Nelson County (Va.) Chancery Causes, 1808-1964

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:
Nelson County (Va.) Circuit Court.
Language:
English

Background

Scope and content:

Nelson County (Va.) Chancery Causes, 1808-1964 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. Photocopies of documents may be found in the collection.

These records contain two boxes of "Orphan Chancery" which are processed but not indexed. These records contain parts, often single items, of chancery causes which could not be 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: Nelson County was formed in 1807 from Amherst County. The county was named for Thomas Nelson, Jr., governor of Virginia from June to November 1781. The county seat is Lovingston.

Acquisition information:
These items came to the Library of Virginia in transfer of court records from Nelson County in 2005 under the accession numbers 42148. An additional record came to the Library of Virginia in 1988 from Dave Zullo under accession number 33162c.
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.)

Post-1912 records are unprocessed.

Physical location:
The Library of Virginia
Physical description:
Digital images; 184.87 cubic feet (353 boxes).