Buckingham County, Virginia Genealogy

Guide to Buckingham County Virginia ancestry, family history and genealogy birth records, marriage records, death records, census records, family history, immigration records, and military records.

Description
Buckingham County is located in the Central portion of the Commonwealth of Virginia and the origin of its name is unknown. Some surmise it was named for either a person or place in England; it is the only Buckingham County in the United States.

Buckingham County Virginia Courthouse
Buckingham County Courthouse 13061 W. James Anderson Hwy. P.O. Box 107 Buckingham, Virginia 23921-0107 Phone 804-969-4734

Clerk Circuit Court has birth and death records from 1896 marriage, divorce and probate records from 1869

Buckingham County Virginia History
The origin of the county's name is disputed. Some argue it was named after the Duke of Buckingham, others point to the English city or county of Buckingham, while others point out that Archibald Cary's estate was named Buckingham.

Parent County
1758--Buckingham County was created 14 September 1758 from Albemarle County. County seat: Buckingham

Boundary Changes
For animated maps illustrating Virginia county boundary changes, "Rotating Formation Virginia County Boundary Maps" (1617-1995) may be viewed for free at the MapofUS.org website.

Record Loss
County court records were destroyed by fire in 1869. One plat book survived the fire along with a few colonial tithe lists and all the Personal Property and Land Tax lists beginning 1782. Some lost wills and deeds were rerecorded later. Many newspapers for the period survive and are an important source of genealogical and historical information. One publication has transcribed and indexed over 2,000 articles relating to Buckingham county and her residents. See Newspapers (click here). Lost censuses: 1790, 1800, 1890

Benjamin Weisiger abstracted a valuable source that includes deed, will, and marriage information about residents:


 * Burned County Data 1809-1848 As Found in the Virginia Contested Election Files. 1986. By Benjamin B. Weisiger. Richmond, VA.

Elizabeth Shown Mills


 * Anderson of Buckingham: A Case Study in Family Reconstruction Within a ‘Burned County,’ Part 2: Parental Family of William Anderson (1788–1852). By Elizabeth Shown Mills. A study of the Anderson family of Buckingham County demonstrates how she succeeded in reconstructing a burned-county pedigree in this area: The Virginia Genealogist, Vol. 30 (July–September 1986): 174–87, and (October–December 1986): 263–73. Online at: Historic Pathways.

Randy F. McNew Crouse has transcribed every extant personal property tithe and tax list through 1802. This indispensable source contains a vast amount of information on virtually every resident. In two volumes, easily the most complete and valuable publication on this burned county, serves as more than a substitute census, tax records fix time and location more precisely and contain much more information than census records, even when they do exist. For Buckingham, prior to 1820, they do not. "Valuable genealogical conclusions can be deduced 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." Learn more about Virginia tax lists at Virginia Taxation.


 * Personal Property Tax Lists of Buckingham County Virginia, Vol. 1, 1764-1792. 2017. By Randy F. McNew Crouse. Available at: Lulu ($), FHL. Comprehensive transcription of all extant tithe and personal property tax lists (over 12,000 records) for Buckingham County, Virginia from its formation in 1761 through 1792. Includes 1764, 1773-1774, 1782-1792. All proprietors are named (male or female) along with many additional white males over the age of 16, number of white tithes, number of slave tithes, names of slaves over the age of 12 (until 1783), carriages, ordinary licenses, horses, cattle (1783-1788) and acres of land (1764). 428 pages.


 * Personal Property Tax Lists of Buckingham County Virginia, Vol. 2, 1792-1802. 2017. By Randy F. McNew Crouse. Available at: Lulu ($). Comprehensive transcription of all extant personal property tax lists (over 13,700 records enumerating over 47,000 tithes) for Buckingham County, Virginia from 1792-1802. All proprietors are named (male or female) along with many additional white males over the age of 16, number of white tithes, number of slave tithes, carriages, ordinary licenses and horses. 460 pages.

Populated Places
For a complete list of populated places, including small neighborhoods and suburbs, visit HomeTown Locator. The following are the most historically and genealogically relevant populated places in this county:

Research Guides

 * A Guide to the Counties of Virginia: Buckingham County. By John Frederick Dorman. The Virginia Genealogist, Vol. 6, No. 3 (Jul.-Sep. 1962):121-124. CD available at: American Ancestors ($).


 * Buckingham County, Virginia, and the Southern Parts of Early Albemarle. By Anne Bradbury Peebles. Special Aids to Genealogical Research on Southern Families. National Genealogical Society Special Publications, No. 15, Washington, D.C., 1962.


