The Library of Virginia (LVA) is pleased to announce the completion of
two more digital scanning projects. The processing, indexing, and
digital reformatting of the Prince Edward County and Portsmouth City
chancery causes is now complete.  The images have been added to the
existing index on the recently redesigned Chancery Records Index
<http://www.virginiamemory.com/collections/chancery/>  (CRI) on Virginia
Memory <http://www.virginiamemory.com/> .  The Prince Edward County
chancery images date between 1856 and 1913 (additional pre-1856 are
currently being processed and will be added at a later date). The
Portsmouth materials cover the years 1859 through 1932. These localities
join twenty-eight 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 3 million digital
chancery images from twenty-nine localities. Please see the Chancery
Records Index for a listing of the available locality chancery
collections. Seventeen 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. 

 

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.

 

If you have any comments, questions, or corrections regarding the CRI or
scanned images, please contact [log in to unmask]
<blocked::mailto:[log in to unmask]> .

 

 

Vincent T. Brooks

Senior Local Records Archivist

The Library of Virginia

 

 

 


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