Bath County, Virginia Genealogy

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

Description
Bath County is located in the southwest portion of the Commonwealth of Virginia sharing a border with West Virginia. It was named for England's resort City of Bath because it, too, is the home to a number of warm mineral springs.

County Courthouse
Bath County Courthouse 65 Courthouse Hill Road Warm Springs, VA 24484-0180 Phone: 540-839-7226 Bath County Website

Clerk Circuit Court has birth records 1854-1880, death records 1854-1870, divorce records, probate, land and court records from 1791

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:

History Timeline
The county is named after the resort town of Bath, England.

Bible Records

 * 1607-2007 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; index & images

Cemeteries

 * 1800-1986 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; index & images
 * Bath County, Virginia cemetery databases are online at the The Genealogy Center of the Allen County Public Library.

Census Records
1785
 * Botetourt County, Va., 1785 Enumeration. 1972. By Charles T. Burton. Troutville, Virginia : Burton. Online at: FamilySearch Digital Library.

1790 1800 Lost, but a substitute is available, see Taxation

1810
 * 1810 Census of Bath County, Virginia. 1968. By Madeline W. Crickard. Beverly, WVA : Crickard. Online at: Ancestry ($)..

1840
 * 1840 Bath County, Virginia Census. 2004. By James L. Douthat. Signal Mountain, Tenn : Mountain Press. Surname list.

1890 Union Veterans
 * Virginia's Union Veterans: Eleventh Census of the United States 1890. By Ronald Ray Turner..
 * 1890 Veterans Schedules of the U.S. Federal Census. Online at: Ancestry ($). Includes this county.

Church Records
List of Churches and Church Parishes
 * FamilySearch Places

Court Records
Online Court Indexes and Records Library of Virginia has a Chancery Records Index in which Bath County chancery court records can be searched for the years 1793-1919. Records are maintained on microfilm and at the Clerk's Office.

Ethnic, Political, and Religious Groups
African Americans
 * 1865-1872 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; index & images
 * 1935-2009 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; index & images

Funeral Homes

 * 1935-2009 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; index & images

Genealogies
Compiled Genealogies by Surname
 * See Bath County, Virginia Compiled Genealogies for a list of published books and articles

Compiled Genealogies for Multiple Families
 * Hardesty, H.H. and James S. Presgraves. Rockbridge County and Bath County: Families &amp; History; Reprinted from Hardesty's Historical and Geographical Encyclopedia, Chicago, etc., 1884. Wytheville, Va.: Bookworm &amp; Silverfish, 2001..
 * Watson, H. Lee. Summary of Records of Bath County, Virginia: Approximately 1850-1900. 4 vols. Sunland, Calif.: H.L. Watson, c2002. . Includes Bath County, Virginia, compilation of families: based on birth, marriage and census records.

Land and Property Records
Online Land Indexes and Records

Grants and Patents
 * Sims Index to Land Grants in West Virginia. c1992. By Edgar Barr Sims. Springfield, Virginia : Genealogical Books in Print..

Local Histories

 * A Brief History of Bath County, Virginia. 1920. By Jean Graham McAllister. Staunton, Virginia : McClure Co. Online at: FamilySearch Digital Library, Ancestry ($).
 * Historical Sketches of Virginia Hot Springs, Warm Sulphur Springs and Bath County, Virginia. 1908. By Joseph Thompson McAllister. Salem, Virginia : Salem Printing and Publishing Company. Online at: FamilySearch Digital Library.
 * Annals of Bath County, Virginia. 1917. By Oren Frederic Morton. Staunton, Virginia : McClure Co. Online at: FamilySearch Digital Library, Internet Archive.

Maps and Gazetteers

 * FamilySearch Places:Cities and Towns in this county - How to Use FS Places

Military Records
Revolutionary War
 * A Census of Pensioners for Revolutionary or Military Services: With their Names, Ages, and Places of Residence, as Returned by the Marshals of the Several Judicial Districts, Under the Act for Taking the Sixth Census. 1841. Washington : Blair and Rives. Online at: FamilySearch Digital Library, Internet Archive, Ancestry ($);.
 * Index to Revolutionary Pension and Bounty-Land Documents at the Library of Virginia. 2012. Compiled by C. Leon Harris. Online at: Library of Virginia.

War of 1812 Bath County men served in the 81st Regiment.
 * 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, Ancestry ($).

