Virginia Census Records - Statewide Records: The 1810 census is the earliest enumeration of Virginia's population to have survived, making it necessary to substitute other lists for the missing censuses. Federal census records for the State of Virginia are lost for 1790, 1800, and 1890. Virginia Tax lists from 1782 through 1785  were used as a substitute for the 1790 census, reportedly lost when the British burned the city of Washington during the War of 1812. The 1790 census listed only heads-of-household but enumerated their families, including women. In contrast, tax commissioners in 1787 were required to list all free males subject to taxation, not just heads-of-household; women were only included if they owned personal property subject to taxation or were widows with sons aged sixteen to twenty-one. Beginning in 1820 and continuing every ten years through 1910 (except for the 1890 census, which was also destroyed by fire).

See Also Researching in Census Records - What is the name, age, sex, color, occupation, and birthplace of each person residing in this house? Which of these individuals attended school or was married within the year? Who among them is deaf and dumb, blind, insane, “idiotic,” a pauper, or a convict? Is there anyone in the household over twenty years of age who cannot read and write? What is the name of the slave owner? How many slaves belong to the owner? What is the tribe of this Indian? What were the places of birth of the person’s parents? In what year did this person immigrate to the United States and, if naturalized, what was the year of naturalization? For answers to these and other questions, researchers look to census records......

  The Virginia State census lists taken in 1782-1785 recorded either the number of white souls, number of dwellings and number of other buildings (1782-1783) or number of blacks and number of whites (1784-1785). A list for Greenbrier County was compiled from the 1783--6 personal property tax lists; a list for Richmond was compiled from a 1782 tax lists. Not all of the state census records survive for a given year and none survive for some counties.

   Federal Schedules to look at when researching your family tree in the State of Virginia are Industry and Agriculture Schedules which are availible for the years 1850, 1860, 1870 and 1880. Slave Schedules exist for 1850 & 1860. The Mortality Schedules for the years 1850, 1860, 1870 and 1880.

  Colonial Records: Two early censuses of Virginia have survived intact; only statistical abstracts remain of other censuses conducted. The first census is dated 16 February 1624 and is a list of the names of persons living in Virginia and the names of those who died since April 1623. The colony conducted a second census in January and February 1625. The Musters of the Inhabitants of Virginia were taken by household and includes ages, relationships, dates of arrival in Virginia, the name of the ship each person arrived in, and enumerations of weapons, buildings, foodstuffs, and boats. The information actually included varies from household to household and from plantation (or town) to plantation. Another census was conducted in 1634, but is apparently lost. 

  Other lists of Virginia inhabitants include militia musters, tithables lists, and quitrent rolls. These lists cover a single county or precinct rather than the entire colony.

Excerpts From the Book "Family History Made Easy"

   There are numerous ways to determine the location in which to concentrate research for an ancestor. One of the most popular and productive is the census.
Alice Eichholz, Ph.D., In Ancestry’s Red Book: American State,County and Town Sources

    Since 1790, the U.S. government has taken a nationwide population count every ten years. Unique in scope and often surprisingly detailed, the census population schedules created from 1790 to 1920 are among the most used of records created by the federal government. Over the course of two centuries the United States has changed significantly, and so has the census. From the six basic questions asked in the 1790 census, the scope and categories of information have changed and expanded dramatically.

   Early censuses were essentially basic counts of inhabitants; but as the nation grew, so did the need for statistics that would reflect the characteristics of the people. In 1850, the focus of the census was radically broadened. Going far beyond the vague questions previously asked of heads of households, the 1850 census enumerators were instructed to ask the age, sex, color, occupation, birthplace, and other questions regarding every individual in every household. Succeeding enumerations solicited more information; by 1920, census enumerators asked twenty-nine questions of every head of household and almost as many questions of everyone else in the residence. (Only a very small segment of the 1890 census remains; a fire in the Commerce Department destroyed the vast majority of the original records for that year. Because of privacy considerations, census records less than seventy-two years old are not available to the general public; thus, the 1920 census is the most recent available to the public.)

   Few, if any, records reveal as many details about individuals and families as do the U.S. federal censuses. The population schedules are successive “snapshots” of Americans that depict where and how they were living at particular periods in the past. Once home sources and library sources have been exhausted, the census is often the best starting point for further genealogical research. Statewide indexes (see “Indexes,” below) are available for almost every census; they are logical tools for locating individuals whose precise place of residence is unknown. While some inaccuracies are to be expected in census records, they still provide some of the most fascinating and useful pieces of personal history to be found in any source. If nothing else, census records are important sources for placing individuals in specific places at specific times. Additionally, information found in the census will often point to other sources critical to complete research, such as court, land, military, immigration, naturalization, and vital records.

   The importance of census records does not diminish over time in any research project. It is always wise to return to these records as discoveries are made in other sources because, as you discover new evidence about individuals, some information that seemed unrelated or unimportant in a first look at the census may take on new importance.

   When you can’t find family, vital, or religious records, census records may be the only means of documenting the events of a person’s life. Vital registration—the official recording of births, deaths, and marriages—did not begin until around 1920 in many areas of the United States, and fires, floods and other disasters since have destroyed some official government records. When other documentation is missing, census records are frequently used by individuals who must prove their age or citizenship status (or that of their parents) for Social Security benefits, insurance, passports, and other important reasons.

How to Find Census Records
   All available federal census schedules (those made from 1790 to 1920) have been microfilmed and are available at the National Archives in Washington, D.C.; at the National Archives’ regional archives; at the Family History Library of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS church) in Salt Lake City and LDS family history centers throughout North America (see chapter 8, “The Family History Library and Its Centers”); at many large libraries; in genealogical society libraries; and through companies that lend microfilmed records. Some state and local agencies have census schedules for the state or area they serve. Generally, microfilm copies may be borrowed through interlibrary loan.

Starting With the Census
   It is usually best to begin a census search in the most recently available census records (1920) and to work from what is already known about a family. With any luck, birthplaces and other clues found in these more recent records will point to locations of earlier residence.

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Virginia Court & Probate Records - Most courts in America are courts of record, that is, they are required by law to keep a record of their proceedings. Virginia courts are no exception.

See Also Research In State Court Probate - Even today, few people escape mention in court records at some time during their lives as witnesses, litigants, jurors, appointees to office, or as petition signatories. However, Americans of a few generations ago also expected to attend local court proceedings when they were in session. It was a civic duty-and they could be fined if they did not attend......

• County Court (1619–1902)  County courts were the court of record used by most Virginians. In 1904, county courts ceased to exist, and their functions were taken over by the circuit courts.
    County courts were established as the monthly court in the Great Charter of 1618. The monthly court was held in different precincts and heard petty civil and criminal cases. It served two primary functions: (1) it relieved the president and council of part of their duties as justices, and (2) it brought justice closer to all Virginians. When the eight original shires were formed in 1634, the monthly court was redesignated the court of shire, and by 1642 was called the county court. The county court was required to meet at least six times per year.
    The justices, first known as commissioners, were appointed by the governor; in 1662 they were called justices of the peace. The court generally included eight to ten justices, with four justices appointed to the quorum. One member of the quorum in company with three other justices was sufficient to make up a valid court.
    The county court also sat in special terms. These were well publicized meetings of the court for specific functions. The orphans' court, begun in 1642, reviewed annual accounts of orphans' estates and ensured that guardians did not waste the estates or mistreat the orphans. Apprentices could appeal to the orphans' court in cases of mistreatment or failure of masters to live up to their contracts. The court of claim was a special session for the county's citizens to present monetary claims against the county before the levy was laid. Beginning in 1645, the county court also sat as a court of probate, granting certificates of probate and administration, ordering inventories and appraisements, and settling estates.
•  President and Council (1607–19) Until 1619, the president and members of the council heard and decided all civil and criminal cases in Virginia. Unfortunately, record of their proceedings has not survived. Once monthly courts were established in 1619, the president and council began to hear appeals of criminal and civil decisions made by those courts.
•  Quarter Court (1619–61) Starting in 1619, the president and council, and later the governor and council, sat as a quarter court in March, June, September, and December to handle major civil cases, chancery, and appellate matters. When they met in other months, they met as the Council. The quarter court was designated the general court in 1661.
•  General Court (1661–1851) This court had the responsibility of hearing county court appeals, major civil cases, capital crimes, and probate matters until 1851. Two other courts were established during the general court's existence: (1) the high court of chancery, and (2) district courts. The high court of chancery took over appellate functions in county court chancery cases in 1777, and district courts took over appellate functions in county court common law cases in 1789.
    The judges of the general court also sat on the district courts. They spent much of their time in the lower court until 1814, when the general court was made the supreme criminal tribunal in Virginia. The general court was abolished by the 1851 state constitution, and its functions were transferred to the supreme court of appeals.
•  Supreme Court of Appeals (1779–present) Since the supreme court of appeals was created in 1779, it has had final jurisdiction in all civil cases. It has been the state's only court of final appeals since the general court was abolished in 1851.
•  High Court of Chancery (1777–1802) At its creation in 1777, the high court of chancery assumed jurisdiction over all chancery cases in the state. It was abolished in 1802 and replaced by the superior courts of chancery.
•  Superior Courts of Chancery (1802–31) Originally, there were three chancery districts, with superior courts of chancery in Staunton, Richmond, and Williamsburg. Additional districts were added including Wythe County, Winchester, and Clarksburg in 1812, and Greenbrier County and Lynchburg in 1814. The Superior Courts of Chancery were abolished in 1831 and replaced by the nearest county's circuit superior court of law and chancery.
•  District Courts (1789–1808) In 1789 Virginia was divided into eighteen districts, each including several counties. Courts were held twice each year, always in the same location. District courts were replaced by the superior courts of law in 1808.
    The eighteen district courts were held at the courthouses in Charlottesville, Fredericksburg, Richmond, Wiliamsburg, Suffolk, Winchester, Staunton, Dumfries, Petersburg, and possibly others.
• Superior Courts of Law (1808–31) Created in 1808, these courts met twice a year in each county and took over the functions of the district courts. They were sometimes called circuit courts because a general court judge rode a circuit throughout his district to hold these courts. They were replaced in 1831 by the circuit superior courts of law and chancery.
•  Circuit Superior Courts of Law and Chancery (1831–51) These courts were organized like the superior courts of law; sessions were held twice a year by a general court judge who rode a circuit. They assumed the functions of the superior courts of law and the superior courts of chancery. The state constitution of 1851 abolished these courts and replaced them with circuit courts.
•  Circuit Courts (1852–present) Courts were held twice a year in each county, and records were filed with the county. Originally, there were twenty-one judges who rode circuits to hold these courts.
  The state constitution of 1902 did not include provisions for continuing county courts, and circuit courts took over their functions. The circuit courts are now the only court of record in Virginia's counties.

