Spotsylvania County (Va.) Chancery Causes, 1812-1961 (bulk 1904-1912)

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:

Chancery Causes, 1812-1913 use digital images can be found on the Chancery Records Index available electronically at the website of the Library of Virginia.

Chancery Causes, 1914-1961 are unprocessed. Contact Archives Reference Services for availability.

Terms of access:

There are no restrictions.

Preferred citation:

Spotsylvania County (Va.) Chancery Causes, 1812-1961. (Cite style of suit [and chancery index no. if available]). Local government records collection, Spotsylvania County Court Records. The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia, 23219.

Summary

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

Spotsylvania County (Va.) Chancery Causes, 1812-1961. (Cite style of suit [and chancery index no. if available]). Local government records collection, Spotsylvania County Court Records. The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia, 23219.

Background

Scope and content:

Spotsylvania County (Va.) Chancery Causes, 1812-1961 (bulk 1904-1912), 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.

Infant's guardian requests the sale of Henry, an enslaved man, currently in jail for assaulting a white person.

Sally and Henry Coleman, married couple and formerly enslaved, owned a tract of land. Following Henry's death, the family members sued to divide and sale the land. The parcel of land is called the Sally Ham tract (Ham the maiden name of Sally.) The property is located on the "mineral belt" adjacent to Mitchel Gold.

Divorce case of Peter Allan against Mary, his spouse, who deserted him before the marriage could be consummated. Mary married the Peter when she was 16 or 17 years old when he was 26 years old. Mary's mother stated that she named her daughter Virgin Mary. In the divorce case, the defendant is referred to as Virgin Mary or the alias of Virgin Mary Stewart or Virgin Mary Jordan. These names are what Mary later decided to call herself. Peter Allan made several attempts to get the defendant to move back home with him which she refused to do because he was "very mean" to her and she stated to her mother that she would never return to him.

The petitioner and other landowners in the county of Spotsylvania wanted permission to allow acces of an "Electric Tram Way" through their lands. The proposed route for the tram would be from Fredericksburg to Chancellorsville along the right of way of the turnpike from Chancellorsville to the Orange line near the Wilderness Store.

Biographical / historical:

Context of 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: Spotsylvania County was named for Alexander Spotswood, lieutenant governor of Virginia from 1710 to 1722. It was formed from Essex, King William, and King and Queen Counties by a statute adopted in 1720 to take effect on 1 May 1721. The county seat is Spotsylvania.

Lost Locality Notes: Many loose county court papers prior to 1839, when the courthouse moved from Fredericksburg to Spotsylvania Courthouse, are missing. Volumes that record deeds, court orders, and wills exist. The district court, superior court, and circuit court records of Spotsylvania County from 1813 to 1889 are in Fredericksburg.

Acquisition information:
These records came to the Library of Virginia in a transfer of court papers from Spotsylvania County (Va.) in 2008 under the accession number 43739.
Processing information:

Processed by C. Underwood and J. Porter in 2014. There are no plans to process and index the 1914-1961 records at this time.

Encoded by G. Crawford: 2015; Updated by E. Swain: July 2024.

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.

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

Physical location:
Library of Virginia
Physical description:
30.5 cubic feet (66 boxes); Digital images.