The Library of Virginia (LVA) is pleased to announce that processing,
conservation, and indexing of the original Amherst County chancery
causes housed at the Library of Virginia is now complete. The Library's
on-line Chancery Records Index
<http://www.lva.lib.va.us/whatwehave/local/chancery/index.htm>  has been
updated and these records are now available for searching through the
LVA website. The indexed Amherst County chancery collection covers the
years 1773 through 1879, though additional pre-1913 records remain in
the local Circuit Court Clerk's office.  Amherst 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 (CCRP).  The CCRP 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 <blocked::http://www.lva.virginia.gov/>
[note new address]

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<blocked::mailto:[log in to unmask]>  [note new email]

 


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