Administrative Information

Access Restrictions

There are no restrictions.

Use Restrictions

There are no restrictions.

Preferred Citation

Franklin County (Va.) Partitions, circa 1807-1900. Local Government Records Collection, Franklin County Court Records. The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia.

Acquisition Information

These items came to the Library of Virginia in a transfer of court papers from Franklin County.

Historical Information

Franklin County was named for Benjamin Franklin and was formed from Bedford and Henry Counties in 1785. The county court first met on 2 January 1786. Part of Patrick County was added in 1848. The county seat is Rocky Mount.

Scope and Content

Franklin County (Va.) Partitions, circa 1807-1900, are court records related to the division of property, mainly land and slaves. Many of these records origniated from suits heard in the chancery court and law court. Once the suit was finally heard documents that recorded the division of property including assignments of dowery, land surveys, plats, commissioners' reports, and division of slaves were removed from the suits by the court clerk and filed as a separate court series called "partitions." Information found in these records include the name of individual whose property was partitioned, names of the recipients of the property, how much they received, and a description of the property. Partitions involving the division of slaves include the names of the slaves, ages, value, and in some instances family relationships among the slaves.

Arrangement

There is no arrangement.

Related Material

Additional Franklin County Court Records can be found on microfilm at The Library of Virginia. See A Guide to Virginia County and City Records on Microfilm

Search the Chancery Records Index to find the Franklin County chancery suits that the chancery related partitions were removed from.

Index Terms

Corporate Names:

• Franklin County (Va.) Circuit Court.

Subjects:

• African Americans--History
• Dower--Virginia--Franklin County.
• Equity--Virginia--Franklin County.
• Estates (Law)--Virginia--Franklin County.
• Land subdivision--Virginia--Franklin County.
• Slavery--Virginia--Franklin County.

Geographical Names:

• Franklin County (Va.)--History.

Genre and Form Terms:

• Judicial records--Virginia--Franklin County.
• Land records--Virginia--Franklin County.
• Land surveys--Virginia--Franklin County.
• Local government records--Virginia--Franklin County.
• Plats--Virginia--Franklin County.

Adjunct Descriptive Data