Caroline County (Va.) Chancery Causes, 1762-1873

Access and use

Location of collection:
Library of Virginia
The Library of Virginia
800 East Broad Street
Richmond, VA 23219
Contact for questions and access:
POC: Archives Reference Services
Phone: (804) 692-3888
Restrictions:

Caroline County (Va.) Chancery Causes, 1762-1873, use digital images found on the Chancery Records Index available electronically at the website of the Library of Virginia.

Terms of access:

There are no restrictions.

Preferred citation:

Caroline County (Va.) Chancery Causes, 1762-1873. (Cite style of suit and chancery index no.). Local government records collection, Caroline County Court Records. The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia.

Summary

Creator:
Caroline County (Va.) Circuit Court.
Language:
English
Preferred citation:

Caroline County (Va.) Chancery Causes, 1762-1873. (Cite style of suit and chancery index no.). Local government records collection, Caroline County Court Records. The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia.

Background

Scope and content:

Caroline County (Va.) Chancery Causes, 1762-1873, consists of cases concerning issues of equity brought largely by residents of the county and filed in the circuit court. These cases often involve the following actions: divisions of estates or land, disputes over wills, disputes regarding contracts, debt, divorce, and business disputes. Other less prevalent issues include freedom suits, permissions to sell property, and disputes concerning trespass. Predominant documents found in these chancery causes include bills (documents the plaintiff's complaint), answers (defendant's response to the plaintiff's complaint), decrees (court's decision), depositions, affidavits, correspondence, lists of heirs, deeds, plats, wills, records involving enslaved individuals, business records or vital statistics.

Commonly found surnames among the plaintiffs and defendants include Baylor, Beazley (also spelled Beazeley), Boulware, Buckner, Burrus (also spelled Burruss), Carter, Catlett, Chiles, Coleman, Collins, Estes (also spelled Estis), Gatewood, Gray, Hackett, Harris, Johnston, Jones, Kidd, Long, Mason, Miller, Norment, Pare, Peatross, Rennolds, Robinson, Sale, Samuel, Smith, Southworth, Sutton, Taliaferro, Taylor, Timberlake, Tompkins, Turner, Woolfolk, Wright, and Yates.

These records contain 1 folder of “Orphan Chancery” which is processed but not indexed. These records contain parts, often single items, of chancery causes that could not be further identified as belonging to a certain case.

These records also contain 1 folder of “Chancery decrees from foreign jurisdictions,” which is processed but not indexed. The decrees are copies of chancery decrees obtained from other Virginia localities that were found while processing the Caroline County chancery causes. They originated from the following localities: Richmond City; Spotsylvania County, Essex County, and King George County.

Biographical / historical:

Context for Record Type: Chancery Causes are cases of equity. According to Black's Law Dictionary they are "administered according to fairness as contrasted with the strictly formulated rules of common law." A judge, not a jury, determines the outcome of the case; however, the judge is basing the decision on findings compiled and documented by Commissioners. Chancery causes are useful when researching local history, genealogical information, and land or estate divisions. They are a valuable source of local, state, social, and legal history and serve as a primary source for understanding a locality's history. Chancery causes document the lived experiences of free and enslaved individuals; women; children; people living with physical disabilities or mental health struggles; people living in poverty; defunct institutions and corporate entities; or those that may not have otherwise left traditional written histories.

Locality History: Caroline County was named for Caroline of Anspach, wife of King George II. It was formed from Essex, King and Queen, and King William Counties on 1 May 1728, and additional parts of King and Queen County were added in 1742 and in 1763. The county seat is Bowling Green.

Lost Locality Note: Most loose records and deed books prior to 1836 and will books prior to 1853 were stolen, mutilated, and/or destroyed by Union troops who ransacked the courthouse in May 1864. A near-complete run of order books exists.

Acquisition information:
These records came to the Library of Virginia in a transfer of court papers from Caroline County (Va.) before 1984.
Processing information:

Chancery Causes 1787-1849 were originally processed by an unknown processor. They were reprocessed by G. Crawford in 2005. Additional chancery causes dating from 1762 to 1873, found among Caroline County records stored at the Library of Virgina, were processed S. Nerney in 2012.

Digital images of Chancery Causes 1787-1849 were generated by Crowley Micrographics through the Library of Virginia's Circuit Court Records Preservation Program in 2005.

Digital images of Chancery Causes 1762-1873 were generated by Backstage Library Works through the Library of Virginia's Circuit Court Records Preservation Program in 2012.

Encoded by G. Crawford: April 2007; updated by C. Collins: April 2024.

Arrangement:

Organized by case, of which each is assigned a unique index number comprised of the latest year found in case and a sequentially increasing 3-digit number assigned by the processor as cases for that year are found. Arranged chronologically.

Arrangement of documents within each folder are generally as follows: Bill, Answer, and Final Decree (if found.)

Physical location:
Library of Virginia
Physical description:
Digital images; 8.55 cubic feet (17 boxes)