Administrative Information

Access Restrictions

There are no restrictions.

Use Restrictions

Patrons are to use digital images of Smyth County (Va.) Chancery Causes found on the Chancery Records Index available electronically at the website of the Library of Virginia.

Preferred Citation

Smyth County (Va.) Chancery Causes, 1833-1913. (Cite style of suit and chancery index no.). Local government records collection, Smyth County Court Records. The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia.

Acquisition Information

Digital images were generated from microfilm by Backstage Library Works through the Circuit Court Records Preservation Program.

Historical Information

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.

Smyth County was named for Alexander Smyth, a former congressman from Virginia who died in 1830 while efforts were underway to create the county. The county was formed in 1832 from Washington and Wythe Counties The county seat is Marion.

Scope and Content

Smyth County (Va.) Chancery Causes, 1833-1913, are indexed into the Chancery Records Index . Cases are identified by style of suit consisting of plaintiff and defendant names. Surnames of others involved in a suit, including secondary plaintiffs and defendants, witnesses, deponents and affiants, and family members with surnames different from the plaintiff or defendant are indexed. Chancery causes often involved the following: divisions of estates or land, disputes over wills, divorces, debt, and business disputes. Predominant documents found in chancery causes include bills (plaintiff's complaint), answers (defendant's response), decrees (court's decision), depositions, affidavits, correspondence, lists of heirs, deeds, wills, slave records, business records or vital statistics, among other items. Plats, if present, are noted, as are wills from localities with an incomplete record of wills or localities other than the one being indexed.

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.

Arrangement

Organized by case, of which each is assigned a unique index number comprised of the latest year found in case and a sequentially increasing 3-digit number assigned by the processor as cases for that year are found. Arranged chronologically.

Related Material

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

See The Chancery Records Index to search for chancery suits of additional Virginia localities.

Index Terms

Corporate Names:

• Smyth County (Va.) Circuit Court.

Subjects:

• African Americans--History.
• Business enterprises--Virginia--Smyth County.
• Debt--Virginia--Smyth County.
• Divorce suits--Virginia--Smyth County.
• Equity--Virginia--Smyth County.
• Estates (Law)--Virginia--Smyth County.
• Land subdivision--Virginia--Smyth County.

Geographical Names:

• Smyth County (Va.)--Genealogy.
• Smyth County (Va.)--History.

Genre and Form Terms:

• Chancery causes--Virginia--Smyth County.
• Deeds--Virginia--Smyth County.
• Judicial records--Virginia--Smyth County.
• Land records--Virginia--Smyth County.
• Local government records--Virginia--Smyth County.
• Local government records--Virginia--Smyth County.
• Plats--Virginia--Smyth County.
• Wills--Virginia--Smyth County.

Adjunct Descriptive Data