Louisa County (Va.) Circuit Court.

Louisa County was formed from Hanover County in 1742. The county was named for Louisa, a daughter 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, issued then 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.

Until 1780, marriages could be performed only by ministers of the Established Church, who were required by law to record marriages in the parish register. In 1780, dissenting ministers (only four per county from each sect) were first permitted to perform marriage ceremonies. In order to have a record of all marriages, ministers were required to sign a certificate to be filed with the county clerk. Intially, ministers sent marriage certificates to the clerk every three months. Some ministers adopted a custom of making collected returns--a list of marriages performed within a period of time such as a year or several years. Beginning in 1784, marriage certificates were returned annually. The law was rarely enforced, and ministers' returns were sometimes late, incorrect, incomplete, and in many instances, not made at all. County clerks compiled a register of marriages based, in part, on ministers' returns.

The original ministers' returns, from which this volume was compiled, were created by the County Court.

From the guide to the Louisa County (Va.) Ministers' Returns, 1781-1853, (The Library of Virginia)

Louisa County was formed in 1742 from Hanover County.

From the guide to the Louisa County (Va.) Free Negro and Slave Records, 1770-1865, (The Library of Virginia)

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.

Louisa County was named for Louisa, a daughter of King George II and wife of King Frederick V of Denmark. It was formed from Hanover County in 1742.

From the guide to the Louisa County (Va.) Chancery Causes, 1753-1913 (bulk 1786-1913)., (The Library of Virginia)

Louisa County was formed in 1742 from Hanover County.

From the guide to the Louisa County (Va.) Muster Roll of Louisa County in the War in Defense of Virginia, 1861-1865, (The Library of Virginia)

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.

Louisa County was named for Louisa, a daughter of King George II and wife of King Frederick V of Denmark. It was formed from Hanover County in 1742.

From the guide to the Louisa County (Va.) Chancery Causes, 1753-1913 (bulk 1786-1913), (The Library of Virginia)

Louisa was formed in 1742 from Hanover County.

The deed books of Louisa County in this collection were created by the County Court.

From the guide to the Louisa County (Va.) Deed Books, 1742-1774, (The Library of Virginia)

Louisa County was named for Louisa, a daughter of George II. It was formed from Hanover County in 1742.

From the guide to the Louisa County (Va.) Deeds, 1746-1904 (bulk 1778-1904), (The Library of Virginia)

Louisa County was named for Louisa, a daughter of George II. It was formed from Hanover County in 1742.

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 Louisa County (Va.) Court Record, 1838-1854, (The Library of Virginia)

Louisa County was named for Louisa, a daughter of King George II and wife of King Frederick V of Denmark. It was formed from Hanover County in 1742.

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 Louisa County (Va.) Coroners' Inquisitions, 1786-1904, (The Library of Virginia)

Louisa County was formed from Hanover County in 1742.

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 "Colonial tithables" found on the Library of Virginia's web site.

From the guide to the Louisa County (Va.) Lists of Tithables, 1767-1784 and undated., (The Library of Virginia)

Louisa was formed in 1742 from Hanover County.

The will books of Louisa in this collection were created by the County Court.

From the guide to the Louisa County (Va.) Will Books, 1746-1902, (The Library of Virginia)

Louisa County was formed in 1742 from Hanover County.

From the guide to the Louisa County (Va.) Unidentified Account Book, 1846, (The Library of Virginia)

Louisa County was formed in 1742 from Hanover County.

An act passed by the Virginia legislature in 1803 required every free negro or mulatto to be registered and numbered in a book to be kept by the county clerk.

From the guide to the Louisa County (Va.) Register of Free Negroes, 1837-1865, (The Library of Virginia)

Louisa County was formed in 1742 from Hanover County.

From the guide to the Louisa County (Va.) Clerk's Fee Bill, (The Library of Virginia)

Louisa County was formed from Hanover County in 1742. The county was named for Louisa, a daughter 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. Written consent from a parent or guardian was needed for individuals younger than twenty-one years. The license, issued then by the clerk, was given to the minister who performed the service. Once the service was performed, the minister submitted a return to the county clerk. The county clerk recorded these returns along with other marriage records, such as bonds, certificates and licenses, in a marriage register.

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

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

Louisa County was named for Louisa, a daughter of George II. It was formed from Hanover County in 1742.

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 Louisa County (Va.) Township Records, 1870-1872, (The Library of Virginia)

Louisa County was named for the English county. It was formed from old Rappahannock County in 1692.

From the guide to the Louisa County (Va.) Records, 1780; 1787, (The Library of Virginia)

Louisa County was formed in 1742 from Hanover County.

From the guide to the Louisa County (Va.) Muster Roll of Louisa County in the War with Germany, 1917-1918, (The Library of Virginia)

Louisa County was named for Louisa, a daughter of George II. It was formed from Hanover County in 1742.

Individuals dying 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.

From the guide to the Louisa County (Va.) Wills, 1738-1897 (bulk 1768-1897), (The Library of Virginia)

Louisa County was formed in 1742 from Hanover County.

The Virginia legislature passed an act on 27 February 1866 to legalize the marriages of former slaves who had been cohabiting as of that date. See Virginia Acts of Assembly, 1866-1867, Chapter 18, An act to amend and re-enact the 14th section of chapter 108 of the Code of Virginia for 1860, in regard to registers of marriage; and to legalize the marriages of colored persons now cohabiting as husband and wife.

The Federal Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands directed the Assistant Superintendents of the states to order the county clerks to make a registry of such cohabiting couples. See Circular No. 11, dated 19 March 1866, in Orders, Circulars, Circular Letters, and Letters of Instruction, vol. 2 (1866). Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands, Records of the Assistant Commissioner for the State of Virginia, 1865-1869. Miscellaneous reel 3880, Library of Virginia. National Archives microfilm M1048 (reel 41), Record Group 105.

The Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen and Abandoned Lands was a federal agency created by the Freedmen's Bureau Bill, passed on March 3, 1865. Also known as the "Freedmen's Bureau", this agency was responsible for aiding refugees of the Civil War, especially former slaves, in the areas of education, employment and health care. Meant to last for only one year after the war, the bureau was operational from June 1865 to December 1868.

From the guide to the Louisa County (Va.) Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands Records, 1865-1866, (The Library of Virginia)