Lee County, Virginia Genealogy

Guide to Lee County Virginia ancestry, family history, and genealogy. Birth records, marriage records, death records, census records, family history, immigration records, and military records.

Virginia Online Genealogy Records

Description
Lee County is located in the far Southwestern corner of the Commonwealth of Virginia and shares borders with Kentucky and Tennessee. Lee County is named for Henry Lee, Governor of Virginia, 1791-1794.

Lee County, Virginia Courthouse
Lee County Courthouse P.O. Box 326 Main Street Jonesville, VA 24263-0326 Phone: 540-346-7763

Clerk Circuit Court has birth and death records 1853-1877 Marriage records from 1830 divorce records from 1832 probate records from 1800, Court and land records from 1793

Parent County
1792--Lee County was created 25 October 1792 from Russell County. County seat: Jonesville

Boundary Changes
For animated maps illustrating Virginia county boundary changes, "Rotating Formation Virginia County Boundary Maps" (1617-1995) may be viewed for free at the MapofUS.org website.

Record Loss
1863 A significant number of loose records prior to 1860 including chancery and judgments are missing, probably destroyed when the courthouse burned in October 1863. Bound volumes, including deeds, orders and will books survive.


 * Lost censuses: 1800, 1810, 1890

Populated Places
For a complete list of populated places, including small neighborhoods and suburbs, visit HomeTown Locator. The following are the most historically and genealogically relevant populated places in this county:

Neighboring Counties

 * Bell County, Kentucky
 * Claiborne County, Tennessee
 * Hancock County, Tennessee
 * Harlan County, Kentucky
 * Scott
 * Wise

African American

 * Virginia, Freedmen's Bureau Letters or Correspondence, 1865-1872


 * Kegley, Mary B. Free People of Colour: Free Negroes, Indians, Portuguese and Freed Slaves. Wytheville, Virginia: Kegley Books, 2003. Available at ;

Cemeteries

 * 1800-1986 - at FamilySearch — index

Census
1790 - See Parent County.

1800 - Lost, but a subsitute is available, see Taxation.

1810 - Lost, but a subsitute is available, see Taxation.

1830


 * Simmons, Don. Lee County, Virginia, Census of 1830. [Virginia?]: D. Simmons, 1976. Available at ; digital version at World Vital Records ($).

1840


 * Douthat, James L. 1840 Mountain Empire of Virginia Census. Signal Mountain, Tenn.: Mountain Press, 2001. 975.5 X2d 1840. Free online surname index and purchase details at Mountain Press website. [Includes Lee County.]

1890 Union Veterans' Census


 * Turner, Ronald Ray. Virginia's Union Veterans: Eleventh Census of the United States 1890. Available online, courtesy: Prince William County Virginia website. [Includes this county.]

Baptist
Early Baptist churches (with years constituted):


 * 1) Deep Spring (1797)

Lee County fell within the bounds of the Holston and Mountain Associations.

Court
Lee Circuit Court

Genealogy
More than 25 genealogies have been published about Lee County families. To view a list, visit Lee County, Virginia Compiled Genealogies.

See also: Virginia Compiled Genealogies

Compiled genealogies that treat multiple Lee County families include:


 * Bicentennial Book Committee et al. Bicentennial History of Lee County, Virginia 1792-1992. n.p.: Lee County Historical and Genealogical Society and Don Mills, 1992. 975.5735 H2b
 * Laningham, Anne Wynn and Hattie Byrd Muncy Bales. Early Settlers of Lee County, Virginia and Adjacent Counties. 2 vols. Greensboro, N.C.: Media, Inc., 1977. 975.5735 D2L v. 1
 * Lockwood, Frances B. and Hattie Byrd Muncy Bales. Annotations, Corrections and Additions to Early Settlers of Lee County, Virginia and Adjacent Counties. 1978. 975.5735 D2L v. 2 supp

Local Histories

 * Historical Facts of Lee County, Virginia. Pennington Gap, Va.: Pennington High School, 1930. ; digital version at Ancestry ($).

Revolutionary War

 * Kegley, Mary B. Revolutionary War Pension Applications of Southwest Virginia Soldiers. n.p.: M.B. Kegley, 1997. Available at . [Includes Lee County pensioners.]
 * A Census of Pensioners for Revolutionary or Military Services: With their Names, Ages, and Places of Residence, as Returned by the Marshalls of the Several Judicial Districts, Under the Act for Taking the Sixth Census]. 1841. Digital version at Google Books. 1967 reprint: 973 X2pc 1840. [See Virginia, Western District, Lee County on page 135.]

