Fauquier County (Va.) Chancery Causes, 1759-1919 (bulk 1830-1890)

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

Summary

Creator:
Fauquier County (Va.) Circuit Court.
Language:
English

Background

Scope and content:

Fauquier County (Va.) Chancery Causes, 1759-1919, 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 Adams, Anderson, Armistead, Ashby, Bailey, Baker, Ball, Barbee, Beale, Blackwell, Bowen, Brent, Brooke, Brown, Byrne, Carr, Carter, Chapman, Chilton, Chinn, Cocke, Cooper, Crump, Davis, Digges, Dixon, Dodd, Dulin, Edmonds, Embrey (also spelled Embry), Fant, Farrow, Fishback, Fisher, Fitzhugh, Fletcher, Flowerree, Foley, Foster, Fox, Freeman, Gaines, Gibson, Glascock, Gordon, Graham, Gray, Green, Grigsby, Hall, Hampton, Harris, Harrison, Heflin, Helm, Hickerson, Hicks, Hitt, Hord, Horner, Hudnall, Hume, Hunton, Hutchison, Jackson, James, Jeffries, Jennings, Jett, Johnson, Johnston, Jones, Keith, Kelly, Kemper, Kincheloe, Lake, Latham, Lawson, Lee, Lewis, Maddux (also spelled Maddox), Marr, Mallory, Marshall, Martin, McClanahan (also spelled McClanaham), McDonald, Moore, Morehead, Morgan, Murray, Nelson, Norris, Obannon (also spelled Obanion), Owens, Page, Pattie, Payne, Peyton, Philips, Phillips, Pickett, Pollard, Porter, Priest, Ransdell, Rector, Rixey, Robinson, Rogers, Rust, Saunders, Scott, Seaton, Settle, Shackelford, Shumate, Sinclair, Smith, Stewart, Stone, Stribling, Strother, Suddoth, Sullivan, Taylor, Thomas, Thompson, Triplett, Turner, Utterback, Walden, Wallace, Ward, Warder, Weaver, Welch, Wheatley, White, Williams, Wilson, and Withers.

The Clerks Postage Account is involved in 25 suits between 1832 and 1850, while Fletcher & Bro is involved in 13 suits between 1886 and 1908.

These records also contain one folder of “Orphan Chancery,” which has been 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.

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: Fauquier County was named for Francis Fauquier, lieutenant governor of Virginia from 1758 to 1768. It was formed in 1759 from Prince William County. The county seat is Warrenton.

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.) However, some of these materials were scanned with the bills, answers, and decrees at the end of the case file.

Physical location:
Library of Virginia
Physical description:
Digital images