A variety of interesting proceedings, typical of a colonial county court, are preserved on these pages. These records encompass suits by local residents brought against each other, local residents answering for their crimes, and county levies. The majority of entries herein involve trespass and debt. In the colonial era, trespass often referred to the use of someone else's land and boundary disputes. Other suits addressed by the court include criminal acts such as assaults, beatings, being drunk, breaking and entering, breaking windows, fighting, stealing, swearing-everything from "tippling on Sunday" to murder. The court also established the ages of Negro slaves, and occasionally intervened in cases involving the abuse of a servant. This transcription is based on microfilm of the original book provided by the Library of Virginia. The text has been modernized as little as possible. The method of recording dates during the time period covered differs from modern notation; however, modern dates have been noted in brackets. Two facsimile reprints of original court order book pages, a map of Goochland County, appendices, a bibliography, and a full name plus subject index add to the value of this work.
Ann K. Blomquist
2006, 5.5" x 8.5", paper, index, 538 pp.
ISBN: 9780788441233
101-B4123
