Henry County, Virginia Genealogy

United States   Virginia    Henry County

Southwest Virginia county.

County Courthouse
County Courthouse Suite B 3160 Kings Mountain Rd. Martinsville, VA 24112-3966 276-634-4880

History


The county was named after Virginia Governor Patrick Henry (1736-1799).

Parent County
1776--Henry County was created 7 October 1776 from Pittsylvania County. County seat: Martinsville

Record Loss

 * Lost censuses: 1790, 1800, 1810, 1890

African American
The John B. Harris Collection (African American) at Bassett Historical Center (see Societies and Libraries) includes the following resources:


 * "African-American Census Records, 1870-1910, Henry County, Virginia"
 * "Afro-American Marriages of Henry County, Virginia"
 * "Henry County Cohabitation List"
 * Extensive list of obituaries 1950s-1995

Other Henry County African American resources include:


 * Heinegg, Paul. "Henry County Personal Property Tax List, 1782-1814," Free African Americans.com. [Heinegg abstracted free blacks listed in these records.]
 * Kegley, Mary B. Free People of Colour: Free Negroes, Indians, Portuguese and Freed Slaves. Wytheville, Virginia: Kegley Books, 2003. Available at ; digital version at BYU Family History Archives. [Includes information from Henry County.]

Cemeteries

 * Tombstone Transcription Project Henry County - cemetery transcriptions - USGenWeb

Census
For tips on accessing census records online, see Virginia Census.

1790 - Lost, but a subsitute is available, see Taxation.

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

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

1830


 * Simmons, Don. Henry County, Virginia Census of 1830. 1976. 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 Henry County.]

1890 Union Veterans


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

Baptist

 * Thompson, Stella Pocahontas Anthony and Bever Creek Church. Copy of the History of Bever Creek Church, 1786, Henry County, Virginia. Columbia, Mo.: Thompson, 1933. Available at ; digital version at Ancestry ($).

Church of England
See also Camden Parish See also Patrick Parish

Court
Chancery Court


 * Indexes (1783-1946) and images (1783-1931) to Henry County, Virginia Chancery Records 1755-1912 are available online through Virginia Memory: Chancery Records Index. These records, often concerned with inheritance disputes, contain a wealth of genealogical information.

Genealogy
More than 100 genealogies have been published about Henry County families. To view a list, visit Henry County, Virginia Genealogy.

Local Histories

 * Hill, Judith Parks America. A History of Henry County, Virginia: With Biographical Sketches of Its Most Prominent Citizens and Genealogical Histories of Half a Hundred of Its Oldest Families. unknown: unknown, 1925. Available at [2 copies]; digital version at Ancestry ($); and World Vital Records ($).
 * Pedigo, Virginia G. History of Patrick and Henry Counties, Virginia. Roanoke, Va.: Stone Printing and Manufacturing Co., 1933. and  available at FHL; digital version at Ancestry ($); and World Vital Records ($).

Migration

 * Clay, Robert Y. "Some Delinquent Taxpayers 1787-1790," The Virginia Genealogist, Vol. 20, No. 2 (Apr.-Jun. 1976):199-208. Available at ; digital version at New England Ancestors ($). [These records identify migrants who left the county and often their intended destinations. Henry County's 1786 and 1790 Delinquent Lists appear on pp. 128-129.]
 * Elliott, Katherine B. Emigration to Other States from Southside Virginia. 2 vols. South Hill, Virginia: K.B. Elliott, 1966. Vol. 1 of original edition available at ; 1983 reprints (both volumes) available at ; 1990-1992 reprints (both volumes) also available at . [Includes individuals who migrated out of Henry County to other parts of the country.]

French and Indian War

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

Revolutionary War
The following unit rosters of Henry County residents in the Revolutionary War are available for free online, courtesy: Southern Campaigns of the American Revolution:


 * 1) "Payrolls of the Militia Company of Capt. Daniel Carlin, Henry County, Virginia, in 1779 and 1781," transcribed and annotated by C. Leon Harris.
 * 2) "Henry County, Virginia, Continental Soldiers Recruited by Act of October 1780," transcribed and annotated by C. Leon Harris.
 * 3) "Militia List - Capt. Jonathan Hanby" (1781), transcribed and annotated by James L. Lynch III.

Additional resources include:

Henry residents' participation in the Revolutionary War.


 * 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, Eastern District, Henry County on page 131.]
 * Rejected or Suspended Applications for Revolutionary War Pensions. Washington, D.C., 1852. Reprinted by Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., 1969, and 1991. Reprints include "an Added Index to States." 973 M24ur; digital version at Ancestry ($). [Includes veterans from this county; Virginia section begins on page 238.]

