Tag Archives: Chancery Records Index

- And They’re Off Too!

Published 7 June 2011

 

The van is loaded and ready to go to our digital imaging vendor Backstage Library Works.

The City of Petersburg chancery records scanning project officially began on Friday June 3! The first 50 boxes of case-files were loaded for transfer to LVA’s digital vendor (Backstage Library Works) in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. Imaging of these fragile court papers will begin next week and resulting images will be posted to the Chancery Records Index (CRI) after ensuring they meet strict preservation and quality control standards. The records date from 1787 to 1912 and consist of 150 cubic feet, including bills of complaint, affidavits, wills, business records, correspondence, and photographs.

Partially funded by a $155,071 grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH), this project marks the second chancery collection housed at the Library of Virginia to receive federal grant support in 2011. The Library was one of only 33 institutions nationwide to receive a grant in the Humanities Collections and Reference Resources category and one of only two state archives awarded grants by NEH.

Prior to 1860 Petersburg had the largest population of freedmen in the Mid-Atlantic states. The records offer social, demographic, and economic details that affected state, regional, and national politics; legal decisions; and institutions. The evolution of Petersburg’s economy from one based on tobacco to one centered on milling and manufacturing can be explored through the chancery records. The importance of Petersburg as a prosperous and diverse city—the … read more »

Posted in Chancery Court Blog Posts
Also tagged in: , ,
2 Comments
Share |

- Loudoun County Chancery Now Available Online!

Published 21 April 2011

107_1897_005_0139-Loudoun Merry Go Round

  Did you ever wonder where “Egypt” was in Loudoun County or how the Civil War affected the settlement of estates when legatees lived outside of Virginia?  Or did you ever wonder about how the courts dealt with slaves when their owners died? Or what happens when someone makes a bequest but does not use the exact name of the group in their will?

  If you have ever wondered about historical questions involving Loudoun County, Virginia, there’s a new and valuable resource available from the Library of Virginia, which helps to preserve and make accessible the chancery records from Loudoun County from 1758 to 1912. The records are the latest local records to be processed, indexed and digitally reformatted as part of the Library’s innovative Circuit Court Records Preservation Program. The records can be accessed in the Chancery Records Index  in Virginia Memory. Loudoun County is the 49th jurisdiction in Virginia to have its records preserved and made available in perpetuity.  The Library of Virginia has posted more than five million digital images to date as part of the chancery program, and more locality records are in the pipeline.

          Map of Loudoun County, Virginia.

“These records are important because they help document the rich history of Loudoun County and its inhabitants,” said Carl Childs, director of Local Records Services at the Library.  “To truly understand the history of a … read more »

Posted in Chancery Court Blog Posts, What's New in the Archives
Also tagged in: ,
Leave a comment
Share |

- And They’re Off!

Published 17 February 2011

Plat from an Augusta County chancery cause.

The long anticipated start of the Augusta County Chancery scanning project has begun! The first 50 boxes of chancery cases were transferred to LVA’s digital vendor (Backstage Library Works) in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, on February 4th. Scanning of the papers began last week on the portion of the collection dated from 1867 to 1912. Case files dated from 1745 to 1866 will be scanned at a later date after archivists complete additional arrangement, indexing, and conservation of these fragile papers.

The Augusta County chancery causes are the most voluminous of any locality in Virginia and are one of the longest and most complete continuous collections of chancery records of any locality in the country. They document an unusually large geographic area. For the period 1745 to 1770, the boundaries of Augusta County encompassed most of western Virginia and what became the states of West Virginia, Kentucky, Illinois, and Ohio, and parts of present-day Pennsylvania as far north as Pittsburgh. In fact, the Augusta County court held sessions at Fort Pitt in Pittsburgh when claim to that area, known as the West Augusta District, was in dispute. Even after the county was reduced to roughly its present size in 1778, the Augusta County Court continued to be the repository for chancery causes from 28 localities, which were heard by the Staunton Superior Court of Chancery from 1801 … read more »

Posted in Chancery Court Blog Posts
Also tagged in: , , ,
Leave a comment
Share |

- IRON, WHISKEY, RAILROADS, AND RACE ARE FINDS IN NEWLY PROCESSED CHANCERY COLLECTIONS

Published 5 January 2011

A page from a stock certificate book used as an exhibit in the Craig County case of Kanawha Valley Bank vs. Manganese Iron & Coal Co., etc., 1911-011.

Transcript of Sen. Glasgow’s letter.

(Editor’s Note: The Library of Virginia is pleased to announce that scanning has now been performed on the Craig County and Pulaski County chancery causes. The digital collections are now available online through the Chancery Records Index.)

The Library of Virginia is pleased to announce that processing and indexing of the Craig County and Pulaski County chancery causes is now complete.  Each of Virginia’s circuit courts created chancery records that contain considerable historical and genealogical information. Because the records rely so heavily on testimony from witnesses, they offer a unique glimpse into the lives of Virginians from the early 18th century through the First World War. The indexes for both counties have been added to the Library’s online Chancery Records Index and are now available for research.

Craig County chancery covers the years 1853-1942, with the bulk of the cases falling between 1853 and 1912.  One suit of particular interest to researchers of African American education is the suit of Paris W. Compton vs. Admr. of Cornelius Compton, 1913-009, in which Paris was suing his father’s administrator to receive his inheritance.  In his bill, he states that he and his mother had moved to “Ardmore near the city of Philadelphia in the State of Pennsylvania, at which place your complainant has been attending school, for the … read more »

Posted in Chancery Court Blog Posts
Also tagged in: , , , , , , , , ,
Leave a comment
Share |

- Grant Awarded to Aid in Digitizing Augusta County Chancery

Published 21 December 2010

A broadside advertising a land sale made by decree of the Augusta County Circuit Court circa 1856.

