Washington County, Virginia Chancery Order Book C, 1859-1870

From the Introduction: Washington County VA (WCV) Chancery Order Book C begins at court 12 Sep 1859 and ends 388 pages later on 13 May 1870. This books is quite important in that it covers the period immediately before the Civil War as well as the Civil War Period itself (however, court was not held after 20 Sep 1864 until 02 Apr 1866, p. 171) and the period immediately thereafter. At one point it mentions that the judge was away on CSA Army duty. In addition to the cases under the jurisdiction of the Circuit Court, this book also contains some few cases heard by the District Court of Appeals for the 7th District. Most of the cases are 'in chancery' (suit pending in court of equity) or 'on injunction' (court order wherein an individual is required to perform or restrained from performing a particular act). Many of them involve long-standing causes which deal with the resolution of debts or the partitioning of land; hence, a considerable amount of genealogical information can be found in this Circuit Court Book C. An example is the extensive information given on the heirs to the proceeds of Kings Saltworks. The Circuit Court also handled divorce cases; in this work: Mary McPhatridge vs Alfred F. McPhatridge; Grandison Roberts ags Elizabeth J. Roberts; Nathaniel Schott ags Mary Schott; Cassandra Hodgins ags Jerden Hodgins; Wm. H. Henderson ags Nancy Henderson; Alfred N. Crowell ags Mary M. Crowell; James Dowell vs Ellen Dowell; Peter S. Haynes vs Attizary (Alonzery) Haynes; John L. Taylor ags Helen Q. Taylor; Chapman Roberts ags Mary Roberts; Maria (Poston) Akers ags Roland Akers; Henry Hays vs Flora Hays and Wm. Howard vs Lydia Ann Howard. Many of the cases have roots and references going back to the early and mid-1800s and not infrequently various plaintiffs or defts die before the resolution of the suit

Jack Hockett and Donald W. Helton

2020, index, 194 pp.

107-WSCOC