PUBLIC "-//Library of Virginia//TEXT (US::Vi::vi02505::A Guide to the Henrico County (Va.) Wills, 1775-1931)//EN" "vi02505.xml" A Guide to the Henrico County (Va.) Wills, 1775-1931 Henrico County (Va.) Wills, 1775-1931 1045881-1045890, 1108073, 1122060-1122064 Louise Jones Library of Virginia © 2007 By The Library of Virginia. All Rights Reserved.

Conditions of Use

Machine-readable finding aid derived from being created directly into EAD, created by Louise Jones, 29 November 2007 Description is in English 2013-11-21 Converted to schema conforming EAD by dtd2schema.vh.xsl. A Guide to the Henrico County (Va.) Wills, 1775-1931 A Collection in the Library of Virginia 1045881-1045890, 1108073, 1122060-1122064 Louise Jones

Library of Virginia 2007 Library of Virginia staff Library of Virginia Descriptive Summary The Library of Virginia Henrico County (Va.) Wills, 1775-1931 1045881-1045890, 1108073, 1122060-1122064 State Records Center - Archives Annex, Library of Virginia 16 boxes English Henrico County (Va.) Circuit Court Administrative Information Access Restrictions

There are no restrictions.

Use Restrictions

There are not restrictions.

Preferred Citation

Henrico County (Va.) Wills, 1775-1931. Local Government Records Collection Henrico County, (Va.) Court Records. The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Va. 23219.

Acquisition Information

These items came to the Library of Virginia in shipments of court papers from Henrico County (Va.).

Historical Information

Henrico County was named for Henry, Prince of Wales, the oldest son of James I. It was one of the eight original shires established in 1634.

Individuals dying with a written will died testate. After the death of an individual, his or her will was brought into court, where two of the subscribing witnesses swore that the document was genuine. After the will was proved, the executor was bonded to carry out his or her duties to settle the estate. The court then ordered the will to be recorded.

Recognized in 1634 as an original shire. All county court records prior to 1655 and almost all prior to 1677 are missing. Many records were destroyed by British troops during the Revolutionary War. Post–Revolutionary War county court records exist. Almost all circuit superior court of law and chancery and circuit court records were destroyed by fire during the evacuation of Richmond on April 3, 1865, during the Civil War. The county’s circuit court held its sessions at the state courthouse in Richmond.

 Scope and Content

Henrico County (Va.) Wills, 1775-1931, record the deceased's plan for how his or her estate was to be divided among his or her heirs following his or her death. Information commonly recorded in wills include the name of the deceased, also referred as the testator; names of heirs; a listing of real and personal property (including slaves) and how it was to be divided among the heirs; names of individuals who were to be the will's executors; the date will was written; and the date will was recorded at the court house. Additional record types may be found in this collection such as fiduciary records (inventories and accounts.)

Adjunct Descriptive Data Related Material

Henrico County Court Records can be found on microfilm at the Library of Virginia. Consult "A Guide to Virginia County and City Records on Microfilm."

Henrico County is one of Virginia's Lost Records Localities. Additional Henrico County Court Records may be found in the Virginia Lost Records Localities Collection at the Library of Virginia. Search the Lost Records Localities Database found at the Library of Virginia web site.

 Index Terms Corporate Names: Henrico County (Va.) Circuit Court Subjects: African Americans--History Estates (Law)--Virginia--Henrico County Land subdivision--Virginia--Henrico County Slaveholders--Virginia--Henrico County Slaves--Virginia--Henrico County Geographical Names: Henrico County--History Genre and Form Terms: Local government records--Virginia--Henrico County Wills--Virginia--Henrico County