Alleghany County (Va.) Chancery Causes, 1831-1913

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:

Alleghany County (Va.) Chancery Causes, 1831-1913, 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:

Alleghany County (Va.) Chancery Causes, 1831-1913. (Cite style of suit and chancery index no.). Local government records collection, Alleghany County Court Records. The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia, 23219.

Summary

Extent:
Digital images
Creator:
Alleghany County (Va.) Circuit Court.
Language:
English
Preferred citation:

Alleghany County (Va.) Chancery Causes, 1831-1913. (Cite style of suit and chancery index no.). Local government records collection, Alleghany County Court Records. The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia, 23219.

Background

Scope and content:

Alleghany County (Va.) Chancery Causes, 1831-1880, 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.

Development of the upper Valley of Virginia, both pre- and post-Civil War, is reflected in these records. Suits involving hotel, turnpike, and railroad companies are noteworthy. Additionally, some land disputes reference colonial patents and early land grants.

Nearly all suits heard before the court in the 1890s were debt related. This was likely due to a economic depression which began in 1893 and lasted for nearly four years. A conflict over the U.S. currency led to lenders calling in their loans on both a national and local level; the cases in Alleghany were mostly attempts to recover loaned funds.

As the iron industry developed, Alleghany Co. many mines and mining companies were created. The iron industry was the primary source of revenue for the county until the end of the iron era in the early 1900s. Many suits involve mining companies such as the Alleghany Iron Company or the Low Moor Iron Company as parties to the suit or provide information about mining and miners in nineteenth-century Alleghany.

Clifton Forge was a major railway depot due to its location as the dividing point for the Eastern and Western divisions of the Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad. Many suits relate to the effects of the railroad on the area, either involving railroad companies as parties to the suit or providing information on the businesses which developed as an effect of the railroad, such as the hotel industry.

Additionally, there is a box of Orphan Chancery material.

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: Alleghany County bears a variant spelling derived from the name of the Allegheny Mountains that pass along the county's western boundary. It was formed in 1822 from Bath, Botetourt, and Monroe (now in West Virginia) Counties. Subsequent additions were made from Monroe County in 1843 and Bath County in 1847. On 20 March 1991, the General Assembly authorized the consolidation of Alleghany County and the independent city of Clifton Forge into a new independent city of Alleghany. The citizens of both locales voted against the proposal on 5 May 1992, however, and the change did not take effect. In March 2001 Clifton Forge's citizens voted to relinquish city status, and Alleghany County regained the city (now town) of Clifton Forge on 1 July 2001.

Acquisition information:

Chancery Causes, 1831-1880 came to the Library of Virginia in transfer of court papers from Alleghany County in 2022 under accession number 53639.

Chancery Causes, 1881-1913 came to the Library of Virginia in transfer of court papers from Alleghany County in 2023 under accession number 53986.

Custodial history:

Chancery Causes, 1831-1880 transferred to the Library of Virginia from the Circuit Court of Alleghany County in 2022 for processing and reformatting. Original Records returned to the locality in 2023 by request of the clerk of the Circuit Court.

Chancery Causes, 1881-1913 transferred to the Library of Virginia from the Circuit Court of Alleghany County in 2023 for processing and reformatting. Original Records returned to the locality in 2025 by request of the clerk of the Circuit Court.

Processing information:

Digital images for Chancery Causes, 1831-1880 were generated by Backstage Library Works through the Library of Virginia's Circuit Court Records Preservation Program in 2023.

Digital images for Chancery Causes, 1881-1913 were generated by Backstage Library Works through the Library of Virginia's Circuit Court Records Preservation Program in 2025.

Chancery Causes, 1831-1880 were processed by V. Brooks 2022-2023 and Chancery Causes, 1881-1913 were processed by J. Taylor 2023-2024

Chancery Causes, 1881-1913 underwent significant conservation due to large amounts of adhesive tape needing to be removed from the records.

When transferred to the Library of Virginia, the Alleghany County chancery causes were housed in Mylar sleeves and organized in 3-ring binders. Field processing staff in the courthouse ca. 1990 implemented this organization. An index was created for the binders using a File and Packet number as a reference. The File and Packet numbers have been retained after reprocessing at the Library of Virginia. They are indicated in the Local Case File Number (LCFN) field of the Chancery Records Index. Ex: File # 61, Packet # 1 recorded in LCFN as File 61-1.

Encoded by V. Brooks: August 2023; updated by M. Mason, August 2025

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.

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

Physical location:
Library of Virginia
Physical description:
.