James City County, Virginia Genealogy

For more information, see the discussion page

United States &gt; Virginia &gt; James City County

James City County (formally, the County of James City) is a county located on the Virginia Peninsula in the Hampton Roads region in Southeast Virginia. It has an area of 143 square miles.



Parent County
1634--James City was created in 1634 as an original shire or county. County seat: Williamsburg

Record Loss
Like many county courthouses in Virginia during the Civil War, the James City County Courthouse was burned in 1864. Consequently, few court records from prior to that date exist, although a few records from the 1850s are housed in the current Williamsburg-James City County Courthouse. Deed Book 1 and Will Book 1 both include some records from the 1850's.

Populated Places
The following is a list of populated places in James City County:


 * Williamsburg (city)
 * Jamestown (unincorporated place)
 * Norge (unincorporated place)
 * Toano (unincorporated place)

Cemeteries
For a detailed list, including addresses, phone numbers, and external links, see James City County, Virginia Cemeteries.

The following is a list of cemeteries in James City County:

For a map plotting all of the cemeteries, see Google Maps: Cemeteries in James City County, Virginia.


 * Tyler, Lyon G. "Old Tombstones in York and James City Counties," The William and Mary Quarterly, Vol. 2, No. 2 (Oct. 1893):78-86. Available at JSTOR ($).

Church
For a detailed list, including addresses, phone numbers, and external links, see James City County, Virginia Churches.

The following is a list of churches in James City County:

For a map plotting all of the churches, see Google Maps: Churches in James City County, Virginia.

Church of England


 * "Wilmington Parish, James City and Charles City Counties, Virginia," The Virginia Magazine of History and Biography, Vol. 37, No. 2 (Apr. 1929):97-100. Available at JSTOR ($).
 * Mason, George Carrington. "The Colonial Churches of James City County, Virginia," The William and Mary Quarterly, Second Series, Vol. 19, No. 4 (Oct. 1939):510-530. Available at JSTOR ($).
 * Chappelear, Nancy. Bruton and Middleton Parishes, James City County, Virginia, Parish Register, 1662-1797. Washington, D.C.: Chappelear &amp; Baird, 1966. Available at FHL.

Court


The Williamsburg-James City County Courthouse is located at:

5201 Monticello Avenue Williamsburg, VA 23188-8218 (757) 564-2242

The Courthouse houses records for both the City of Williamsburg and James City County, which are separate municipalities. Deeds for each municipality are maintained separately and may have different numbering schemes (e.g., six digit instrument numbers for Williamsburg deeds and nine digit instrument numbers for James City County deeds).

The Clerk's Office in the Circuit Court has a variety of City of Williamsburg and James City County records including deed and will books, twenteith-century tax records, tax assessors, maps, plats, military induction records, marriage records, death records, order books, and other documents. The Courthouse maintains a searchable computer-based index for deeds, marriages, and wills, as follows:

You must visit the courthouse reading room in person (8:30 - 4:00 p.m., Monday through Friday) in order to search the computer index. Recent records are added to the index within about a week.

The Clerk of Circuit Court does not accept mail in requests. However, all James City County records are available on microfilm through Interlibrary Loan via the Library of Virginia. Scanners are not permitted; cameras may or may not be allowed. A copier is available.

Chancery Court


 * Indexes (1799-1967) and images (1799-1933) to James City 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.

General Court of Virginia


 * "Bridge over Powhatan Swamp, in James City County," [1670] The William and Mary Quarterly, Vol. 12, No. 2 (Oct. 1903):137. Available at JSTOR ($). [Cites Records of General Court of Virginia, MSS.]

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


 * McCartney, Martha W. Virginia Immigrants and Adventurers 1607-1635: A Biographical Dictionary. Baltimore, Maryland: Genealogical Pub. Co., 2007. Available at FHL; purchase at Genealogical Publishing Company.