War of 1812
Lee County men served in the 94th Regiment.


 * List of Pensioners on the Roll, January 1, 1883; Giving the Name of Each Pensioner, the Cause for Why Pensioned, the Post-Office Address, the Rate of Pension Per Month, and the Date of Original Allowance... Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1883. 973 M2Lp v. 5; digital versions at Google Books and Internet Archive. [See Vol. 5, Virginia, Lee County, p. 87. Identifies War of 1812 veterans living in this county in 1883.]

Civil War

 * 1861-1865 - at FamilySearch — index
 * 1861-1865 - at FamilySearch — index
 * 1861-1865 - U.S., Confederate Soldiers Compiled Service Records, 1861-1865 at Ancestry — index (free)
 * 1861-1865 - U.S., Union Soldiers Compiled Service Records, 1861-1865 at Ancestry — index (free)


 * - 1st Regiment, Virginia Artillery (Confederate)
 * - 20th Regiment, Virginia Infantry (Confederate) - possibly from Lee County
 * - 25th Regiment, Virginia Cavalry (Confederate). Company B, Company G (Lee Rangers), Company H, and Company I (Lee Rangers aka Lee Greys).
 * - 32nd Regiment, Virginia Infantry (Confederate) - possibly from Lee County
 * - 37th Regiment, Virginia Infantry (Confederate). Company E (Walnut Hill Company).
 * - 48th Regiment, Virginia Infantry (Confederate). Company D (Lee County Guards).
 * - 50th Regiment, Virginia Infantry (Confederate). Company A (Lee Rifles), Company B, and Company G (2nd).
 * - 64th Regiment, Virginia Mounted Infantry (Confederate). Companies A, B, C1, C2. - Lee Home Guard

Miscellaneous Records

 * 1607-2007 - at FamilySearch — index and images

Naturalization
Virginia Naturalization Petitions, 1906-1929

Newspapers
Professor Tom Costa and The Rector and Visitors of the University of Virginia have created a database of all runaway advertisements for slaves, indentured servants, transported convicts, and ship deserters listed in the Virginia Gazette and other Virginia newspapers (1736-1803), see: The Geography of Slavery in Virginia.

Periodicals
Watauga Association of Genealogists Bulletin

Genealogical articles with abstracts of Lee County, Virginia records have been published in the Watauga Association of Genealogists Bulletin (39+ vols., 1972-present), the journal of the Watauga Association of Genealogists. The organization has posted tables of contents for most volumes on their website. Back issues are available for purchase.The Family History Library has a complete collection, including Margaret W. Hougland and Betty Jane Hylton's Bulletin Subject Index: The First Thirty Years, 1972-2001 (Johnson City, Tenn.: Watauga Association of Genealogists, 2002).

Private Papers

 * Virginia, Historical Society Papers, 1607-2007


 * Bell, Annie W.B. Southwest Virginia Historical Records: Family Bible Records of the People Living in Lee County, Virginia Adjoining Historical Cumberland Gap, Tennessee One Year Before the Civil War Began, During which the Families were Separated, Many Never to Meet Again, as Taken from the 1860 Census of the United States ... 195-?..

Probate Records
Online Records
 * 1793 - 1944 General Index to Wills and Estates Virginia Pioneers.net ($)

Taxation
How can Virginia tax lists help me?

Bibliography

The original Lee County Personal Property Tax Lists are held at the Library of Virginia. The Family History Library has acquired microfilms the Library of Virginia made for the years 1795-1850:.

The original Lee County Land Tax Lists are held at the Library of Virginia. The Family History Library does not have microfilm copies of these records, but has acquired abstracts for select years published in genealogical journals.

Lee County is also fortunate in being part of the First Tax District whose detailed 1815 records survive in the Kincade Private Papers. The Family History Library has acquired a microfilm copies of these records from the Library of Virginia: and. These records were also abstracted, published, and indexed by Kegley (see below).


