King George County (Va.) Chancery Causes, 1802-1922

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:

King George County (Va.) 1802-1922, 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:

King George County (Va.) Chancery Causes, 1802-1922. (Cite style of suit and chancery index no.). Local Government Records Collection, King George County Court Records. The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia.

Summary

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

King George County (Va.) Chancery Causes, 1802-1922. (Cite style of suit and chancery index no.). Local Government Records Collection, King George County Court Records. The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia.

Background

Scope and content:

King George (Va.) Chancery Causes, 1802-1922, 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.

St. Leger Landon Carter emancipated in his will a number of enslaved people, some of whom had already moved to Philadelphia, Penn. Carter left these enslaved individuals a considerable amount of money and property, while also stipulating that the newly free people could not be sent to Liberia without their consent and while they had to leave the state of Virginia, they could choose where they moved to.

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:King George County was named of in honor of King George I. The county was formed from Richmond County by a statute of 23 December 1720. The county court first met on 19 May 1721. The county seat is King George.

Lost Locality Notes:: Created by an act of 1720 to take effect on May 19, in 1721. Most loose records prior to 1830 are missing. Volumes that record deeds, court orders, and wills exist.

Acquisition information:
These items came to the Library of Virginia in transfer of court papers from King George County in 2005 under the accession number 41901.
Processing information:

The King George Chancery series was processed and indexed completely before the King George Judgements were examined. Chancery causes were found within the Judgements series and pulled to be added into the King George Chancery Causes series. These pulled records were then processed, indexed, and added to the end of the existing series but not interfiled.

King George was largely processed by a field processing archivist, but completed by a Library of Virginia archivist in 2007.

Encoded by G. Crawford: 2008; updated by J. Taylor: June 2023.

Backstage Library Services generated digital images from microfilm reels of the collection in 2018 funded by Circuit Court Records Preservation program.

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 as follows: Bill, Answer, and Final Decree (if found.)

Physical location:
State Record Center Archival Annex
Physical description:
Digital images; 19.3 cubic feet (41 boxes)