Administrative Information

Access Restrictions

There are no restrictions.

Use Restrictions

For Order Book 1778-1784, use microfilm copy, Prince William County, Reel 88

Preferred Citation

Prince William County (Va.) County Court Records, 1752-1897, undated. Local Government Records Collection, Prince William County Court Records. The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Va. 23219

Acquisition Information

These items came to the Library of Virginia in a shipment of court records from Prince William County. Portions of this collection were obtained under the accession numbers 22187, 38383, 40077, 42609 and 43945.

Historical Information

Prince William County was formed from Stafford and King George Counties by a statute adopted in 1730, to take effect on 12 March 1731. The county was named for William Augustus, Duke of Cumberland and third son of King George II.

Many pre-Civil War records were lost, destroyed, or stolen by Union troops in 1863 during the Civil War. Sixteen deed books and five will books are missing.

The items in this collection were originally created by the County Court.

Scope and Content

Prince William County (Va.) County Court Records, 1752-1897, undated contain three fee books, eight indices to execution books, one memorandum book, one minute book, seven order books, two record books and one summons docket (Index to Cases Suspended)/Memorandum Book. Early order and minute books for this county also contain executions.

Record book dated 1803-1804 was kept for the District Court in Dumfries and heard suits from Prince William as well as surrounding localities.

Fee books are volumes showing the date of a duty performed by the clerk, the name of the person paying the fees and the amount. These books include fees charged attorneys, cash accounts and the clerk's fees in common law and chancery suits.

An execution is a court order directing a sheriff or other officer to enforce a judgment, usually by seizing and selling the judgment debtor's property.

Memorandum books are used for notations of entries to be made in other books.

Minute books contain the clerk's rough notes of court proceedings.

Order books are the formal, corrected transcript of the clerk's notes of the proceedings of court.

A summons could be one of three things: a writ directing a sheriff to summon a defendant to appear in court, a writ or process commencing the plaintiff's action and requiring the defendant to appear and answer or a notice requiring a person to appear in court as a juror or a witness.

A docket is a brief formal record of proceedings in a court of justice; an entry of all acts in the conduct of a case, from inception to conclusion.

Related Material

Additional Prince William County Records can be found on microfilm at the Library of Virginia. Consult "A Guide to Virginia County and City Records on Microfilm" found on the Library of Virginia's web site.

Prince William County is one of Virginia's Lost Records Localities. Additional Prince William County Records may be found in the Virginia Lost Records Localities Collection at the Library of Virginia. Search the Lost Records Localities Digital Collection available at Virginia Memory.

For more information and a listing of lost records localities see Lost Records research note .

Index Terms

Corporate Names:

• Prince William County (Va.) Circuit Court.

Subjects:

• Public records--Virginia--Prince William County.

Geographical Names:

• Prince William County (Va.)--History.

Genre and Form Terms:

• Local government records--Virginia--Prince William County.

Added Entry - Corporate Name:

• Prince William County (Va.) County Court.

Adjunct Descriptive Data