Administrative Information

Access Restrictions

There are no restrictions.

Use Restrictions

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

Preferred Citation

Louisa County (Va.) Chancery Causes, 1753-1913 (bulk 1786-1913). (Cite style of suit and chancery index no.). Local government records collection, Louisa County Court Records. The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia, 23219.

Acquisition Information

Digital images were generated by PTFS 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.

Louisa County was named for Louisa, a daughter of King George II and wife of King Frederick V of Denmark. It was formed from Hanover County in 1742.

Scope and Content

Louisa County (Va.) Chancery Causes, 1753-1913 (bulk 1786-1913), 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 Louisa 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:

• Louisa County (Va.) Circuit Court

Subjects:

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

Geographical Names:

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

Genre and Form Terms:

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

Adjunct Descriptive Data