The Library of Virginia (LVA) is pleased to announce the completion of
three more digital scanning projects. The processing, indexing, and
digital reformatting of the following localities is now complete and
they have been added to the Chancery Records Index
<http://www.virginiamemory.com/collections/chancery/> (CRI) on Virginia
Memory <http://www.virginiamemory.com/> .
* Charlottesville City, 1889 through 1926
* Elizabeth City County (now Hampton City), 1816 through1933
* Westmoreland County, 1753 through 1902 (additional causes will
be added later)
These localities join thirty 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 3.2 million digital
chancery images. Please see the Chancery Records Index for a listing of
the available locality chancery collections. Thirteen 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
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/>
[log in to unmask] <mailto:[log in to unmask]>
To subscribe, change options, or unsubscribe, please see the instructions at
http://listlva.lib.va.us/archives/va-roots.html
|