Bibliography


 * [Barham] Barham, Nellie McLane and M.R. Barham. The Descendants of Charles (1) Barham: The Progenitor in the Virginia Colony in the Mid-sixteen Hundreds through His Eldest Son, Charles (2) Barham of James City County, Virginia. N.M. Barham and M.R. Barham, 1991.
 * [Barron] Harrison, Patrick Morgan. Descendants of Robert Barron, James City County, Virginia. R.M. Harrison, 2002.
 * [Brownes] "Brownes of James City County," The William and Mary Quarterly, Vol. 6, No. 2 (Oct. 1897):119-120. Available at JSTOR ($).
 * [Clayton] "John Clayton, of James City, Afterwards of Crofton, Yorkshire," The William and Mary Quarterly, Second Series, Vol. 1, No. 2 (Apr. 1921):114-115. Available at JSTOR ($).
 * [Freeman] Hopkins, Garland Evans. Freeman Forbears: Being the History, Genealogy, Heraldy [sic], Homes and Traditions of the Family of Freeman and Related Families Originating in the Original Shires of James City and Charles River in Virginia. Virginia: G.E. Hopkins, 1942. Available at FHL.
 * [Harris] Taylor, William R. "Evidence of the Descent of William Harris of Goochland Co., Va., and His Father William Harris of Henrico, New Kent, Hanover and Louisa Cos., Va., from Maj. William Harris, Son of Capt. Thomas Harris of Jamestown," The Virginia Genealogist, Vol. 22, No. 4 (Oct.-Dec. 1978):261-270. Available at New England Ancestors ($).
 * [Holt] Allen, Cameron. "The English Origin of Randall Holt and Edward Normansell of James City County, Virginia: A Suggested Method for Determining the Overseas Origin of Virginia Families," The American Genealogist, Vol. 37 (1961):89-94.
 * [Hopkins] Johnson, Caleb. "The True Origin of Stephen Hopkins of the Mayflower," The American Genealogist, Vol. 73, No. 3 (Jul. 1998):161-171.
 * [Johnson] Johnson, Lonnie T. Johnson - Johnston Families, N. C. &amp; S. C. Sandhills: Descendants of Scotland and the Real First Families of Virginia (the Ancient Planters of James City). Ellerbe, North Carolina: L.T. Johnson, 2000. Available at FHL.
 * [Normansell] See Holt.
 * [Pickayes] Thorndale, William. "Drew Pickayes (1564-1607): A Jamestown Founder," The Virginia Genealogist, Vol. 70, No. 3 (Jul. 1995):129-137; Vol. 70, No. 4 (Oct. 1995):223-232.
 * [Rowland] Rowland, Arthur Ray. Rowland Family of Virginia, North Carolina, Georgia and Beyond: Including John Rowland, Immigrant in 1635, in James City County and Surrey County, Virginia and His Descendants in Franklin County, North Carolina Including Jesse Rowland and Frederick Rowland and His Son Hiram Rowland in Oglethorpe and Greene Counties, Georgia. Augusta, Georgia: RR Books, 1998. Available at FHL.
 * [Simmons] McCall, Ettie Tidwell. William Simmons of James City County and Surry County Virginia and Descendants in Virginia, North Carolina, Georgia. MSS., 1953, available at FHL.
 * [Walker] Brown, Carolyn Hutchinson. The Alexander Walker Family of James City County, Virginia 1662-1999. Roseburg, Oregon: C.H. Brown, 1999. Available at FHL.
 * [Woodward] Woodward, J. Gary. Some Descendants of Lancelott and Elizabeth (Cocke) Woodward of Blisland Parish, New Kent and James City Counties, Virginia. Leavenworth, Kansas: J.G. Woodward, 1993. Available at FHL.
 * [Wynne] Johnson, Myles. The Wynne Family of York, Warwick, &amp; James City Counties, Virginia. Washington, D.C.: M. Johnson, 1985. Available at FHL.
 * [Wynne] Johnson, Myles. Wynne History Supplement: Corrections and Additions to The Wynne Familyof York, Warwick, and James City Counties, Virginia. Washington, D.C.: M. Johnson, 1986?. Available at FHL.

Historic Buildings

 * "Old Houses in James City County," The William and Mary Quarterly, Second Series, Vol. 17, No. 4 (Oct. 1937):528. Available at JSTOR ($).
 * "Old Houses in James City, York, and Warwick Counties," The William and Mary Quarterly, Second Series, Vol. 18, No. 1 (Jan. 1938). Available at JSTOR ($).
 * "Old Houses in James City and King William Counties," The William and Mary Quarterly, Second Series, Vol. 18, No. 3 (Jul. 1938). Available at JSTOR ($).

