Minute Books

This slender volume contains abstracts of the combined "First" Minute and Law Order Books of Cabell County, Virginia/West Virginia. Three-quarters of the cases are either debt (by bond, contract, or covenant) or assault and battery (with or without trespass). The assault and battery cases seem to appear after the elections and at the same time as indictments for selling liquor without a license (probably due to fights as the result of too much alcohol). There is one case of murder, one for larceny, and several for ejectment (removal of land holders due to overlapping land claims caused by Virginia's metes and bounds land system). Every effort has been made to include all the names recorded and the case information if listed. The abstracts are followed by an alphabetical list of jurors and their frequency of jury duty.