Fairfax County, Virginia Genealogy

United States &gt; Virginia &gt; Fairfax County



Parent County
1742--Fairfax County was created 6 May 1742 from Prince William County. County seat: Fairfax

Populated Places
Communities: Belle Haven. Burgundy Village. Engleside. Franconia. Groveton. Hayfield. Huntington. Hybla Valley. Kingstowne. Mount Vernon. Virginia Hills. Waynewood. Wilton Woods

Neighboring Counties

 * Arlington
 * Charles County, Maryland
 * Loudoun
 * Montgomery County, Maryland
 * Prince George's County, Maryland
 * Prince William
 * Washington, DC

African American

 * Guide to African-American Resources, Alexandria Library Local History/Special Collections is available online, courtesy: Alexandria Library, Local History/Special Collections.
 * Lane, Estelle. "News of Interest to Colored Readers," Alexandria Gazette. 1927-1928 is available online, courtesy: Alexandria Library, Local History/Special Collections.
 * Sweig, Donald. Registrations of Free Negroes Commencing September Court 1822, Book No. 2 &amp; Register of Free Blacks 1835, Book 3: Being the Full Text of the Two Extant Volumes, 1822-1861, of Registrations of Free Blacks Now in the County Courthouse, Fairfax, Virginia. Fairfax, Virginia : Prepared for publication and published by History Section, Office of Comprehensive Planning, Fairfax County, Virginia under the direction of the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors in cooperation with the Fairfax County History Commission, 1977. Available at FHL. Reviewed by Elizabeth Shown Mills in The Virginia Magazine of History and Biography, Vol. 86, No. 1 (Jan., 1978), pp. 114-115. Review available at FHL; digital version of review at JSTOR ($).
 * Volunteers for Freedom: Black Civil War Soldiers in Alexandria National Cemetery is available online, courtesy: Alexandria Library, Local History/Special Collections.
 * Voter Registration in Alexandria, Virginia: African Americans, 1902-1954 is available online, courtesy: Alexandria Library, Local History/Special Collections.

Cemeteries

 * Civil War Era Burials - Alexandria National Cemetery is available online, courtesy: Alexandria Library, Local History/Special Collections.
 * Volunteers for Freedom: Black Civil War Soldiers in Alexandria National Cemetery is available online, courtesy: Alexandria Library, Local History/Special Collections.

Census
1850


 * Tallichet, Marjorie D. Alexandria City and County 1850 Census. Heritage Books, Inc., 1986. Index is available online, courtesy: Alexandria Library, Local History/Special Collections.

1890 Veterans Census


 * 1890 Veterans Census Northern Virginia is available online, courtesy: Alexandria Library, Local History/Special Collections.

Church
General


 * Hiatt, Marty and Craig Roberts Scott. Loudoun County, Virginia, Tithables, 1758-1786. 3 vols. Athens, Georgia: Iberian Pub. Co., 1995. Available at FHL. [Volume 1 includes a 1749 tithables list for Fairfax County which identifies tithe payers and many of their religions.]

Church of England


 * Liddle, Chester A. and Patricia H. Osisek. Families of Pohick Church, Truro Parish, Fairfax County, Virginia. Baltimore, Maryland: Gateway Press, 1991. FHL has original edition and two supplements.
 * Slaughter, Philip and Edward Lewis Goodwin. The History of Truro Parish in Virginia. G.W. Jacobs &amp; Co., 1908. Digital book at Google Books (full-view).

Court
General


 * Horrell, Joseph. "George Mason and the Fairfax Court," The Virginia Magazine of History and Biography, Vol. 91, No. 4 (Oct. 1983):418-439. Available at JSTOR ($).

County Court

Searches of Fairfax County Court Orders should begin with the Fairfax County History Commission and Edith Moore Sprouse's A Surname and Subject Index of the Minute and Order Books of the County Court, Fairfax County, Virginia, 1749-1800 [1802], A Surname and Subject Index of the Minute and Order Books of the Courts, Fairfax County, Virginia, Part IV, 1807-1829, and Fairfax County, Va. Court Records, 1835-1860. They also created A Cumulative Subject Index to the Court Order Books of Fairfax County, Virginia, 1749-1802.