Immigration

 * Coldham, Peter Wilson. North American Wills Registered in London 1611-1857. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., 2007. [Includes wills of residents of Brewerton Parish [Bruton Parish], Bruton Parish, Cape Henry, Carey's Fort, James City County, James River, Jamestown, Martin's Hundred, and Williamsburg proved in London. These records often help establish an immigrant's place of origin.]
 * "John Clayton, of James City, Afterwards of Crofton, Yorkshire," The William and Mary Quarterly, Second Series, Vol. 1, No. 2 (Apr. 1921):114-115. Available at JSTOR ($).
 * "Letters to Tom Pecke, of James City County," [1659] The William and Mary Quarterly, Vol. 5, No. 4 (Apr. 1897):269-270. Available at JSTOR ($). [Discusses importation of indentured servants and other mercantile activities.]
 * [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=James&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 James City County, Virginia (work in progress), courtesy: Immigrant Servants Database.
 * Ljungstedt, Milnor. "Items from Southern Records" [Showing Family and Trade Connections with Northern Colonies and the Home Countries], The American Genealogist, Vol. 15 (1938):95-104. Available at New England Ancestors ($). [Surname: Sherwood.]
 * Pead, Deuel and Richard Beale Davis. "A Sermon Preached at James City in Virginia the 23rd of April 1686, Before the Loyal Society of Citizens Born in and about London and Inhabiting in Virginia," The William and Mary Quarterly, Third Series, Vol. 17, No. 3 (Jul. 1960):371-394. Available at JSTOR ($).

Land

 * "Patents Issued during the Regal Government: James City County," The William and Mary Quarterly, Vol. 11, No. 4 (Apr. 1903):271-276; Vol. 12, No. 2 (Oct. 1903):104-110; Vol. 12, No. 3 (Jan. 1904):185-191. Available at JSTOR ($).

Local Histories
Martha W. McCartney, James City County: Keystone of the Commonwealth (Virginia Beach, Va: Donning Company/Publishers, 1997), 640 pgs (click here for a summary)

Military
The Clerk's Office in the Circuit Court has military induction records.

Colonial Militia


 * Bockstruck, Lloyd DeWitt. Virginia's Colonial Soldiers. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1988. Available at FHL. [Identifies some James City County militia officers and/or soldiers; 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 James City County militia officers; see place name index.]

French and Indian War


 * Bockstruck, Lloyd DeWitt. Virginia's Colonial Soldiers. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1988. Available at FHL. [Identifies some James City 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 James City County militia officers; see place name index.]

Newspapers

 * The Virginia Gazette

There are two distinct publication timeframes for newspapers titled The Virginia Gazette.

The was paper was first published weekly in Williamsburg, Virginia during much of the 18th century, when Williamsburg was the capital of the colony. Beginning in 1766, another printer launched a competing publication by the same name. In total, three different publishers used the name "Virginia Gazette" during the Colonial era, and are listed separately in the digital collection, grouped by publisher. Digitized images of the paper can be viewed on-line through the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation Digital Library. The collection is indexed for publication years 1736 to 1780. Williamsburg Regional Library has microfilm of the Colonial era collection, as well.

More recently, the Virginia Gazette was revived in 1930 by publisher J.A. Osborne as part of the first Colonial Williamsburg renovation.


 * The Richmond Dispatch

Digitized images of the paper through the Library of Congress. Collection covers from 1900 to 1903.


 * The Times (Richmond, Va)

Digitized images of the paper through the Library of Congress. Collection covers from 1901 and 1903.


 * The Richmond Times-Dispatch

Digitized images of the paper through the Library of Congress. Collection covers from 1907 to 1910.

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.

Probate
Original Wills


 * "Will of William Broadribb, of James City Co., Va." [1703], The William and Mary Quarterly, Vol. 14, No. 1 (Jul. 1905):35-37. Available at JSTOR ($).
 * "Will of Col. James Shields of James City County" [1795], The William and Mary Quarterly, Vol. 20, No. 1 (Jul. 1911):36-38. Available at JSTOR ($).

Power of Attorney


 * Kerr, John H. (Mrs.) "Drummond, a James City County, Virginia, Records," [1679] The Virginia Genealogist, Vol. 15, No. 2 (Apr.-Jun. 1971):109-110. Available at New England Ancestors ($).

London Courts


 * Coldham, Peter Wilson. North American Wills Registered in London 1611-1857. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., 2007. [Includes wills of residents of Brewerton Parish [Bruton Parish], Bruton Parish, Cape Henry, Carey's Fort, James City County, James River, Jamestown, Martin's Hundred, and Williamsburg proved in London. These records often help establish an immigrant's place of origin.]

