Laws pertaining to property: . Consider these examples from just after the American Revolution. FROM CLAYTON LIBRARY, HOUSTON, TX. BIBLIOGRAPHY ATTACHED. (1) Any person under twenty-one who owned land could execute a deed (to sell the land) through the guardian.11 This law tells us that persons younger than twenty-one could own land, as by inheritance or gift, but could not sell it without the participation of the guardian. (2) Every person of the age of twenty-one or more who was of sound mind and not a married woman could write a will and devise property with two or more credible witnesses.12 This meant, of course, that married women could not write wills. (3) No person under the age of eighteen could write a will to dispose of his chattels (primarily livestock, slaves, tools, farming implements, and other movable, tangible property; not land).13 This implies, then, that persons younger than eighteen could own such property but only those eighteen or older could write a will that would be recognized by the court. Likewise, finding a will of a single young man, an ancestor's brother, for example, would lead a genealogist to estimate that he was at least eighteen. He may have been older but was not younger. (4) When Virginia began collecting taxes in 1782, just after the end of the Revolution, the General Assembly spelled out procedures. (As we use the microfilmed Virginia tax records at Clayton Library, it can be helpful to keep up with changes in the tax law.) Each county court was to divide its county into precincts or districts for tax collection purposes. Annually before March 10, the county court was to appoint a justice for each precinct to make a list of enumerated (taxable) articles therein. The justice was to give public notice of when and where he intended to receive the lists from the taxpayers and was to deliver the lists and vouchers for payment on or before April 20 to the clerk of the county court. The justice was to make a "fair alphabetical list" of the names of all free males over twenty-one residing in his precinct, the names of all slaves and to whom they belonged, and the lists of other taxable property reported by the taxpayers. For his part, every head of household or his agent was to deliver to the justice in his precinct, between March 10 and April 10 annually, a list of the names of all free males in the household over twenty-one, names and numbers of slaves belonging to his family as of March 9, and numbers of cattle, horses, wheels on wagons and carriages of all kinds, billiard tables, and other taxable property. A fine of 500 pounds of tobacco was to be assessed for concealing tax information from the county court.14 These instructions imply that the taxpayers went to the tax collector and not vice versa. It is possible, however, that some justices may have gone to their taxpayers or, logically, may have been in a given neighborhood on a given date to receive the tax lists. Thus, using the date given on some of the tax lists beside each taxpayer's name, a researcher may still be able to identify potential neighbors based on those who paid their taxes on the same day. A third reason for genealogical use of the statutes is that many individual ancestors are named in them. For example, a 1791 act dissolved the marriage of Robert Turnbull and Sarah Buchanan.15 Other individuals were named as trustees of schools and academies that the legislature chartered or were the subject of private relief acts. Two good examples appear in Shepherd's Statutes, the continuation of Hening' s effort. First, in January 1808, an act stated that David Black, son of Dr. David Black, late of Blandford (part of Petersburg), had died, leaving about seventy-two acres of land in Blandford. By act of the assembly, the land was now to belong to James Sample and his wife, Joanna, the said Joanna being the nearest of kin in the United States to the said David Black, the younger, at the time of his death.16 The genealogical implications of this document are obvious. If the genealogist did not already know this connection, the find is marvelous and the next steps in research are clear: marriage record for James and Joanna, probate records of both David Blacks, land records of Petersburg, etc. Secondly, also in January 1808, the assembly authorized William Faulkner, coroner of Halifax County, to deliver over to Jacob Faulkner, as trustee, for the use and benefit of Patsey Oliver, wife of Achilles Oliver, and her children, until the death of Achilles or until he was taken or surrendered himself to justice, all the real and personal estate of Achilles Oliver which William Faulkner was holding in consequence of Achilles absconding and refusing to surrender himself on his having been found guilty of murdering Joseph Gholston, by the inquest of William Faulkner, coroner.17 This kind of record can open the proverbial can of worms but may help answer other nagging questions of the diligent genealogist. Virginia researchers are indeed fortunate to have at their fingertips at Clayton Library such valuable resources as Hening's Statutes, Shepherd's Statutes, the Laws of Virginia supplement, Casey's index, and the Swem index. Laws passed after 1808 can be accessed at university and law libraries that have collections of the session laws from the various states. Bibliography Casey, Joseph J. Personal Names in Hening's Statutes at Large of Virginia and Shepherd's Continuation. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1967. Reprint of 1896 original and 1933 reprint, and reprinted in 1989 by G.P.C. for the Clearfield Company. Hening, William Waller, ed. The Statutes at Large; Being a Collection of All the Laws of Virginia, from the First Session of the Legislature, in the year 1619. Charlottesville, VA: University Press of Virginia, 1969. Reprint of 1820-1823 original. Shepherd, Samuel, ed. The Statutes at Large of Virginia, from October session 1792, to December session 1806 [i.e. 1807] inclusive, in three volumes, being a continuation of Hening. New York: AMS Press, 1970. Reprint of 1835 original. Swem, Earl Gregg, ed. Virginia Historical Index. Magnolia, MA: Peter Smith, 1965. Reprint of 1934 original. Winfree, Waverly K., comp. The Laws of Virginia; Being a Supplement to Hening's The Statutes at Large, 1700-1750. Richmond: Virginia State Library, 1971. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ --- Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free. Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com). Version: 6.0.273 / Virus Database: 143 - Release Date: 8/16/01