Administrative Information

Access Restrictions

There are no restrictions.

Use Restrictions

Patrons are to use digital images of Powhatan County Chancery Causes 1782-001-1929-001 found on the Chancery Records Index available electronically at the website of the Library of Virginia.

Preferred Citation

Powhatan County (Va.) Chancery Causes, 1782-1938 (bulk 1782-1913).(Cite style of suit and chancery index no.). Local government records collection, Powhatan County Court Records. The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia, 23219.

Acquisition Information

Digital images were generated by OCLC 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.

Powhatan County was named for the Indian chieftain who ruled the Native American inhabitants of tidewater Virginia in the early seventeenth century. It was formed from Cumberland County in 1777, and part of Chesterfield was added later.

Scope and Content

Powhatan County (Va.) Chancery Causes, 1782-1938 (bulk 1783-1913), 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 Powhatan 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 the Chancery Records Index to search for chancery suits of additional Virginia localities.

Index Terms

Corporate Names:

• Powhatan County (Va.) Circuit Court

Subjects:

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

Geographical Names:

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

Genre and Form Terms:

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

Adjunct Descriptive Data