Original court records are housed at The Library of Virginia; pre-1865 records are available on microfilm there and at the FHL. While it is always best to rely upon original documents for research, the condition of original court records varies considerably: some are still firmly bound and easy to read, some are faded and crumbling, some are torn or have missing pages, some have been restored through lamination, and many have been destroyed or lost. Because of these circumstances, printed transcripts can prove invaluable to the researcher who knows their limitations and uses them wisely.

County Court Order Books

County court order books or minute books have survived for many Virginia counties. They record all matters brought before the court when it was in session and may contain important information not found anywhere else. Generally minute books contain brief entries, while order books provide synopses of cases in a neater, more organized form. These volumes are sometimes internally indexed; more rarely, there is a comprehensive index.  A wide variety of information is found in order books including: appointments of county and militia officers, records of legal disputes heard before the county court, appointments of guardians, apprenticeship of children by the overseers of the poor, naturalizations, road orders, and registrations of free Negroes.

Guardianship /Fiduciary Books

When an individual acts as a trustee for another, the relationship is described as a fiduciary one. The protection of inherited property (both real and personal) was an important reason for the creation of court records. When minor children survived a parent, a guardian was often appointed to protect the estate for the children.  Appointments of guardians are recorded in the county court order books.  In the index, the guardian appointments may be listed in the name of the orphan, the name of the guardian, or under the general category "orphans."

A guardian was appointed by the court only if there was an estate to protect. At age thirteen, a child was eligible to go into court and choose his own guardian. Poor orphaned children did not have guardians and were bound out to learn a trade. In the colonial period, this was handled by the vestry of each Anglican parish. After disestablishment, the orphans were bound out by the overseers of the poor for the county. Records of apprenticeship are found in the county court order books.

Periodically guardians were required to bring estate accounts into court.  These were often recorded in volumes known as guardians accounts. The estate of a deceased person with minor children required the keeping of records (estate or fiduciary) until it was settled. This occurred when the last minor child married or arrived at legal age. Records of this sort are found in will books, estate account books, and fiduciary or audit books.

Availability of Records for Research

In many cases, the original record books and loose papers (suit papers) have remained in the locality where they were created and are kept in the office of the circuit court clerk. Microfilm copies of extant record books are available at the Library of Virginia from the date of the formation of the county or city to approximately 1865, along with a growing collection of post-Civil War holdings. A Guide to Virginia County and City Records On Microfilm may be found on the Library's Web site.   Microfilm copies are also available through interlibrary loan.

• Virginia County Records, Volume VI, Volume VII and Volume IX
• Virginia Huguenot Refugees, 1700
• Virginia Immigrants, 1623-66
• Search Court Records From All States
• Search County Court Records
• Search County Criminal Records with a Criminal Background Check
• Search for Registered Sex Offenders in your local Area

See Also Research In State Probate Records - Probate records include a variety of documents created to support court proceedings in the settlement of an individuals' estates. The number and type of probate records created may vary over time in different jurisdictions and due to the amount of real and personal property involved. The various documents generated in the probate process are rarely filed together......

   In Virginia, estate records are produced by civil courts on the county level—in the county and circuit courts—except in independent cities where probate matters are the responsibility of the circuit court. Wills, administrations, guardianships, inventories, appraisals, and settlements are some of the records related to a person's estate or probate record.

The Common Law of England applied in the colony, as did the written laws of England. Two important principles were primogeniture and the right of dower. Primogeniture is the device by which estates, particularly land, were kept whole. Basically, the eldest son, by right of birth, inherited all real estate. The right of dower is an old Common Law principle. Women acquired a dower right in all of their husbands' real estate at marriage. At his death, the widow had the right to a portion of the real estate for the remainder of her natural life; the dower was generally one-third. Widows also had a dower right to their late husbands' personal property; once again, the dower was generally one-third but might be an equal division with all of the surviving children. In 1673 the House of Burgesses confirmed the right of dower. The widow received one-third of her late husband's personal property if there were one or two children; if there were three or more, she inherited equally with the children. She also inherited one-third of her late husband's real estate for life and could not be disinherited.

Probates and administrations could be granted in three different places. English law specified that the Prerogative Court of Canterbury had probate jurisdiction in Virginia; Virginia law required probates and administrations to be granted in the Quarter or General Court; and after 1645, certificates of probate or administration could be granted in the county court. Wills, inventories, and appraisals were supposed to be recorded in both the county and the office of the Secretary of the Colony. The greatest source of probate records is the county.

All aspects of probate proceedings were generally recorded in “will books.” Original will books are available at the county clerk's office or The Library of Virginia; moreover, most extant will books prior to 1865 have been microfilmed and are available at The Library of Virginia and the FHL.

Many Virginia counties have “loose papers” or “chancery court records” on file in metal boxes at the clerk's office. These often contain additional information such as affidavits, powers of attorney, letters from individuals living outside the county, and receipts submitted to the court in the process of probating an estate. These records are filed chronologically, have not been filmed, and, in many instances, are in poor condition, but can be searched at the clerk's office.

In addition to printed indexes, many early Virginia will books have been abstracted and published. The Library of Virginia and the FHL have large collections of these works, and many other libraries nationwide have some printed will abstracts

Wills, inventories, appraisals, estate accounts, and divisions of estates were usually recorded in will books. In the seventeenth century, some counties kept records of all types in volumes called record books or great books. Examples of multi-purpose record books include Goochland County's deed books, which record both wills and deeds; Pittsylvania County's accounts current, which record inventories, appraisals, and estate accounts; and Norfolk County's appraisements and audits, which record both inventories and appraisals.

Surviving will books for Virginia counties are usually indexed by the testator or decedent, but seldom by the legatee or heir. Consolidated indexes to probate records on microfilm are available for most localities. Clayton Torrence's Virginia Wills and Administrations, 1632-1800 indexes early wills, inventories, and administrations. A list of probate records omitted from Torrence's volume (along with corrections) is available.

Researchers must be aware of the laws that caused a record to be created and how legal changes affect the records used. In October 1776, entail was abolished. On 1 January 1786, the English system of primogeniture ceased in Virginia. These two events affected the content of probate records. Under primogeniture, Virginia wills may not always name the wife or the eldest son of the testator. Their inheritance of real estate was set by law, the widow receiving her dower, or one-third, for her lifetime and the eldest son, as heir at law, receiving the remaining two-thirds unless otherwise specified in the father's will. After the Revolutionary War, when Virginia's general inheritance law took effect, all heirs of intestate estates inherited equally.

Individuals with a written will died testate. After the death of an individual, his or her will was brought into court, where two of the subscribing witnesses swore that the document was genuine. After the will was proved, the executor was bonded to carry out his or her duties to settle the estate. The court then ordered the will to be recorded. The executors' bond was also filed with the court. If the witnesses to the will were dead or could not be located, the will was lodged. These lodged wills were not recorded, but were kept by the court and the estate was treated as an intestate estate.

Individuals without a will died intestate. The court appointed an administrator who was bonded and issued an order to appraise the deceased's estate. The court usually appointed four appraisers, any three of whom might serve. They returned an inventory of the decedent's personal property to the court to be recorded. An appraisal listed the personal property and assigned a monetary value to each item. Accounts current are the statements of monies received by and paid out by the executor in settling an estate.

Virginia did not require the filing of estate papers documenting each activity of the executor. The assumption was made that the executor settled the estate as directed by the will and by law, and no records were created if the work was done correctly. Consequently, Virginia has no estate packets or probate packets. If the executor did not act correctly, the offended party could bring suit in chancery. Such chancery suits often generate a detailed record of the disputed part of an estate's administration.

• Virginia Land, Marriage, and Probate Records, 1639-1850

Excerpts From the Book "Family History Made Easy"

   Even today, few people escape mention in court records at some time during their lives as witnesses, litigants, jurors, appointees to office, or as petition signatories. However, Americans of a few generations ago also expected to attend local court proceedings when they were in session.
Arlene H. Eakle, Ph.D. “Research in Court Records”
In The Source: A Guidebook of American Genealogy

   American court files mirror U.S. history. Buried away in courthouses and archives everywhere are the dreams and frustrations of millions of citizens. The chances are great that your ancestors have left a detailed record of at least some aspects of their lives in court records.

   Most of us don’t think of court records as the rich source of personal history that they are. But America’s English heritage established a tradition of court processes in which the people have a right to participate actively—and we always have. With relative freedom from royal supervision and with court enforcement of religious as well as civil laws, American courts tried many matters that were not subject to court action in other parts of the British empire and that are now considered too minor to warrant criminal action.

   When a person dies, every state has laws that provide for public supervision over the estate that is left, whether or not there is a will. The term “probate records” broadly covers all the records produced by these laws, although, strictly speaking, “probate” applies only when there is a will.

   Family historians use probate case files far more than any other kind of court record. Probate case files are logical sources because they tend to include so much personal data, and because Americans have depended on the courts to settle their estates since North America was colonized. According to Val Greenwood in his Researcher’s Guide to American Genealogy, “All records which relate to the disposition of an estate after its owner’s death are referred to as probate records. These are many and varied in both content and value, but basically, they fall into two main classes: testate and intestate” (page 255). Probate case files generally provide names, addresses, and biographical data for the deceased, but frequently provide the same information for other relatives named in the papers. Relationships, maiden names of wives, married names of daughters, past residences, and place of origin in a native country are just a few of the details that can be discovered in probate files. And probate files can be found in courthouses and archives across the United States.

   When requesting probate information from the county clerk, it is important not to limit yourself by asking for a person’s “will.” The clerk will usually take you at your word and not copy other papers in the probate file that may have equally important information if there is no will.

   Even if your ancestor is not mentioned in a probate case, consider all of the other procedures which might have resulted in him or her appearing in court records:

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Virginia Church & Cemetery Records - Unlike New England, colonial Virginia left few early church records. The first Virginians were members of the Church of England, or Anglican church, which became the Episcopal Church in 1786. Early parish registers are incomplete and challenging to use. Parish boundaries changed rapidly and are hard to pinpoint.

See Also Research In State Church & Cemetery Records - Church records rank among the most promising of genealogical records available. Indeed, for periods before the advent of civil registration of vital statistics (a very late development in many American states), church records rank as the best available sources for information on specific vital events: birth, marriage, and death. They are also among the most under-used major records in American genealogy. Part of the reason lies in the number of denominations-there are hundreds of them. Identifying and locating the records of these various churches makes even professional genealogists hesitate......

