A Guide to the Newport News, City of (Va.) Chancery Causes, 1896-1958 Newport News, City of (Va.) Chancery Causes, 1896-1958

A Guide to the Newport News, City of (Va.) Chancery Causes, 1896-1958

A Collection in
the Library of Virginia


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© 2022 By The Library of Virginia. All Rights Reserved.

Processed by: Collection is unprocessed.

Repository
The Library of Virginia
Title
Newport News, City of (Va.) Chancery Causes, 1896-1958
Physical Characteristics
51.49 cubic feet (60 boxes).
Collector
Newport News, City of (Va.) Circuit Court
Location
Library of Virginia
Language
English

Administrative Information

Access Restrictions

Chancery Causes 1896-1958 are unprocessed. Contact Archives Research Services for availability.

Use Restrictions

There are no restrictions.

Preferred Citation

Newport News, City of (Va.) Chancery Causes, 1896-1958. Local government records collection, City of Newport News Court Records. The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia.

Acquisition Information

These records came to the Library of Virginia in a transfer of court papers from the City of Newport News in 2007 under the accession number 43558; additional records came to the Library of Virginia under an undated accession.

Processing Information

These records are unprocessed.

Warwick County Chancery Causes and Newport News Chancery Causes were stored and maintained separately by the County Clerk. It was decided to preserve the records in their discrete series, rather than combine the two. Warwick County Chancery Causes have been processed.

Warwick County Chancery Causes, 1730-1912, have been processed and indexed separately from Newport News; the indexed information can be found on the Chancery Records Index. See the Warwick County (Va.) Chancery Causes, 1860-1912 finding aid for more information.

Newport News remains unprocessed. At this time, there are no plans to process Newport News.

Encoded by G. Crawford: 2022; updated by J. Taylor: February 2024.

Historical Information

Context for Record Type: Chancery Causes are cases of equity. According to Black's Law Dictionary they are "administered according to fairness as contrasted with the strictly formulated rules of common law." A judge, not a jury, determines the outcome of the case; however, the judge is basing the decision on findings compiled and documented by Commissioners. Chancery causes are 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 document the lived experiences of free and enslaved individuals; women; children; people living with physical disabilities or mental health struggles; people living in poverty; defunct institutions and corporate entities; or those that may not have otherwise left traditional written histories.

Locality History: City of Newport News was located in Warwick County, which is now extinct. The origin of the name is uncertain but the phrase "Newportes News" appeared in documents as early as 1619 and probably commemorated Christopher Newport, who made five voyages to Virginia between 1607 and 1619. Newport News was a small settlement until late in the nineteenth century, when it became the eastern terminus of the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway. The Old Dominion Land Company bought land there in 1880 and began laying out a new village in October. Newport News was incorporated as a city by act of the General Assembly in 1896 without ever having been incorporated as a town. On 1 July 1958 Newport News was enlarged by consolidation with the city of Warwick, which then became extinct.

Scope and Content

Newport News, City of (Va.) Chancery Causes, 1896-1958, consists of cases concerning issues of equity brought largely by residents of the county and filed in the circuit court. These cases often involve the following actions: divisions of estates or land, disputes over wills, disputes regarding contracts, debt, divorce, and business disputes. Other less prevalent issues include freedom suits, permissions to sell property, and disputes concerning trespass. Predominant documents found in these chancery causes include bills (documents the plaintiff's complaint), answers (defendant's response to the plaintiff's complaint), decrees (court's decision), depositions, affidavits, correspondence, lists of heirs, deeds, plats, wills, records involving enslaved individuals, business records or vital statistics.

As the collection is unprocessed, it is possible some records from Warwick County may be found in the collection.

These records contain one box of "Orphan Chancery." These records contain parts, often single items, of chancery causes which could not be further identified as belonging to a certain case.

Arrangement

Collection is unprocessed.

Related Material

Additional City of Newport News Court Records can be found on microfilm at The Library of Virginia. Consult "A Guide to Virginia County and City Records on Microfilm."