Cumberland County (Va.) Circuit Court.

Chancery Causes are cases of equity. According to Black's Law Dictionary they are "administered according to fairness as contrasted with the strictly formulated rules of common law." A judge, not a jury, determines the outcome of the case.

Cumberland County was named for William Augustus, duke of Cumberland, third son of King George II. It was formed from Goochland County in 1749.

From the guide to the Cumberland County (Va.) Chancery Causes, 1750-1912 (bulk 1764-1912), (The Library of Virginia)

Cumberland County was named for William Augustus, duke of Cumberland, third son of King George II. It was formed from Goochland County in 1749. The county seat is Cumberland.

From the guide to the Unidentified general store ledger, 1856-1859, (The Library of Virginia)

Cumberland County was named for William Augustus, duke of Cumberland, third son of King George II. It was formed from Goochland County in 1749.

The separate office of coroner appeared in Virginia about 1660. The judicial duty of the office is to hold inquisitions in cases when persons meet sudden, violent, unnatural or suspicious death, or death without medical attendance. The coroner would summon a jury to assist him in determining cause of death. Prior to November 1877, the jurors numbered twelve. Between November 1877 and March 1926, the jurors numbered six. The jury viewed the body of the deceased and heard the testimony of witnesses. The coroner was required to write down witness testimony. After seeing and hearing the evidence, the jury delivered in writing to the coroner their conclusion concerning cause of death referred to as the inquisition. After March 1926, only the coroner determined cause of death. He could require physicians to assist him with determing cause of death. If a criminal act was determined to be the cause of death, the coroner was to deliver the guilty person to the sheriff and the coroners' inquests would be used as evidence in the criminal trial.

From the guide to the Cumberland County (Va.) Coroners' Inquisitions, 1808-1939, (The Library of Virginia)

Cumberland County was formed from Goochland County in 1749.

From the guide to the Cumberland County (Va.), Public Buildings and Grounds, 1834, 1874, (The Library of Virginia)

Cumberland County was named for William Augustus, duke of Cumberland, third son of King George II. It was formed from Goochland County in 1749.

Throughout the Civil War, the principal responsibility for Virginia's indigent soldiers' families lay with the locality. The Virginia State Convention in 1861 gave the responsibility entirely to counties and incorporated towns and authorized whatever actions had already been taken. Acts of Assembly in 1862 and 1863 expanded the localities' powers to provide for their needy, and in 1863 some minimal state assistance was added in. At first relief was provided as money, but as the monetary system collapsed, relief was distributed in kind. Agents of the court maintained lists of eligible families, gathered goods for distribution and paid for them, and impressed supplies if necessary. Virginia was unique amongst the southern states in that it assigned the provisioning of needy families almost solely to the locality.

From the guide to the Cumberland County (Va.) Lists of Indigent Soldiers' Families, 1863, (The Library of Virginia)

Cumberland County was formed in 1749 from Goochland County.

From the guide to the Cumberland County (Va.) Will Books, 1749-1810, (The Library of Virginia)

The general store conducted business in Cumberland County.

Cumberland County was named for William Augustus, duke of Cumberland, third son of King George II. It was formed from Goochland County in 1749. The county seat is Cumberland.

From the guide to the Unidentified general store account book, 1840-1843, (The Library of Virginia)

The general store conducted business in Cumberland County.

Cumberland County was named for William Augustus, duke of Cumberland, third son of King George II. It was formed from Goochland County in 1749. The county seat is Cumberland.

From the guide to the Unidentified general store daybook, 1842-1843, (The Library of Virginia)

Cumberland County was formed in 1749 from Goochland County.

From the guide to the Cumberland County (Va.) Bill of Sale, 1822 Dec., (The Library of Virginia)

Cumberland County was formed in 1749 from Goochland County.

From the guide to the Cumberland County (Va.) Will Books, 1749-1810, (The Library of Virginia)

Cumberland County formed from Goochland County in 1749. The county was named for William Augustus, duke of Cumberland, third son of King George II.

Prior to 1853, when the Commonwealth began recording vital statistics, Virginia marriages were recorded at the county or city level. Beginning in 1661, in order to be married by license, the groom was required to go before the county clerk and give bond with security that there was no lawful reason to prevent the marriage. The license, then issued by the clerk, was given to the minister who performed the service. Written consent from a parent or guardian was needed for individuals younger than twenty-one years.

The original marriage records, from which this volume was compiled, were created by the County Court.

From the guide to the Cumberland County (Va.) Marriage Register, 1850-1861, (The Library of Virginia)

Cumberland County was named for William Augustus, duke of Cumberland, third son of George II. It was formed from Goochland County in 1749.

The 1902 voter registration books were created following the passage of the 1902 Virginia state constitution. The purpose of the 1902 state constitution was to maintain white suffrage while eliminating African-American voters by means of literacy tests as well as property and poll tax requirements.

From the guide to the Cumberland County (Va.) Voter Registration Book, 1902-1903, (The Library of Virginia)

Cumberland County was named for William Augustus, duke of Cumberland, third son of George II. It was formed from Goochland County in 1749.

