The Library of Virginia (LVA) is pleased to announce the initial posting of Rockbridge County's digitally reformatted chancery causes.  The images have been added to the existing index on Library's on-line Chancery Records Index <http://www.lva.lib.va.us/whatwehave/local/chancery/index.htm>  and are now available for searching through the LVA website.  Due to the large number of images in this collection (projected to be over 600,000), partial postings will be made as the reformatting work progresses.  Presently, the Rockbridge County chancery digital images cover the years 1781 through 1867.  Rockbridge County joins the growing list of localities whose chancery causes have been preserved 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.  Please see the Chancery Records Index for a listing of additional locality chancery collections that are available. 
 
Chancery causes are cases that are decided on the basis of equity and fairness as opposed to the strictly formulated rules of common law cases.  Chancery cases are especially 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 often contain correspondence; property lists, including slaves; lists of heirs; and vital statistics, along with many other records.  Some of the more common types of chancery causes involve divisions of the estate of a person who died intestate (without a will); divorces; settlements of dissolved business partnerships; and resolutions of land disputes.
 
 
Vincent T. Brooks
Senior Local Records Archivist
The Library of Virginia
800 E. Broad St.
Richmond, VA  23219
804/225-4452 (voice)
804/692-2277 (fax)
http://www.lva.virginia.gov [note new address]
[log in to unmask] [note new email]
 

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