Well, some examples of what I got from the two files from the cases in Buckingham County, a completely burned county prior to 1869 as you well know, included much pre-fire information:
a complete list (schedule)of household and other personal property
a list of debts owed to family, business associates, etc. (one g-g-grandfather was a merchant; the other a farmer)
a list of real property held with references to when and how purchased and from whom
affadavits by family members and associates relating to various details of the financial situation
(There are probably more details which are escaping my memory right now.)
So, this information is essential to genealogical research, which is not just about names, dates and relationships, but also about reconstructing the lives of our ancestors. A person in bankruptcy had to reveal everything to the court. That's what's in those case files in Philadelphia!! I had to sit and abstract information from them because they were too thick to photocopy. I know that getting to Philly is not easy for most people, but anyone with ancestors in this time period really would want to check to see if there is a bankruptcy case based on the 1867 federal Bankruptcy Act. I should add that the branch in Philadelphia only holds such records for PA, DE, MD, VA, DC, and WV; other regional archives cover other regions of the country.
I've been slowly copying the names and residences of the people in one of the index volumes in hopes of publishing a list, but I do mean SLOWLY. And, I don't get to Philadelphia that often either to do this work even though it's just a short train ride up there from Washington and easy to get to from 30th Street Station. None of this material has been microfilmed for Virginia yet, unfortunately!
Eric
-----Original Message-----
From: [log in to unmask] [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: Tuesday, February 11, 2003 9:52 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Homestead Deeds in Virginia
Hello to the list
I am sure Eric has given us a very useful info here on the Homestead
deeds...but I would love to see the genealogical data that was gleaned from
these records...would anyone share examples of these findings?
Thanks Alice in Fluvanna
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