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Franklin County (Va.) Chancery Causes, 1787-1934, 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.

Franklin County (Va.) Free Negro and Slave Records, 1837-1864, consist of patrol appointments (1853-1862); proceedings of slaves requisitioned for public use (1863-1864); proceedings of free negroes requisitioned for public use (1864); free negro lists (1837-1838); free negro registrations (1860-1864); and indentures of free negroes (1861).

Franklin County (Va.) Judgments (Freedom Suits), 1808, consists of one freedom suit: Nanny Pegee et cetera versus John Hook and Zachariah Stanley, 1808 Apr. These are the original court papers from the freedom suit of slaves Nanny Pegee and her children against Hook and Stanley alleging charges of trespass assault battery (often abbreviated TAB) and false imprisonment. Included are the papers associated with the original suit from Montgomery County, VA, including Pegee's narratio, pleas, bonds, and copious affidavits and depositions as well as papers associated with the retrials and appeals in various Franklin County courts, the Supreme Court of Appeals in Richmond, and the district court in Staunton.

Franklin County (Va.) Letters, Mark Anthony to William Ray, 1849-1852. The letters pertain to Anthony's efforts to collect bonds from various people and his arrangements to hire out slaves from several estates, including the estate of William Ralph Smith, John Hall, and Frazer's estate in Campbell County. Anthony discusses the market for hiring out slaves, pregnancies among various slaves, and the condition of a young slave whose arm has been injured and may require amputation.

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.

Franklin County (Va.) Records, 1799-1865, undated, consist of the following series: Tax and Fiscal Records, Marriage Records, Court Records (subfield series include Criminal Records), Bonds/Commissions/Oaths, Business Records, Land Records, County Administrative Records (subfield series include Overseers of the Poor Records), Road and Bridge Records and Wills.