Virginia, United States Genealogy

United States   Virginia

Guide to Virginia ancestry, family history, and genealogy birth records, marriage records, death records, census records, family history, and military records. Welcome to the Virginia page Old DominionMost unique genealogical features:
 * Early tax records replace missing 1790, 1800, &amp; 1810 federal census
 * Burned counties are common in VA
 * Early Episcopal parish registers were used as county government records.
 * 3/4 colonists arrived in bondage as a slave, convict, or indentured servant
 * Some Virginia colonial wills were sent to England or Scotland for probate
 * Many counties have early settlers maps
 * British mercantile claims identify deaths and migrations of Virginians between 1770s and early 1800s

Join a Community of Virginia researchers! Ask questions, help others, and share your research successes on Facebook and/or Skype. NEW!

Counties and Independent Cities
Counties:  Accomack· Albemarle· Alleghany· Amelia· Amherst· Appomattox· Arlington· Augusta· Bath· Bedford· Bland· Botetourt· Brunswick· Buchanan· Buckingham· Campbell· Caroline· Carroll· Charles City· Charlotte· Chesterfield· Clarke· Craig· Culpeper· Cumberland· Dickenson· Dinwiddie· Essex· Fairfax· Fauquier· Floyd· Fluvanna· Franklin· Frederick· Giles· Gloucester· Goochland· Grayson· Greene· Greensville· Halifax· Hanover· Henrico· Henry· Highland· Isle of Wight· James City· King and Queen· King George· King William· Lancaster· Lee· Loudoun· Louisa· Lunenburg· Madison· Mathews· Mecklenburg· Middlesex· Montgomery· Nelson· New Kent· Northampton· Northumberland· Nottoway· Orange· Page· Patrick· Pittsylvania· Powhatan· Prince Edward· Prince George· Prince William· Pulaski· Rappahannock· Richmond· Roanoke· Rockbridge· Rockingham· Russell· Scott· Shenandoah· Smyth· Southampton· Spotsylvania· Stafford· Surry· Sussex· Tazewell· Warren· Washington· Westmoreland· Wise· Wythe· York Independent Cities:  Alexandria· Bedford· Bristol· Buena Vista· Charlottesville· Chesapeake· Clifton Forge· Colonial Heights· Covington· Danville· Emporia· Fairfax· Falls Church· Franklin· Fredericksburg· Galax· Hampton· Harrisonburg· Hopewell· Lexington· Lynchburg· Manassas Park· Martinsville· Newport News· Norfolk· Norton· Petersburg· Poquoson· Portsmouth· Radford· Richmond· Roanoke· Salem· Staunton· Suffolk· Virginia Beach· Waynesboro· Williamsburg· Winchester

Click on the map below to go to a county page. Hover over a county to see its name. For a larger version of the map, see Virginia Counties Map.

Extinct Counties and Cities: Alexandria County· Dunmore· Elizabeth City· Fincastle· Illinois· Kentucky· Manchester· Nansemond· Norfolk· Norfolk (Lower)· Norfolk (New)· Norfolk (South)· Norfolk (Upper)· Princess Anne· Rappahannock (Old)· South Boston· Warwick· Yohogania

Counties now part of Kentucky:  Bourbon· Fayette· Jefferson· Kentucky (extinct)· Lincoln· Madison· Mason· Mercer· Nelson· Woodford Counties now part of West Virginia:  Barbour· Berkeley· Boone· Braxton· Brooke· Cabell· Calhoun· Clay· Doddridge· Fayette· Gilmer· Greenbrier· Hampshire· Hancock· Hardy· Harrison· Jackson· Jefferson· Kanawha· Lewis· Logan· Marion· Marshall· Mason· McDowell· Mercer· Monongalia· Monroe· Morgan· Nicholas· Ohio· Pendleton· Pleasants· Pocahontas· Preston· Putnam· Raleigh· Randolph· Ritchie· Roane· Taylor· Tucker· Tyler· Upshur· Wayne· Webster· Wetzel· Wirt· Wood· Wyoming