Chancery Court


 * Indexes (1803-1963) and images (1803-1913) to Fairfax County, Virginia Chancery Records are available online through Virginia Memory: Chancery Records Index. These records, often concerned with inheritance disputes, contain a wealth of genealogical information.

Family Histories
It is anticipated that this bibliography will eventually identify all known family histories published about residents of this county. In addition to finding a direct ancestor’s surname listed, and watching to see if more recent publications make additions and corrections to earlier works, this list is also useful for determining if genealogists have published accounts, to quote Elizabeth Shown Mills, for any members of an ancestor’s “FAN Club” [Family, Associates, and Neighbors]. Checking publications about those individuals can lead you to new information about your own ancestry. Be mindful that compiled genealogies may contain errors.

General


 * Liddle, Chester A. and Patricia H. Osisek. Families of Pohick Church, Truro Parish, Fairfax County, Virginia. Baltimore, Maryland: Gateway Press, 1991. FHL has original edition and two supplements.

Bibliography


 * [Adams] Ljunstedt, Milnor. "The Adamses in the Northern Neck of Virginia (Upper Counties) and Some Nearby Counties of Maryland," The American Genealogist, Vol. 13 (1936):82-88, 233-241. Available at FHL; digital version at New England Ancestors ($).
 * [Ball] Ball, Palmer R. and Nancy Graves Ball Surface. The Ball Family of Southwest Virginia: A Genealogy of Some of the Descendants of Moses Ball of Fairfax County. Big Laurel, Virginia: Cumberland-Crafters, 1933. Available at FHL; digital version at Ancestry ($).
 * [Ball] Ball, Bonnie S., James Elihu Ball, and Estella Ball Brady. The Balls of Fairfax and Stafford in Virginia. Haysie, Virginia: B.S. Ball, 1961. Original edition available at FHL; 1976 reprint available at FHL; 1982 reprint available at FHL.
 * [Broadwater] Haycock, Robert Lee. "Career of Col. Charles Broadwater, Fairfax County, Va.," The Virginia Magazine of History and Biography, Vol. 47, No. 3 (Jul. 1939):234-238. Available at FHL; digital version at JSTOR ($).
 * [Fairfax] Kilmer, Kenton and Donald Sweig. The Fairfax Family in Fairfax County: A Brief History. Fairfax, Virginia: Board of Supervisors, Fairfax County, Virginia, 1975. Available at FHL.
 * [Hunter] Bull, Mary Alice Hunter. Record of Hunter of Hunterston, Ayrshire, Scotland ... Record of Hunter of Abbotshill and Park, County Ayr, Scotland ... Record of Hunter of Ayrhill, Fairfax County, Virginia. Washington, D.C.: Gibson Bros., 1902. Available at FHL.
 * [Jones] Hymas, Barbara Perine. The Jones Family of Prince Georges County, Maryland and Fairfax County, Virginia, and Related Families, 1659-1997. Madison, Alabama: B.P. Hymas, 2000. Available at FHL.
 * [Kellar] Ratcliffe, Susan Kellar. Michael Kellar and Catharine Monroe of Fairfax County, Virginia: Their Family and Descendants, 1760-2002. Baltimore, Maryland: Gateway Press, 2002. Available at FHL.
 * [Maddy] Maddy, Olive and John K. Maddy. US Maddys: An Account of the Family in England and the Descendants of William Maddy of Fairfax County, Virginia and James Maddy of Fairfax and Orange Counties, Emigrants. Oskaloosa, Iowa: O. Maddy, 1950. Availalbe at FHL; 1985 edition also available at FHL.
 * [Reid] West, Donal S. and Lola Edwards Lindsey. The Descendants of Joseph Reid (1702-1749) and Elizabeth [Hampton], Absolom Reid (1727-) and Sarah Simpson (1735-), Joab Reid (1762-1855) and Nancy West (1764-1805) of Fairfax Co., VA &amp; Adams and Brown Co., OH. 6 vols. [Fort Wayne, Indiana: D.S. West], 1997. Available at FHL.
 * [Rousseau] Rousseau, Marilyn K. "The Colonial Virginia Ancestry of a Pioneer Florida Family: William H. Rousseau (1818-1870), Florida House of Representatives 1852, Florida State Senate 1865," The American Genealogist, Vol. 79, No. 3 (Jul. 2004):184-198.
 * [Sadd] Coles, Edwin Wagner. William Sadd (1710-1770) of England, His Son William Said (1747-1807) of Fairfax County, Virginia and His Descendants. n.p.: E.W. Coles, 1999. Available at FHL.
 * [Simpson] Simpson, Gustavus Sailer. One Simpson Line of Fairfax County Virginia. Worthington, Ohio: G.S. Simpson, 1996. Available at FHL.
 * [Simpson] Neibling, Robert C. Solving Ihe identities of Gilbert Simpson (1699 - 1773) of Charles County, Maryland &amp; Fairfax County, Virginia &amp; His Son John Simpson (1739 - 1801) of Fairfax County Virginia &amp; Loudoun County, Virginia. Gulf Shores, Alabama: R.C. Neibling, 2000. Available at FHL.
 * [Simpson] Neibling, Robert C. Profiles of the Three Gilbert Simpsons: of Eighteenth Century Fairfax County, Virginia. Gulf Shores, Alabama: R.C. Neibling, 2001. Available at FHL; digital version at BYU Family History Archives. [2 copies at FHL.]
 * [Thomas] Gilbert, Betty J. Robert Thomas (d.1768), Fairfax Co., Va. and His Descendants. Topeka, Kansas: B.J. Gilbert, 1981. Available at FHL. [FHL title incorrectly states Thomas died in 1868.]
 * [Thomas] Gilbert, Betty J. Robert Thomas, d. 1768 Fairfax Co. Va.: and His Ancestors. Decorah, Iowa: Anundsen, 2002. Available at FHL.
 * [Triplett] Russell, Thomas Triplett. The Family of Francis Triplett of Fairfax County, Virginia. MSS., Clayton Library, Houston, Texas, available at FHL.
 * [Vanlandingham] Vanlandingham, J. Leon. Vanlandingham/Vallandigham/Vallandingham Genealogy: Michael and Anne Dawson Vallandigham of Fairfax County, Virginia and Their Descendants. Norman, Oklahoma: J.L. Vanlandingham, 2006. Available at FHL.

