This is true, but women entering marriage could only hold such property
providing the 18th/19th-century equivalent of a prenup was signed.
I have seen a number of such contracts in Rockbridge County, all designed to
keep the woman/wife-to-be in control of her own property. Still, these were
rare. It was more usual for women to hold property in their own right upon
the deaths of their husbands.
See Lebsock's, __The Free Women of Petersburg__.
JW
To subscribe, change options, or unsubscribe, please see the instructions
at http://listlva.lib.va.us/archives/va-hist.html