Frederick County (Va.) Chancery Causes, 1860-1912

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:

There are no restrictions.

Terms of access:

Patrons are to use digital images of Frederick County (Va.) Chancery Causes, 1860-1912, found on the Chancery Records Index available electronically at the website of the Library of Virginia. Pre-1860 Frederick County (Va.) Chancery Causes are available on microfilm.

Preferred citation:

Frederick County (Va.) Chancery Causes, 1860-1912. (Cite style of suit and chancery index no.). Local Government Records Collection, Frederick County Court Records. The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia.

Summary

Creator:
Frederick County (Va.) Circuit Court.
Language:
English
Preferred citation:

Frederick County (Va.) Chancery Causes, 1860-1912. (Cite style of suit and chancery index no.). Local Government Records Collection, Frederick County Court Records. The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia.

Background

Scope and content:

Frederick County (Va.) Chancery Causes, 1860-1912, are indexed into the Chancery Records Index. Cases are identified by style of suit consisting of plaintiff and defendant names. Surnames of others involved in a suit, including secondary plaintiffs and defendants, witnesses, deponents and affiants, and family members with surnames different from the plaintiff or defendant are indexed. Chancery causes often involved the following: divisions of estates or land, disputes over wills, divorces, debt, and business disputes. Predominant documents found in chancery causes include bills (plaintiff's complaint), answers (defendant's response), decrees (court's decision), depositions, affidavits, correspondence, lists of heirs, deeds, wills, slave records, business records or vital statistics, among other items. Plats, if present, are noted, as are wills from localities with an incomplete record of wills or localities other than the one being indexed.

Chancery cases 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.

John Whets bought his wife Nancy out of slavery, but when he died some of their children were sold into slavery to pay his debts - but one child, George, was only to be held in slavery until he turned 28. The suit was brought to prevent George being sold in Richmond and transported to the deep South.

References a slave who was bought by his wife but never technically freed. Also references their son who attempted to buy his wife out of slavery.

Includes a pamphlet for a girls' school in Winchester that includes course information and prices.

Hannah Green, a slave, and her children were freed by the will of Susan Grove and also given money.

Petition to change name.

Includes information on the history of the M. E. Church, South.

The judge, at the request of the plaintiffs, overruled a 1858 will that directed slaves to be emancipated and instead sold them but instructed that the slave families not be split up. Depositions reference Union and Confederate factions in Winchester during the Civil War.

Estate settlement of a former slave - reveals information about slave life. Two slaves, William and Rebecca Myers, were owned by separate masters but lived together.

Dispute over whether the county or the city controlled the courthouse property they both shared. Includes plat that shows layout of courthouse grounds.

Includes 1858 will of Nancy Alexander in which she freed slaves and gave them money to move to a free state or Liberia.

Concerned with how money given to city of Winchester by John Handley is used.

Includes details about Stephens City's founding and history.

Biographical / historical:

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.

Frederick County was named in honor of Frederick Louis, Prince of Wales and eldest son of King George II. It was formed from Orange County by a statute of 1738 that stipulated that when the population was large enough the new county government would begin to function. The county court first met on 11 November 1743. Part of Augusta County was added in 1754. The county seat is the city of Winchester.

Acquisition information:
Digital images were generated by Backstage Library Works through the Library of Virginia's Circuit Court Records Preservation Program.
Physical location:
Library of Virginia
Physical description:
Digital images.