Historic Residences

 * Moxham, Robert Morgan. Belmont Plantation on the Occoquan, Fairfax County, Virginia. North Springfield, Virginia: Colonial Press, 1975. Available at FHL.

Immigration

 * Coldham, Peter Wilson. North American Wills Registered in London 1611-1857. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., 2007. [Includes will of a resident of Fairfax County proved in London. These records often help establish an immigrant's place of origin.]
 * [http://www.immigrantservants.com/search/advancedResults.php?surname=&givenName=&varientSurnameSpellings=&gender=&dateOfBirthDay=&dateOfBirthMonth=&dateOfBirthQuantifier=&dateOfBirthYear=&placeOfBirthParish=&placeOfBirthTown=&placeOfBirthCity=&placeOfBirthCounty=&placeOfBirthColony=&placeOfBirthNation=&occupations=&religions=&orphan=&familyPosition=&immigrationYearQualifier=&immigrationYear=&portOfDepartureTown=&portOfDepartureCity=&portOfDepartureCounty=&portOfDepartureNation=&placeOfArrivalTown=&placeOfArrivalCounty=&placeOfArrivalColony=&shipName=&convict=&yearOfIndentureQualifier=&yearOfIndenture=&lengthOfIndentureYears=&lengthOfIndentureMonths=&yearOfFreedomQualifier=&yearOfFreedom=&placeOfIndentureTown=&placeOfIndentureCity=&placeOfIndentureCounty=Fairfax&placeOfIndentureColony=Virginia&agentSurname=&agentGivenName=&agentTitle=&masterSurname=&masterGivenName=&masterTitle=&residenceParish=&residenceTown=&residenceCity=&residenceCounty=&residenceColony=&residenceNation=&landowner=&literate=&spouseSurname=&spouseGivenName=&spouseMarriageDateDay=&spouseMarriageDateMonth=&spouseMarriageDateQualifier=&spouseMarriageDateYear=&spouseMarriageLocationParish=&spouseMarriageLocationCounty=&spouseMarriageLocationColony=&spouseMarriageLocationNation=&deathDateDay=&deathDateMonth=&deathDateQualifier=&deathDateYear=&deathLocality=&deathCounty=&deathColony=&deathState=&testate=&proofServantStatus=&proofConvictStatus=&headright=&preServitudeSources=&postServitudeSources=&comments=&family=&sourceCitations=&interestedResearchers= List of imported servants and transported convicts from Europe] who served labor terms in Colonial Fairfax County, Virginia (work in progress), courtesy: Immigrant Servants Database.

