If you enjoy transcription, here’s a great project for you —<\/p>\n
June 24, 2020:<\/p>\n
For those who enjoy the art and intricacy of transcribing historical documents, the Library of Virginia is pleased to announce that a selection of Albemarle County Judgments, 1780-1852, are available for transcription on Making History: Transcribe. The judgments specifically involve African Americans and were identified and scanned to be added to Virginia Untold: The African American Narrative. Like chancery cases, judgments are useful primary sources for understanding social, legal, and economic history of a locality, and often for genealogical purposes as well. This is a small selection of judgments involving African Americans, identified through an index of early Albemarle judgments by Library of Virginia Senior Local Records Consulting Archivist Eddie Woodward.<\/p>\n
Judgments are civil suits that typically involve debt or monetary damages, and were heard by a jury on the law side of the court. Documents such as assumpsits or declarations explain the reason for the plaintiff\u2019s charge, and depositions often give the reader a glimpse into events from the perspective of witnesses in their own words. Additionally, judgments can include a variety of documents that were used as exhibits by the plaintiff or defendant, including wills, contracts, deeds, coroner\u2019s inquests, correspondence, accounts, and receipts.<\/p>\n
The rest of the article may be found on the blog, The UncommonWealth:<\/p>\n