Administrative Information

Access Restrictions

There are no restrictions.

Use Restrictions

Patrons are to use digital images of Caroline County Chancery Causes found on the The Chancery Records Index available electronically at the website of the Library of Virginia.

Preferred Citation

Caroline County (Va.) Chancery Causes, 1787-1849. (Cite style of suit and chancery index no.). Local government records collection, Caroline County Court Records. The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia.

Acquisition Information

Digital images were generated by Crowley Micrographics through the Library of Virginia's 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.

Caroline County was formed in 1728 from Essex, King and Queen, and King William Counties. Additional parts of King and Queen County were added in 1742 and 1762. It was named for Caroline of Anspach, consort of George II.

Most loose records and deed books prior to 1836 and will books prior to 1853 were stolen, mutilated, and/or destroyed by Union troops who ransacked the courthouse in May 1864. A near-complete run of order books exists.

Scope and Content

Caroline County (Va.) Chancery Causes, 1787-1849, are indexed into the 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 cases 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

Arrangement of documents within each folder are as follows: Bill, Answer, and Final Decree (if found.)

Related Material

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

See The Chancery Records Index to find the chancery records of additional Virginia localities.

See 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:

• Caroline County (Va.) Circuit Court.

Subjects:

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

Geographical Names:

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

Genre and Form Terms:

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

Adjunct Descriptive Data