Virginia Biography

United States   Virginia    Biography

Biographies provide useful genealogical information such as a person’s birth date and place; names of family members, including maiden names; education; occupation; and social, political, and religious affiliation. They may also contain a physical description of the person, previous residences, and immigration information. Biographies are the product of family knowledge or previous research about early settlers and prominent citizens of a state, county, or town. Local histories may contain biographical sketches of lesser-known people.

Biographical Dictionaries and Encyclopedias

 * McCartney, Martha W. Virginia Immigrants and Adventurers 1607-1635: A Biographical Dictionary. (Baltimore, Maryland: Genealogical Pub. Co., 2007.) Purchase at Genealogical.com. For information about Virginia's earliest colonists, McCartney's work is a great place to start:


 * True, Ransom B., ed. Biographical Dictionary of Early Virginia, 1607-1660. (Richmond, Virginia: Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities, 1982.) Includes more than 100,000 entries with references to 30,000 people who are mentioned in Virginia wills, deeds , court orders, histories, and Virginia Company records. A supplemental Guide  contains an explanation of the dictionary and a listing of the sources with their codes.An excellent list of early Virginians.


 * Tyler, Lyon Gardiner. Encyclopedia of Virginia Biography. Five Volumes. New York, NY: Lewis Historical Publication, 1915. Digital versions of Vols. 1-2 at Ancestry ($)
 * Vol. 1 at Google Books and Internet Archive
 * Vol. 2 at Internet Archive and Google Books
 * Vol. 3 at Google Books and Internet Archive
 * Vol. 4 at Google Books and Internet Archive; Vol. 5 at Internet Archive. Includes multi-generation family histories.


 * Wardell, P.G. Timesaving Aid to Virginia-West Virginia Ancestors: A Genealogical Index of Surnames from Published Sources. Two Volumes. (Athens, Georgia: Iberian Publishing, 1985.) An index to biographical sketches in several hundred local histories and genealogies.

Statewide Information

 * Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities 204 West Franklin Street Richmond, Virginia 23220-5012 Phone: 804-648-1889 Fax: 804-775-0802

Family History Library Collection

 * Brock, Robert Alonzo. Virginia and Virginians. (Richmond and Toledo: H. H. Hardesty, 1888.) An index is found on . It lists five to ten prominent citizens from each county with early governors and generals.


 * Foote, William Henry. Sketches of Virginia: Historical and Biographical. Two Volumes. (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: William S. Martien, 1850-56.) Digital version available through FHL catalog entry; Volume 2 on.


 * Foote, William Henry An Index to Sketches of Virginia: Historical and Biographical (Richmond, Virginia: The Library, Union Theological Seminary in Virginia, 1966) Presbyterian history, ministers, and families.


 * French, S. Bassett. Biographical Sketches [of Virginia]. (Richmond, Virginia: Virginia State Library, 1949?) Contains brief handwritten sketches of persons born from the 1700s to 1800s, sometimes with birth and death dates.


 * The Family History has a collection of county histories which include biographical information. To access biographies in the FHL catalog, use a Place-name Search for:


 * Virginia - BIOGRAPHIES
 * Virginia, [COUNTY] - BIOGRAPHY
 * Virginia, [COUNTY] - HISTORY
 * Virginia, [COUNTY], [TOWN] - BIOGRAPHY
 * Virginia, [COUNTY]. [TOWN] - HISTORY