A Guide to the Warwick County (Va.) Chancery Causes, 1860-1912
A Collection in
the Library of Virginia
Chancery Records Index: Warwick County (Va.) Chancery Causes, 1860-001-1912-009
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Processed by: Tracy Harter
Administrative Information
Access Restrictions
There are no restrictions.
Use Restrictions
Patrons are to use digital images of Warwick County (Va.) Chancery Causes found on the Chancery Records Index available electronically at the website of the Library of Virginia.
Preferred Citation
Warwick County (Va.) Chancery Causes, 1860-1912. (Cite style of suit and chancery index no.). Local Government Records Collection, Newport News (City) Court Records. The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia.
Acquisition Information
Digital images were generated by Backstage Library Works 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.
Warwick County was named either for Robert Rich, earl of Warwick, a prominent member of the London Company, or for the county of Warwick in England. The county was originally called Warwick River and was one of the original shires, or counties, first enumerated in 1634. The shorter name was adopted in 1643. Warwick County became extinct in 1952, when it became the city of Warwick. The new city was consolidated with the city of Newport News in 1958 and took the latter's name. Denbigh was the county seat
County court records were destroyed at several times with most destruction occurring during the Civil War. The clerk's office was burned on 15 December 1864. County court minute books and loose records from 1787 to 1819 were destroyed by the fire. Additional records were burned in Richmond on 3 April 1865, where they had been moved for safekeeping during the Civil War.
Scope and Content
Warwick County (Va.) Chancery Causes, 1860-1912, 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. Names of enslaved people identified in causes are indexed as well. 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, 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
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.
Arrangement of documents within each folder are as follows: Bill, Answer, and Final Decree (if found.)
Related Material
Additional Warwick 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 found on the Library of Virginia web site for the chancery records of other Virginia localities.
See Lost Records Localities Digital Collection available at Virginia Memory.
For more information and a listing of Lost Records Localities see Lost Records research note .
Selected Suits of Interest
Six separate chancery causes hear toghether. Includes bonds for hiring out of three enslaved people with explicit directions regarding clothing to be supplied. Also includes Civil War era will written Aug 23, 1852 and entered July 12 1866, stating how enslaved people that left the property during the war, and who might be recovered, would be divided among heirs, or, if not recovered, how reimbursement (expected) would be divided and also how government reimbursements for livestock, etc., (expected) would be divided. Also specifically bequeaths named enslaved people still residing on the property at the time will was written. One cause pertains to debt owed from defendants for never paying the bond for one of the enslaved persons hired out in 1860.
References "the invading army of the United States" destroying his home after Sept. 1861.
Plaintiffs charged that the Board of Supervisors did not fairly conduct elections pertaining to the possible relocation of the Warwick County Circuit Court, for which a building had been constructed in 1884. They alleged that 32 of the votes cast were from outside the voting precinct (outside of jurisdiction), and that the application for the election had been signed by representatives of corporations, which plaintiffs alleged was illegal.
The plaintiff sought a divorce from his wife alleging bigamy, and produced her two marriage licenses as exhibits in the cause. Wife married plaintiff in 1883, when she was 39 and he 51. Wife married another man in 1890 claiming she was a widow, age 40.
Plaintiff was pastor of said church from April 1884-April 1891, and during those years provided money for the construction of the church, the purchase of a church bell, and an organ, in addition to his regular salary. He alleges he never was fully reimbursed for his investments nor his salary. Furthermore, he alleged that payments to him were never attributed to specific accounts, so he had no way to know how best to charge the church. Defendants argue that they had settled accounts with him. Plaintiff also was publisher of a Baptist newspaper in Newport News called The Caret, from 1883 to approximately 1892. Letter from plaintiff dated 1894 asserts that all is settled and "We are at peace-Thank God."
The plaintiff sought divorce stating that her husband deserted her because she was too old for him, while her marriage license noted she was twelve years younger than her husband.In her deposition she referred to obtaining a divorce as "getting my free papers."