The Library of Virginia now has some court records online from several
counties in Virginia.   You need Adobe Reader installed on your computer to
read the court records, though.  If you don't have Adobe Reader, go here,
and download it for free, or search for another site that has it for free.
http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep2.html

Here are step-by-step instructions on how to find the court records on the
Lib or VA website.  I've tried to make the instructions simple enough for
beginning computer users to understand.  You may want to print these
instructions to make it easier to follow the steps.  Advanced users can skip
to the main points.

1.  Go to this web page.
http://www.lva.lib.va.us/whatwehave/local/chancery/index.htm
If you can't open it by clicking on it, then you'll need to type the website
address into your web browser.  (web browser = Internet Explorer, Netscape,
etc.)

2.  On the Lib of VA website, read what "Chancery Cause" records are.  If
you want, read the other information on the page.

3.  Click on the words "Start Searching."

4.  Scroll down to the colorful Virginia map.  Click on the button that says
"Locality."  Then, click on the drop-down menu, and click on a county in the
list.  Now, go to step 5 before you do anything else!

5.  Scroll down the page a bit further until you see the words "Enter
Surnames - Surname 1* EQUALS."  In the empty box next to these words, type
in your ancestor's surname.  Now, click the "SUBMIT" button.

6.  You should now see a list of court records that contain your ancestor's
surname.  To the right of each entry is a blue, underlined index number.
Click on one of them.

7.  Now, you should see a summary of the court record.  But, wait!  Don't
stop now.  There may be more valuable information to find!  The ORIGINAL
court record may be just a click away!

8.  Look in the lower left corner of the page for the words "Format
Scanned."  Click on the blue, underlined word "Scanned."

9.  Now, here's where you need Adobe Reader installed on your computer.  You
should see a split screen.  On the left, you should see the words "Page" and
numbers.  On the right, you should see the ORIGINAL court record!

10.  Click on each of the page numbers, one at a time, to view the original
court records.  If you want to print the page, see step 13, below.

11.  If there is a button at the bottom of the list of pages which says
"Next 12," click on it to go to the next set of 12 pages of court records on
your ancestor.  Keep repeating steps 10 and 11 until you have viewed all of
the records for this entry.

12.  To view the next set of court records on your ancestor, go back to step
6.

13.  To print the court records, you have to do it one page at a time, as
you're looking at it.  Use the printer icon, which is located just above the
court record.

I am not affiliated with Lib of VA; I'm someone who loves genealogy and who
enjoys helping others find their ancestors .  I hope these steps will help
you find court records on your ancestors!  You might be thrilled at the
information stored on this Lib of VA site!  I was!!!

Sandy Gilmore
[log in to unmask]

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