Major Repositories
· · · · ·· · · · · · · · · · ·

Migration Routes
Atlantic Coast Ports· Chesapeake Bay· James River· Potomac River· Rappahannock River· York River· Chesapeake and Ohio Canal· Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad·Cumberland Road (or National Road)· Fall Line Road (or Southern Road)· Great Indian Warpath· Great Trading Path· Great Valley Road· Kanawha Trail· King's Highway· National Road (or Cumberland Road)· New River and Southern Trail· Occaneechi Path· Old Cherokee Path· Old Northwestern Turnpike· Pamunkey-New River Trail· Pioneer Road· Richmond Road· Richmond-Williamsburg Road· Saura-Saponi Trail· Secondary Coast Road· Fall Line Road (or (Fall LIne Road)· Upper Road· Wilderness Road· Wilmington, Highpoint, and Northern Trail

Colonial Parishes
Abingdon· Accomac· Accomack· Albemarle· Amherst· Antrim· Appomattox· Argall's Gift· Augusta· Bath· Beckford· Berkeley· Blisland· Blount Point· Botetourt· Boutracy· Bristol· Bromfield· Brunswick· Bruton· Camden· Cameron· Charles City· Charles· Charles River· Chickacoan· Chickahominy· Chippokes· Chiskiack· Chotank· Christ Church (Lancaster Co.)· Christ Church (Middlesex Co.)· Chuckatuck· Cople· Cornwall· Cumberland· Dale· Denbigh· Dettingen· Drysdale· East· Elizabeth City· Elizabeth River· Fairfax· Fairfield· Farnham· Flowerdew Hundred·Fluvanna· Frederick· Fredericksville· Hamilton· Hampton· Hanover· Harrop· Henrico· Hog Island· Hungars· James City· Jordan's Journey· Kecoughtan· Kingston· King William· Lancaster· Lawnes Creek· Lee· Leeds· Lexington· Littleton· Lower (Elizabeth City Co.)· Lower (Isle of Wight Co.) · Lower (Lancaster Co.) · Lower (Nansemond Co.)· Lower (Northampton Co.)· Lower (Stafford Co.)· Lower (Upper Norfolk Co.)· Lower Suffolk· Lunenburg· Lynnhaven· Machodick· Manchester· Marston· Martin's Brandon· Martin's Hundred· Meherrin· Middle Plantation· Middletowne· Montgomery· Mulberry Island· New Poquoson· Newport· Nomini· Norborne· Northampton· North Farnham· Nottoway (Prince Edward Co.)· Nottoway (Southampton Co.)· Nutmeg Quarter· Occohannock· Overwharton· Patrick· Petsworth· Piankatank· Piscataway· Poropotank· Portsmouth· Potomac· Raleigh· Richmond· Rockbridge· Rockingham· Russell· St. Andrew's· St. Anne's (Albemarle Co.)· St. Anne's (Essex and Caroline Cos.)· St. Asaph's· St. Brides· St. David's· St. George's (Accomack Co.) · St. George's (Spotsylvania Co.)· St. James Northam· St. James Southam· St. James's (Goochland Co.)· St. James's (Mecklenburg Co.)· St. John's· St. Luke's· St. Margaret's· St. Mark's· St. Martin's· St. Mary's· St. Mary's Whitechapel· St. Patrick's· St. Paul's (Hanover Co.)· St. Paul's (King George Co.)· St. Peter's· St. Stephen's (King and Queen Co.)· St. Stephen's (Northumberland Co.)· St. Thomas· Shelburne· Sittenburne· Smith's Hundred· South· Southampton· South Farnham· Southwark· Stafford· Stanley Hundred· Stratton Major· Suffolk· Tillotson· Trinity (Lancaster Co.)· Trinity (Louisa Co.)· Truro· Upper (Elizabeth City Co.)·Upper (Isle of Wight Co.)· Upper (Lancaster Co.)· Upper (Nansemond Co.)· Upper (Northampton Co.)· Upper (Stafford Co.) Upper Suffolk· Varina· Wallingford· Ware· Warrosquyoake· Warwick· Washington (Westmoreland Co.)· Washington (Washington Co.)· Waters Creek· West· West and Shirley· Westbury· Westover· Weyanoke· Wicomico· Wilmington· York· Yorkhampton

Contributors
Top: Fauquier | Murphynw | DSGurtler Recent: Wongw1 | Tracelines | Doug Rusmisell | Robinsfamily06 | Lembley Thanks for all your hard work!

