I'm going to try answering several people who have responded.
First, Mary Jean....
I'm very familiar with VA research since our Wiliam arrived in Henrico
c1636 and bucket loads of Hatchers still live there. I'm also familiar
with the chancery cases and have ordered a number of them over the past
year or so. I do agree chancery cases are among the most revealing of
court documents but......none found in this case.
To Robert.....
This inventory did not involve land but only personal property. I've
found no settlement docs for this family.
To Janice who asked
"If the widow were considering a marraige with a person already a
father, could the inventory have been a preparation for their version of
a prenuptial agreement?"
Now I find that a MOST interesting question :-)
And I don't have an answer but it would certainly seem in the realm of
possibilities. How DID a widow legally determine her and her childrens'
property in the face of a new marriage if the first husband's estate had
not been settled?
To Steve.........who asked about the will and may have strengthened
Anne's suggestion......hmmmm!
Yes, there appear to be clues in his will. For those who may wish to
read it, see
http://hatcherfamilyassn.com/getperson.php?personID=I39485&tree=WmTheIm
The pertinent paragraph seems to be....
" Item It is further my Will and desire that in the event of the Death
or marriage of my Wife Elizabeth that my Estate with its Increase if any
be disposed of in the following manner, in case of her marriage I lend
unto her during her natural life one third part of my Estate to be
ascertained by valuation; the balance at the same time be equally
divided between my seven children before named. "
To Anne who suggested the widow, Elizabeth, had remarried.
THAT IS POSSIBLE! But if so, it would likely mean that we have
erroneously married off an Elizabeth Hatcher as a daughter of one of our
other Bedford Hatchers, not realizing that Elizabeth was a widow.
Wouldn't be the first time this has happened.
This marriage has always been a problem for me....
Creed Bozwell to Elizabeth Hatcher, 31 Oct 1821 Frankllin Co
The Hatcher inventory and appraisal was taken Nov 1822.
So now I must do some serious digging into the above marriage to see if
this really was a single girl or a widow.
Thanks to all of you for your great suggestions.. Team work always
works!! :-)
Nel
HATCHER website: http://hatcherfamilyassn.com
HALL DNA project:
http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~halldna/HDNAtest.htm
... Digging up the Dead ...
.. Irritating the Living ..
... It's what I do best! ...
On 10/3/2011 2:32 PM, Mary Jean Zimmerman wrote:
> Nel:
> Suggestion:
> Do avail yourself of the research notes offered by the Library of Virginia,
> since it appears your query is related to Virginia. See research notes no
> 6 for county and city records and scroll down to wills and read how the
> state of Virginia laws operated. Note particularly that Chancery Records may
> indeed give you some answers to your questions. Note also that Virginia
> laws of operating on such issues were indeed different from other states
> in which you are perhaps more familiar.
>
> The Library of Virginia is indeed a wonderful educational contributor to
> genealogist researching families in this state. I hope this helps.
> MJZ
> PS FYI, I also have a family member who died in Virginia but circa 1813
> and I did not find his inventory/appraisal until I searched a chancery cause
> that took place in 1823.
>
>
> In a message dated 10/3/2011 2:42:28 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time,
> [log in to unmask] writes:
>
> I see at least two people seem to be confused regarding my question. My
> inquiry relates to an INVENTORY, and not a settlement document.
>
> I'm aware that a settlement can come many years and even decades after
> the death of the father. The inventory usually occurs rather quickly
> after the death and normally precedes the sale of property and the final
> settlement to heirs.
>
> What I have here is an inventory taken 6 years after the father's death.
> The widow was still alive and the oldest child, a dau, was married
> before this inventory was taken. All the rest of the children were still
> minors and this doesn't seem to be a situation where the estate must be
> divided.
>
> Nel
>
> HATCHER website: http://hatcherfamilyassn.com
> HALL DNA project:
> http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~halldna/HDNAtest.htm
>
> ... Digging up the Dead ...
> .. Irritating the Living ..
> ... It's what I do best! ...
>
> On 10/3/2011 8:01 AM, Carolyn H Pappas wrote:
>> Hi,
>> The estate was probably not settled until the widow died or unless one
> of the older children reached his majority (& possibly died)& the property
> had to be divided.
>>
>> ________________________________
>> From: nelhatch<[log in to unmask]>
>> To: [log in to unmask]
>> Sent: Sunday, October 2, 2011 1:09 PM
>> Subject: [VA-ROOTS] A niggly question..............
>>
>> Good morning, y'all
>>
>> I have a question for which I can think of no reasonable answer so will
>> check in with the experts.
>>
>> My man died 1816 in VA [will entered into probate] yet his inventory was
>> not taken until 1822.
>>
>> This man died rather young, leaving 6 young children, the youngest being
>> 1 yr old. His inventory showed he owned 4 slaves and the usual
>> collection of household "stuff."
>>
>> What would be the circumstances that would delay an inventory for that
>> long? My overall experience has been that these were taken relatively
>> soon after the individual died.
>>
>> Thanks in advance for any suggestions.
>>
>> Nel Hatcher
>>
>> HATCHER website: http://hatcherfamilyassn.com
>> HALL DNA project:
>> http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~halldna/HDNAtest.htm
>>
>> ... Digging up the Dead ...
>> .. Irritating the Living ..
>> ... It's what I do best! ...
>>
>> On 8/3/2011 12:24 PM, Brooks, Vincent (LVA) wrote:
>>> The Library of Virginia (LVA) is pleased to announce the availability of
>>> additional Prince Edward County chancery causes. The images have been
>>> added to the Chancery Records Index
>>> <http://www.virginiamemory.com/collections/chancery/> (CRI) on
> Virginia
>>> Memory<http://www.virginiamemory.com/> . The newly added Prince
> Edward
>>> County chancery images span the years 1754 through 1883. Combined with
>>> the previously released images for Prince Edward County, the locality's
>>> chancery causes have been digitized for the years 1754 through 1913.
>>>
>>> This locality joins forty-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 5.6 million digital
>>> chancery images. Additional localities are presently being scanned and
>>> will be posted in the coming months. However, because of reductions to
>>> the Library of Virginia's budget in recent years, 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. Please see the
>>> Chancery Records Index for a listing of the available locality chancery
>>> collections.
>>>
>>> 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]
>>> <mailto:[log in to unmask]> .
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Vincent T. Brooks
>>>
>>> Senior Local Records Archivist
>>>
>>> The Library of Virginia: Archives of the Commonwealth
>>>
>>> 800 E. Broad St.
>>>
>>> Richmond, VA 23219
>>>
>>> 804/225-4452 (voice)
>>>
>>> 804/692-2277 (fax)
>>>
>>> Website: http://www.lva.virginia.gov
>>> <blocked::http://www.lva.virginia.gov/>
>>>
>>> Blog: Out of the Box
>>> <http://www.virginiamemory.com/blogs/out_of_the_box/>
>>>
>>> [log in to unmask]
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
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