  Since colonial times, many religious groups have established congregations in Virginia, including Baptist, Catholic, Jewish, Lutheran, Presbyterian, and Quaker or Friends, to name a few. Except for the Quakers, few of these groups kept records containing such genealogical information as birth, marriage, and death dates. A number of church vestry books and registers have been published and are available at The Library of Virginia and the FHL.

• Virginia Old Churches, Vol. 1
• Virginia Old Churches, Vol. 2
• Virginia Early Quaker Records
• The Virginia Baptist Historical Society
  

The list of published tombstone inscriptions for Virginia, if a comprehensive list existed, would be lengthy. The DAR has compiled an extensive collection of Virginia tombstone inscriptions. The collection, along with other cemetery record publications, can be found at the DAR Library in Washington, D.C., The Library of Virginia, the Virginia Historical Society, and the FHL.

Cemetery interment registers and gravestone inscriptions may often be sources of useful information for Virginia researchers. The state government does not have a long, uninterrupted, centralized file of birth and death records that are readily accessible to researchers. Wars, floods, and fires have destroyed the vital record of many of Virginia's counties. Oftentimes, information found in cemetery records and on gravestones cannot be found anywhere else. When looking for a specific cemetery in Virginia, you may wish to start with the following comprehensive resource.

Virginia Cemeteries: A Guide to Resources, edited by Anne M. Hogg, with Dennis A. Tosh (Charlottesville, 1986) contains descriptions and locations of hundreds of Virginia cemeteries, which are indexed both by cemetery name and by location. For cemeteries that were still being used or maintained when the editors were compiling the data, the name and address of the keeper is also included, although some of that information may now be obsolete.

It is also possible to search for specific cemeteries through your computer. Use your search engine to enter specific keywords.

Books abstracting the information on tombstones and/or registers are also useful resources. Check the Online Catalog of the Library of Virginia by going to the Library's home page.

An online series on Research in Virginia Documents. Prepared by Daphne Gentry, Publications and Education Services Division. Copyright by The Library of Virginia; this note may be reproduced in full if proper credit is given and no changes are made.

• Virginia Military Dead Database - ongoing project indexing more than 700 sources and listing approximately 32,326 Virginians who have died in service.

   Cemetery records and gravestone inscriptions are a rich source of information for family historians. Cemetery and other sources of information associated with death include:

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Virginia Land Records - The most commonly recorded deed is a deed of bargain and sale , in which one individual sells property, usually land, but occasionally personal property, to another individual. Such deeds show the names of the grantor and grantee, the residence of both parties, a description of what is being sold, the consideration, the location of the tract of land, the tract's boundaries, and any limitations on the property being sold. The deed was signed by the grantor, and possibly his wife or anyone else having a claim to the property, and by at least two witnesses. Appended to the deed may be a memorandum of livery of seisin , stating that the property has changed hands and that peaceful possession has taken place. On presentation to the court, all forms of deeds were proved and recorded. If the deed was not witnessed, the grantor acknowledged the deed in open court.

See Also Researching in Land Records - Land records provide two types of important evidence for the genealogist. Prior to the Civil War, more than eighty-five percent of all Americans owned or leased land. Therefore, almost every researcher, whether a seasoned professional or weekend hobbyist, has required land records to document the existence, association, or movement of an individual or ancestral family. Most beginning genealogists underestimate the importance of using land records to pin persons to specific locales. In the South, which has far fewer vital records than New England, the land records are even more crucial to genealogical success. For answers to these and other questions, researchers look to Land records......

Deeds of lease and release are often found in the Northern Neck and older counties. The lease, for a nominal sum, is followed by the release noting the actual sale price. The lease may predate the release by a day, a week, or even a year. Together the two documents make up a legal deed and should not be confused with a simple lease to rent land. Deeds of gift are often found transferring property, either real or personal, from one individual to another "for love and affection." The degree of kinship, if any, between the grantor and grantee is sometimes stated. Tripartite deeds are mortgages or deeds of trust where one party is indebted to another and transfers or mortgages property to a third party to secure the debt.

Under Virginia law, women were required to relinquish their dower rights to real property being sold. If the wife of the grantor or whoever held the dower claim did not appear to relinquish her right, the court appointed two or more individuals to go to her and inquire privately if she did indeed understand and approve of the sale. Such relinquishments were not always recorded with the deeds. They often were recorded later in the deed books and are sometimes found in other record books. Without such dower relinquishment, the purchaser did not have clear title to the property.

Except for a few years early in the eighteenth century, slaves in Virginia were considered personal property and consequently were not usually sold by deed. However, they were often transferred in deeds of gift or were property listed in mortgages and deeds of trust.

Surveys, plats, and processioner's returns are sometimes found in deed books. A plat is a graphic depiction of a survey. Processioner's records describe the walking and marking of property boundaries. Pre-Revolutionary War processioner's records are found in the church vestry books.

The original Virginia Charter, granted to the Virginia Company of London in 1606, included provisions for granting land to settlers, called planters, and investors, called adventurers. The revised Charter of 1609 specified that planters were to receive fifty acres and adventurers a hundred acres per share, but that all lands were to be held in common for another seven years. About 1614, Sir Thomas Dale began rewarding industrious planters with three-acre plots. John Rolfe's successful experiments with tobacco led many planters to plant their “gardens” with tobacco. Grants of land by the London Company began about 1616; the earliest surviving grant is to Simon Codrington in March 1615/6. The Great Charter of 1618 divided Virginia into four boroughs and set aside land within each borough for public use. The governor and Council were given the authority to allot land to individuals within the boroughs. Two copies of each patent were made; one was given to the grantee as proof of title, and the other was retained for company records.

Virginia became a royal colony in 1624. In 1627 Sir George Yeardley determined that, as governor, he had the power to issue patents for settlers who met the old company definition of a planter. In 1654 the Privy Council finally agreed, and millions of acres were granted to individuals claiming headrights during the seventeenth century.

The headright was the “right” to claim fifty acres for every “head” arriving in the colony; most headrights were claimed by the person who paid the passage. Headrights of indentured servants may have been claimed more than once: by the master of the transporting ship, by the merchant who sold the indenture, by the person who bought the indenture, and/or by the servant. Headrights could be bought and sold; many people who paid their own transportation sold their headrights for money to establish themselves in the colony.

The patenting process required several steps, and most of those steps generated a record. The prospective patentee first petitioned the county court for a “certificate of importation.” The certificate, often recorded in county court minute books, was considered proof of the number of headrights claimed. The patentee then carried the certificate of importation to the Secretary of the Colony, who issued a “right” of fifty acres per headright. Once he had a “right,” the patentee took it to the county surveyor, who surveyed the chosen land and created a plat. The patentee returned all of these papers to the Secretary, who made two copies of the patent. One was signed by the governor, sealed, and delivered to the patentee. The other copy was retained in the Secretary's office and was supposed to be recorded.

Once the patent was issued, the patentee had three years to seat and plant the land. “Seating” required payment of the quitrent , an annual payment to the crown of one shilling for every fifty acres. “Planting” required either cultivating one acre or building a house and keeping livestock. Orphans had three years after their majority to seat and plant land. Widows could get extensions of the three years by petitioning the county court.

By the end of the seventeenth century, population growth in the colony of Virginia no longer depended on immigration. Native Virginians wanted new land for tobacco, and the crown wanted to expand the colony, so the treasury right was created. Anyone who wanted new land could receive a “right” to fifty acres for a payment of five shillings. After about 1715, most land was patented by treasury right instead of by headright.

Virginia grants and deeds are readily available to researchers, including original patents and land grants from 1619 to 1921; survey plats from 1779 to 1878; Northern Neck (the area between the Rappahannock and Potomac Rivers) land grants from 1690 to 1862; Northern Neck surveys from 1722 to 1781 and 1786 to 1874; land warrants from 1779 to 1926; and miscellaneous land records from 1779 to 1923. Original land office records are housed at The Library of Virginia. Many patents have been abstracted and published.

Colonial Wars Bounty Lands:

As early as 1630, the governor's Council offered grants of land to persons who settled on the frontier. In 1646, the Council issued patents to the fort captains and men for the lands on which outlying forts were built along with the lands surrounding the forts. And, in 1701, in an unsuccessful attempt to garrison the frontier, patents equal to four times the headright were offered to groups of men who would undertake the defense of the frontier. None of these offers met with a great deal of success.

Later in the colonial period, bounty lands were offered as an incentive or reward to men who performed military service during the French and Indian War; however, the area in which the land was available was closed by the Proclamation of 1763, so it was not until 1779, and after, that the bounty was actually awarded.

Those persons who performed requisite service had first to obtain a certificate showing proof of that service; some of these certificates were signed in 1774 by Lord Dunmore but most came from county courts in 1779 and 1780. These certificates show the name of the solder; his rank, unit, and length of service; the county in which his service was proved (which was not necessarily his county of residence); the number of the certificate; and any assignment made on the certificate up to the time the warrant was issued.

The land granted on the basis of colonial wars service was in Virginia counties and the resulting grants are searchable through the Virginia Land Office Patents and Grants/Northern Neck Grants and Surveys.

Beware, however, that many colonial soldiers assigned their warrant to speculators or others interested in moving west. All records pertaining to colonial bounty land service are available in manuscript form only.

• Land Records from All States
• Search County Property Records
• Search County Land Patents
• Virginia Land Records, 1639-1850

Excerpts From the Book "Family History Made Easy"

   Prior to the Civil War, more than eighty-five percent of all Americans owned or leased land. Therefore, almost every researcher, whether a seasoned professional or weekend hobbyist, has required land records to document the existence, association, or movement of an individual or ancestral family. While many researchers may feel a sense of historical excitement when finding an ancestor in a land deed, many also fail to understand the importance of such a document and how land can be used to make vital links between generations; they are not aware that it can bridge distant origins and help solve even the most difficult problems. E. Wade Hone, In Land and Property Research in the United States

U.S. House of Representative Private Claims, Vol. 1, Vol. 2 or Vol. 3

   The right to own land has always been one of the great incentives for living in the United States. Yet researchers often overlook the importance of land records as a source of family history information. Written evidence of people’s entitlement goes back in time further than virtually any other type of record family historians might use.

   Land records meet the needs of researchers in different ways and contain a variety of genealogical and historical data. They are a major source of information for many family histories and provide primary source material for local history as well. They are closely related to probate and other official court records and should be investigated in connection with them. Land and property are leading issues in the settlement of estates, and the majority of civil cases in the courts deal with real and personal property. Although land records rarely yield vital statistics, in many instances they provide the only proof of family relationships. Often they include the names of heirs of an estate (including daughters’ married names and a widow’s subsequent married name) and refer to related probates and other court cases by number and court name. In some places where other records are scarce, the land records take on extra importance. Occasionally these documents disclose former residences and more often provide the new address of the grantors or heirs at the time of the sale of the property.