 * Genealogical Records of Buckingham County, Virginia. 1984. By Edythe Rucker Whitley. Dayton, Ohio.

African American

 * Black America Series: Buckingham County. c2005. By E. Renee Ingram, Charles W. White, Sr. Charleston, SC : Arcadia Publishing..


 * Buckingham County Personal Property Tax List 1782-1826. By Paul Heinegg. Online at: Free African Americans.
 * Freedmen's
 * The Big House After Slavery: Virginia Plantation Families and Their Postbellum Domestic Experiment. c2010. By Amy Feely Morsman. Charlottesville, Virginia : University of Virginia Press. Online at: Google Books

Bible Records

 * Harris-Stinson-Carter-Wood-Branch Bible Record, Buckingham County, Virginia. By Hubert M. Stinson. The Virginia Genealogist, Vol. 24, No. 1 (Jan.-Mar. 1980):41-43. CD available at: American Ancestors ($).


 * Payne Family Bible, Buckingham County, Virginia, and Micapony, Florida. By Caroline Tiedeman Moore. The Virginia Genealogist, Vol. 18, No. 4 (Oct.-Dec. 1974):304. CD available at: American Ancestors ($).

Cemeteries

 * 1800-1986 -
 * Buckingham Burials: A Survey of Cemeteries in Buckingham County, Virginia. c1997. By Janice J. R. Hull, Historic Buckingham, Inc. Alexandria, VA : Hearthside Press. Vol. 2..
 * Cemeteries of Buckingham County. Online at: VAGenWeb.

Census
Since the 1790 and 1800 Census were burned, tax lists may be used as a substitute. See the "Taxation" section below.


 * Census and Related Documents of Buckingham County. Online at: VAGenWeb.

1850 Census
In 1850, census enumerators uncharacteristically recorded both the state and county of birth of residents of half of Buckingham County's population.

1890 Union Veterans

 * Virginia's Union Veterans: Eleventh Census of the United States 1890. c1994. By Ronald Ray Turner. Online at: Prince William County Virginia, ;.

Church Records

 * Churches of Buckingham County. Online atVAGenWeb.

Baptist
Early Baptist churches (with years constituted):


 * 1) Buckingham (1771). Records were published in 1993:.


 * Materials towards a history of the American Baptists. 1770. By Morgan Edwards. Philadelphia, PA : Joseph Crukshank and Isaac Collins. Online at: Internet Archive (1772), 83.


 * 1) Providence (1774)
 * 2) Slate River (1805)
 * 3) Union (1786)
 * 4) Wreck Island (1784)

Buckingham County fell within the bounds of the Appomattox Association.

Church of England

 * See also Tillotson Parish

Meade's 1861 history of parishes in Buckingham County is available online.

Presbyterian

 * History of Maysville Presbyterian Church, Buckingham Court House, Virginia, 1824-1996. c1997. By Carl Coleman Rosen. Buckingham, VA : Maysville Presbyterian Church..

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
Early converts with Buckingham County connections:


 * Kitchen

Genealogy
More than 150 genealogies have been published about Buckingham County families. To view a list, visit Buckingham County, Virginia Compiled Genealogies.


 * A History of Welcome Garrett and His Descendants, From His Birth in 1758 Down to a Recent Date. c1909. By Samuel Bond Garrett. Muncie, Indiana : Hoosier Printing Co. Online at: Google Books.
 * Genealogical Records of Buckingham County, Virginia. 1984. By Edythe Whitley, Johns Rucker. Baltimore, MD : Genealogical Pub. Co. Available at.
 * The Cabells and Their Kin : A Memorial Volume of History, Biography, and Genealogy. c1895. By Alexander Brown. Boston, MA : Houghton, Mifflin and Co. Online at: Hathitrust.
 * The Genealogy, in part, of Stephen and William Garrett of Buckingham, Virginia. By Rev. Clyde B. Garrett, Mary E. Gaither. Online at: Ancestry ($).

Land and Property
Grants and Patents


 * Bannister. 778 patents dated 1723-1842 in what is now Buckingham County, Virginia Patents 1723-1842 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

 *  A History of Buckingham County. c1976. By Eugene A Maloney. Dillwyn, Virginia : Buckingham County Bicentennial Commission..
 * At a Place Called Buckingham: Historic Sketches of Buckingham County, Virginia. c2015. By Joanne L. Yeck. Kettering, Ohio : Slate River Press. Vol 2..
 * The Early History of Buckingham County. 1955. By James Meade Anderson. Richmond, Virginia : University of Richmond. Online at: UR Scholarship Repository;.
 * The Courthouse Burned. c1977. By Margaret A Pennington, Lorna S. Scott. n.p. : n.p..

