1825 Virginia Chancery Appeal Bond – Superior Court of Chancery, Fredericksburg

An original Virginia Chancery Appeal Bond executed in July 1825 in connection with litigation before the Superior Court of Chancery at Fredericksburg.

The printed legal form, completed entirely in manuscript, records the appeal of Henry Lee and Ann R. Lee from a chancery decree rendered on June 15, 1825, in a suit involving Richard Stuart, Elizabeth McCarty, William S. Jett, and McKenzie Beverley. Henry Lee and Daniel Carmichael, acting as surety, entered into a bond in the penal sum of $200, guaranteeing payment of costs and damages should the decree be affirmed.

The reverse contains contemporary affidavits and acknowledgments executed in Westmoreland County, Virginia, on July 26, 1825, certifying the financial sufficiency of the surety and the proper execution of the bond. The document features multiple original signatures, printed seal devices, period docketing, and the attractive typography characteristic of early nineteenth-century Virginia legal forms.

Presented in very good condition with expected filing folds, light age toning, and strong manuscript entries, this is an appealing example of an early Virginia equity court record. It will interest collectors of Virginia legal history, Westmoreland County records, chancery litigation, genealogy, and early American judicial documents.

Research Note: Because the principal appellant is named Henry Lee and the case originated in Westmoreland County, additional genealogical research may determine whether he belonged to the prominent Lee family of Virginia. If such a connection can be documented, it would materially enhance the document's historical importance and market value. However, we cannot be certain that this is the father of Robert E Lee.