Unison Court cases

Court cases were a fact of life in any civilized society to prevent anarchy and mayhem. Civil suits were tried by the Chancery Court every quarter when grievances demanded a hearing. The range of suits went from non-payment of debts, to land theft, to the rare divorce. Both plantiff and defendant were given their right to be heard before the court decided a judgment.

For the most part, these records provide a valuable insight into the occupations, and relationships, of the village inhabitants. This data was taken from the Chancery Records housed in the Loudoun County Archives, located in the Loudoun County Courthouse, Leesburg, VA.

Chancery Cases

The Loudoun County Archives has a complete listing of all Chancery (civil & criminal) cases back to 1757, with the original papers. In 2009-2010 Loudoun County Archives participated in a project by the Virginia State Library to put on-line all the Chancery records and documentation from all the Virginia counties.

Click Here to go directly to the Chancery Records page… or type in www.lva.virginia.gov/chancery/). To view the cases in the table below, select “Loudoun County” from the drop-down list, then add the name of either the plaintiff or the defendant. The documents are excellent scanned images that are very easy to read.

DateNameTypeOutcome
1782Brown, Isaac
(White Male)
Concealing a TithableFine
1796Brown, Isacc vs
Baty, Samuel
(White Male)
Breach of PeaceJudgment for cost
1801Brown, IsaccRetailing Liquor Contrary to the Law
1821Brown, IsaacNot Keeping the RoadGrand Jury Presentments Aug 1821
1822Brown, IsaacNot keeping the roadNolle Prosequi, defendant pays cost
1828Brown, Isaac vs.
Samuel Hammonstree
(White Male)
Assault
1830Brown, Isaackeeping a tavern without a licenseGrand Jury Presentments Aug 1830
1838Gillespey, Jacob
(White Male) vs
Smith, Seth
(White Male)
Stoning a houseGuilty $100 recognizance
1813Shull, John
(White Male)
FightingGrand Jury Presentments Aug 1813
1813Kent, Ashford
(White Male Laborer)
Breach of PeaceGrand Jury Presentments Aug 1813
1814Kent, AshfordDisobeying a sworn officerdismissed
1817McCaffrey, John
(White Male) vs.
Jones, William
(White Male)
AssaultNolle Prosequi, Judgment for cost
1823McCaffrey, Johnselling liquor without a licenseGrand Jury Presentments
1813Patterson, John
(White Male Laborer)
Breach of PeaceGrand Jury Presentments June 1813
Road Cases

Road cases for Unison are part of the Loudoun County Archives. These cases were petitions by landowners to open a new road over private land to assist in travel, business, or opening land to division. The petitioner had to plead a sufficient need before the county board would approve the new road because the petitioner and the surrounding farms and businesses that would benefit from the road were also charged with upkeep and maintenance. Back in the horse and buggy era, it was the local farmers who would scrape and level the roads, so ensuring this very critical issue was fully realized was the major concern of the county board. The court also required inspection, by three local citizens in good standing, of the proposed byway to insure it would not inconvenience any adjoining landowners before the road petition was approved.

YearPetitionerLocationRoad case #
1817Humphrey, SarahUnion- Pumpkin Town (Bluemont)224
1819Hann, MathiasHann’s to Sinclair’s Mill (Unison area)246
1820Brown, IsaacUnison – Open a road from the Quaker Road to the Road leading from Unison town to the Trap – Snicker’s Gap Turnpike Road258
1834Dulany, JohnPalmer’s Mill to Union338
1840HandleySnickersville to Union Town379
1849Furr, FentonUnion446
1878Benton, JamesUnison658
Photos of Road Case documents

Following are images of the Unison road case documents housed in the Loudoun County Courthouse Archives. These images are for informational purposes, and genealogy research material only.

Please click on each link below to see the document(s):

Names listed on the Road Cases

  • 1817 – Case 224: Landowners: David Handley (Petitioner), John H. Butcher / Road Inspectors: Thomas Miholz, Silus Garrett, Timothy Taylor,
  • 1819 – Case 246: