A Guide to the Fauquier County (Va.) Commonwealth Causes Ended, 1891-1892
A Collection in
the Library of Virginia
Barcode numbers: 0007816226
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Preferred Citation
Fauquier County (Va.) Commonwealth Causes Ended, 1891-1892. Local government records collection, Fauquier County Court Records. The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Va. 23219.
Acquisition Information
These items came to the Library of Virginia in shipments of court papers from Fauquier County as part of accession 37409.
Historical Information
Fauquier County was named for Francis Fauquier, lieutenant governor of Virginia from 1758 to 1768. It was formed in 1759 from Prince William County.
Scope and Content
Fauquier County (Va.) Commonwealth Causes Ended, 1891-1892, are largely unprocessed with this record concerning only a handful of cases relating to Lee Heflin and Joseph Dye and their subsequent lynchings. The material found in these cases consist primarily of warrants, summons, indictments, and verdicts handed down by grand juries.
Warrants were issued by grand juries, judges, and justices of the peace directing law enforcement officials to either arrest and imprison a person suspected of having committed a crime or to cause an individual to appear in court to answer accusations made against them. Peace warrants directing an offender to "keep the peace of the Commonwealth" or to restrain from any violent acts are commonly found in assault and battery cases.
Summonses were used to call a suspected person to appear in court. A summons could also be issued to direct witnesses or victims to come before the court in order to provide evidence or information deemed pertinent to a case.
An indictment is the official, written description of the crime that an accused individual is suspected of committing, which is approved by a grand jury and presented to a court in order to begin legal proceedings. Due to this process, indictments are often referred to as "presentments."
Verdicts are the formal pronouncements made by juries on issues submitted to them by a judge or other law enforcement official. In the case of a guilty verdict, a judge will sentence the offender. Sentences may include a fine, corporal punishment, and/or imprisonment.Coroners also submitted verdicts such as "death by suicide," "death by natural causes," etc. when determining the cause of a suspicious or sudden death.
Related Material
Additional information relatin to Lee Heflin, Joseph Dye, and their trials and lynchings and be found by searching Virginia Chronicle and Racial Terror: Lynching in Virginia
Selected Suits of Interest
In these three cases, Lee Heflin, a white man, is charged with various counts of first degree murders for the killings of Mrs. Kines and her children Annie Kines, and Lizzie Kines, to which he is found guilty and sentenced to be hung. Heflin's accused accomplice in the crime, Joseph Dye, receieved a writ of error in the Virginia Court of Appeals which resulting in the governor granting Heflin a respite until Dye's case could be heard on appeal. Fearing that justice would not be served, a mob of men overtook a wagon transferring Heflin as well as Joseph Dye to a jail in Alexandria. The two men were ordered to confess their crimes and then were strung up and shot multiple times.
In this case Joseph Dye, a white man, stands accused of the murder of Mrs. E. V. Kines, to which he is found guilty and sentenced to be hung. However, Dye's lawyer secured a writ of error from the Virginia Court of Appeals. Fearing that justice would not be served, a mob of men overtook a wagon transferring Dye as well as Lee Heflin to a jail in Alexandria. The two men were ordered to confess their crimes and then were strung up and shot multiple times.