Washington County (Va.). Circuit Court.

James L. White was born on 22 February 1770 in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. He moved to Abingdon, Virginia, in 1795. White was a prominent businessman in southwest Virginia. He owned plantations, salt works, iron furnaces, and lead mines in Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Alabama. Following his death on 20 October 1838, White's estate was valued at almost seven hundred thousand dollars.

The volumes were used as an exhibit in the chancery suit Administrator of James L. White and others vs. Administrator of James White, etc. It was heard in the Washington County Circuit Court. The suit involved a dispute concerning the settlement of White's vast estate.

From the guide to the Inventory and appraisement of the estate of Colonel James White, 1839-1873, (The Library of Virginia)

Washington County is the first locality in the United States known to have been named for George Washington. It was formed from Fincastle County in 1776, and a part of Montgomery County was added later.

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 Washington County (Va.) Court Records, 1800-1831, (The Library of Virginia)

Washington County was named for George Washington who had been commander in chief of the Continental army for little more than a year when the county was formed from Fincastle County in 1776. The county court first met on 28 January 1777. A part of Montgomery County was added in 1777.

Minute books for the periods 1787-1819 and 1821-1837 and many loose papers were lost in a courthouse fire set by Union soldier James Wyatt on 15 December 1864 during the Civil War. Wyatt, who was raised in Washington County, sought revenge for what he claimed was a wrong done against him by a county court judge before the war.

From the guide to the Washington County (Va.) Recorded and Unrecorded Deeds, 1799-1882 (bulk 1863-1882), (The Library of Virginia)

Washington County is the first locality in the United States known to have been named for George Washington. It was formed from Fincastle County in 1776, and a part of Montgomery County was added later.

Minute books for the periods 1787-1819 and 1821-1837 and many loose papers were lost in a courthouse fire set by Union soldier James Wyatt on 15 December 1864 during the Civil War. Wyatt, who was raised in Washington County, sought revenge for what he claimed was a wrong done against him by a county court judge before the war.

From the guide to the Washington County (Va.) Appraisement of the Estate of Joel Galliher's Estate, undated, (The Library of Virginia)

Washington County is the first locality in the United States known to have been named for George Washington. It was formed from Fincastle County in 1776, and a part of Montgomery County was added in 1777.

Created by an act of 1776, court first met on 18 January 1777. Minute books for the periods 1787-1819 and 1821-1837 and many loose papers were lost in a courthouse fire set by Union soldier James Wyatt on 15 December 1864 during the Civil War. Wyatt, who was raised in Washington County, sought revenge for what he claimed was a wrong done against him by a county court judge before the war.

From the guide to the Washington County (Va.) Law Cases and Law Causes Ended, 1858-1913, (Library of Virginia)

Washington County is the first locality in the United States known to have been named for George Washington. It was formed from Fincastle County in 1776, and a part of Montgomery County was added in 1777.

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. Certificates and registrations of free negroes usually include the name of the free person, sometimes their age and a brief physical description, and a statement based either on another person's knowledge or on other official documentary evidence seen by the certifier that this person was either born free or was emancipated. If born free, reference is sometimes made to parents. If emancipated, emancipating owner, place and date of emancipation, and prior registration as a free negro are usually mentioned. Occasionally the register number is given; this number corresponds to the entry number in the register of free negroes that would have been kept by the clerk of court at the courthouse.

From the guide to the Washington County (Va.) Free Negro and Slave Records, 1863, (The Library of Virginia)

Washington County is the first locality in the United States known to have been named for George Washington. It was formed from Fincastle County in 1776, and a part of Montgomery County was added later.

From the guide to the Washington County (Va.) Appraisement of the Estate of B. R. Johnston, 1873 Nov. 8, (The Library of Virginia)

Washington County is the first locality in the United States known to have been named for George Washington. It was formed from Fincastle County in 1776, and a part of Montgomery County was added in 1777.

Created by an act of 1776, court first met on 18 January 1777. Minute books for the periods 1787-1819 and 1821-1837 and many loose papers were lost in a courthouse fire set by Union soldier James Wyatt on 15 December 1864 during the Civil War. Wyatt, who was raised in Washington County, sought revenge for what he claimed was a wrong done against him by a county court judge before the war.

From the guide to the Washington County (Va.) Records, 1833-1910 circa, (Library of Virginia)

Washington County is the first locality in the United States known to have been named for George Washington. It was formed from Fincastle County in 1776, and a part of Montgomery County was added later.

From the guide to the Washington County (Va.) Marriage License, 1891 Feb. 18, (The Library of Virginia)

Washington County is the first locality in the United States known to have been named for George Washington. It was formed from Fincastle County in 1776, and a part of Montgomery County was added in 1777.

