Amelia County records have not suffered losses as many counties in Virginia have. Wills, Deeds, order books (county court minutes), chancery (equity) files and some marriage records all survive. Many of the early records have been abstracted and published. Amelia County also has an almost complete set of tithe (tax) lists which are valuable for identifying men with the same name.
In the colonial period, men were taxed at 16 years of age. The county was divided into districts and each district had a commissioner who collected the tax, called a tithe. Tax lists will tell you how many men of the same name lived in a county. Usually the men with the same name are identified in some way. The waterway they lived on, occupation and father's name are examples.
T. L. C. Genealogy has published an every name index to these lists, Amelia County, Virginia Tax Lists 1736-1764. The book is available on FamilySearch as a pdf download. Digital images of the Amelia County colonial tax lists are available at BinnsGenealogy. The Library of Virginia has published notes on using tithe lists. See Colonial Tithables and Tithables.
Not all men left wills but most men left probate records. In the credit economy of colonial Virginia, a man's debts were settled when he died. His personal property was inventoried; his administrator called in his notes and paid his debts. The balance of his assets was distributed among his heirs. Land passed outside of probate. If a man died without a will, the land passed to his oldest son. With a will, a man could dispose of his land as he saw fit. Five of the eight men in this study left wills. Only two named all of their children in their wills.
Amelia County wills from 1735 to 1799 have been abstracted and published. The every name indexes are very helpful. The will books to 1868 have been digitized and are on the FamilySearch website. Besides wills, probate records include inventories. These are interesting in and of themselves but they also give a clue to a man's socio-economic standing. The men who appraised the estate were most often neighbors and can be helpful in identifying where a man lived. Administrators required security that they would perform their duty lawfully. The person who gave security for the administrator was often a family member or close friend. For minor children, guardians were appointed. If the child was 14 years or older, he could choose his guardian. Guardian accounts were supposed to be filed annually but not all guardians complied. Wills and inventories were recorded in the will books. Most of the other probate records were recorded in the county court minutes (order books).
Chancery suits were filed to settle disputes that couldn't be settled by common law. Some suits were disputes over debts but many were disputes over estates. They are rich sources for genealogists. Some files can be quite long (over 100 pages) and some suits dragged on for years. If minor children inherited, they needed guardians to approve the settlement in their place. If some of the heirs had moved away and could not be located, time had to be allowed to track them down.
The bill of complaint explains why the petitioner is bringing the suit. The defendant files an answer. Often the suit was friendly, both parties were in agreement and the court issued a decree for settlement. Occasionally there was a dispute that required depositions from witnesses. These are very interesting reading and give you a perspective from outside of the family.
The Library of Virginia has digitized many of the county chancery records, including those for Amelia County and neighboring Charlotte and Prince Edward Counties. Chancery cases are an essential record group because of the amount of family information they hold. Search not only for surnames of interest but also for neighbors as every name is not indexed. Search over a longer time period than you normally would. Some estates weren't settled until after the death of the widow. See Library of Virginia notes on Chancery Cases.
Land transfers were recorded in deed books after the land was granted by the crown. Land grants are on line at the Library of Virginia website. Deed books have been abstracted and indexed through 1786. The every name indexes are very helpful. FamilySearch appears to be in the process of digitizing the Amelia County deed books. Deeds tell you where a man lived and who his neighbors were. Men often gifted land to their sons as they came of age. If a man resided outside of the county, this was usually included in the deed. Deed books are an essential record group for this time period.
The business of the county court was recorded in the order books and they are valuable reading for genealogists. They contain a wide variety of information on probate, guardianships, road orders, witnesses, jury lists and more. The contents and organization of the books vary by the clerk who kept them. Some were more careful than others, some were more organized than others, but all are worth reading. This record group is rarely abstracted and published, perhaps because the minutes are tedious to read. However, records for Amelia County have been abstracted and published from 1735 to 1751. FamilySeach has digitized the Amelia County order books to 1804 with some later books also digitized. The books are usually indexed but be aware that the index is not for every name but for the convenience of the clerk. Because the minutes contain such a variety of information, they are worth reading page by page.
The Amelia County Historical Society sells maps of the Original Land Patent Maps (with index) by Dr. Robert Brumfield. There are three maps, one for Amelia, Nottoway and Prince Edward Counties. These maps were used to create the neighborhood map used on this website.
The placed grants are also available as a Deedmapper file. See Direct Line Software. You need the software to download the map, but you can view the index without the software.
The Library of Virginia is an excellent source for research. The updated website is easier to navigate. Start with "Using the Collections." Some record groups have been digitized and are found in Virginia Memory. Included are the Chancery Records Index and Virginia Land Office Patents and Grants/Northern Neck Grants and Surveys.
Bob's Genealogy Filing Cabinet does a great job of explaining laws and terms found in early Virginia records, like dower and primogeniture. I found it very helpful when I started doing research in colonial Virginia records.
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