Fincastle and Montgomery Counties Deeds and Wills B, 1773-1797

Deeds and Wills B, 1773 - 1797 contains a variety of records from Fincastle and Montgomery county. This transcription was made from a book of reversed photocopy images, barcode 27828 at the Library of Virginia, and also microfilm reel 1 in their Montgomery county records, catalogued as Deeds and Wills B, 1773 - 1797 (Fincastle and Montgomery Counties) Unpaged index, p. 1-282 (Montgomery County Deeds, 1789-1796); p. 1-31 (Fincastle County Deeds and Wills, 1773-1776, follows p. 282); p. 32-240 (Montgomery County Wills, 1777-1797). The record in in two parts, and the second set of page numbers begins again with pp1. It is not immediately consecutive: p. 240 has a torn corner which is not matched on pp.1. (To distinguish between the two parts, I have referred to the first part as beginning with 'p1' and the second part with 'pp1'.)

Fincastle County was formed in 1772 from part of Botetourt County, which in turn was formed in 1770 from Augusta County. Fincastle was only in existence for three years and its territory was then was parceled out to Montgomery, Washington, and Kentucky counties. The records from the Fincastle era were predominately wills, inventories, and performance bonds for executors and administrators.

Deeds and Wills A was previously published in abstract by James Douthat as Montgomery County, VA deed book A, 1773-1789, Mountain Press, 1987. Volume B was used by Mary Kegley in her dissertation "Pioneer Possessions, A Study of Wills and Appraisals of Southwest Virginia 1745-1786", for her Master of Arts degree from Radford University, 1975.

The first part of this present volume contained primarily wills and related matters, as well as performance bonds for public officials. The second part consisted solely of deeds. The wills and inventories are given verbatim, but some of the other material was edited to remove repetitive material. Descriptions of the property bounds for the deeds were much curtailed, but all names were retained.

Karen Wagner Treacy

2025, 8.5" x 11", paper, index, 232 pp.

107-FNMT