Did you know?

 * Many Virginia land and headright grants (1623-1782) have been indexed and published in Cavaliers and Pioneers: Abstracts of Virginia Land Patents and Grants. 8 vols. 975.5 R2n v. 1 1963 etc. Once you find the name of the land grant recipient, access images of original records for free online at the Library of Virginia website (click the "Images &amp; Indexes" tab).
 * The complete 50-volume series of The Virginia Genealogist is available at American Ancestors.org. ($)
 * The first 40 volumes of the Virginia Genealogical Society Quarterly (later called Magazine of Virginia Genealogy) are available at Ancestry.com. ($)
 * Index of Nineteenth Century Virginia Room by Room Inventories is a free online resource, courtesy: University of Mary Washington.

Research tools

 * The Virginia GenWeb Project provides county information about formation date, parent county, county seat, bibliography, cemeteries, census, churches, towns, history, look ups, obituaries, queries, repositories, surname registry, and many Internet links.
 * Former counties, cities, and towns of Virginia. A comprehensive study of the changes in Virginia cities/towns/counties over the years.
 * Early Virginia Religious Petitions, 1774-1802 can be browsed online by date or place of the petition, including petition images with signatures.

General Virginia Sources

 * A Guide to Genealogical Resources at the University of Virginia
 * Library of Virginia
 * Virginia History, Records, Facts and Genealogy (genealogyinc)
 * Virginia Genealogy Network Group on Facebook
 * Southwest Virginia Project
 * Virginia Genealogical Society
 * Virginia Genealogy Forum (GenForum)
 * Virginia GenWeb
 * Virginia GenWeb Archives
 * Virginia Historical Society
 * Virginia Pioneers-Virginia Genealogy $

Maps and County Boundary Changes

 * Civil War Maps at the Virginia Historical Society
 * Counties: Geography of Virginia
 * David Rumsey Historical Map Collection: Virginia
 * Historical Maps (includes free access to highly detailed historical topo maps of VA; MyTopo)
 * Historical Maps of Virginia
 * History of County Formations in Virginia 1617-1995 and Atlases
 * Libre Map Project: Virginia Maps and GIS Data
 * Mapping Virginia
 * Maps of Virginia County Boundary Changes
 * Perry-Castaneda Map Collection: Virginia Maps
 * VA County Boundary Lines
 * Virginia County Formation
 * Virginia County Maps (with links to additional maps; Census Finder)
 * Virginia Historical Counties (interactive map; Newberry Library)

Wiki articles describing online collections are found at:


 * Virginia Birth and Christenings (FamilySearch Historical Records)
 * Virginia Deaths and Burials (FamilySearch Historical Records)
 * Virginia Marriages (FamilySearch Historical Records)
 * Virginia Naturalization Petitions (FamilySearch Historical Records)
 * Virginia, Danville City Cemetery Records (FamilySearch Historical Records)
 * Virginia Funeral Home Records (FamilySearch Historical Records)
 * Virginia, Surry County Marriage Records (FamilySearch Historical Records)
 * United States Freedmen's Bureau Letters (FamilySerach Historical Records)
 * Virginia, Winchester, Evening Star Obituaries (FamilySearch Historical Records)

Obtain additional help

 * Call or chat with an experienced researcher
 * Join a Facebook Group
 * Consult a Professional Genealogist

Links to articles, subcategories and images under the Category

 * Category:

Things you can do
Below list some of the many tasks you can help with:

To add your knowledge and help expand the wiki click here