PUBLIC "-//Library of Virginia//TEXT (US::Vi::vi03177::A Guide to the Louisa County (Va.) Chancery Causes, 1753-1913 (bulk 1786-1913))//EN" "vi03177.xml" A Guide to the Louisa County (Va.) Chancery Causes, 1753-1913 (bulk 1881-1913) Louisa County (Va.) Chancery Causes, 1753-1913 (bulk 1881-1913) Greg Crawford Library of Virginia © 2010 By The Library of Virginia. All Rights Reserved.

Conditions of Use

Machine-readable finding aid derived from MARC record, created by Greg Crawford, 05 April 2010 Description is in English 2013-11-21 Converted to schema conforming EAD by dtd2schema.vh.xsl. A Guide to the Louisa County (Va.) Chancery Causes, 1753-1913 (bulk 1881-1913)) A Collection in the Library of Virginia Greg Crawford

Library of Virginia 2010 Callie Lou Freed, L. Jones and Field processor Library of Virginia Descriptive Summary The Library of Virginia Louisa County (Va.) Chancery Causes, 1753-1913 (bulk 1881-1913). State Records Center Digital images; 106.9 cubic feet (239 boxes). English Louisa County (Va.) Circuit Court. Administrative Information Access Restrictions

Louisa County (Va.) Chancery Causes, 1753-1913, use digital images found on the Chancery Records Index available electronically at the website of the Library of Virginia.

Use Restrictions

There are no restrictions.

Preferred Citation

Louisa County (Va.) Chancery Causes, 1753-1913 (bulk 1881-1913). (Cite style of suit and chancery index no.). Local government records collection, Louisa County Court Records. The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia, 23219.

Acquisition Information

These records came to the Library of Virginia in a transfer of court papers from Louisa County (Va.) in 2008 under the accession number 43572 and an undated accession.

 Processing Information

A portion of the records were processed in the locality by a field processor in 1997, prior to their transfer to the Library of Virginia. An additional portion was processed and indexed by Library of Virginia staff in 2003. The portion processed by Library of Virginia staff was added onto the end of the series rather than interfiled.

Digital images were generated by PTFS in 2010 through the Library of Virginia's Circuit Court Records Preservation Program.

Encoded by G. Crawford: 2010; updated by J. Taylor: July 2023.

Historical Information

Context for 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: Louisa County was named for Louisa, a daughter of King George II and wife of King Frederick V of Denmark. It was formed from Hanover County in 1742. The county seat is Louisa.

Scope and Content

Louisa County (Va.) Chancery Causes, 1753-1913 (bulk 1881-1913), 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.

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 follows no particular order.

 Adjunct Descriptive Data Related Material

Additional Louisa County Court Records can be found on microfilm at The Library of Virginia web site. Consult "A Guide to Virginia County and City Records on Microfilm."

Post-1913 records remain at the Circuit Court Clerk's office.

See also: "A Guide to the Louisa Milling and Manufacturing Company Cashbook and Ledgers, 1872-1878." An exhibit in the Louisa County Chancery Cause 1890-020: M.P. Vaughn for etc. vs. Louisa Milling and Manufacturing Company.

See also: "A Guide to the H.J. Parrish and Brother Account Books, 1872-1880." An exhibit in the Louisa County Chancery Cause 1888-011: E.A. Saunders for etc. vs. H.J. Parrish etc.

 Selected Suits of Interest

Since the processing of this locality, information gathering standards have changed. At this time there are no suits of interest available for this locality.