Administrative Information

Access Restrictions

Chancery Causes 1890-1912 use digital images found on the Chancery Records Index available electronically at the website of the Library of Virginia.

Chancery Causes 1913-1928 are unprocessed. Contact Archives Research Services for availability.

Use Restrictions

There are no restrictions on use.

Preferred Citation

Bristol (Va.) Chancery Causes, 1890-1928. (Cite style of suit [and chancery index no. if available]). Local government records collection, Bristol (Va.) Court Records. The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia.

Acquisition Information

These records came to the Library of Virginia in a transfer of court papers from Bristol (Va.) in 2018 under accession number 52570.

Processing Information

Chancery Causes 1890-1912 were processed by E. Woodward in 2021. At this time, there are currently no plans to process and index the 1913-1928 records.

Digital images of Chancery Causes 1890-1912 were generated by Backstage Library Works through the Library of Virginia's Circuit Court Records Preservation Program in 2021.

Encoded by G. Crawford: 2022; updated C. Collins: July 2023.

Historical Information

Context for Record Type: 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; however, the judge is basing the decision on findings compiled and documented by Commissioners. 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. Chancery causes document the lived experiences of free and enslaved individuals; women; children; people living with physical disabilities or mental health struggles; people living in poverty; defunct institutions and corporate entities; or those that may not have otherwise left traditional written histories.

Locality History: Bristol, on the Virginia-Tennessee border in Washington County, originally was called Goodson, for Samuel Goodson who founded the town in 1850. Goodson was incorporated as a town in 1856, four years after the town of Bristol, Tennessee, was laid out in Sullivan County, Tennessee, contiguous to Goodson. In 1890, Goodson was incorporated as a city, and its name was changed to Bristol for its Tennessee neighbor. Today the two cities have separate governments but share a public library. When the Virginia-Tennessee boundary was settled in 1901, Bristol, Virginia, received from Bristol, Tennessee, the northern half of the main street between the two cities.

Scope and Content

Bristol (Va.) Chancery Causes, 1890-1928, consists of cases concerning issues of equity brought largely by residents of the county and filed in the circuit court. These cases often involve the following actions: divisions of estates or land, disputes over wills, disputes regarding contracts, debt, divorce, and business disputes. Other less prevalent issues include freedom suits, permissions to sell property, and disputes concerning trespass. Predominant documents found in these chancery causes include bills (documents the plaintiff's complaint), answers (defendant's response to the plaintiff's complaint), decrees (court's decision), depositions, affidavits, correspondence, lists of heirs, deeds, plats, wills, records involving enslaved individuals, business records or vital statistics.

The causes are primarily comprised of debt disputes and divorce or separate maintenance suits. Many debt suits involve business debts – including businesses related to railroads, sawmills, groceries, breweries, iron works, real estate and land/property development - or personal debts. The majority of debt suits ended before 1901. Most divorce or separate maintenance suits cite abandonment and/or adultery as the primary reason for the initiation of the suit and many ended after 1900. Due to Bristol’s proximity to Tennessee, some causes include references to people or places connected with Tennessee 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 generally as follows: Bill, Answer, and Final Decree (if found.)

Chancery Causes 1913-1928 are unprocessed. Contact Archives Research Services for availability.

Related Material

Additional city of Bristol 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."

Adjunct Descriptive Data