A Guide to the Giles County (Va.) Chancery Causes, 1807-1936 (bulk 1870-1910)
A Collection in
the Library of Virginia
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Library of Virginia
The Library of Virginia800 East Broad Street
Richmond, Virginia 23219-8000
USA
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Email: archdesk@lva.virginia.gov(Archives)
URL: http://www.lva.virginia.gov/
© 2009 By The Library of Virginia. All Rights Reserved.
Processed by: C. OBrion, C. Underwood, and S. Bagley
Administrative Information
Access Restrictions
Chancery Causes 1807-1936 use digital images found on the Chancery Records Index available electronically at the website of the Library of Virginia.
Chancery Causes 1913-1914 are unprocessed. Contact Archives Research Services for availability.
Use Restrictions
There are no restrictions on use.
Preferred Citation
Giles County (Va.) Chancery Causes, 1807-1936 (bulk 1870-1910). (Cite style of suit [and chancery index no. if available]). Local government records collection, Giles County Court Records. The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia.
Acquisition Information
The bulk of the Giles County (Va.) Chancery Causes, 1807-1936, came to the Library of Virginia in a transfer of court papers from Giles County (Va.) in 2010 under the accession number 45263. Additional chancery causes, discovered among Giles County judgements stored at the library, were found and processed at an earlier date.
Processing Information
Five boxes of Giles County chancery causes, which ended between 1807 and 1936, were found among Giles County judgements stored at the Library of Virginia. They were processed by C. OBrion before 2008. Additional chancery causes, the bulk of which ended between 1807 and 1914, were transferred to the library in 2010 and processed by C. Underwood and S. Bagley in 2017. Chancery Causes 1913-1914 remain unprocessed and there are currently no plans to process and index them.
Digital images of Chancery Causes 1807-1936 were generated by OCLC through the Library of Virginia's Circuit Court Records Preservation Program in 2008.
Digital images of Chancery Causes 1807-1912 were generated by Backstage Library Works through the Library of Virginia's Circuit Court Records Preservation Program in 2020.
Encoded by G. Crawford: February 2009; updated by C. Collins: January 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: Giles County was named for William Branch Giles, United States senator from Virginia in 1806 when the county was created from Montgomery, Monroe (now in West Virginia), and Tazewell Counties. Several subsequent additions were made from Wythe (1808), Monroe in 1829 and Mercer in 1841 (both now in West Virginia), Craig (1880), and Tazewell (1826 and 1836) counties. The county seat is Pearisburg.
Scope and Content
Giles County (Va.) Chancery Causes, 1807-1936, 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.
The chancery causes are primarily comprised of debt suits, the bulk of which ended between 1807 and 1912; divorces, which ended between 1857 and 1912; and estate suits, which ended between 1835 and 1912. The most frequently occurring topics include business, migration/immigration, property, women, and social conventions.
Commonly found surnames among the plaintiffs and defendants include Adair, Atkins, Bolton (also spelled Bolten), Chapman, Charlton, Davis, Echols, Epling, Farley, French, Hale, Hare, Harman, Henderson, Hoge, Huffman, Johnson, Johnston, Jones, Kirk, Lucas, Martin, Meadows, Mustard, Pack, Payne, Peck, Peters, Porterfield, Price, Shumate, Smith, Snidow, Spangler, Stafford, Straley, Taylor, Toney, Vaught, Wilburn, Williams, Wingo, Woodyard, Woolwine, and Young. The Johns Mountain Iron Company was involved in 7 suits between 1874 and 1886.
These records also contain 1 folder of “Orphan Chancery” which has been processed but not indexed. These records contain parts, often single items, of chancery causes that could not be further identified as belonging to a certain case.
Arrangement
Organized by case, of which each is assigned a unique index number comprised of the earliest year found in case and a sequentially increasing 3-digit number assigned by the processor as cases for that year are found. Arranged chronologically.
Arrangement of documents within each folder are generally as follows: Bill, Answer, and Final Decree (if found.)
Chancery Causes 1913-1914 are unprocessed. Contact Archives Research Services for availability.
Related Material
Additional unindexed post-1913 records may be available at the Giles County Circuit Court Clerk's office.
Additional Giles County Court Records can be found on microfilm at The Library of Virginia web site. Consult A Guide to Virginia County and City Records on Microfilm.
See also: A Guide to the Ralph M. Stafford and Company Ledger, 1861-1874,” an exhibit in Giles County Chancery Cause 1870-002: James Stafford vs. Adms. of Ralph M. Stafford, etc.
Selected Suits of Interest
Causes of Interest are identified by local records archivists during processing and indexing. These causes are generally selected based upon guiding principles of having historical, genealogical or sensational significance; however, determining what is “of interest” is subjective, and the individual perspective and experience of the describing archivist will affect the material identified.
Garland Ellis, who was indebted to Akers & Dobyns, claimed that Akers & Dobyns, when selling him liquor, were attempting to defraud the U.S. Government of a revenue tax enacted by Congress in 1864. As such, Ellis believed he should not be required to pay the debt.
Elizabeth J. Bridges claimed that John H. Bridges, her husband, suffered from syphilis. The depositions of several physicians support her statement, as two of the physicians testified to having treated John for secondary syphilis, or syphilis in its secondary stage. According to Elizabeth and one the physicians, the children born of John and Elizabeth’s marriage were likewise afflicted with the disease and died soon after their birth.
William Wesley, "a man of color," was, prior to and during the American Civil War, enslaved by David J. S. Snidow. He, along with another man named Ballard Viney, entered into an agreement with Snidow in 1873 to purchase 150 acres of land. Following Viney’s death in 1880, Wesley agreed to settle for 50 acres based on the payments made under the agreement before 1880. According to Wesley, Snidow later attempted to force Wesley to pay an additional $600 for the 50 acres under threat of vacating the agreement. Wesley initiated a chancery suit against Snidow to force performance of their agreement and to prevent his land from being taken away by Snidow.
James Farley was killed by Norfolk & Western Railroad Company train cars while working on a railroad track in Giles County. T. S. Taylor, Farley’s administrator, instituted a suit in the Giles County Court seeking damages against the Norfolk & Western Railroad Company on behalf of Martha Farley, Farley’s widow, and her children. He petitioned the court to compromise on a payment of $150, to which the court and the company agreed.
Andrew Dinguss sought a divorce from Cora Dinguss, his wife, and accused her of abandonment. According to a deposition included in the suit, Cora was rumored to be cohabitating with a Black man following her departure.