 * [1795-1805] 1795-1805 Lee County, Virginia Personal Property Tax Lists; indexes online at New River Notes - free.
 * [1795-1799] Lee County Land Tax Lists 1795-1799 (images); digital version in Tax List Club at Binns Genealogy ($).
 * [1795-1813] Lee County Personal Property Tax Lists 1795-1813 (images); digital version in Tax List Club at Binns Genealogy ($).
 * [1795-1799] 1795-1799 Lee County, Virginia Land Tax Lists; indexes online at New River Notes - free.
 * [1799] Indexed images of the 1799 Personal Property Tax List of Lee County, Virginia are available online, courtesy: Binns Genealogy.
 * [1799] Indexed images of the 1799 Land Tax List of Lee County, Virginia is available online, courtesy: Binns Genealogy.
 * [1806] Kincaid, Bathsheba W. "Lee County, Virginia 1806 Land Tax Book," The Mountain Empire Genealogical Quarterly, Vol. 5, No. 2 (Summer 1986):129-130; Vol. 5, No. 3 (Fall 1986):195-198..
 * [1807] Kincaid, Bathsheba W. "Lee County, Virginia 1807 Land Tax Book," The Mountain Empire Genealogical Quarterly, Vol. 5, No. 3 (Fall 1986):198-199; Vol. 5, No. 4 (Winter 1986):263-267..
 * [1809] Kincaid, Bathsheba W. "Lee County, Virginia 1809 Land Tax Book," The Mountain Empire Genealogical Quarterly, Vol. 6, No. 1 (Spring 1987):33-34; Vol. 6, No. 2 (Summer 1987):120-123; Vol. 6, No. 3 (Fall 1987):191-192..
 * [1810] Schreiner-Yates, Netti. A Supplement to the 1810 Census of Virginia: Tax Lists of the Counties for which the Census is Missing. Springfield, Va.: Genealogical Books in Print, 1971. . [The source for this publication is the 1810 personal property tax list. Lee County is included because the 1810 Census for that county has been destroyed.]
 * [1810] Kincaid, Bathsheba W. "Lee County, Virginia 1810 Land Tax Book," The Mountain Empire Genealogical Quarterly, Vol. 6, No. 2 (Summer 1987):120-123; Vol. 6, No. 3 (Fall 1987):192-193; Vol. 6, No. 4 (Winter 1987):276-277; Vol. 7, No. 1 (Spring 1988):61-62; Vol. 7, No. 3 (Fall 1988):190-192. ff.
 * [1812] Kincaid, Bathsheba W. "Lee County, Virginia 1812 Land Tax Book," The Mountain Empire Genealogical Quarterly, Vol. 8, No. 3 (Fall 1989):169-175..
 * [1815] Kincaid, Bathsheba. "Lee County, Virginia Tax Book for 1815," The Mountain Empire Genealogical Quarterly, Vol. 4, No. 3 (Fall 1985):175-176..
 * [1815] Ward, Roger D. 1815 Directory of Virginia Landowners (and Gazetteer). 6 vols. Athens, Georgia: Iberian Pub. Co., 1997-2000. . [The source for this publication is the 1815 land tax. Lee County is included in Vol. 5.]
 * [1815] Kegley, Mary B. Southwest Virginia Tax Assessments, 1815: Grayson, Lee, Scott, Russell, Washington, and Wythe Counties. Wytheville, Va.: Kegley Books, 1991. Original edition and 1992 supplement: and . [The source for this publication is a private collection of 1815 tax assessment tickets for the First District of Virginia. The tickets includes landowners' names, number of acres or lots, number of buildings along with descriptions, and number of slaves. N.B. These are not the 1815 land tax books.]
 * [1835] 1835 Lee County, Virginia Personal Property Tax List; index online at New River Notes - free.

Birth

 * 1853-1866 - at FamilySearch — index and images
 * 1854-1877 - Lee County Birth Index 1854-1877. Batch at FamilySearch - free.
 * 1912-1913 - at FamilySearch — index and images

Marriage

 * Book 1 Lee County Marriages (VAGenWeb) - free.


 * 1660-1800 - Virginia Marriages 1660-1800 (Ancestry) ($).


 * 1660-1959 - Virginia, United States Marriages at FindMyPast — index $
 * 1740-1850 - Virginia Marriages 1740-1850 (Ancestry) ($).


 * 1830-1916 - Lee County Marriage Index 1830-1916. Batch at FamilySearch - free.


 * 1851-1929 - Virginia Marriages 1851-1929 (Ancestry) ($).


 * 1853-1935 - at FamilySearch — index and images


 * 1936-1988 - at FamilySearch — index and images

Divorce

 * 1918-1988 - at FamilySearch — index and images

Death

 * 1853-1891 - Lee County Death Index 1853-1891. Batch at FamilySearch - free.
 * 1912-1987 - at FamilySearch — index and images

Lee County, Virginia Genealogy Websites

 * Lee Co., VAGenWeb. Part of the USGenWeb Project. Maps, name indexes, history.
 * Lee County, VA History, Records, Facts and Genealogy (Familytree101)
 * RootsWeb Mailing List: SW_VA-L (Topic: Southwest Virginia)
 * RootsWeb Mailing List: SW_VA-L (Topic: Southwest Virginia)