Maps

 * Buckingham County Virginia Historical Markers. Online at: Historical Marker Database.


 * Maps of Buckingham County. Online at: VAGenWeb.

Migration

 * Some Delinquent Taxpayers 1787-1790. By Robert Y. Clay. The Virginia Genealogist. Vol. 21, No. 2 (Apr.-Jun. 1977):113-118. CD available at: New England Ancestors ($), . These records often identify migrants who left the county and their intended destinations. Buckingham County's 1787 Delinquent List appears on p. 115.

Military

 * Military Related Service Records of Buckingham County. Online at: VAGenWeb.

French and Indian War

 * Virginia's Colonial Soldiers. By Lloyd DeWitt Bockstruck. 1988. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co..

Revolutionary War
Regiments. Service men in Buckingham County served in various regiments. Men often joined a company (within a regiment) that originated in their county. Buckingham County supplied soldiers for the:


 * - 6th Virginia Regiment

Additional resources:


 * Revolutionary Patriots of Buckingham County, Virginia Paperback, 2002. Carl Coleman Rosen. Identifies Revolutionary War patriots from the county from 1775 through 1783. Information includes service, enlistments, rank, pensions, bounty land, births, deaths, and names of family members. It includes patriots who were living in the county before, during and after the war.
 * Southern Campaigns Revolutionary War Pension Statements & Rosters, Will Graves and C. Leon Harris, https://revwarapps.org/ This site is dedicated to celebrating the lives and contributions made by the brave men and women who fought or lived in the South during the American Revolution and making their eye-witness accounts freely available in this searchable database. Currently 390 Roster Transcriptions and 24,326 Pension Applications, Bounty Land Claims and related publicly available records have been posted in this database including 3540 transcripts (designated using VAS file numbers) made from the online collection of the Library of Virginia and 1531 transcripts made from the online collection of the South Carolina Department of Archives & History. A search using the word "buckingham" yielded 376 hits.


 * 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. Online at: U.S. Census Bureau, Google Books. 1967 reprint: 973 X2pc 1840. See Virginia, Eastern District, Buckingham County on page 129.
 * 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. Online at: Ancestry. . Virginia section begins on page 238.
 * Virginia Militia in the Revolutionary War: McAllister's Data. c1913. By J. T. McAllister. Hot Springs, Virginia : McAllister Pub. Co. Online at: Hathitrust, Internet Archive, Google Books;.

War of 1812
Buckingham County men served in the 24th and 100th Regiments.


 * 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... 1883. Washington, D.C : Government Printing Office. Online at: Internet Archive, Google Books. See Vol. 5, Virginia, Buckingham County, p. 65.


 * Roster of War of 1812, Southside, Virginia. 2007. By James L. Douthat. Signal Mountain, Tennessee : Mountain Press. Online at: Mountain Press ($) with Free online surname index..

Civil War

 * - 4th Regiment Virginia Cavalry, Company K.


 * - 20th Regiment Virginia Infantry, Col. E "Lee Guards," and Co. F "Buckingham Institute Guard."
 * - 21st Regiment Virginia Infantry, Co. E "Buckingham Leaches."
 * - 44th Regiment Virginia Infantry, Co. C "Travis Rifles."
 * - 56th Regiment, Virginia Infantry (Confederate). Company D (Buckingham Yancey Guards)
 * - 57th Regiment, Virginia Infantry (Confederate). Company A (Buckingham Institute).

Records and histories are available, see:


 * 1861-1865 - Virginia, Civil War Service Records of Confederate Soldiers 1861-1865
 * 1861-1865 - Virginia, Civil War Service Records of Union Soldiers 1861-1865
 * 1861-1865 - U.S., Confederate Soldiers Compiled Service Records, 1861-1865 Ancestry
 * 1861-1865 - U.S., Union Soldiers Compiled Service Records, 1861-1865 at Ancestry
 * A Guide to Virginia Military Organizations 1861-1865. c1986. By Wallace Lee. Lynchburg, Virginia : H.E. Howard..
 * A History of Buckingham County. 1976. By Eugene A. Maloney, Buckingham County Bicentennial Commission (Virginia). Berryville, Virginia : Virginia Book Co. . Original muster rolls are kept in the county clerk's office. Lists regiments, companies and muster rolls on pages 107-112.

