Administrative Information

Access Restrictions

There are no restrictions.

Use Restrictions

There are no restrictions.

Preferred Citation

Caroline County (Va.) Deeds, Plats and Various Land Records, 1728-1840, undated. Local government records collection, Caroline County Court Records. The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia 23219.

Acquisition Information

This box came to the Library of Virginia in a transfer of court records under the Accession number 26675 from Caroline County.

Historical Information

Caroline County was named for Caroline of Anspach, wife of King George II. The county was formed from Essex, King and Queen and King William counties on 1 May 1728, and additional parts of King and Queen County were added in 1742 and 1763.

Most loose records and deed books prior to 1836 and will books prior to 1853 were stolen, mutilated, and/or destroyed by Union troops who ransacked the courthouse in May 1864. A near-complete run of order books exists.

Scope and Content

Deeds of bargain and sale are the most commonly recorded deeds in which one individual sells property, usually land, but occasionally personal property, to another individual. Such deeds show the names of the grantor and grantee, the residence of both parties, a description of what is being sold, the consideration (or price), the location of the tract of land, the tract's boundaries and any limitations on the property being sold. The deed is signed by the grantor, anyone else having a claim to the property, and by at least 2 witnesses. On presentation to the court, deeds are proved and recorded. In this particular case, the deeds derived from the General Court, the Williamsburg District Court and a lost locality (Stafford County.)

Plats are maps, drawn to scale, showing the divisions of a piece of land. Information commonly found in plats are property boundaries, land features, and names of property owners. Sometimes deeds come with plats. These plats were made in connection with a land transaction, estate settlement or court case and related to this particular material, a boundary line establishment. The plats, in this case, range from 1777-1829.

Various land records include land grants from other lost localities including Spotsylvania and King William counties and a caveat (regarding a suspension of proceedings related to real property.)

Related Material

Additional Caroline County Records can be found on microfilm at the Library of Virginia. Consult "A Guide to Virginia County and City Records on Microfilm" found on the Library of Virginia's web site.

Caroline County is one of Virginia's Lost Records Localities. Additional Caroline County Records may be found in the Virginia Lost Records Localities Collection at the Library of Virginia. Search the Lost Records Localities Digital Collection .

For more information and a listing of lost records localities see Lost Records research note .

Index Terms

Corporate Names:

• Caroline County (Va.) Circuit Court.

Subjects:

• Public records--Virginia--Caroline County.

Geographical Names:

• Caroline County (Va.)--History.

Genre and Form Terms:

• Local government records--Virginia--Caroline County.

Adjunct Descriptive Data