}},{"type":"search_field","id":"all_fields","attributes":{"label":"All Fields"},"links":{"self":"https://search.arvasarchive.org/catalog.json?f%5Bcollection%5D%5B%5D=Amherst+County+%28Va.%29+Judgments%2C+circa+1770-1950\u0026search_field=all_fields\u0026view=list"}},{"type":"search_field","id":"keyword","attributes":{"label":"Keyword"},"links":{"self":"https://search.arvasarchive.org/catalog.json?f%5Bcollection%5D%5B%5D=Amherst+County+%28Va.%29+Judgments%2C+circa+1770-1950\u0026search_field=keyword\u0026view=list"}},{"type":"search_field","id":"name","attributes":{"label":"Name"},"links":{"self":"https://search.arvasarchive.org/catalog.json?f%5Bcollection%5D%5B%5D=Amherst+County+%28Va.%29+Judgments%2C+circa+1770-1950\u0026search_field=name\u0026view=list"}},{"type":"search_field","id":"place","attributes":{"label":"Place"},"links":{"self":"https://search.arvasarchive.org/catalog.json?f%5Bcollection%5D%5B%5D=Amherst+County+%28Va.%29+Judgments%2C+circa+1770-1950\u0026search_field=place\u0026view=list"}},{"type":"search_field","id":"subject","attributes":{"label":"Subject"},"links":{"self":"https://search.arvasarchive.org/catalog.json?f%5Bcollection%5D%5B%5D=Amherst+County+%28Va.%29+Judgments%2C+circa+1770-1950\u0026search_field=subject\u0026view=list"}},{"type":"search_field","id":"title","attributes":{"label":"Title"},"links":{"self":"https://search.arvasarchive.org/catalog.json?f%5Bcollection%5D%5B%5D=Amherst+County+%28Va.%29+Judgments%2C+circa+1770-1950\u0026search_field=title\u0026view=list"}},{"type":"search_field","id":"container","attributes":{"label":"Container"},"links":{"self":"https://search.arvasarchive.org/catalog.json?f%5Bcollection%5D%5B%5D=Amherst+County+%28Va.%29+Judgments%2C+circa+1770-1950\u0026search_field=container\u0026view=list"}},{"type":"search_field","id":"identifier","attributes":{"label":"Identifier"},"links":{"self":"https://search.arvasarchive.org/catalog.json?f%5Bcollection%5D%5B%5D=Amherst+County+%28Va.%29+Judgments%2C+circa+1770-1950\u0026search_field=identifier\u0026view=list"}},{"type":"sort","id":"score desc, title_sort asc","attributes":{"label":"relevance"},"links":{"self":"https://search.arvasarchive.org/catalog.json?f%5Bcollection%5D%5B%5D=Amherst+County+%28Va.%29+Judgments%2C+circa+1770-1950\u0026sort=score+desc%2C+title_sort+asc\u0026view=list"}},{"type":"sort","id":"date_sort asc","attributes":{"label":"date (ascending)"},"links":{"self":"https://search.arvasarchive.org/catalog.json?f%5Bcollection%5D%5B%5D=Amherst+County+%28Va.%29+Judgments%2C+circa+1770-1950\u0026sort=date_sort+asc\u0026view=list"}},{"type":"sort","id":"date_sort desc","attributes":{"label":"date (descending)"},"links":{"self":"https://search.arvasarchive.org/catalog.json?f%5Bcollection%5D%5B%5D=Amherst+County+%28Va.%29+Judgments%2C+circa+1770-1950\u0026sort=date_sort+desc\u0026view=list"}},{"type":"sort","id":"creator_sort asc","attributes":{"label":"creator (A-Z)"},"links":{"self":"https://search.arvasarchive.org/catalog.json?f%5Bcollection%5D%5B%5D=Amherst+County+%28Va.%29+Judgments%2C+circa+1770-1950\u0026sort=creator_sort+asc\u0026view=list"}},{"type":"sort","id":"creator_sort desc","attributes":{"label":"creator (Z-A)"},"links":{"self":"https://search.arvasarchive.org/catalog.json?f%5Bcollection%5D%5B%5D=Amherst+County+%28Va.%29+Judgments%2C+circa+1770-1950\u0026sort=creator_sort+desc\u0026view=list"}},{"type":"sort","id":"title_sort asc","attributes":{"label":"title (A-Z)"},"links":{"self":"https://search.arvasarchive.org/catalog.json?f%5Bcollection%5D%5B%5D=Amherst+County+%28Va.%29+Judgments%2C+circa+1770-1950\u0026sort=title_sort+asc\u0026view=list"}},{"type":"sort","id":"title_sort desc","attributes":{"label":"title (Z-A)"},"links":{"self":"https://search.arvasarchive.org/catalog.json?f%5Bcollection%5D%5B%5D=Amherst+County+%28Va.%29+Judgments%2C+circa+1770-1950\u0026sort=title_sort+desc\u0026view=list"}}]}