Franklin County (Va.) Partitions, circa 1807-1900

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

Background

Scope and content:

Franklin County (Va.) Partitions, circa 1807-1900, are court records related to the division of property, mainly land and slaves. Many of these records origniated from suits heard in the chancery court and law court. Once the suit was finally heard documents that recorded the division of property including assignments of dowery, land surveys, plats, commissioners' reports, and division of slaves were removed from the suits by the court clerk and filed as a separate court series called "partitions." Information found in these records include the name of individual whose property was partitioned, names of the recipients of the property, how much they received, and a description of the property. Partitions involving the division of slaves include the names of the slaves, ages, value, and in some instances family relationships among the slaves.

Biographical / historical:

Franklin County was named for Benjamin Franklin and was formed from Bedford and Henry Counties in 1785. The county court first met on 2 January 1786. Part of Patrick County was added in 1848. The county seat is Rocky Mount.

Acquisition information:
These items came to the Library of Virginia in a transfer of court papers from Franklin County.
Arrangement:

There is no arrangement.

Physical location:
Library of Virginia
Physical description:
0.45 cu.ft. (1 box)