I was going through my old emails and found the following from the LVA's VA-HIst list that I thought might be of interest. FYI, information on how to subscribe is found at the bottom. Best Regards, Janet (Baugh) Hunter Subj: Re: [VA-HIST] Separate Property Date: 4/6/01 8:56:37 AM Eastern Daylight Time From:    BTarter@LVA.LIB.VA.US (Brent Tarter) Sender:    VA-HIST@LISTLVA.LIB.VA.US (Discussion of research and writing about Virginia history) Reply-to: <A HREF="mailto:VA-HIST@LISTLVA.LIB.VA.US">VA-HIST@LISTLVA.LIB.VA.US</A> (Discussion of research and writing about Virginia history) To:    VA-HIST@LISTLVA.LIB.VA.US The Virginia Married Women's Property Act was adopted on 4 April 1877. Virginia's was the last state statute to overthrow the Common Law on this subject; but there were many ways by which individual women could have had control of their own property before that. Some references that might be helpful: J.P. Bishop, COMMENTARIES ON THE LAW OF MARRIED WOMEN UNDER THE STATES OF THE SEVERAL STATES, AND AT COMMON LAW AND IN EQUITY (Boston, 1875). George L. Christian and Frank W. Christian, "The Virginia Married Women's Act," VIRGINIA LAW JOURNAL 1 (1877): 63-75. S.S.P. Patteson, "The Law for Married Women," VIRGINIA LAW JOURNAL 14 (1890): 537-547. Martin Parks Burks, NOTES ON THE PROPERTY RIGHTS OF MARRIED WOMEN IN VIRGINIA (Lynchburg, 1894). W.B. Pettit, "The Property and Contractual Rights of Married Women," REPORT OF THE ELEVENTH ANNUAL MEETING OF THE VIRGINIA STATE BAR ASSOCIATION (Richmond, 1899), 251-255. Cynthia Gianakos, "Virginia and the Married Women's Property Acts" (MA, University of Virginia, 1982). Brent Tarter, "When Kind and Thrifty Husbands Are Not Enough: Some Thoughts on the Legal Status of Women in Virginia," MAGAZINE OF VIRGINIA GENEALOGY 33 (1995): 79-101. Brent Tarter The Library of Virginia btarter@lva.lib.va.us To subscribe, change options, or unsubscribe, please see the instructions at http://listlva.lib.va.us/archives/va-hist.html