Library of Virginia Chancery Records Scanned, More Coming

I found something hot yesterday that I did not know existed. I was almost ashamed when I found it, for the fact that I did not realize it was there all of this time. I consider myself an expert on the holdings of the Library of Virginia, I even volunteered there for almost a year. I just could not believe that I missed their project for scanning chancery court records. These are free, online records for anyone to use. Be warned that the records can be very long, some more than 1,000 pages, and they can get very addictive!

Here is the deal, the Library has scanned several counties and are working on the rest. If you do not know, a chancery cause is basically a court case where there is no clear cut law to decide who is right or wrong in a civil case. All of the evidence is gathered and presented to a judge who rules on that evidence. This can include old wills, deeds, Bible records, letters, anything to help win your case. I will give an example of a chancery cause that I found in my family...

Ann's husband died and she sold twenty acres of their farm to one of their freed slaves. Twenty years later, after Ann's death, one of her children decided that they wanted the twenty acres back but the freed slave had sold the land to a white family ten years ago. They all go to chancery court and the judge rules that Ann had no right to sell the property because 2/3 of it belonged to the heirs of her husband. Furthermore the freed slaves had no right to purchase property so the sale was doubly invalid. The white family had to give the land back to Ann's estate and had no recourse since the original sale was not valid. That is a true chancery cause as no clear-cut law applied to the situation. It took a judge's understanding of the laws to come to a conclusion.

Anyway, the Library of Virginia has already scanned the causes for the following areas:

• Alexandria City
• Caroline County
• Fauquier County
• Hanover County
• King & Queen County
• Lancaster County
• Middlesex County
• New Kent County
• Northampton County
• Prince William County
• Rockbridge County (some)
• Shenandoah County
• Staunton City

These areas are in the process of being scanned at this time:

• Amelia County
• Cumberland County
• Page County
• Rockbridge County (some)

You can check out the records at this link: Library of Virginia Chancery Causes

Henry & Lucy Jackson Hailey Vass of Spotsylvania, Caroline & Hanover

Henry was probably born in Spotsylvania County at the turn of the nineteenth century. He was not well educated and never learned to read or write. He and Lucy were married by pastor John Billingsley of Massaponax Baptist Church, located to the south of Fredericksburg and east of the county courthouse. The church was founded in 1788 and is still active, although in a newer building and location.

During their marriage, Henry and Lucy had at least nine children. They had three daughters; Elizabeth J. Vass, Rachel A. Vass and Mary Frances Vass Taylor. They also had six sons; Benjamin W., John W., Henry Jackson Clay, Thomas Josiah, James Philip and Joseph A. Vass. Several of the boys served during the Civil War and their names appear on the Confederate monument at Hanover Courthouse.

Henry and Lucy purchased a one hundred and fifty acre farm from Thomas and Elizabeth Duerson in November of 1837 for $450. It was located in Spotsylvania, beside the farm of Lucy's father, John Hailey. The Vasses sold the property to Boswell S. Fleming for five hundred dollars in December of 1849, shortly after their move to Caroline County.

Henry and Lucy lived in Caroline, a county adjoining Spotsylvania to its south, for nearly twenty years. Henry and a few slaves farmed their land while he also managed farms for other families in the area. They eventually moved to Ashland of Hanover County where Henry continued to work in farming.

The Vass home in Ashland was located on present-day Maple Street between Route 1 and Ashcake Road, near the modern Ashland Christian Center. The home no longer exists and locals do not know of any family cemetery in the area.

Considering the time of their deaths, it is likely that Henry and Lucy were buried in Woodland Cemetery near Ashland. Early burials of the cemetery were not well documented and there are many unmarked graves. A large number of their descendants are buried in this graveyard, including at least three of their children.

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Henry Vass was born between 1798–1799 in Virginia and died after June 1860.

Lucy Jackson Hailey Vass was born between 1804–1805 in Virginia died on June 15, 1878 in Hanover County. She was a member of the Baptist church for more than fifty years.

John Pettis of Spotsylvania County, Virginia Revolutionary War pension

Taken from Revolutionary War pension file:

John Pettis was born about 1754 in Spotsylvania County, Virginia. He was married to Martha “Patsy” Reynolds by Parson Waugh in the spring of 1782, Port Royal, Caroline County, Virginia. He lived variably between Spotsylvania, Caroline and Orange Counties and died in Spotsylvania on July 1, 1833.

John had a sister named Catherine Pettis, born about 1771, living in Caroline County in October 1841. John and Martha had a son, Spencer Pettis, who served as a Congressman from Missouri and was killed in a duel with Major Thomas Biddle.

Martha was born about 1757 and lived in Spotsylvania County before moving to Orange in April 1840. She apparently never remarried and died after August 1848, probably before 1854. Her father lived in Caroline County during the 1790s and taught school.

John was drafted into the Virginia Militia in 1779 under Captain Philip Johnson. He served in Williamsburg and enlisted in the First Regiment, Virginia Line in 1780, serving under Colonel Samuel Hawes, Captain Francis Cowherd and General Nathanael Greene. John marched through North Carolina, fighting at the battles of Guilford Courthouse and Eutaw Springs. He was discharged in Salisbury, North Carolina in January 1782.

John received a $24 pension during his lifetime and his wife continued to draw it for some time. In the 1830s, she applied for a widow’s pension but had difficulty proving her marriage because Caroline County’s records were lost during a fire. Martha eventually received $73.33 per year, starting shortly before she died.