Lunenburg County, Virginia Genealogy

United States &gt; Virginia &gt; Lunenburg County



Parent County
1745--Lunenburg County was created 6 May 1745 from Brunswick County. County seat: Lunenburg

Neighboring Counties

 * Brunswick
 * Charlotte
 * Mecklenburg
 * Nottoway
 * Prince Edward

Church
Baptist


 * Bockstruck, Lloyd DeWitt. "Meherrin Baptist Church, Lunenburg County, Virginia," The Virginia Genealogist, Vol. 21, No. 3 (Jul.-Sep. 1977):225-226. Available at FHL; digital version at New England Ancestors ($). [List of original members dated 1771.]

Christian


 * Bockstruck, Lloyd DeWitt. "Deaths from the Records of Perseverance Christian Church in Lunenburg County," The Virginia Genealogist, Vol. 24, No. 4 (Oct.-Dec. 1980):301-302. Available at FHL; digital version at New England Ancestors ($).

Family Histories

 * [Hendrick] Hendrix, GeLee Corley. "Benjamin Hendrick (1730-1818) of Virginia and Carolina and Some of His Descendants: Research in 'Burned' Southern Counties," The American Genealogist, Vol. 65, No. 1 (Jan. 1990):44-53. Available at FHL.

Immigration

 * [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=Lunenburg&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 Lunenburg County, Virginia (work in progress), courtesy: Immigrant Servants Database.

Land
Grants and Patents


 * Hudgins. 618 patents dated 1728-1796 in what is now Lunenburg County, Virginia placed on a map. DeedMapper, 2002. [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); however, in order to view the maps, it is necessary to purchase Direct Line Software's DeedMapper product.]

Local Histories

 * Bell, Landon Covington. The Old Free State: A Contribution to the History of Lunenburg County and Southside Virginia. Richmond, Virginia: W. Byrd Press, 1927. Available at FHL; digital version at Ancestry ($).

Migration

 * Clay, Robert Y. "Some Delinquent Taxpayers 1787-1790," The Virginia Genealogist, Vol. 20, No. 3 (Jul.-Sep. 1976):199-208; Vol. 22, No. 1 (Jan.-Mar. 1978):43-50. Available at FHL; digital version at New England Ancestors ($). [These records identify migrants who left the county and often their intended destinations. Lunenburg County's 1789 Delinquent List appears on 20:202-204; 1787 Delinquent List appears on 22:46.]

Military
French and Indian War


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

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.

Probate

 * Elliott, Katherine B. Early Wills, 1746-1765, Lunenburg County, Virginia. South Hill, Virginia: K.B. Elliott, 1967. Available at FHL. Reviewed in The Virginia Genealogist, Vol. 11, No. 3 (Jul.-Sep. 1967):137. Review available at FHL; digital version at New England Ancestors ($).

Research Guides

 * "A Guide to the Counties of Virginia: Lunenburg County," The Virginia Genealogist, Vol. 16, No. 3 (Jul.-Sep. 1972):219-221. Available at FHL; digital version at New England Ancestors ($).

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.


 * Bell, Landon C. Sunlight on the Southside: Lists of Tithes, Lunenburg County, Virginia, 1748-1783. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: George S. Ferguson, 1931. Available at FHL; digital version available under "Tax Lists" at Lunenburg County, VA USGenWeb Archives census genealogy.
 * T.L.C. Genealogy. Lunenburg County, Virginia Personal Property Tax Lists 1782 &amp; 1785. Miami Beach, Florida: TLC Genealogy, 1992. Available at FHL.
 * Clay, Robert Y. "Some Delinquent Taxpayers 1787-1790," The Virginia Genealogist, Vol. 20, No. 3 (Jul.-Sep. 1976):199-208; Vol. 22, No. 1 (Jan.-Mar. 1978):43-50. Available at FHL; digital version at New England Ancestors ($). [These records identify migrants who left the county and often their intended destinations. Lunenburg County's 1789 Delinquent List appears on 20:202-204; 1787 Delinquent List appears on 22:46.]
 * Indexed images of the 1789 Personal Property Tax List of Lunenburg County, Virginia are available online, courtesy: Binns Genealogy.
 * Images of the 1803 Personal Property Tax List of Lunenburg 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. [The source for this publication is the 1815 land tax. Lunenburg County is included in Vol. 2.]

Vital Records
Marriage


 * Bell, Landon Covington. The Old Free State: A Contribution to the History of Lunenburg County and Southside Virginia. 2 vols. Richmond, Va.: W. Byrd Press, 1927. Available at FHL; digital version at Ancestry ($); digital version of marriage abstracts from this publication (pp. 385-431) at USGenWeb.
 * Ellsberry, Elizabeth Prather. Marriage Bonds for Lunenburg County, Virginia 1763-1821. Chillicothe, MO, USA: Elizabeth Prather Ellsberry, 1965. Digital version at Ancestry ($).
 * Matheny, Emma R. and Helen K. Yates. Marriages of Lunenburg County, Virginia, 1746-1853. 1967; reprint, Baltimore, MD, USA: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1979. Available at FHL; digital version at Ancestry ($). Reviewed in The Virginia Genealogist, Vol. 12, No. 1 (Jan.-Mar. 1968):36. Review available at FHL; digital version at New England Ancestors ($).

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