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Lancaster County (Va.) Fiduciary Records, 1656-1927. Local Government Records Collection, Lancaster County Court Records. The Library of Virginia, Lancaster, Virginia.
These items came to the Library of Virginia in transfer of court papers from Lancaster County in part from accessions 41560 and 41565.
Lancaster County was named probably for the English county. It was formed from Northumberland and York Counties sometime between 26 March and 16 September 1651. The county court first met on 1 January 1652.
Part of the process of settling the estate after an individual's death was to take a probate inventory. The inventory listed the personal property in the possession of the owner at the time of death. The local county court assigned a person or group of people to make the inventory and value the estate. A credit-based economy, where tobacco was used as currency more often than cash was used, made taking inventories a necessary procedure. Before any outstanding debts were settled, the surviving members of the family needed to assess the value of the property. In Virginia, these inventories did not include buildings or land. Slaves included were often listed by name and individual value. Inventories taken after a person's death provide valuable information on everyday life such as social class, wealth, and occupation.
Lancaster County (Va.) Fiduciary Records, 1656-1927, include miscellaneous records filed in a local court by trustees, administrators, executors, guardians, and committees that related to the performance of their duties managing a person's estate. These records typically include the following; bonds, appraisements, audits, inventories, accounts, estate divisions, settlements, dowery records, etc. Information related to enslaved people are commonly found in these records.
This collection primarily consists of estate administrator settlements, estate inventories, dower allotments, estate divisions, estate sales, and guardian accounts. Information recorded include the names of estate owners, list of personal property owned (including enslaved people), quantity and value of each item, and names of recipients of property. Some fiduciary records include additional information regarding enslaved people such as age, family relationships, physical or mental condition, sold to someone else, and if they were a runaway.
A donation to the Library of Virginia's Adopt Virginia's History program by the National Society Daughters of the Barons of Runnemede has helped to fund the conservation for Lancaster County Fiduciary Records, 1656-1714.
Lancaster County Fiduciary Records, 1656-1714, conserved by the Etherington Conservation Center, 2011.