   Land records provide two types of important evidence for the family historian. First, they often document family relationships. Second, they place individuals in a specific time and place, allowing the researcher to sort people and families into neighborhoods and closely related groups. One of land records’ most important qualities is that they are sometimes the only records that allow us to distinguish one person of a common name from another.

   The National Archives has bounty-land warrant files, donation land entry files, homestead application files, and private land claim files relating to the entry of individual settlers on land in the public land states. There are no land records for the original thirteen states or for Maine, Vermont, West Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, Texas, and Hawaii. Records for these states are maintained by state officials, usually in the state capital. Searching for the record of a particular land grant from the federal government requires contacting both the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and the National Archives (NARA).

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Virginia Military Records - American military history in Virginia began with the establishment of the colonial militia early in the seventeenth century, primarily to fight against attacks from native inhabitants. Service records of Virginia soldiers in the colonial wars (1622–1763) offer more historical than genealogical information and usually provide only the name of the soldier and the unit in which he served. The records consist primarily of rosters, rolls, and lists that survived the wars and several fires and are helpful in placing someone in a particular place at a given time. Most of these rosters and rolls have been published and can be found in genealogical libraries throughout the nation.

See Also Researching in Military Records - The uses and value of military records in genealogical research for ancestors who were veterans are obvious, but military records can also be important to re-searchers whose direct ancestors were not soldiers in any war. The fathers, grandfathers, brothers, and other close relatives of an ancestor may have served in a war, and their service or pension records could contain information that will assist in further identifying the family of primary interest.......

   Below is a list of online resources for Virginia in the Colonial Wars. Email us with websites containing information on Virginia in the Colonial Wars by clicking the link below:

• Virginia Colonial Militia, 1651-1776: One of the largest colonies in British North America, Virginia fielded a militia that included such prominent individuals as George Washington and William Byrd. This database is a collection of pension records for militia members between 1651 and 1776. In addition to providing the soldier's name, the date of pension, and court awarding the bounty is often given. In many entries rank, unit information, and commanding officers' names are included. It contains the names of over 4,000 men. For those researchers of early Virginian ancestors, this can be a useful source of military service information.
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The site U.S. Wars list conflicts dating from earliest to 1865. Wars covered that are availibele are:

Revolutionary War -  Some of the original service records for the Revolutionary War were destroyed by fire. Those remaining are on file at the National Archives, compiled primarily from rosters and rolls of soldiers serving in Virginia's militia units, with additions from correspondence and field reports of military officers. However, there is no comprehensive list of Virginia veterans of this war. Some published indexes exist. A card index of Virginia soldiers is available only at the National Archives and is not on microfilm.

Search Revolutionary War 1775-83 Service Records, Rejected Pensions, Loyalists Records, 1775-1783 Pay Rolls, Courts-Martial, Officers, Pension Index, 1841 Pensioner Census

  Bounty-land warrants were issued to Virginia soldiers for their war service. After the war, soldiers who served in the Virginia State Line or Continental Line applied for a warrant and, when approved, received a certificate to be exchanged for a warrant. The land to be issued was located in Kentucky and the Virginia Military District of Ohio. In the case of deceased soldiers, their heirs made application. Kentucky land was occupiedC first, then land was granted in Ohio after 1792.
  The Library of Virginia and the FHL have microfilmed copies of applications for Virginia bounty-land warrants. 

Virginia Revolutionary War Records
Virginia played a pivotal role in the struggle for American independence from Great Britain, 1775–1783. Virginia troops were engaged from the Atlantic Ocean to the Mississippi River and many citizens provided some form of military or public service. The records of service are numerous, varied and sometimes complex. Most records contain little information about the person’s service and seldom contain genealogical data. There are existing records of Virginia Continental Line troops, the Virginia State Line, the Virginia State Navy, county militia, various independent units, and public service claims. Other important records include benefits in the form of land and pensions given by the Virginia and federal governments to veterans and their heirs.

There is no central source or index for Virginia Revolutionary War records, but rather a wide array of records,
all of which should be examined. Records exist in a variety of formats, usually microfilm or photostats of original documents, as well as printed material. Soldiers may have served in more than one unit and may appear in several records of service and benefits. Men with common names are easily confused with one another since most records contain little identifying data. A related problem is the variant spelling of surnames. A number of state and county records of that era no longer exist, and not everyone in Virginia was sympathetic to the revolutionary cause. The Library of Virginia is fortunate to hold many of those records which do survive and a close study of them by researchers is advised. Searchable databases on the Library’s Web site index selected Revolutionary War records, including bounty warrants, land office military certificates, pensions, public service claims, and rejected claims. Digital images are also available for bounty warrants, pensions, and rejected claims.

Service Records
Records of Virginia Revolutionary War military service begin in 1775 when the first Virginia revolutionary
government began to raise troops and make payments for expenses. An excellent source for these and other
early records is William J. Van Schreeven, Robert J. Scribner and J. Brent Tarter, eds., Revolutionary Virginia and the Road to Revolution: 1763–1776 (Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 1973–1983, 7 vols.)

By 1777 Virginia had raised 15 regiments of infantry for service under Continental Congress authority, commonly known as the Virginia Continental Line. Many Virginians also served in continental regiments of artillery, cavalry, and other independent infantry units. These regiments were rearranged several times during the war and many soldiers served in more than one unit. Troops were also recruited to serve within the state under General Assembly authority and were known as the Virginia State Line. These included infantry units raised for special purposes such as guarding prisoners and the Illinois Regiment of George Rogers Clark. The organization and service of these and other Virginia units including the State Navy are detailed in E.M. Sanchez-Saavedra, A Guide to Virginia Military Organizations in the American Revolution: 1776–1783 (Richmond: Virginia State Library, 1978). Records of service with George Rogers Clark are found in Margery Harding, George Rogers Clark and His Men, Military Records 1778–1784 (Frankfort: Kentucky Historical Society, 1981) and in the George Rogers Clark Papers, indexed microfilm of vouchers and receipts held by the Library of Virginia. A source for the Virginia State Navy is Robert A. Stewart, Virginia’s Navy in the Revolution (Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Company, 1993). Some free African-Americans served in these units, and Luther P. Jackson, Virginia Negro Soldiers and Seamen in the Revolutionary War (Norfolk: Guide Quality Press, 1944) is the best source for this service.

Virginia also organized county militia companies. All free white males aged 16 to 50 were required to serve
in a militia company unless exempted. Unfortunately few records of such service exist. Scattered pay records, recommendations and appointments of officers, and some militia fines have survived. Many post-1832 federal pensions also record militia service. A useful source is J.T. McAllister, Virginia Militia in the Revolutionary War (Bowie: Heritage Books, 1989).

Three important indexes for Virginia Revolutionary War service are Hamilton J. Eckenrode, Virginia Soldiers in the American Revolution (Richmond: Virginia State Library and Archives, 1989, 2 vols.), John H. Gwathmey, Historical Register of Virginians in the Revolution, 1775–1783 (Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1979), and Gaius M. Brumbaugh, Revolutionary War Records. Volume I, Virginia (Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1967). These volumes index records of individual service in Virginia units held by the Library of Virginia and the National Archives, including some militia service. Records cited are usually pay accounts, muster rolls, or records related to postwar benefits of land and pensions. Multiple records are often listed for the same individual. Researchers are cautioned that service records of different individuals bearing the same name may be indexed together because it was not possible to further identify them.

The National Archives in Washington, D.C. holds many records of Continental Line service by Virginians and soldiers from other states. These are fully indexed in Index to Revolutionary War Service Records (Waynesboro: National Genealogical Publishing Co., 1995, 4 vols.). The Library of Virginia holds some of these records on microfilm. The most important are the Compiled Service Records of Virginia Soldiers Who Served in the American Army During the Revolutionary War, 192 reels, NARA Revolutionary War Service Records Index, 58 reels, Revolutionary War Rolls, 1775–1783, 138 reels, and various compiled service records of Continental cavalry, artillery, infantry, and naval personnel. The records typically may show enlistment, muster, pay, furlough, discharge, capture, sickness, and death. They seldom contain personal or genealogical data. These reels in the collection are only for reference use. Requests for copies should be directed to the National Archives and Records Administration, Washington, D.C. 20408 (www.archives.gov).

Benefits Records: Benefits in the form of bounty land and pensions were offered by Virginia to induce men to enlist in the Continental or State Line. Beginning in 1790, the new United States government also began to grant pensions and bounty land. These records can be valuable to researchers as they may contain personal and service information about the veteran and identify his heirs.

Bounty Land: Virginia awarded bounty land to soldiers who served for at least three years in the Continental Line, the State Line and the State Navy, died in service, or enlisted for the war. Heirs could apply if the soldier had died. The process was lengthy. In many cases land speculators obtained the right to the land from the veteran or his heirs. Proof of service had to first be submitted to the state. Once this was approved the governor issued a land office military certificate. The amount of land awarded was based on the rank of the soldier and the amount of time served. Virginia kept no record of the next two steps in the process, which was to have the land surveyed, followed by the issuance of a grant.

All Virginia bounty land was in Ohio or Kentucky and records of the surveys and grants are held by the Secretary of State’s Land Office Division, Room T40 Capitol Annex, Frankfort, KY 40601 (http://sos.ky.gov/land/military) and the Ohio Historical Society, 1982 Velma Ave., Columbus, OH 43211
(http://www.ohiohistory.org/resource/archlib). Bounty warrants and rejected claims (rejected for insufficient service or other reasons) are available on the Library’s Web site and on microfilm. Land office military certificates are available on microfilm and there is an online index. A card index to these records is located in the West Reading Room. The United States government also awarded bounty land and all records pertaining to it are held by the National Archives and the state(s) where the land was located.

Useful sources relating to bounty land are Lloyd D. Bockstruck, Revolutionary War Bounty Land Grants: Awarded by State Governments (Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1996), Samuel M. Wilson, Virginia Land Bounty Warrants (Baltimore: Southern Book Co., 1953), Louis A. Burgess, Virginia Soldiers of 1776 (Spartanburg: The Reprint Co., 1973), William L. Hopkins, Virginia Revolutionary War Land Grant Claims, 1783–1850 (Rejected) (Richmond: 1988), Margie G. Brown, Genealogical Abstracts Revolutionary War Veterans Scrip Act of 1851 (Lovettsville: Willow Bend Books, 1997), and Clifford Neal Smith, Federal Land Series (Chicago: American Library Association, 1972–1982).