The Library of Virginia’s Local Records Services Branch was recently awarded a $150,000 grant from the National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC) to support the scanning of the Augusta County Chancery Causes dating from 1745 to 1912.  NHPRC, the grant funding arm of the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), recognized the national significance of the Augusta County collection and validated the importance of and great benefits provided by LVA’s ongoing digital chancery initiative.  

Chancery causes are invaluable to family historians and those interested in studying the history of a locality or region and its inhabitants. Chancery causes are legal proceedings that could not be decided readily by existing written laws. Decisions were made by a county justice or judge, not a jury, and on the basis of fairness, or equity, in place of the strictly formulated rules of common law.  

The Augusta County chancery causes are the most voluminous of any locality in Virginia and are one of the longest and most complete continuous collections of chancery records of any locality in the country. They document an unusually large geographic area. For the period 1745 to 1770, the boundaries of Augusta County encompassed most of western Virginia and what became the states of West Virginia, Kentucky, Illinois, and Ohio, and parts of present-day Pennsylvania as far north as Pittsburgh. In fact, the Augusta … read more »

Posted in Chancery Court Blog Posts
Also tagged in: , , , ,
Leave a comment
Share |

- Take a Bow. Five Million Documents Scanned!

Published 15 October 2010

Attendees compare inkjet copies of selected original images from the Goochland chancery collection.

Library of Virginia (LVA) staff, partners, and dignitaries gathered at the Goochland County courthouse Thursday to celebrate a milestone in a project that aims to put Virginia’s historic chancery court documents online.

The Goochland County Chancery Causes include the five millionth chancery image scanned by the Library of Virginia’s innovative Circuit Court Records Preservation Program. The records are the latest local records to be processed, indexed and digitally reformatted. “It’s an opportunity to celebrate what we’ve accomplished as a team,” said Carl Childs, Local Records Services Director. “It really is a team effort. It takes many different areas of the LVA working closely with the staff at the courthouses to complete these projects.”

The chancery digitization project began in 2005 with a pilot program in Fauquier County and now includes collections from 47 Virginia localities. Each of Virginia’s circuit courts created chancery records that contain considerable historical and genealogical information. Because these records rely so heavily on testimony from witnesses, they offer a unique glimpse into the lives of Virginians from the early 18th century to the eve of the First World War. A broad spectrum of citizens—rich and poor, black and white, slave and free—appear in the records. Chancery cases are a valuable source of local, state, social, and legal history and serve as a primary source for understanding local history.  They show the … read more »

Posted in Chancery Court Blog Posts
Also tagged in: , , , , ,
Leave a comment
Share |

- Charlotte County Chancery Causes Now Available

Published 26 August 2010

The Library of Virginia (LVA) is pleased to announce the completion of an additional digital scanning project. The processing, indexing, and digital reformatting of the Charlotte County chancery causes is now complete. The images have been added to the Chancery Records Index (CRI) on Virginia Memory. The Charlotte County chancery images span the years 1765 through 1912 (the index covers through 1914).

This locality joins forty-five counties and cities whose chancery causes have been digitally reformatted and made available through the Library’s innovative Circuit Court Records Preservation Program, which seeks to preserve the historic records of Virginia’s Circuit Courts. 

To date, The Library of Virginia has posted over 4.9 million digital chancery images. Additional localities are presently being scanned and will be posted in the coming months. However, due to the recent reductions to the Library of Virginia’s budget, the pace of the agency’s digital chancery projects will necessarily proceed more slowly. Please know these projects remain a very high priority for the agency and it is hoped that the initiative can be resumed in full when the economy and the agency’s budget situation improve. Please see the Chancery Records Index for a listing of the available locality chancery collections.

Chancery causes are cases that are decided on the basis of equity and fairness as opposed to the strictly formulated rules of common law … read more »

Posted in Chancery Court Blog Posts
Also tagged in: , , , ,
2 Comments
Share |

- Russell County Chancery Causes Now Available

Published 11 June 2010

The Library of Virginia (LVA) is pleased to announce the completion of an additional digital scanning project.  The processing, indexing, and digital reformatting of the Russell County chancery causes is now complete.  The images have been added to the Chancery Records Index (CRI) on Virginia Memory.  The Russell County chancery images span the years 1864 through 1933 (the index covers through 1960).

This locality joins forty-four counties and cities whose chancery causes have been digitally reformatted and made available through the Library’s innovative Circuit Court Records Preservation Program, which seeks to preserve the historic records of Virginia’s Circuit Courts.

To date, the Library of Virginia has posted over 4.8 million digital chancery images.  Additional localities are presently being scanned and will be posted in the coming months.  However, due to the recent budget reductions to the Library of Virginia’s budget, the pace of the agency’s digital chancery projects will necessarily proceed more slowly.  Please know these projects remain a very high priority for the agency and it is hoped that the initiative can be resumed in full when the economy and the agency’s budget situation improve.  Please see the Chancery Records Index for a listing of the available locality chancery collections.

Chancery causes are cases that are decided on the basis of equity and fairness as opposed to the strictly formulated rules of common … read more »

Posted in Chancery Court Blog Posts
Also tagged in: , , , ,
Leave a comment
Share |