Court Records Digest
Pre-1914 court
papers located in the Circuit Court for the City of Fredericksburg,
Virginia, are being processed for archival storage and microfilming. As
part of this on-going project, a database containing the names of
primary parties (plaintiffs, defendants, deponents, petitioners, etc)
has been created by the Records Conservation Project. Also included in
the database are Remarks on the contents of records containing
documents of historical or genealogical significance. Over three
thousand records containing Remarks are presented in the Court
Records Digest.
Search
for Digest entries using the Digest Index, which contains all words in
all Digest entries with the exception of common words (the, and, etc.),
common abbreviations
(dec'd, exor, etc.), and abbreviations for which complete words also
exist in the same record (Comlth for Commonwealth, Wm. for William,
etc.). The index does not contain initials or non-alphabetic characters.
All words have been entered in the database spelled as they were found
in the original documents (typos excepted). Consequently, several
variations of a word may appear in the same word table. The lack of
punctuation in early documents also produces variations on a single
word ("Taliaferros" may have been used for "Taliaferro's" or for
"Taliaferros", denoting several people named "Taliaferro"). In the
instance of the use of "Slave" and "Slaves", the plural form was
intentionally used to indicate records containing references to more
than one slave.
Court papers in the Circuit Court for the City of Fredericksburg are
from the following courts:
-
-
The Hustings Court, also known as the Corporation Court in
jurisdictions incorporated as independent cities, was the town/city
equivalent of the County Court. It was presided over by Justices under
the Mayor of the town/city and heard civil and criminal matters. Civil
actions on appeal and criminal matters resulting in conviction were
sent to the next higher court (Hustings Court to District Court /
Superior Court and Corporation Court to Circuit Court) for further
action.
-
-
District Courts, created in order to relieve the General Court
of the congestion of common law cases, were established in eighteen
Virginia localities and the district of Kentucky in 1789. Each district
was comprised of several counties and court was held twice a year in
each district. General Court judges presided over the District Courts.
The court for the District of Spotsylvania included Spotsylvania,
Caroline, King George, Stafford, Orange, Culpeper and Counties.
District Courts were abolished in 1808, being replaced by Superior
Courts of Law.
Citation :
THE VIRGINIA STATE COURT SYSTEM, 1776-
by
Thomas Jefferson Headlee, Jr.
Virginia State Library
1969
Notes:
Madison County was also part of the District for Spotsylvania as
evidenced by the court records.
The records for the Spotsylvania District Court are located in
Fredericksburg because the District Court sat in the Fredericksburg
courthouse, not in the Spotsylvania County courthouse. Consequently,
this Court is often referred to as the Fredericksburg District Court.
Among the records in Fredericksburg are a number of cases which were
instituted in the General Court and moved later to the newly created
District Court.
-
-
Superior Courts of Law were created in 1808, superceding the
District Courts and maintaining the same district structure for
criminal and civil cases. The courts, established in each county, met
twice a year, presided over by a General Court judge riding a circuit
from county to county. Consequently, these courts are often referred to
as "Circuit Courts", "Circuit Courts of Law" or "Circuit Superior
Courts".
Citation :
THE VIRGINIA STATE COURT SYSTEM, 1776-
by
Thomas Jefferson Headlee, Jr.
Virginia State Library
1969
Note:
The records for Spotsylvania Superior Court of Law are located in
Fredericksburg because the court sat in the Fredericksburg courthouse,
not in the Spotsylvania County courthouse. Consequently, this Court is
often referred to as the Fredericksburg Superior Court of Law.
-
-
Superior Courts of Chancery were created in 1802 in order to
expedite the hearing of chancery cases, which had previously been heard
in the High Court of Chancery. Superior Courts were established in
three districts and are sometimes referred to as "District Courts of
Chancery". The number of Superior Court districts was increased to six
in 1812, to eight in 1813/1814 and to nine late in 1814. The
Spotsylvania District for the Superior Court of Chancery, established
in 1814, included Caroline, Culpeper, Fauquier, Fairfax, Lancaster,
Northumberland, Madison, King George, Orange, Prince William, Richmond,
Spotsylvania, Stafford, Essex and Westmoreland Counties and the Town of
Fredericksburg.
Citation :
THE VIRGINIA STATE COURT SYSTEM, 1776-
by
Thomas Jefferson Headlee, Jr.
Virginia State Library
1969
Note:
The records for Spotsylvania Superior Court of Law are located in
Fredericksburg because the court sat in the Fredericksburg courthouse,
not in the Spotsylvania County courthouse. Consequently, this Court is
often referred to as the Fredericksburg Superior Court of Chancery.
-
-
Circuit Superior Courts of Law and Chancery were created in
1831, superceding the Superior Courts of Law and the Superior Courts of
Chancery. The courts, held in each county twice a year and presided
over by a General Court judge riding a circuit from county to county,
were abolished in 1852 when the Virginia Constitution of 1851 became
effective.
Citation :
THE VIRGINIA STATE COURT SYSTEM, 1776-
by
Thomas Jefferson Headlee, Jr.
Virginia State Library
1969
Note:
The records for Spotsylvania Superior Court of Law and Chancery are
located in Fredericksburg because the court sat in the Fredericksburg
courthouse, not in the Spotsylvania County courthouse. Consequently,
this Court is often referred to as the Fredericksburg Superior Court of
Law and Chancery. The Court Order Book for the period shows the last
reference to Law and Chancery appearing in the May 1850 court term.
-
-
Circuit Courts, established in 1852, were held twice a year in
each county and were presided over by a judge riding a circuit from
county to county.
Citation :
THE VIRGINIA STATE COURT SYSTEM, 1776-
by
Thomas Jefferson Headlee, Jr.
Virginia State Library
1969
Notes:
The records for Spotsylvania Circuit Court through 1889 are located in
Fredericksburg because the court sat in the Fredericksburg courthouse,
not in the Spotsylvania County courthouse, until Fredericksburg was
incorporated as an independent city at which time this court was
convened at the Spotsylvania County courthouse and the Fredericksburg
Circuit Court was established in the City of Fredericksburg. The Court
Order Book for the period shows the first reference to Circuit Court
appearing in 16 August 1850 proceedings.
Some abbreviations frequently found in Court Records Digest
extracts are :
@ --> original document
/s/ --> signature
admr / admor / adm --> Administrator
admrx / admorx / admx --> Administratrix
ads --> adverse
assee --> assignee
dec'd --> deceased
DT / Deed T --> Deed of Trust
endee --> endorsee
exor / exr / extr --> Executor
exorx / exrx / extrx --> Executrix
FN --> Free Negro
gdn --> guardian
GO --> Guardian of
-mr- --> marriage referenced
OOP --> Overseers of the Poor
pd --> attorney for the defendant
pq --> attorney for the prosecution
Tr --> Trustee
vs --> versus
District
Court records are being made available in the Digest even though
indexing is still not completed. Additional Court records will be made
available as they are indexed and prepared for presentation.
District Court records are in repository at the Fredericksburg
Circuit Court, Fredericksburg, Virginia. Copies may be obtained by
following the instructions on the Fredericksburg
Circuit Court page.
Court Records Digest Search
District Court Records
The index, containing over 12,000 entries to almost 1,100 records,
is arranged by alphabetical group. Multiple listings of a word indicate
that the word appears in a number of records. Start your search by
selecting the first letter of your search word :
You are the 44225th
researcher to consult the Court Records Digest.
Court Records Digest
Copyright © 1996 - 2005