Virginia Pensions: Beginning in 1775 the Virginia General Assembly passed several laws to increase military enlistment. These laws provided for pensions for maimed and disabled soldiers or their widows. Surviving state pensions usually include proof of service, the nature of the disability, records of payment and receipt of the pension, and statements of disability from the local court. In most cases the General Assembly was petitioned to pass an act granting a pension. Search the legislative petitions database on the Library’s Web site for references to these pensions. The Virginia pensions are available on microfilm at the Library.

Federal Pensions: Federal pensions were granted by Congress under a number of acts beginning in 1789 and continuing until 1878. The earliest acts applied mainly to disabled Continental soldiers or their widows. Beginning in 1818 pensions were granted for service only, and soldiers who served in the militia were eligible beginning in 1832. Papers relating to pension applications prior to 1818 were destroyed, but many exist for later years.

Federal pension records can provide much information about the soldier’s service and life, and the files often
contain statements made by the veteran, his widow, relatives, or neighbors. The data can include his military
unit, rank and period of service, place and date of birth, residence before and after the war, names and ages of family members, bible records, and list of possessions. The widow’s application usually contains place of marriage and maiden name. The Library of Virginia holds copies of these records on microfilm. Photocopies must be obtained from the National Archives.

Below is a list of online resources for Virginia in the Revolutionary War. Email us with websites containing information on Virginia in the Revolutionary War by clicking the link below:

• Revolutionary War Rolls, 1775-1783 from the State of Virginia (The National Archives): View, Print Copy & Save Original Documents in NARA publication M246 include muster rolls, payrolls, strength returns, and other miscellaneous personnel, pay, and supply records of American Army units, 1775-83.
• Compiled Service Records of Soldiers Who Served in the American Army During the Revolutionary War (The National Archives): View, Print Copy & Save Original Documents in NARA publication M881. Compiled service records of soldiers who served in the American Army during the Revolutionary War, 1775-1783 from the State of Virginia.
• Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty-Land Warrant Application Files from the State of Virginia (The National Archives): View, Print Copy & Save Original Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty-Land Warrant Application Files, from NARA publication M804.
• Virginia Militia in the Revolutionary War: This database includes the summary of the Militia's military movements arranged by counties, declarations of Virginia Militia Pensioners, Militia officers appointed in various counties, and pensioners residing in and outside of Virginia in 1835 who received pensions as Virginia militiamen. This record is an attempt to present a bird's-eye view of the field movements of the Revolution, which concern Virginia.
• Virginia Navy in the Revolution: This database is a history of Virginia's Navy of the Revolution, which was the largest of all the State navies. It presents individuals who played significant roles in this organization, as well as the achievements and failures of the Navy. Sources for this work include the Journal and the Letter Book of the Virginia Naval Board, Revolutionary pension claim papers, and other documents concerning the Virginia Navy.
• Virginia Revolutionary War Records: This database represents a variety of records of Virginia's army and navy forces in the Revolutionary War. The lists include names of officers, seamen, marines, and soldiers; service rendered; and compensation, if any. Material was obtained from Federal and State archives. Also included are extensive lists of Bounty Land Warrants issued by Virginia, indicating many thousands of the Revolutionary war soldiers, sailors and marines, and their heirs.
• Virginia Soldiers of 1776, Vol. 1: Published in 1927, this important reference work identifies many military men serving from Virginia in the Revolutionary War. Information about each soldier has been compiled from documents on file in the Virginia Land Office, or from material in the Archives Dept. of the Virginia State Library. Entries often contain information about heirs, spouses, witnesses, and other people as are associated with the proceedings of probate and other legal processes.
• Revolutionary War Public Service Claims - index to documents relating to claims for compensation made by Virginia citizens.
• Revolutionary War Land Office Military Certificates - land Office Military Certificates are printed forms on which the names of Revolutionary War officers, soldiers and sailors are filled in as well as the details of their service in the State or Continental line.
• Revolutionary War Virginia State Pensions - index to and scanned images of the surviving records that veterans and their widows presented to the county courts to certify their eligibility for pension.
• Revolutionary War Rejected Claims - index and images of the documents of applicants who had military service of insufficient length to qualify for the bounty land requested.

War of 1812 -  In his reminiscences, Captain Henry Brush described with precision what newly enlisted recruits wore during the War of 1812. Soldiers were outfitted for service in unbleached, tow-linen hunting shirts and trousers. On their heads they wore low-crown hats, on the left side of which were black cockades about two inches in diameter. A small silver eagle (about the size of a quarter) was fastened in the center of each cockade. Each soldier strapped a leather girdle around his waist, where he carried a tomahawk, a knife, a cartridge box, a bayonet, and a quart-sized tin canteen. He was armed with a musket and shouldered a linen knapsack with a blanket lashed to the top. Both were covered with oilcloth to protect them from wet weather. A soldier’s arms and pack together weighed about thirty-five pounds, and troops traveled an average of twenty-five miles a day on foot. Writing home to his wife, one soldier confessed: “My limbs were so stiff and sore at the end of each day’s march that I could hardly walk.”

In response to complaints from militia officers about their bedraggled troops, Virginia governor James Barbour outlined new uniform requirements in January 1812. General officers, artillery, light artillery, and grenadiers stood out in cockaded hats, white cuffs, and epaulets. Cavalrymen wore distinctive black leather caps dressed on the crown with bearskin and a red and white plume. Riflemen wore purple linen hunting shirts and leather moccasins, while the main body of the militia donned blue hunting shirts festively trimmed with red fringe. Despite the governor’s official proclamation, any soldiers who had provided themselves with uniforms different from those specified in the regulations could wear them for six months, and many probably went to war in the everyday clothing in which they had enlisted.

Virginia soldiers and sailors found themselves in the field as the result of international politics. Through the early decades of the nation’s history, relations between the United States and Great Britain remained strained. The relationship deteriorated sharply with the outbreak of war in Europe in 1803, when Britain imposed a blockade on neutral countries, including the United States. In addition, the British seized sailors from American ships and impressed them into the British navy. In Congress, southern and western War Hawks, such as the new Speaker of the House, Henry Clay, of Kentucky, and Representative John C. Calhoun, of South Carolina, led the sentiment for war, calling for defense of American interests and honor. On 1 June 1812, President James Madison asked for a declaration of war. Shortly afterward, Congress approved the declaration (despite the opposition of every Federalist member), and the United States was fighting a war with the motto “Free Trade and Sailors’ Rights.”

In Virginia, the British responded by blockading the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay and raiding coastal settlements. In mid-June 1813, the British attempted to capture Norfolk, but were repulsed by militia stationed on Craney Island. A week later, however, the British captured and sacked the nearby city of Hampton. Although actual encounters were few, the threat of attack kept militia in the field throughout the war, which ended when the Treaty of Ghent was signed on 24 December 1814.

Information included in service records for the War of 1812 is similar to that in the same records of soldiers in the colonial wars and the Revolutionary War. Muster rolls, pay rolls, and an index of the Virginia militia in the War of 1812 are included in a card index at The Library of Virginia (also on microfilm at the FHL). Only the National Archives has copies of original pension and bounty-land warrant applications for the War of 1812. Researchers can use microfilmed indexes at the National Archives or the FHL. 

Below is a list of online resources for Virginia in the War of 1812. Email us with websites containing information on Virginia in the War of 1812 by clicking the link below:

• Index to War of 1812 Pay Rolls and Muster Rolls - a fully-searchable personal name index to Pay Rolls of Militia Entitled to Land Bounty Under the Act of Congress of Sept. 28, 1850 and its supplement, Muster Rolls of the Virginia Militia in the War of 1812. Approximately 40,000 names are indexed.
• Search War of 1812 Service Records and Miscellaneous Canadian Records

Civil War -  When the Confederate government evacuated Richmond in April 1865, the adjutant and inspector general, Samuel Cooper, took the centralized military personnel records of the Confederate Army to Charlotte, North Carolina. When the Confederate civil authorities left Charlotte after agreeing to an armistice between the armies in North Carolina, President Jefferson Davis instructed Cooper to turn the records over, if necessary, to “the enemy, as essential to the history of the struggle.” After the armistice, when Union General Joseph E. Johnston learned that the records were at Charlotte, he turned them over to the Union Commander in North Carolina.

Search Civil War Soldiers, Service Records, Regiments, General Officers, Battle Summaries, Pension Index: 1861-1934, CSA Field Officers and the War of the Rebellion

These military personnel records were taken to Washington along with other Confederate records captured by the Union Army and were preserved by the War Department. Between 1878 and 1901, the War Department employed a former Confederate general, Marcus J. Wright, to locate missing Confederate records and borrow them for copying if the possessors did not wish to donate them to the War Department. In 1903 Secretary of War Elihu Root persuaded the governors of most of the southern states to lend to the War Department all Confederate military personnel records still in their possession for copying.

  The material gathered became the source for the Compiled Service Records of Confederate Soldiers Who Served in Organizations From the State of Virginia (similar records are available for all Confederate and border states). The records are indexed in Index to Compiled Service Records of Confederated Soldiers Who Served in Organizations From the State of Virginia. These National Archives microfilm series are available at The Library of Virginia and the FHL. 

  Virginia offered pensions to her Confederate veterans in 1888; further pension acts passed in 1900 and 1902. The applications have been microfilmed and may be examined at The Library of Virginia in the near future. A “Confederate Pension Index” was microfilmed and is available in the microfilm area of the Archives Branch, The Library of Virginia.

Using Virginia Civil War Records: The ordinance of secession adopted by the Virginia State Convention in Richmond on 17 April 1861 was the result of the failure of all political efforts to avert civil war. Virginia joined an increasing list of southern states dissatisfied with further participation in the Union. The seceding states chose, rather, to form a confederation of states in order to maintain the southern political and social order. The great debates over popular sovereignty and states’ rights ended. These issues were settled by a clash of arms.

The convention realized the consequences of secession and so instructed Governor John Letcher to make preparations to defend the state from probable attack. The total armed militia force throughout the state by 21 April 1861 numbered 12,050 troops. By January 1864, the most reliable statistics available reveal that over 153,000 Virginians had served in the state’s military forces. The Old Dominion, however, was far from fully prepared for war. Virginia became the battleground for twenty-six major engagements and over four hundred smaller clashes. Ultimately, more men fought and died in Virginia than in any other state. The legacy of each soldier’s service remains within the surviving written record. Researchers using Virginia Civil War records should examine a variety of materials in order to chronicle a soldier’s military experience.

