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Virginia
State and County Court Records
Virginia County Probate, Wills and Estates Records
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All aspects of probate proceedings were generally recorded in “will books.” Original will books are available at the county clerk's office or The Library of Virginia; moreover, most extant will books prior to 1865 have been microfilmed and are available at The Library of Virginia and the FHL.
Many Virginia counties have “loose papers” or “chancery court records” on file in metal boxes at the clerk's office. These often contain additional information such as affidavits, powers of attorney, letters from individuals living outside the county, and receipts submitted to the court in the process of probating an estate. These records are filed chronologically, have not been filmed, and, in many instances, are in poor condition, but can be searched at the clerk's office.
In addition to printed indexes, many early Virginia will books have been abstracted and published. The Library of Virginia and the FHL have large collections of these works, and many other libraries nationwide have some printed will abstracts
Wills, inventories, appraisals, estate accounts, and divisions of estates were usually recorded in will books. In the seventeenth century, some counties kept records of all types in volumes called record books or great books.
Surviving will books for Virginia counties are usually indexed by the testator or decedent, but seldom by the legatee or heir. Consolidated indexes to probate records on microfilm are available for most localities. Clayton Torrence's Virginia Wills and Administrations, 1632-1800 indexes early wills, inventories, and administrations. A list of probate records omitted from Torrence's volume (along with corrections) is available.
Researchers must be aware of the laws that caused a record to be created and how legal changes affect the records used. In October 1776, entail was abolished. On 1 January 1786, the English system of primogeniture ceased in Virginia. These two events affected the content of probate records. Under primogeniture, Virginia wills may not always name the wife or the eldest son of the testator. Their inheritance of real estate was set by law, the widow receiving her dower, or one-third, for her lifetime and the eldest son, as heir at law, receiving the remaining two-thirds unless otherwise specified in the father's will. After the Revolutionary War, when Virginia's general inheritance law took effect, all heirs of intestate estates inherited equally.
Individuals with a written will died testate. After the death of an individual, his or her will was brought into court, where two of the subscribing witnesses swore that the document was genuine. After the will was proved, the executor was bonded to carry out his or her duties to settle the estate. The court then ordered the will to be recorded. The executors' bond was also filed with the court. If the witnesses to the will were dead or could not be located, the will was lodged. These lodged wills were not recorded, but were kept by the court and the estate was treated as an intestate estate.
Individuals without a will died intestate. The court appointed an administrator who was bonded and issued an order to appraise the deceased's estate. The court usually appointed four appraisers, any three of whom might serve. They returned an inventory of the decedent's personal property to the court to be recorded. An appraisal listed the personal property and assigned a monetary value to each item. Accounts current are the statements of monies received by and paid out by the executor in settling an estate.
Virginia did not require the filing of estate papers documenting each activity of the executor. The assumption was made that the executor settled the estate as directed by the will and by law, and no records were created if the work was done correctly. Consequently, Virginia has no estate packets or probate packets. If the executor did not act correctly, the offended party could bring suit in chancery. Such chancery suits often generate a detailed record of the disputed part of an estate's administration.
Virginia State and County Court Records
See Also Research In U.S. Court Records and Virginia Court Record Links
Most courts in America are courts of record, that is, they are required by law to keep a record of their proceedings. Virginia courts are no exception. There are a few online databases for Court, Land and Probate Records which include: Virginia Land, Marriage, and Probate Records, 1639-1850, Virginia County Records, Volume VI, Volume VII and Volume IX
Original court records are housed at The Library of Virginia; pre-1865 records are available on microfilm there and at the FHL. While it is always best to rely upon original documents for research, the condition of original court records varies considerably: some are still firmly bound and easy to read, some are faded and crumbling, some are torn or have missing pages, some have been restored through lamination, and many have been destroyed or lost. Because of these circumstances, printed transcripts can prove invaluable to the researcher who knows their limitations and uses them wisely.
Virginia State & County Tax Records
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Research In U.S. Tax Records and Virginia Tax Record Links.
Virginia's tax records are a rich—and largely untapped—resource. During the Colonial period, there were three basic forms of taxation: the quitrent, the parish levy, and the poll tax.
The quitrent was a land tax that had its roots in English manorial society where “the land obligations due the manor, such as plowing and haying the lord's land, were computed to an annual money payment. Upon payment, the obligations were `quit' for the year.” Those living south of the Rappahannock River paid a quitrent to the Crown. An original, incomplete list of land owners for the region in 1704 is in the Public Record Office in London and has been published several times, not always reliably.
Residents of the Northern Neck, between the Rappahannock and Potomac Rivers, paid quitrents to the agents of Lord Fairfax. Many original rent rolls of the Fairfax proprietary are housed at the Huntington Library in San Marino, California. Extant original rent rolls and facsimiles for Virginia are available at The Library of Virginia.
The parish levy was an annual tax paid by all tithables for support of their ministers, maintenance of the parishes' glebe lands (the parsonage and lands producing income for the parish), and support of the poor of the parish.
The poll tax, except for a brief period from 1645 to 1648, was the main source of revenue for the colony of Virginia. The annual poll tax was computed by dividing the total expenses of the colony and individual counties by the total number of tithables. The result was levied on each tithable.
Tithables were variously defined during the colonial period. The first definition, in 1624, was “every male head above sixteen years of age.” All agricultural workers were added in 1629. In 1643 all males and black females aged sixteen or over were tithables. Imported male servants of any age were added in 1649.
The definition of “tithable” was rewritten in 1658. Tithables included free males aged sixteen or over, imported blacks of either sex, imported white male servants, and Indian servants of either sex; white women employed in agriculture were added in 1662. Complaints from planters with increasing numbers of indentured servants and slaves led to a revision in 1680 that declared Virginia-born male slaves taxable at age twelve and imported male servants taxable at age fourteen; nonwhite women and free males remained taxable at age sixteen.
The laws of Virginia were revised in 1705. From then until 1782, all males and nonwhite females aged sixteen or over were tithables. Wives of free nonwhite males were added in 1723.
Virginia's tax system changed after the Revolutionary War to include taxing land and personal property in 1782, with further revision in 1787. The bulk of those tax lists prior to 1850 survive and are available on microfilm at The Library of Virginia.
