Out of the Box » family tree http://www.virginiamemory.com/blogs/out_of_the_box Notes from the Archives at The Library of Virginia Wed, 22 May 2013 17:44:31 +0000 en-US hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.5.1 A Tree Grows In… Chancery! http://www.virginiamemory.com/blogs/out_of_the_box/2010/07/14/a-tree-grows-in-chancery/ http://www.virginiamemory.com/blogs/out_of_the_box/2010/07/14/a-tree-grows-in-chancery/#comments Wed, 14 Jul 2010 10:00:58 +0000 Dale http://www.virginiamemory.com/blogs/out_of_the_box/?p=970


When Mary Walker Cabell died in 1862, a series of chancery suits were filed in Nelson County by her numerous descendants in an attempt to settle her estate.  Such complicated cases could not be remedied by courts of law and were usually decided according to fairness by courts of equity, called chancery courts in Virginia.

In 1863 this hand-drawn family tree was entered into the case to note the lineage on Cabell’s father’s side.  Cabell was the paternal granddaughter of Charles Hill Carter (1733-1802) of Shirley Plantation.  Charles Hill Carter was the grandson of Robert “King” Carter (1663-1732) one of the richest men in 17th century colonial America.  His parents, John Carter and Elizabeth Hill, built Shirley Plantation in 1723.  The home, a private residence in Charles City County, remains in the family today.

This family tree serves as a reminder that chancery court cases are often invaluable to genealogical researchers because courts frequently sought to determine heirs and family connections. Though this example is of the powerful Carter family, most suits concerned ordinary Virginians and some even document the lineage of the enslaved.

This large chancery cause, Executor of Mary Walker Cabell, etc. vs. Peyton H. Skipwith, etc. & Representative of Charles Carter Lee, etc. vs. Executor of Mary Walker Cabell, etc., 1882, is part of the Nelson County Chancery Collection and … read more »

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When Mary Walker Cabell died in 1862, a series of chancery suits were filed in Nelson County by her numerous descendants in an attempt to settle her estate.  Such complicated cases could not be remedied by courts of law and were usually decided according to fairness by courts of equity, called chancery courts in Virginia.

In 1863 this hand-drawn family tree was entered into the case to note the lineage on Cabell’s father’s side.  Cabell was the paternal granddaughter of Charles Hill Carter (1733-1802) of Shirley Plantation.  Charles Hill Carter was the grandson of Robert “King” Carter (1663-1732) one of the richest men in 17th century colonial America.  His parents, John Carter and Elizabeth Hill, built Shirley Plantation in 1723.  The home, a private residence in Charles City County, remains in the family today.

This family tree serves as a reminder that chancery court cases are often invaluable to genealogical researchers because courts frequently sought to determine heirs and family connections. Though this example is of the powerful Carter family, most suits concerned ordinary Virginians and some even document the lineage of the enslaved.

This large chancery cause, Executor of Mary Walker Cabell, etc. vs. Peyton H. Skipwith, etc. & Representative of Charles Carter Lee, etc. vs. Executor of Mary Walker Cabell, etc., 1882, is part of the Nelson County Chancery Collection and is currently closed for processing.  It will be digitized once processed.

-Callie Freed,  Local Records Archivist

To read more about chancery court cases follow this link http://www.lva.virginia.gov/public/guides/rn22_chancery.pdf

Note: Charles Hill Carter, Jr., owner of Shirley Plantation since 1952, died in November 2009.  The following is a link to his obituary in the Richmond Times-Dispatch: http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/lifestyles/announcements/obituaries/article/CCOB221_20091122-005603/307232/

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