Service Records: At the end of the Civil War in 1865, the Union armies confiscated most surviving Confederate War Department records. Records pertaining to service in Virginia Confederate as well as Union military units were later abstracted by the U. S. War Department. Researchers should first consult these Compiled Military Service Records (CMSR). Each volunteer soldier has one CMSR for each regiment in which he served. This record contains basic information about the soldier’s military career, including when a soldier was present or absent, dates of enlistment and discharge, wounds received or hospitalization for illness, and dates of capture and release as a prisoner of war. Records relating to Confederate soldiers are typically less complete than those relating to Union soldiers because many Confederate records were destroyed. The CMSR rarely indicates the battles in which a soldier fought, nor will it contain any genealogical information. It may, however, provide a soldier’s physical description at the time of his
enlistment. There are no CMSRs for either Union or Confederate naval personnel.

The National Archives in Washington, D.C., preserves the original service records created for Union and Confederate soldiers from each state. The Library of Virginia has microfilm copies of the following service records for reference use: Compiled Service Records of Confederate Soldiers Who Served in Organizations from the State of Virginia; Compiled Service Records of Confederate General and Staff Officers and Non-Regimental Enlisted Men; Compiled Service Records of Confederate Soldiers Who Served in Organizations Raised Directly by the Confederate Government; Compiled Records Showing Service of Virginia Military Units in Confederate Organizations; Compiled Service Records of Volunteer Union Soldiers Who Served in Organizations from the State of Virginia. Requests for copies should be directed to the National Archives and Records Administration, Washington, D.C. 20408.

The following publications serve as a convenient index to records found in the Compiled Service Records: The Roster of Confederate Soldiers, 1861–1865, an alphabetical list of every Confederate soldier with a CMSR at the National Archives, and The Roster of Union Soldiers, 1861–1865, an alphabetical list of every Union soldier with a CMSR at the National Archives. Volume twenty-three of this series contains a listing of those Union soldiers who served from both Virginia and West Virginia.

Confederate Rosters:
Interest in memorializing Confederate veterans prompted the General Assembly to pass an act on 13 March 1884 directing the adjutant general to compile a roster of all those who served from Virginia in the Confederate armed forces. It was not until 1904 that the project began, after the passage by Congress of an act in 1903 providing for the assembling of muster rolls for all the Confederate states. Virginia created the Office of the Secretary of Virginia Military Records in 1904 to begin this task. The Department of Confederate Military Records was formed by an act of the General Assembly on 12 March 1912. This act abolished the Office of the Secretary of Virginia Military Records. The new Department of Confederate Military Records continued the work of assembling muster rolls and other documents related to Virginians in the Civil War.

Twenty volumes contain an unofficial roster of soldiers from Virginia who served in the Confederate military forces. These rosters represent the accumulated work of the Department of Confederate Military Records and its predecessor between 1904 and 1918. The rosters are organized by regiment and the soldiers are listed alphabetically according to rank. The rosters provide the soldier’s name, rank, date of enlistment or commission, and sometimes include additional remarks. Individual entries give minimal (if any) personal or military service information. The rosters are indexed and available on microfilm. A searchable database is also available on the Library’s Web site. A researcher should consult the Compiled Military Service Records for more detailed information on military service.

The papers of Virginia’s Department of Confederate Military Records, which collected and compiled unit rosters and other lists of Virginia soldiers under the direction of Colonel Joseph V. Bidgood, are assembled in the Department of Military Affairs (Accession 27684). This extensive collection of manuscript materials was created to replace lost information resulting from the destruction of original unit rolls. It is composed of wartime documents, letters, memoirs, and published regimental histories produced in the early twentieth century in response to pleas for information. Unit records represent the largest segment, which are arranged first by branch of service and then by regiment.

Confederate Pensions: Financial assistance for Confederate veterans and their families was provided when the General Assembly passed Confederate pension acts in 1888, 1900, and 1902, followed by a series of supplementary acts through 1934. The initial act provided pensions to Confederate soldiers, sailors, and marines disabled in action and to the widows of those killed in action. Subsequent acts broadened the coverage to include all veterans, their widows, and their unmarried or widowed daughters and sisters. The acts required that applicants be residents of Virginia. Later legislation also included veterans or their survivors residing in the District of Columbia.

This collection consists of pension applications and amended applications filed by resident Virginia Confederate veterans and their widows. The applications contain statements pertaining to the service record of the applicants and may include medical evaluations, information about the income and property of the veterans or their widows, and, in the case of widows, the date and place of marriages. The collection also includes claims submitted by more than five hundred African Americans who had worked as cooks, herdsmen, laborers, servants, or teamsters in the Confederate army.

The applications are indexed and are available on microfilm. (Pension applications filed by veterans’ sisters and daughters are not indexed.) The microfilm is arranged first by pension act, then alphabetically by the applicant’s county or city of residence, and thereunder by name of applicant. A searchable database linked to digital images is also available on the Library’s Web site.

The General Assembly passed an act on 10 March 1914 providing additional money for the relief of needy Confederate women who were not already on the pension rolls. Applications were made to the Relief Committee of the Virginia Division of the United Daughters of the Confederacy, which certified the applications, ascertained the payment amount, and then forwarded the applications to the pension clerk at the Department of Accounts. A warrant was then issued to the Treasury for payment to the beneficiary. Applications for relief include the name, address,
and condition or need of each beneficiary, along with her relationship to and service of a Confederate soldier relative.
Microfilm copies of these pension applications for the relief of needy Confederate women (1915–1967) are
found on miscellaneous reels 2178–2205.

Confederate Disability Applications: The General Assembly enacted legislation, effective in 1867 and ending in 1894, to provide artificial limbs and other disability benefits to Virginia’s Civil War veterans. To coordinate the program, and oversee the distribution of aid, the General Assembly established the Board of Commissioners on Artificial Limbs. Injured soldiers submitted certificates from their county court stating that they were Virginia citizens, that they had lost a limb or had been otherwise disabled in the war, and the nature of assistance needed. The veterans listed the unit in which they served; included information
on when, where, and how they were wounded; and provided details about their medical history. The disability
benefit provided by the state was a one-time commutation payment of sixty dollars.

The applications are indexed and available on microfilm. The microfilm is arranged by date of the act, then alphabetically by name of applicant. An online database to the disability applications is also provided on the Library’s Web site, which is searchable by both the Confederate veterans’ name and place of residence (city or county). In addition, each entry contains links to digital images of the disability application, including supporting affidavits and receipts for payments issued.

Other Records: The Robert E. Lee Camp Soldiers’ Home was established on 18 April 1883 as a benevolent society to aid hundreds of needy Confederate veterans. The home opened on 1 January 1885. It was located at the corner of Grove Avenue and the Boulevard in Richmond. Eventually plagued by financial difficulties, the home sought money from the state in exchange for the deed to the property. Under the direction of the Department of Public Welfare it remained open until the death of the last resident in 1941. R. E. Lee Camp Soldier’s Home applications for admission are on microfilm and arranged alphabetically by the name of the applicant. A searchable database is also available on the Library’s Web site.

Below is a list of online resources for Virginia in the Civil War. Email us with websites containing information on Virginia in the Civil War by clicking the link below:

• Southern Claims Commission from the State of Virginia (The National Archives): View, Print Copy & Save Original Documents In the 1870s, southerners claimed compensation from the U.S. government for items used by the Union Army, ranging from corn and horses, to trees and church buildings.
• Organization Index to Pension Files of Veterans Who Served Between 1861 and 1900 from the State of Virginia (The National Archives): View, Print Copy & Save Original Pension applications for service in the U.S. Army between 1861 and 1917, grouped according to the units in which the veterans served.
• Compiled Service Records of Confederate Soldiers Who Served in Organizations from the Virginia (The National Archives): View, Print Copy & Save Original Compiled service records of Confederate soldiers from southern units, labeled with each soldier's name, rank, and unit, with links to revealing documents about each soldier.
• Index to Virginia Confederate Rosters - unofficial roster of soldiers from Virginia who served in the army of the Confederate States of America during the Civil War compiled between 1904 and 1918.
• Civil War Soldiers and Sailor System
• Confederate Navy Index - searchable index created from a card file compiled primarily in 1924 as part of the United Confederate Veterans project to document Virginians' service during the Civil War.
• Index to Confederate Veteran Magazine - A fully-searchable index to the personal names of Confederate soldiers as they appear in the Confederate Veteran magazine published between 1893 and 1932.
• Confederate Disability Applications and Receipts - applications to the Board of Commissioners on Artificial Limbs from injured soldiers.
• Confederate Pension Rolls, Veterans and Widows  - searchable database of pension applications and amended applications filed by resident Virginia Confederate veterans and their widows. See also Card Index below - it may contain different information. 
• Confederate Pension Rolls, Veterans and Widows Electronic Card Index - index to pension applications and amended applications filed by resident Virginia Confederate veterans and their widows. See also Database above - it may contain different information. 
• Robert E. Lee Camp Confederate Soldiers' Home Applications for Admission

Excerpts From the Book "Family History Made Easy"

   Military and pension records are among the most useful sources available to genealogists because of the detail they offer. These records are important because they may provide an ancestor’s date of birth, place of residence, the names and addresses of family members, and other details that can round out a picture of his or her life. Judith Prowse Reid, Head, Local History and Genealogy, Library of Congress

   Military records have originated at the federal, state, and local levels. Whether created in time of war or in time of peace, these records provide unique facts and insights into the lives of men and women who have served in the military forces of the United States. Almost every American family, in one generation or another, has seen one or more of its members serve in America’s armed forces. From regimental histories, which provide blow-by-blow accounts of a unit’s participation in military actions, to the personal details contained in the service and pension files of individual men and women, military records provide valuable information concerning a large and significant portion of the American population. And because military records have been preserved and made available at and through a number of research institutions, much information awaits the well-prepared researcher.

How to Find Military Records
   To locate military records for any individual, it is essential to know when and where in the armed forces he or she served and whether that person served in the enlisted ranks or was an officer. (If you don’t have that identifying information, some potential solutions are discussed below.)
As in any research project, it is important to study carefully whatever is already known about the subject of interest. Families and communities frequently pass down stories of military heroes from generation to generation. In most cases, these stories retain some fact, but, with the passage of years and in the process of retelling, accuracy fades. At any rate, family stories should not be overlooked for clues at the start of a military search.

   When and where did the individual live? Did the family keep evidence of military service? Certificates, letters, journals, diaries, scrapbooks, newspaper clippings, photographs, medals, swords, and other memorabilia kept in private collections may provide the basic facts needed to begin searching in military record collections.

Military Time Lines
   Creating a historical time line can be especially useful for determining if and when the subject might have served in the military. By compiling a chronological list of the known dates and places of residence of an individual from birth through adulthood, it is frequently easy to discover the possibility of military service. Was the individual the right age to be eligible for the draft or to serve voluntarily in the Civil War? Is it likely that the person served on the Northern rather than the Southern side, or vice versa? For records from the colonial period to more recent military engagements, the place of residence is key to finding an individual’s records.