Land
Grants and Patents


 * Davey. 253 patents dated 1651-1911 in what is now Fairfax, Fauquier, Northumberland, Prince William, Stafford, and Westmoreland Counties, Virginia placed on a map. DeedMapper. [Names of those who received land patents, dates, land descriptions, and references may be viewed free of charge (click "Index" next to the county listing, which is "Nova" in this instance); however, in order to view the maps, it is necessary to purchase Direct Line Software's DeedMapper product.]

Local Histories

 * Sweig, Donald M. "The Virginia Nonimportation Association Broadside of 1770 and Fairfax County: A Study in Local Participation," The Virginia Magazine of History and Biography, Vol. 87, No. 3 (Jul. 1979):316-325. Available at JSTOR ($).

Maps

 * Mitchell, Beth and Donald M. Sweig. An Interpretive Historical Map of Fairfax County, Virginia, in 1760: Showing Landowners, Tenants, Slave Owners, Churches, Roads, Ordinaries, Ferries, Mills, Tobacco Inspection Warehouses and the Towns of Alexander and Colchester. Virginia: Office of Comprehensive Planning, County of Fairfax, 1987. Available at FHL.

Migration

 * Clay, Robert Y. "Some Delinquent Taxpayers 1787-1790," The Virginia Genealogist, Vol. 21, No. 3 (Jul.-Sep. 1977):167-171. Available at FHL; digital version at New England Ancestors ($). [These records often identify migrants who left the county and their intended destinations. Fairfax County's 1787-1790 Delinquent Lists appear on pp. 170-171.]

Military
French and Indian War


 * Bockstruck, Lloyd DeWitt. Virginia's Colonial Soldiers. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1988. Available at FHL. [Identifies some Fairfax Parish and Fairfax County militia officers, soldier enlistments, and veterans; see place name index.]
 * Crozier, William Armstrong. Virginia Colonial Militia 1651-1776. Baltimore: Southern Book Co., 1954. Available at FHL; digital book at Ancestry ($). [Identifies some Fairfax County militia officers and soldiers; see place name index.]

Civil War


 * 1890 Veterans Census Northern Virginia is available online, courtesy: Alexandria Library, Local History/Special Collections.
 * Civil War Era Burials - Alexandria National Cemetery is available online, courtesy: Alexandria Library, Local History/Special Collections.
 * Harrison, Noel G. "Atop an Anvil: The Civilians' War in Fairfax and Alexandria Counties, April 1861-April 1862," The Virginia Magazine of History and Biography, Vol. 106, No. 2 (Spring, 1998), pp. 133-164. Digital version at JSTOR ($).
 * Johnson, William Page. Brothers and Cousins: Confederate Soldiers and Sailors of Fairfax County, Virginia. Athens, Georgia: Iberian Pub. Co., 1995. Available at FHL.
 * Notes on Locating a Confederate Ancestor is available online, courtesy: Alexandria Library, Local History/Special Collections.
 * Oath of Allegiance in Virginia, 1862-1865 is available online, courtesy: Alexandria Library, Local History/Special Collections.
 * Volunteers for Freedom: Black Civil War Soldiers in Alexandria National Cemetery is available online, courtesy: Alexandria Library, Local History/Special Collections.

World War I


 * World War I Draft Registrations for Northern Virginia is available online, courtesy: Alexandria Library, Local History/Special Collections.

Naturalization

 * Index to Naturalization Petitions, U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Virginia, Alexandria, 1909-1929 is available online, courtesy: Alexandria Library, Local History/Special Collections.

Newspapers
Indexed images of the Virginia Gazette(1736-1780) are available online through the Colonial Williamsburgwebsite. In addition, 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 this source and other Virginia newspapers (1736-1803), see: The Geography of Slavery in Virginia. These newspapers are valuable resources for all regions of Virginia.