World War II

 * 1940-1945 - at FamilySearch — index and images

Miscellaneous Records

 * 1607-2007 -

Naturalization and Citizenship

 * Virginia Naturalization Petitions, 1906-1929

Newspapers

 * 1736 – 1850 the freshest Advices, Buckingham County, Virginia Genealogical Records from Newspapers, 1736-1850, 2019. ISBN: 978-1-7343481-0-1, Available at: Lulu ($). Randy F. McNew Crouse has transcribed newspaper articles relating to Buckingham County, Virginia. A  chronicle  of the history and life of Buckingham county up through 1850. The 800 page volume, transcribed from some 140 news periodicals' more than 75,000 issues, contains, in its 2,050  fully  transcribed articles, images of a great many of the actual articles and a 56 page, 3-column index with nearly 17,000 references. There are photographs, illustrations and numerous footnotes, a bibliography, statistics and a source guide. The index is extremely thorough and includes nearly every noun, including watercourses, counties, cities, towns, over 10,000 personal names, (among which are a few thousand named women and children and 523 named slaves,) occupations, taverns, pastimes, entertainment, plantations, geographical features, natural resources, social and political events, agricultural crops, technology, medicine, crime, punishment, weather and more. There are slave sale ads, land sale ads, ads for lost horses and runaway slaves, marriage and death notices, obituaries, chancery cases (some naming entire and extended families over multiple generations,) committee appointments, removal notices and more. This compilation, that bridges the records gap for this burned county until the 1850 census, is an important addition to Buckingham's all too few available historical and genealogical sources. The reader will find a discriminating selection of the “freshest Advices” of the sort that slaked the thirst for intelligence and for the amusement of yeomen, tavern patrons, gentry and wealthy planters all. Arguably, the most thorough and complete work of its kind yet produced for a single Virginia county. This valuable resource will be especially appreciated by genealogists, antiquarians, historians, demographers, journalists and sociologists as it offers a glimpse into the life and mores of early America.


 * Indexed images of the Virginia Gazette (1736-1780) are available online through the Colonial Williamsburg website. 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 Records

 * Some Wills from the Burned Counties of Virginia and Other Wills Not Listed in Virginia Wills and Administrations 1632-1800. 1987. By William Lindsay Hopkins. Richmond, Virginia : W.L. Hopkins. Available at.
 * Will of Joseph Cabell, Buckingham County, Virginia. By George Harrison Sanford King. The Virginia Genealogist, Vol. 15, No. 4 (Oct.-Dec. 1971):298-302. CD available at: American Ancestors ($).

Online Probate Records


 * 1639 – 1850 Virginia Land, Marriage and Probate Records 1639-1850 Ancestry ($).

Taxation
How can Virginia tax lists help me? "The census taker came every ten years and often missed people. The tax collector came every year and seldom missed anyone." - Carol C. Darrow and Susan Winchester, "The Genealogists Guide to Researching Tax Records"


