Administrative Information

Access Restrictions

Wills, 1834-1846 that were transferred in accession 53810 under the title “Greensville County Dead Papers” and in adjacent boxes have undergone minimal processing. All records remain tri-folded or in original bundles and may be fragile. Contact Archives Research services for availability.

Use Restrictions

There are no restrictions.

Preferred Citation

Greensville County (Va.) Wills, 1834-1959. Local government records collection, Greensville County Court Records. The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia, 23219.

Acquisition Information

These records came to the Library of Virginia in a 2023 transfer of court papers from Greensville County under accession number 53810.

Processing Information

Encoded by M. Long: October 2023.

Wills, 1834-1846 that were transferred in accession 53810 under the title “Greensville County Dead Papers” and in adjacent boxes were processed using minimal processing standards: Locality records were organized by broad record category (election records, fiduciary records, etc.) with minimal other arrangement. These records have not been flattened, foldered, mended, or separated by individual record type (like summons, appraisements, etc.).

The remaining wills are still unprocessed.

Historical Information

Context for Record Type: In October 1776, entail was abolished, thereby prohibiting the automatic passing of estates through multiple generations. On January 1, 1787, the English system of primogeniture ceased in Virginia. These two events affected the content of probate records. Under primogeniture, Virginia wills may not always name the wife or the eldest son of the testator. Their inheritance of real estate was set by law: the widow received her dower, or one third share, for her lifetime and the eldest son, as heir at law, received the remaining two-thirds share unless otherwise specified in the father’s will. After the Revolutionary War, when Virginia’s general inheritance law took effect, all heirs of intestate estates inherited equally.

Individuals dying with a written will died testate. After the death of an individual, the deceased person’s 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 the settlement of the estate. The court then ordered the will to be recorded. The executor’s bond was also filed with the court. If the witnesses to the will were dead or could not be located, the will was lodged. These lodged wills were not recorded, but were kept by the court and the estate was treated as an intestate estate.

Wills record the deceased's plan for how his or her estate was to be divided among his or her heirs following his or her death. Information commonly recorded in wills include the name of the deceased, also referred as the testator; names of heirs; a listing of real and personal property (including slaves) and how it was to be divided among the heirs; names of individuals who were to be the will's executors; the date will was written; and the date will was recorded at the court house.

Locality History: Greensville County was named either for Revolutionary War general Nathanael Greene, commanding general of the Continental army in the South during part of the Revolutionary War, or for Sir Richard Grenville, leader of the Roanoke Island settlement of 1585. The county was formed from Brunswick County on 28 November 1780.

Scope and Content

Greensville County (Va.) Wills, 1834-1959, includes wills and related probate records originating in the locality. A portion of the wills, 1834-1846, have undergone minimal processing. This has allowed for the documentation of specific record types and various trends found in this set of records. The remaining wills are completely unprocessed.

Wills, 1834-1846 that have undergone minimal processing consist of the following:

Significant materials include an 1834 will memorandum that includes the names of a large number of enslaved people.

Arrangement

This collection is arranged into the following series:

Related Material

A searchable database of indexed wills and administration records for Greensville County and fifty-two other Virginia counties and cities is available through the "Wills and Estate Records Index" on the Library of Virginia website.

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

Adjunct Descriptive Data