War of 1812

 * 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, Henry County, pp. 85-86. Identifies War of 1812 veterans living in this county in 1883.]

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.

Petitions

 * Watts, Dorothy C. "Petitions of Residents of Bedford and Henry Counties, Virginia, in Favor of and Opposed to a New County (Franklin)," The Virginia Genealogist, Vol. 24, No. 2 (Apr.-Jun. 1980):83-89; Vol. 24, No. 3 (Jul.-Sep. 1980):192-199. Available at New England Ancestors ($).

Research Guides

 * Sweeney, Alice J. "Bassett Historical Center," The Virginia Genealogical Society Newsletter, Vol. 28, No. 4 (Aug. 2002):1-3. Available at ; digital version at Virginia Genealogical Society website.

Taxation
How can Virginia tax lists help me?


 * [1780] Specific Taxes, 1780, Virginia Magazine of History and Biography, Vol. 1, No. 3 (Jan. 1894). Available at JSTOR ($).
 * [1782] Fothergill, Augusta B. and John Mark Naugle. Virginia Tax Payers, 1782-87, Other Than Those Published by the United States Census Bureau. 1940; reprint, Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., 1978. Available at . [1782 personal property tax list of Henry County.]
 * [1782-1814] Heinegg, Paul. "Henry County Personal Property Tax List, 1782-1814," Free African Americans.com. [Heinegg abstracted free blacks listed in these records.]
 * [1787] Schreiner-Yantis, Netti and Florene Speakman Love. The 1787 Census of Virginia: An Accounting of the Name of Every White Male Tithable Over 21 Years, the Number of White Males Between 16 &amp; 21 Years, the Number of Slaves over 16 &amp; Those Under 16 Years, Together with a Listing of Their Horses, Cattle &amp; Carriages, and Also the Names of All Persons to Whom Ordinary Licenses and Physician's Licenses Were Issued. 3 vols. Springfield, Va.: Genealogical Books in Print, 1987. Available at . [The source of this publication is the 1787 personal property tax list. Henry County is included in Vol. 1.]
 * [1786, 1790] Clay, Robert Y. "Some Delinquent Taxpayers 1787-1790," The Virginia Genealogist, Vol. 20, No. 2 (Apr.-Jun. 1976):199-208. Available at ; digital version at New England Ancestors ($). [These records identify migrants who left the county and often their intended destinations. Henry County's 1786 and 1790 Delinquent List appear on pp. 128-129.]
 * [1790, 1800] Indexed images of the 1790 and 1800 Personal Property Tax Lists of Henry County, Virginia are available online, courtesy: Binns Genealogy.
 * [1800] Tax List, 1800, Virginia Genealogist, Vol. 32, No. 1 (Jan. 1988); Vol. 32, No. 2 (Apr. 1988). Available at.
 * [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. Available at . [The source for this publication is the 1810 personal property tax list. Henry County is included because the 1810 Census for that county has been destroyed.]
 * [1810] Tax List, 1810, Southwest Virginian, Vol. 6, No. 28 (Mar. 1983).
 * [1815] Ward, Roger D. 1815 Directory of Virginia Landowners (and Gazetteer). 6 vols. Athens, Georgia: Iberian Pub. Co., 1997-2000. Available at . [The source for this publication is the 1815 land tax. Henry County is included in Vol. 2.]
 * [1820] Lands Returned Delinquent, List, 1820, Magazine of Virginia Genealogy, Vol. 44, No. 1 (Feb. 2006). Available at.

Marriage

 * Dodd, Virginia Anderton. Henry County, Virginia, Marriage Bonds, 1778-1849. Richmond, VA, USA: Clearfield Co., 1953. 1976 reprint available at ; digital versions at Ancestry ($) and World Vital Records ($).

Societies and Libraries

 * Bassett Historical Center, Bassett, Virginia. Website includes descriptions of collections. Excellent resource for family history research in Henry, Patrick, Floyd, Franklin and Pittsylvania counties in Virginia, the city of Martinsville, Virginia, and Rockingham, Stokes and Surry counties in North Carolina..
 * VA-NC Piedmont Genealogical Society

Family History Centers

 * Introduction to LDS Family History Centers
 * Martinsville Virginia Family History Center (Bassett)

Websites

 * Henry Co., VAGenWeb. Part of the USGenWeb Project. Maps, name indexes, history.
 * Cyndi's List
 * Cyndi's List