In seventeenth- and eighteenth-century Virginia, the term "tithable" referred to a person who paid (or for whom someone else paid) one of the taxes imposed by the General Assembly for the support of civil government in the colony. In colonial Virginia, a poll tax or capitation tax was assessed on free white males, African American slaves, and Native American servants (both male and female), all age sixteen or older. Owners and masters paid the taxes levied on their slaves and servants. For a more detailed history of tithables, consult the Library of Virginia's website for Colonial Tithables

From the guide to the Cumberland County (Va.) List of Tithables, 1751-1781., (The Library of Virginia)

Cumberland County was formed in 1749 from Goochland County.

From the guide to the Cumberland County (Va.) Judgments, 1749-1902, (The Library of Virginia)

Culpeper County probably was name for Catherine Culpeper, or for her mother, Margaret Lady Culpeper, or for Thomas Culpeper, second baron Culpeper of Thoresway, governor of Virginia from 1677 to 1683, or for their family, which long held proprietary right in the Northern Neck. It was formed from Orange County in 1749.

From the guide to the Cumberland County (Va.) Military and Pension Records, 1757-1912, (The Library of Virginia)

Cumberland County was named for William Augustus, duke of Cumberland, third son of George II. It was formed from Goochland County in 1749.

These records were replevined by the Library of Virginia following the trial entitled Commonwealth of Virginia vs. Larry I. Vass heard in Henrico County Circuit Court in November 1972.

From the guide to the Cumberland County (Va.) Court Records, 1826-1840, (The Library of Virginia)

On February 21, 1818, the Virginia legislature passed a school bill which appropriated $45,000 annually from the Literary Fund for the education of poor children. (The Literary Fund was established in 1810 with passage of a bill to appropriate "certain escheats, confiscated, and forfeited lands" for the "encouragement of learning.") Under the provisions of the 1818 School Act, each county court was required to appoint five to fifteen commissioners to establish and/or administer schools for children of the poor. A more comprehensive public school system was established by the legislature in 1870. The system was racially segregated until the mid-twentieth century.

Cumberland County was named for William Augustus, duke of Cumberland, third son of George II. It was formed from Goochland County in 1749.

From the guide to the Cumberland County (Va.) School Records, 1822-1885, (The Library of Virginia)

Cumberland County was named for William Augustus, duke of Cumberland, third son of George II. It was formed from Goochland County in 1749.

From the guide to the Cumberland County (Va.) Original Wills, circa 1750-1860, (The Library of Virginia)

Cumberland County was named for William Augustus, duke of Cumberland, third son of King George II. It was formed from Goochland County in 1749. The county seat is Cumberland.

On 1832 June 7, Congress enacted pension legislation extending benefits more universally than under any previous legislation. This act provided for full pay for life for all officers and enlisted men who served at least 2 years in the Continental Line, the state troops or militia, the navy or marines. Men who served less than 2 years but at least 6 months were granted pensions of less than full pay. Benefits were payable effective March 4, 1831, without regard to financial need or disability and widows or children of Revolutionary War veterans were entitled to collect any unpaid benefits due from the last payment to a veteran until his death.

From the guide to the Cumberland County (Va.) Revolutionary War Pension Records, 1784-1853 circa, (The Library of Virginia)

Cumberland County was named for William Augustus, duke of Cumberland, third son of George II. It was formed from Goochland County in 1749.

The 1870 Virginia Constitution required that each county in the state be divided into no less than three townships (see Article VII, section 2). Based on the New England administrative organization of a county, each township would elect the administration officials for the offices of supervisor, clerk, assessor, collector, commissioner of the roads, overseer of the poor, justice of the peace, and constable. The supervisors of each township would comprise the board of supervisors for the county, and would be responsible for auditing the county accounts, examining the assessors' books, regulating property valuation, and fixing the county levies. The Acts of Assembly provided that each township be divided into school and electoral districts (see Acts of Assembly 1869-1870, Chapter 39). A constitutional amendment in 1874 changed the townships into magisterial districts and each district elected one supervisor, three justices of the peace, one constable, and one overseer of the poor. The supervisors of the districts made up the county board of supervisors whose duties were identical as those set out in 1870. The published Acts of Assembly appended a list of township names by county following the acts for every year that townships existed in Virginia.

From the guide to the Cumberland County (Va.) Board of Madison Township Checkbook, 1875, (The Library of Virginia)

Cumberland County was named for William Augustus, duke of Cumberland, third son of George II. It was formed from Goochland County in 1749.

From the guide to the Cumberland County (Va.) Free Negro and Slave Records, 1753-1865, (The Library of Virginia)

Armistead and McAshan conducted business in Cumberland County during the early 19th century.

Cumberland County was named for William Augustus, duke of Cumberland, third son of King George II. It was formed from Goochland County in 1749. The county seat is Cumberland.

From the guide to the Armistead and McAshan Ledger, 1836-1838, (The Library of Virginia)