 * 1764-1792 Personal Property Tax Lists of Buckingham County Virginia, Vol. 1, 1764-1792. 2017. By Randy F. McNew Crouse. Available at: Lulu ($), FHL. Comprehensive transcription of all extant tithe and personal property tax lists (over 12,000 records) for Buckingham County, Virginia from its formation in 1761 through 1792. Includes 1764, 1773-1774, 1782-1792. All proprietors are named (male or female) along with many additional white males over the age of 16, number of white tithes, number of slave tithes, names of slaves over the age of 12 (until 1783), carriages, ordinary licenses, horses, cattle (1783-1788) and acres of land (1764). 428 pages. Comments and annotations are included, as found in the original lists, describe familial relationships, marital status (widow), physical characteristics, race, occupation, nationality, religion, place of residence and more.Transcribed records are ordered as they appear in the tax lists and, in addition, are ordered alphabetically in a 160 page index section. Includes an introduction and guide to use, a table and graphs to summarize statistics, extensive bibliography, table of alternate surname spellings, list of abbreviations and appendices.
 * 1792-1802 Personal Property Tax Lists of Buckingham County Virginia, Vol. 2, 1792-1802. 2017. By Randy F. McNew Crouse. Available at: Lulu ($). Comprehensive transcription of all extant personal property tax lists (over 13,700 records enumerating over 47,000 tithes) for Buckingham County, Virginia from 1792-1802. All proprietors are named (male or female) along with many additional white males over the age of 16, number of white tithes, number of slave tithes, carriages, ordinary licenses and horses. 460 pages. 130 page index. An illustrated appendix on Riding Carriages is a very interesting added feature.
 * 1773-1774 Buckingham County, Virginia Tithables, 1773-1774. Original records, Library of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia; also available on microfilm at.
 * 1764 A Guide to the Buckingham County (VA) Tithable List A-G, 1764. c2012. By Library of Virginia. Richmond, VA : Library of Virginia. Online at: Virginia Heritage. A scan of the actual record is online at Library of Virginia.
 * 1764 Buckingham County, Virginia, Church and Marriage Records, 1764-1822. 1993. By Warren, Mary Bondurant et al. Athens, Georgia : Heritage Papers. Available at.
 * 1764 Virginia's District Courts, 1789-1809: Records of the Prince Edward District: Buckingham, Charlotte, Cumberland, Halifax, and Prince Edward Counties: (Wills to 1829, Deeds to 1816). 1991. By Mary Bondurant Warren and Eve Bondurant Warren Weeks. Danielsville, Georgia : Heritage Papers. Available at . Buckingham County tithables list, 1764 found in the loose case papers.
 * 1773-1774 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. 1970. By Robert F. Woodson, Isobel B. Woodson. Richmond, Virginia : I.B. Woodson. Available at.
 * 1782 Virginia Tax Payers, 1782-87, Other Than Those Published by the United States Census Bureau. 1940. By Augusta B. Fothergill and John Mark Naugle. Baltimore, MD : Genealogical Publishing Co. Online at: FamilySearch Digital Library, . 1782 personal property tax list of Buckingham County.
 * 1782-1810 Buckingham County Personal Property Tax Lists 1782-1810. Online at: Binns Genealogy ($).
 * 1782-1826 Buckingham County Personal Property Tax List 1796-1820. By Paul Heinegg. Online at: Free African Americans. Heinegg abstracted free blacks listed in these records.
 * 1783 Personal Property (or Land) Tax List, 1783. Online at: Revolutionary War Service.
 * 1787 Some Delinquent Taxpayers 1787-1790. By Robert Y. Clay. The Virginia Genealogist. Vol. 21, No. 2 (Apr.-Jun. 1977):113-118. Online at:, American Ancestors ($). These records often identify migrants who left the county and their intended destinations. Buckingham County's 1787 Delinquent List appears on p. 115.
 * 1787 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 & Carriages, and Also the Names of All Persons to Whom Ordinary Licenses and Physician's Licenses Were Issued. c1987. By Netti Schreiner-Yantis and Florene Speakman Love. Springfield, Virginia : Genealogical Books in Print. . The source of this publication is the 1787 personal property tax list. Buckingham County is included in Vol. 1.
 * 1788, 1800 Indexed images of the 1788 and 1800 Personal Property Tax Lists of Buckingham County, Virginia - Binns Genealogy.
 * 1800 Buckingham County, Virginia 1800 Tax List. The Virginia Genealogist, Vol. 12, No. 3 (Jul.-Sep. 1968):114-118; Vol. 12, No. 4 (Oct.-Dec. 1968):162-168; Vol. 13, No. 1 (Jan.-Mar. 1969):23-27. CD available at: New England Ancestors ($).
 * 1815 1815 Directory of Virginia Landowners (and Gazetteer). By Roger D. Ward. c1997. Athens, Georgia: Iberian Pub. Co. . . The source for this publication is the 1815 land tax. Buckingham County is included in Vol. 1.

Birth

 * 1853-1866 - at FamilySearch — index and images
 * 1912-1913 -

Marriage

 * 1660-1800 - Virginia Marriages 1660-1800 Ancestry ($).
 * 1660-1959 - Virginia, United States Marriages at FindMyPast ($).
 * 1740-1850 - Virginia Marriages 1740-1850 Ancestry ($).
 * 1784-1794 - Buckingham County Virginia Marriage Bonds, 1784-1794. By Mrs. James R. Lindsay. Virginia Genealogical Society Quarterly Bulletin, Vol. 1, No. 2 (April 1963):13-14. Only known marriage records during this period.
 * 1853-1935 - at FamilySearch — index and images
 * 1936-1988 -.

Divorce

 * 1918-1988 -

Death

 * 1912-1987 -

Buckingham County Virginia Genealogy Societies and Libraries

 * Central Virginia Genealogical Association

Family History Centers

 * Buckingham Virginia Family History Center

Buckingham County Virginia Genealogy Websites

 * Buckingham County, Virginia USGENWEB
 * Buckingham County, VA History, Records, Facts and Genealogy (Familytree101)
 * Cyndi's List