Evidence of Military Service in Hometown Records
   There are a number of public records that are potentially valuable in discovering the military history of a veteran. It has been a long-standing American tradition to foster patriotism by honoring local sons and daughters who have defended the ideals of their country. Hometown military heroes are frequently noted on public monuments, and local newspaper files may yield surprisingly detailed accounts of a community’s well-known and less-famous military personnel.

Military History
   Commercial enterprises and historically oriented groups and institutions have regularly published local histories. As a rule, these histories will include glowing accounts of the area’s involvement in military activities. Some volumes provide biographical sketches of military leaders, while others attempt to list all of the community’s participants in various military conflicts. Locally focused histories have been published at various times for virtually every state and county in the United States. Do not overlook them as an important research aid. P. William Filby’s A Bibliography of American County Histories is a list of five thousand such sources.

   In addition to the standard histories, local public libraries and historical societies usually preserve and make available other types of publications that document the military history of the geographical areas they serve. Historical agencies collect biographies, letters, diaries, journals, and all sorts of memorabilia from military units and servicemen and -women. The personal accounts found in some collections are a fascinating means of stepping back in time. Firsthand accounts afford a better understanding of the day-to-day drudgery, loneliness, fears, and satisfactions of military life.

Evidence of Military Service in Cemeteries
   Cemeteries provide yet another local source of information regarding individuals who served in the armed forces. Almost every cemetery in the United States contains some evidence of military events and veterans. Cemetery records and grave markers frequently identify military dead by name, rank, and unit designation. If a man or woman died elsewhere while in the service, the body was frequently brought home for burial; cemetery records often note the place and date of death.

Evidence of Military Service in Court Records
   Court records are yet another potential source for identifying those who served in the military. Most counties formally recorded and indexed the names of their citizens who were discharged from the military. In some local courts, “military discharges” will be found indexed separately, and in others the military records may be oddly interspersed with deeds, naturalizations, or other categories of documents. The contents of military records may vary greatly from one courthouse to another. Some will provide biographical information, while others may simply list names and the event or names and date of certificate issue.

Military Records in the National Archives
   Federal military documents that have been classified as archival material are in the custody of the National Archives and Records Administration. Not all records created by military agencies are judged to be permanently valuable. Generally, only records of historical or administrative importance are kept.

   A wonderful array of federal military records are available in major libraries and archives and through microfilm rental programs. (Heritage Quest, a division of AGLL, Inc., PO Box 329, Bountiful, UT 84011-0329, is a source of rental microfilms.) With sufficient identifying information, you may request a search of the registers of enlistments or the compiled military service records. The minimum information required for a search is (1) the soldier’s full name, (2) the war in which he or she served or period of service, and (3) the state from which he or she served. For the Civil War, you must also indicate whether the person served in Union or Confederate forces. A separate copy of the form must be used for military service, pension, and bounty-land warrant applications. Submit requests for information about individuals who served in the military before World War I on NATF form 80 (Order for Copies of Veterans Records). Write to the National Archives and Records Administration, General Reference Branch, Washington, DC 20408 to obtain copies of NATF form 80. Always ask for “all records” for an individual.

   Make requests for information about U.S. Army officers separated from the service after 1912 on standard form 180 (Request Pertaining to Military Records) and send it to the Military Personnel Records Center, 9700 Page Boulevard, St. Louis, MO 63132.

U.S. Military Records
   By far the most comprehensive study of military records and how to use them is found in James C. Neagles’s U.S. Military Records: A Guide to Federal and State Sources, Colonial America to the Present. Neagles’s guide addresses primary and secondary military sources and accessibility, including the following information-rich sources:

Records of state militias and the National Guard
Records of the army, navy, and other branches of the U.S. military
Records of the military academies
Post-service records
Pensions
Bounty-land grants
Bonuses and family assistance
Soldier’s homes
Military burials
Military installations
Censuses of veterans
Conscription
Civilian affairs

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Virginia Vital Records - Laws requiring the recording of births and deaths in Virginia were enacted as early as 1632, when a law directed ministers or churchwardens in each parish to present a "register of all burialls, christenings, and marriages" yearly at the June meeting of the court. A similar act passed in 1659 stated that "enquiries are often made for persons imported into the collonie, of whose death no positive certificate can be granted for want of registers." Few records survive from these early decades.

See Also Researching in Vital Records - Vital records, as their name suggests, are connected with central life events: birth, marriage, and death. Maintained by civil authorities, they are prime sources of genealogical information; but, unfortunately, official vital records are available only for relatively recent periods. These records, despite their recent creation in the United States, are critically important in genealogical research, often supplying details on family members well back into the nineteenth century.......

In 1713 the General Assembly noted that earlier acts had "for a long time been disused" and once again directed the recording of births and deaths by the minister or clerk of each parish. A return made the same year noted that the list of births and deaths was not complete since many parishes failed to make returns "for tis a thing so new to the people that neither they care to Register their Births and Burials, nor are the Parish Clerks yet brought into a regular method of transmitting them."

The recording of vital statistics continued to be an ecclesiastical function throughout the colonial period. With the disestablishment of the Anglican church after the American Revolution and the rise of other religious denominations, the record-keeping process for vital statistics fell more and more to the individual family. By the mid-nineteenth century, however, medical science began to recognize the advantages of accurate birth and mortality information in controlling and treating communicable diseases. Pressure from local and national health organizations and medical professionals resulted in the passage of vital statistics registration laws. Virginia was one of the earliest states to pass such a law.

A law requiring the systematic statewide recording of births and deaths was passed by the General Assembly on April 11 1853. Every commissioner of revenue registered births and deaths in his district annually, at the same time personal property subject to taxation was ascertained. The commissioner recorded births and deaths that had occurred prior to 31 December of the preceding year and returned the record to the clerk of court by 1 June. Information was obtained from heads of family, physicians, surgeons, or coroners. The law imposed penalties for failing to furnish or collect the information.

The clerk of court in each locality entered the information supplied by the commissioner into registers and prepared an accompanying alphabetical index. A copy of each register was forwarded to the Auditor of Public Accounts. The law went into effect on 1 July 1853, and continued until 1896, when an economy-conscious legislature repealed the recording provisions.

Birth and death registers in the Library of Virginia are copies of those records made by local clerks from the lists compiled by the commissioners and forwarded to the Auditor of Public Accounts. The Auditor turned the lists over to the Bureau of Vital Statistics in 1918, and the registers were later transferred to the state archives. The records are an indispensable source for the most basic biographical facts about earlier generations of Virginians.

What the Records Show

Information found on birth and death registers changed little between 1853 and 1896. Birth registers contain headings for: date and place of birth; name of child (if named); color (if "colored," whether slave or free); sex; whether born alive or dead; name of father or owner; father's occupation; father's residence (county or locality in the county); mother's name; how many infants at this birth (whether this was a multiple birth); deformities or any circumstances of interest; name of the person giving the information; and the relation of the informant to the person born.

Death registers record: name, race and sex of the deceased; name of the owner, if a slave; date and place of death; name of the disease or cause of death; age at death (years, months and days); place of birth; occupation; marital status; names of parents of the deceased; name of person giving the information; and description of the informant (whether a physician, consort, head of the family, or friend).

Information is often missing from the records. If an infant had not been named at the time of birth or death, the entry would record only the surname or note "Smith, infant." Only the month appears for the date of birth or death in some instances. On death registers, the names of parents of the deceased are frequently omitted or unreliable. Causes of death frequently are not known. When John Doublin reported the death of his friend Charles Beasley in Lancaster County in November 1896, the only information given was that Beasley was 120 years old and had died from "old age."

An index to birth records between 1853 and 1896 is available on microfilm in the Library. The index is arranged alphabetically by surname in ten-year periods. The index lists the child's name, the names of the father and mother, the date of birth, the county in which the birth was recorded, and the page number of the birth register for the year of birth. After locating an entry in the index, the researcher should locate the county register for the birth year and examine the birth record.

There also is an index to slave births for the years 1853 through 1865. The index is arranged alphabetically by the name of the owner, overseer, employer, or informant. The slave's name, mother's name, date of birth, county of birth, and a page number are listed.

Although there is no statewide index to death records for the period 1853 through 1896, some county court clerks prepared indexes to births and deaths for this period. Microfilm copies of the indexes may be available among the county court records in the Library's collection. Examine the guides to county court records in the Library to determine if indexes are available.

The Library also holds microfilm copies of death certificates, 1912-1939, arranged chronologically by year and thereunder by month. Certificates are numbered consecutively for each year. Prior to 1932, cities are filed with the counties in which they are located. Beginning in 1932, cities and counties are filed separately, with the cities at the beginnning of each month. At the end of the year there is a volume of delayed filings for that year.

An index to death certificates is available on microfilm. Obtain the year of the death and the certificate number from the index, then use the in-house finding aid to identify the appropriate reel. The index is arranged chronologically by year groups and thereunder alphabetically by surname. Although the index continues through 1954, the Library holds only those records filed from 1912 to 1939.

Other Sources

Family Records are the first sources to examine for vital statistics information.  Bible records, baptismal records, school records, scrapbooks, membership records for religious, patriotic, or social societies, military records, insurance records, and a variety of other records can contain important birth and death information. The Library has a collection of family Bibles that records births, marriages, and deaths. Vital statistics about slaves belonging to a household may be recorded since it was important for the owner to document the ages of slaves for tax purposes.

A guide to Bible records in the Archives Branch, Virginia State Library (2 vols.) is available for check-out, and non-circulating copies are located in the Main Collection, at both the East and West Reading Room reference desks, and in the Archives Research Room. Bible records also can be accessed through the Library's Archives and Manuscripts Catalog.

Census Schedules for Virginia (1810-1880, 1900-1920) are available on microfilm in the Library. Prior to the 1850 census, only the name of the head of the household is recorded.  Other household members are identified by number and sex within certain age groups. Beginning in 1850 and continuing into the twentieth century, individuals in the household are identified by name, and their ages at their last birthdays are recorded.  Information concerning place of birth of each individual and parents of each individual appear on subsequent schedules. Among the types of information recorded on the 1900-1920 schedules are the age of the individual and the month and year of birth.

Special census schedules called mortality schedules are available for the census years 1850, 1860, 1870, and 1880. These schedules record the names and causes of death of individuals who died in the twelve months prior to May or June of the census year. They are arranged by county, and except for the 1850 mortality schedules, there is no index to the records. While post-1920 census records at present are not available for public use, information abstracted from the records is available from the U.S. Census Bureau. Details and forms are available at the U.S. Census Bureau web site.