 * Lane, Estelle. "News of Interest to Colored Readers," Alexandria Gazette. 1927-1928 is available online, courtesy: Alexandria Library, Local History/Special Collections.
 * Obituary Notices from the Alexandria Gazette, 1784-1915. Rev. ed. Willow Bend Books.
 * Obituary Index to the Alexandria Gazette, 1916-1946 is available online, courtesy: Alexandria Library, Local History/Special Collections.

Probate
Local Court


 * Holbrook, E. Richardson. Copies of the Wills of General George Washington: The First President of the United States and of Martha Washington, His Wife, and Other Interesting Records of the County of Fairfax, Virginia Wherein They Lived and Died. Washington, D. C.: National Capital Press, 1904. Available at FHL. [2 copies at FHL.]
 * King, Junie Estelle Stewart. Abstracts of Wills and Inventories, Fairfax County, Virginia 1742-1801. 1936; reprint, Baltimore, MD, USA: Clearfield, 1996. Original edition and 1959 reprint available at FHL; digital version at Ancestry ($).
 * Will of John Littleton of Fairfax Co., Va. 1745, Photocopy, available at FHL.

London Courts


 * Coldham, Peter Wilson. North American Wills Registered in London 1611-1857. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., 2007. [Includes will of a resident of Fairfax County proved in London. These records often help establish an immigrant's place of origin.]

School

 * "The Senior Class:" Index to Yearbooks from Alexandria (VA) High Schools, 1919-1951 is available online, courtesy: Alexandria Library, Local History/Special Collections.

Taxation
At first glance, researchers might conclude that Virginia tax lists contain very little family history data, though one soon learns that valuable genealogical conclusions can be drawn from these records, nicknamed "annual censuses," such as: relationships, approximate years of birth, socio-economic status, identification of neighbors, the ability to distinguish between persons of the same name, evidence of land inheritance, years of migration, and years of death.

Virginia began enumerating residents' payments of personal property and land taxes in 1782. These two types of taxation were recorded in separate registers. Personal property tax lists include more names than land tax lists, because they caught more of the population. The Family History Library has an excellent microfilm collection of personal property tax lists from 1782 (or the year the county was organized) well into the late nineteenth century for most counties, but only scattered land tax lists. Microfilm collections at The Library of Virginia include land tax lists for all counties and independent cities for the years 1782 through 1978, as well as personal property tax lists for the years 1782 through 1930 (and every fifth year thereafter). Taxes were not collected in 1808.

Some tax records are available online or in print, though published abstracts often omit useful details found only in the original sources. Statewide indexes can help genealogists identify specific counties where surnames occurred in the past, providing starting points for research.


 * Steadman, Melvin Lee. Falls Church by Fence and Fireside. Falls Church, Virginia: Falls Church Public Library, 1964. Available at FHL.
 * Hiatt, Marty and Craig Roberts Scott. Loudoun County, Virginia, Tithables, 1758-1786. 3 vols. Athens, Georgia: Iberian Pub. Co., 1995. Available at FHL. [Volume 1 includes a 1749 tithables list for Fairfax County which identifies tithe payers and many of their religions.]
 * Clay, Robert Y. "Some Delinquent Taxpayers 1787-1790," The Virginia Genealogist, Vol. 21, No. 3 (Jul.-Sep. 1977):167-171. Available at FHL; digital version at New England Ancestors ($). [These records often identify migrants who left the county and their intended destinations. Fairfax County's 1787-1790 Delinquent Lists appear on pp. 170-171.]
 * Indexed images of the 1789 and 1799 Personal Property Tax Lists of Fairfax County, Virginia are available online, courtesy: Binns Genealogy.
 * Ward, Roger D. 1815 Directory of Virginia Landowners (and Gazetteer). 6 vols. Athens, Georgia: Iberian Pub. Co., 1997-2000. Available at FHL. [This source is based on the 1815 land tax. Fairfax County is included in Vol. 4.]

Vital Records
Marriage


 * Hiatt, Marty and Craig Roberts Scott. Implied Marriages of Fairfax County, Virginia. Athens, Georgia: Iberian Pub. Co., 1994. Available at FHL.

Societies and Libraries

 * Lloyd House, Alexandria, Virginia
 * Public Library, Alexandria, Virginia
 * The Virginia Room, The City of Fairfax Regional Library, Fairfax, Virginia

Websites

 * USGenWeb project. May have maps, name indexes, history or other information for this county. Select the state, then the county.
 * Family History Library Catalog