York County, Virginia Court

York County Probate Records

This collection includes digitized images of the probate records from York County during the colonial period. York county abuts James City County, and these records include information from Williamsburg, Virginia. The images are provided by the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation. The records can be digitally searched.

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.


 * Woodson, Robert F. and Isobel B. Woodson. Virginia Tithables from Burned Record Counties: Buckingham, 1773-1774; Gloucester, 1770-1771, 1774-1775; Hanover, 1763 and 1770; James City, 1768-1769; Stafford, 1768 and 1773. Richmond, Virginia: I.B. Woodson, 1970. Available at FHL.
 * "James City County, Virginia, Sheriff's Tax Book, 1768," The Virginia Genealogist, Vol. 1, No. 1 (Jan.-Mar. 1957):18-22; Vol. 1, No. 2 (Apr.-Jun. 1957):69-72. Available at New England Ancestors ($).
 * Indexed images of the 1790 and 1800 Personal Property Tax Lists of James City County, Virginia are available online, courtesy: Binns Genealogy.
 * Indexed images of the 1790 and 1800 Land Tax Lists of James City County, Virginia are available online at Binns Genealogy.
 * 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. Available at FHL. [The source for this publication is the 1810 personal property tax list. James City County is included because the 1810 Census for that county has been destroyed.]

Vital Records
The records management room in the County's Government Complex contains microphils of the Board of Supervisor's Meeting Minutes from September 10, 1887 on. Microfilm of the Board of Supervisor's Meeting Minutes are also available on microfilm through the Library of Virginia.

Research Guides
These three research guides were prepared by the John D. Rockefeller Jr. Library at Colonial Williamsburg:


 * Researching Seventeenth Century Virginians
 * Researching Williamsburg Area Virginians
 * Researching Revolutionary Era Virginians


 * "A Guide to the Counties of Virginia: James City County," The Virginia Genealogist, Vol. 15, No. 1 (Jan.-Mar. 1971):15-17. Available at New England Ancestors ($).

Jamestown Related Records
The Jamestown Records of the Virginia Company of London: Part of the Thomas Jefferson Collection at the Library of Congress

Local Resources
The Williamsburg Regional Library

The WRL is the central library for the City of Williamsburg and James City County

Swem Library at The College of William &amp; Mary

Swem Library is the central research library for The College of William and Mary.

The John D. Rockefeller, Jr. Library

This library is operated by the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation. Its contains secondary and primary materials on the colonial history of Virginia.

The Omohundro Institute of Early American History and Culture

The Omohundro Institute is a joint research institute between The College of William &amp; Mary and the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, focusing on academic research on early American history.

State Resources
Virginia Genealogical Society

Virginia Historical Society

The Library of Virginia

The Library of Virginia has an extensive collection of documents related to James City County including: """Board of Supervisor Minutes: Sept. 1887 to 1908, Court Minutes: 1871-1882, Clerk's Guide to Sampel Forms for Certain Court Records, undated, Chancery Execution Book: 1868-1916, Chancery Minutes: 1871-1873, Chancery Order Books: 1889-1903, Chancery Rules: 1872-1911, Execution Book: 1866-1916, Judgment Docket: 1865-1903, Law Execution Book: 1866-1882, Circuit Court Order Book: 1879-1885, James City County and Williamsburg Fiduciary Bond Book: 1865-1908, James City County and Williamsburg Plat Books: 1891-1918, Birth Register: 1866-1884, Death Register: 1864-1884, School Commissioners Records: 1819-1861, Tax Book: 1768-1769, Deed and Will Books: 1854-1861, 1865-1874 Land Tax Lists: 1782 on, Personal Property Tax Lists: 1782 on, Agricultural Census Records: 1850-1880, Census Records: full run, Slave Schedules: 1850 and 1860, Processioners Records: 1890-1891, 1903-1904 James City County/Williamsburg Rolls of Registered Voters: 1900-1965, James City County/Williamsburg Contracts for Personal Property: 1900-1918"

Websites

 * Official James City County Website
 * USGenWeb project. May have maps, name indexes, history or other information for this county. Select the state, then the county.
 * Family History Library Catalog
 * James City County on Wikipedia

Link title