Created by an act of 1776, court first met on 18 January 1777. Minute books for the periods 1787-1819 and 1821-1837 and many loose papers were lost in a courthouse fire set by Union soldier James Wyatt on 15 December 1864 during the Civil War. Wyatt, who was raised in Washington County, sought revenge for what he claimed was a wrong done against him by a county court judge before the war.

From the guide to the Washington County (Va.) Estray Book, 1865-1913, (The Library of Virginia)

Washington County is the first locality in the United States known to have been named for George Washington. It was formed from Fincastle County in 1776, and a part of Montgomery County was added in 1777.

Created by an act of 1776, court first met on 18 January 1777. Minute books for the periods 1787-1819 and 1821-1837 and many loose papers were lost in a courthouse fire set by Union soldier James Wyatt on 15 December 1864 during the Civil War. Wyatt, who was raised in Washington County, sought revenge for what he claimed was a wrong done against him by a county court judge before the war.

A fiduciary is a confidential and legal relationship which binds one person to act on behalf of another. A fiduciary is also a person who acts as a trustee for another.

Administrators' Bonds and Guardians' Bonds are of bonds that administrators and guardians were required to take out with the justices of the court to guarantee proper execution of their positions. The obligation was made binding by a money guarantee. The bonds show the names of the administrator or guardians and their sureties, the date, amount and condition of the obligation, name of the deceased, and signatures.

An Administrator is a person appointed by the court to manage the assets and liabilities of a person who dies without having written a valid will. An administrator may also be appointed if the testator leaves an incomplete will naming no executor, or if the named executor cannot or will not serve.

A Guardian is a person legally invested to take care of another person, and of the property and rights of that person. The guardians usually were responsible for the estate of underage children who were either orphans or had received a large inheritance.

From the guide to the Washington County (Va.) Fiduciary Records, 1777-1871, (The Library of Virginia)

Washington County is the first locality in the United States known to have been named for George Washington. It was formed from Fincastle County in 1776, and a part of Montgomery County was added in 1777.

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 Washington County (Va.) Township Records, 1870-1875, (The Library of Virginia)

Washington County is the first locality in the United States known to have been named for George Washington. It was formed from Fincastle County in 1776, and a part of Montgomery County was added later.

From the guide to the Washington County (Va.) Inventory and Appraisement of the Estate of William Cook, 1867 Nov. 2, (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.

Washington County was named for George Washington who had been commander in chief of the Continental army for little more than a year when the county was formed from Fincastle County in 1776. The county court first met on 28 January 1777. A part of Montgomery County was added in 1777.

Minute books for the periods 1787-1819 and 1821-1837 and many loose papers were lost in a courthouse fire set by Union soldier James Wyatt on 15 December 1864 during the Civil War. Wyatt, who was raised in Washington County, sought revenge for what he claimed was a wrong done against him by a county court judge before the war.

From the guide to the Washington County (Va.) Chancery Causes, 1849-1913, (The Library of Virginia)

Washington County was formed in 1776 from Fincastle County. Part of Montgomery County was added in 1777.

From the guide to the Washington County (Va.) Warrant of Restitution, 1799, (The Library of Virginia)

Washington County is the first locality in the United States known to have been named for George Washington. It was formed from Fincastle County in 1776, and a part of Montgomery County was added in 1777.

Created by an act of 1776, court first met on 18 January 1777. Minute books for the periods 1787-1819 and 1821-1837 and many loose papers were lost in a courthouse fire set by Union soldier James Wyatt on 15 December 1864 during the Civil War. Wyatt, who was raised in Washington County, sought revenge for what he claimed was a wrong done against him by a county court judge before the war.

From the guide to the Washington County (Va.) Attendance Records of Spring Creek School, Number 8, Goodson District, 1892-1898, (The Library of Virginia)

Washington County is the first locality in the United States known to have been named for George Washington. It was formed from Fincastle County in 1776, and a part of Montgomery County was added in 1777.

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.

From the guide to the Washington County (Va.) Register of Colored Persons of Washington County, State of Virginia, cohabiting together as Husband and Wife, 1866 February 27, (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.

Washington County is the first locality in the United States known to have been named for George Washington. It was formed from Fincastle County in 1776, and a part of Montgomery County was added later.

From the guide to the Washington County (Va.) Commissioners' Report, 1859 Dec. 14, (The Library of Virginia)

Washington County is the first locality in the United States known to have been named for George Washington. It was formed from Fincastle County in 1776, and a part of Montgomery County was added in 1777.

Created by an act of 1776, court first met on 18 January 1777. Minute books for the periods 1787-1819 and 1821-1837 and many loose papers were lost in a courthouse fire set by Union soldier James Wyatt on 15 December 1864 during the Civil War. Wyatt, who was raised in Washington County, sought revenge for what he claimed was a wrong done against him by a county court judge before the war.

From the guide to the Washington County (Va.) Commonwealth Claims, 1902, (The Library of Virginia)