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] [log in to unmask] <blocked::mailto:[log in to unmask]> [note new email] ______________________________________ To subscribe, change options, or unsubscribe please see the instructions at http://listlva.lib.va.us/archives/va-hist.html