Church Records provide some of the earliest information concerning births and deaths in Virginia. Prior to the American Revolution, the Anglican church was the established church in Virginia, and vital statistics of members were recorded in local parish registers. The oldest surviving register in the Library's collection is that of Charles Parish in York County, which records some parish births and deaths from 1648 through 1789. There are twelve registers for other parishes covering various periods prior to the American Revolution, all of which are available in published form.

Other religious denominations followed various practices concerning the recording of births, deaths, baptisms, and marriages. Church records in the Library's collection are described in A Guide to Church Records in the Archives Branch, Virginia State Library. The guide is available for check-out, and non-circulating copies are located in the Main Collection, at the East and West Reading Room reference desks, and in the Archives Research Room. Other institutions that include church records in their collections are noted in "Genealogical Research at the Library of Virginia."

Cemetery records and tombstone inscriptions also are helpful in establishing birth and death information. Records of several cemeteries in the cities of Richmond and Petersburg are available on microfilm. The Library also has a small collection of copies of records from other counties and cities. A useful guide to locating cemetery sites is Virginia Cemeteries. A Guide to Resources, copies of which are located at the East and West Reading Room reference desks. Researchers should contact local historical societies for information concerning records on, or the location of, family cemeteries.

Newspapers are a valuable source of birth and death information, especially after the 1850s when local papers became more numerous. Obituaries appear more frequently than birth announcements. In most instances, there are no indexes to vital statistics recorded in local newspapers.  Microfilm copies of newspapers from across Virginia are available in the Library, and many are located in the Microfilm Reading Area. Newspapers published by religious denominations, such as the Baptist Religious Herald, the Episcopal Southern Churchman and the Presbyterian Standard, also are helpful.

County Records often contain copies of birth and death registers which can be found in the Library's collection of microfilm county court records. The records were maintained by the clerk of court in the locality and duplicate those records forwarded to the Auditor of Public Accounts. In many instances, indexes are available for both births and deaths. To determine if records are available for a locality, consult the black, bound volumes marked "County Records, A-Y" in the Microfilm Reading Area and at the West Reading Room reference desk.

Availability of Records for Research

Certified copies of birth and death records for the period 1853 through 1896 are available only from the Office of Vital Records and Health Statistics, P.O. Box 1000, Richmond, VA 23218-1000.  Details and forms are available at the Virginia Department of Health web site.   Researchers who visit the Library can make copies from the birth and death registers on microfilm in the collection.

Microfilm copies of vital statistics may be borrowed from the Library of Virginia through the interlibrary loan system of local libraries. The original registers of births and deaths have been withdrawn from circulation since microfilm copies are available.

Vital Records After 1896

There was no statewide recording of births and deaths between 1896 and 1912. To locate vital statistics during this period, the researcher must consult the alternate sources described previously.  Several metropolitan areas continued to keep records of births and deaths after 1896. The cities of Lynchburg, Newport News, Norfolk, Petersburg, Portsmouth, Richmond, and Roanoke, and the county of Elizabeth City, kept records for all or part of the period between 1896 and 1912. Contact the public health departments in these localities for information concerning available records. Systematic statewide registration began again in June 1912. For information from vital statistics records filed after that date, contact the Office of Vital Records

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• Ordering Vital Records by Mail - The fee to search for a birth, Marriage or Death certificate is $12.00, which includes one certified copy of the certificate or a "Certificate of Failure to Find." Make checks and money orders should be made payable to "State Health Department ". Please do not send cash. Credit Cards may be uses by using VitalChek services. Fees are non refundable. Additional fees are required for expedited service. Mail all Applications to:
  Vital Records, VDH, Office of Vital Records, and Health Statistics,
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  You can download an application online for Birth, Death, Marriage or Divorce Certificates.

Facts on Birth Records - Most early birth records contain very little biographical information. Typical early New England town and church records, for example, give little information beyond the name of the child, date and place of birth, and parents’ names. Some localities listed only the name of the father.

While early birth records can be discouragingly lacking in information, by the mid-nineteenth century birth records in the United States began to include more information. Even though births were not widely recorded during the early years of America’s existence, the records that do exist may be the only source of a birth date for an individual and should always be consulted.

Delayed births are also important vital registrations that you should consider for obtaining biographical information. When Social Security benefits were instituted in 1937, individuals claiming benefits had to document their birth even if the state of their birth did not require registration when they were born. Individuals who were not registered with state or county agencies at the time of their birth often applied for a delayed birth registration. Obtaining passports, insurance, and other benefits also required proof of age.

Applications were accompanied with full name, address, and date and place of birth; father’s name, race, and place of birth; and evidence to support the facts presented. The evidence could be in the form of a baptismal certificate, Bible record, school record, affidavit from the attending physician or midwife, application for an insurance policy, birth certificate of a child, or an affidavit from a person having definite knowledge of the facts. Delayed birth records are usually filed and indexed separately from regular birth registrations, and it may be necessary to request a separate search for them.

• Search All U.S and Foriegn Birth, Marriage and Death Records
• Search County Birth Records
• Order Birth Certificates Online

Facts on Marriage Records - Because of the importance of the legal distribution and control of property, most states and counties began to record marriages before births and deaths. The recording of a marriage is a two-step process. Traditionally, couples apply for a license to marry, and the applications are usually filed loose among other applications or in bound volumes. Marriage returns are filed once the marriage has taken place. The latter document is the proof of a marriage (not the license application).

Marriage applications are often filled out by both the bride and groom and typically contain a significant amount of genealogical information. They may list full names of the bride and groom, their residences, races, ages, dates and places of birth, previous marriages, occupations, and their parents’ names, places of birth, and occupations.

Marriage certificates are issued by counties after the marriage ceremony is completed, and these are usually found among family items. While the certificates tend to have less biographical data than the application, the name of the individual officiating at the wedding may lead you to religious records by revealing the denomination. The religious records, in turn, may reveal the names of witnesses and other useful information.

Early American records sometimes include marriage bonds, which served as a protection for the future children of the marriage. A bond obligated a prospective groom to pay the bond if he were discovered to be a bigamist or imposter or otherwise ineligible to contract a valid marriage. As long as the marriage was legal, the bond was void. Bonds generally include the groom’s name, name of the surety, the sum, and the date of the agreement.

• Order Marriage Certificates or Divorce Records Online
• Virginia Marriages before 1824
• Virginia Marriages to 1800
• Virginia Marriages, 1740-1850
• Virginia Marriages, 1851-1929
• Index to Marriage Records - a searchable database indexing marriage information from a variety of sources primarily covering the 1700's and 1800's.
• Marriage Index for Richmond Enquirer/Richmond Visitor  -  Richmond Enquirer (1804 - 1860) and the Richmond Visitor (1809 - 1810).
• Search U.S. and International Marriage Records, 1560-1900
• Search County Marriage Records
• Search County Divorce Records

Facts on Death Records - Early death records in the United States provide little more than the name of the deceased, the date of death, and the place of death. Obituaries and cemetery, court, and other records often provide more information about the deceased than do most official death records created before the last quarter of the 1800s.

By 1900 death records included more details. They often include the name of the deceased; date, place, and cause of death; age at the time of death; place of birth; parents’ names; occupation; name of spouse; name of the person giving the information; the informant’s relationship to the deceased; the name and address of the funeral director; and the place of burial. Race is listed in some records, and modern death certificates generally include a Social Security number.

• Order Death Certificates Online
• Social Security Death Index
• Obituary Collection
• Search County Death Records
• Death Records Indexing Project - partially completed cooperative project with the Virginia Genealogical Society; goal is to create a statewide index to the 1853-1896 locality death registers.
• Find Obituaries in The World's Largest Newspaper Archive at NewpaperArchive.com! - Find thousands of Virginia obituaries to help you research your family history. Search for a Virginia newspaper obituary about your ancestor or a celebrity. Begin your search today and find death notices and funeral announcements printed in newspapers from Alabama.
• America's Obituaries (1977 to current) at Genealogybank.com - Obituaries contain helpful information such as names, dates, places of birth, death, marriage and family information. Over 28 million obituaries make this the most complete collection from the 20th and 21st centuries - includes over 1,100 U.S. newspapers. New content added daily!

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Virginia Tax Records - Virginia's tax records are a rich—and largely untapped—resource. During the Colonial period, there were three basic forms of taxation: the quitrent, the parish levy, and the poll tax.

The quitrent was a land tax that had its roots in English manorial society where “the land obligations due the manor, such as plowing and haying the lord's land, were computed to an annual money payment. Upon payment, the obligations were `quit' for the year.” Those living south of the Rappahannock River paid a quitrent to the Crown. An original, incomplete list of land owners for the region in 1704 is in the Public Record Office in London and has been published several times, not always reliably.

See Also Researching in Tax Records - Things taxed have included carriages and watches, windows and whiskey, land and slaves. Taxes on documents and tea helped start a war. Arkansas Territory’s sudden tax on bounty lands in the 1820s was enacted and due before the news had time to reach out-of-state owners, permitting the quick seizure and sale of “delinquent” lands. As this variety suggests, name lists of such taxes must be used with a cautious understanding of who should be on the list and who should not...

Residents of the Northern Neck, between the Rappahannock and Potomac Rivers, paid quitrents to the agents of Lord Fairfax. Many original rent rolls of the Fairfax proprietary are housed at the Huntington Library in San Marino, California. Extant original rent rolls and facsimiles for Virginia are available at The Library of Virginia.

The parish levy was an annual tax paid by all tithables for support of their ministers, maintenance of the parishes' glebe lands (the parsonage and lands producing income for the parish), and support of the poor of the parish.

The poll tax, except for a brief period from 1645 to 1648, was the main source of revenue for the colony of Virginia. The annual poll tax was computed by dividing the total expenses of the colony and individual counties by the total number of tithables. The result was levied on each tithable.

Tithables were variously defined during the colonial period. The first definition, in 1624, was “every male head above sixteen years of age.” All agricultural workers were added in 1629. In 1643 all males and black females aged sixteen or over were tithables. Imported male servants of any age were added in 1649.

The definition of “tithable” was rewritten in 1658. Tithables included free males aged sixteen or over, imported blacks of either sex, imported white male servants, and Indian servants of either sex; white women employed in agriculture were added in 1662. Complaints from planters with increasing numbers of indentured servants and slaves led to a revision in 1680 that declared Virginia-born male slaves taxable at age twelve and imported male servants taxable at age fourteen; nonwhite women and free males remained taxable at age sixteen.

The laws of Virginia were revised in 1705. From then until 1782, all males and nonwhite females aged sixteen or over were tithables. Wives of free nonwhite males were added in 1723.

Virginia's tax system changed after the Revolutionary War to include taxing land and personal property in 1782, with further revision in 1787. The bulk of those tax lists prior to 1850 survive and are available on microfilm at The Library of Virginia.

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