Civil War
 * 1861-1865 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; index & images
 * 1861-1865 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; index & images
 * 1861-1865 U.S., Confederate Soldiers Compiled Service Records, 1861-1865 at Ancestry — index (free)
 * 1861-1865 U.S., Union Soldiers Compiled Service Records, 1861-1865 at Ancestry — index (free)

Regiments: Civil War service men in Bath County served in various regiments. Men often joined a company (within a regiment) that originated in their county. Listed below are companies that were specifically formed here:
 * - 11th Regiment, Virginia Cavalry. Company F (The Bath Grays) and Company G (The Bath Guards).
 * - 18th Regiment, Virginia Cavalry (Confederate). Company G.
 * - 25th Regiment, Virginia Infantry (Heck's) (Confederate). Company B (Bath Grays).
 * - 26th Regiment, Virginia Cavalry (Confederate). Company E.
 * - 47th Battalion, Virginia Cavalry (Confederate). Companies A and B.
 * - 52nd Regiment, Virginia Infantry (Confederate). Company K (Bath Rifles).

Records and histories are available, including:

World War II
 * 1940-1945 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; index & images

Naturalization and Citizenship
Online Naturalization Indexes and Records
 * 1906-1929 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; index & images

Newspapers

 * 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 the Virginia Gazette and other Virginia newspapers (1736-1803), see: The Geography of Slavery in Virginia.
 * Bath County News-Outlook - full text of more than 100 issues freely available via Google Newspaper Archive

Other Records
Petitions
 * Virginia State Library: A Calendar of Legislative Petitions Arranged by Counties Accomac - Bedford. 1908. By H.J. Eckenrode. Richmond, Virginia: Davis Bottom, Superintendent of Public Printing. Online at: Google Books. Bath County petitions (1777-1863) are described on pp. 194-210.

Probate Records
Online Probate Indexes and Records
 * 1633-1800 Wills and Estate Records Index at Library of Virginia.
 * 1639-1850 Virginia Land, Marriage and Probate Records 1639-1850 at Ancestry — index, incomplete ($)
 * 1652-1900 Virginia, U.S., Wills and Probate Records, 1652-1900 at Ancestry — index & images, ($)
 * 1791-1813; 1813-1822; 1822-1830 Virginia Pioneers ($) - Images of Wills, Estates, Inventories, Bonds, Deeds
 * Abstracts of the Wills and Inventories of Bath County, Virginia, 1791-1842. 1995. By Jean R. Bruns. Baltimore, MD : Genealogical Publishing Co. Online at: Ancestry ($)..

Social Security Records

 * 1935-2014 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; index. Also at Ancestry, findmypast, Fold3, GenealogyBank, MyHeritage, and Steve Morse. Click here for more information.
 * 1936-2007 U.S., Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936-2007

Tax Records
Online Tax Indexes and Records

Bibliography
 * 1782 1782 Tithables online at Genealogy Trails.
 * 1783 1783 Tithables online at Genealogy Trails.
 * 1791 1791 Heads of Families online at Genealogy Trails.
 * 1791 1791 Bath County, Virginia Personal Property Tax List. Online at: New River Notes.
 * 1793 Tax List, Delinquent, 1793, Bath County Heritage Newsletter, Issue 15 (Fall 1987).
 * 1800 Bath County, Virginia, 1800 Tax List. The Virginia Genealogist, Vol. 7, No. 1 (Jan.-Mar. 1963):21-28. Online at: American Ancestors by NEHGS ($).
 * 1815 1815 Directory of Virginia Landowners (and Gazetteer). 1997-2000. By Roger D. Ward. Athens, Georgia : Iberian Pub. Co. 6 vols. The source for this publication is the 1815 land tax. Bath County is included in Vol. 5.

Birth

 * 1853-1866 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; index & images
 * 1853-1896 Bath County, Virginia Births: 1853-96. 2000. By Beth Fridley. Provo, UT : The Generations Network, Inc. Online at: Ancestry ($).
 * 1912-1913 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; index & images
 * 1584-1917 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; index & images

Marriage

 * 1660-1800 Virginia Marriages 1660-1800 at Ancestry — index ($)
 * 1740-1850 Virginia Marriages 1740-1850 at Ancestry — index ($)
 * 1785-1940 Virginia, Select Marriages, 1785-1940 at Ancestry — index ($)
 * 1785-1940 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; Index ; Also at: MyHeritage ($)
 * 1853-1935 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; index
 * 1936-1988 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; index & images

Death

 * Deaths are online in the Library of Virginia's Death Index of Virginia, 1853-1896, sponsored by The Virginia Genealogical Society.
 * 1912-1987 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; index & images
 * 1853-1912 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection;  index & images

Divorce

 * 1918-1988 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; index & images

Family History Centers

 * Buena Vista Virginia Family History Center
 * Lexington Virginia Family History Center
 * White Sulphur Springs West Virginia Family History Center


 * Jefferson Monroe Regional Library, Nelson Memorial Branch - an affiliate library
 * Staunton Virginia Public Library - an affiliate library

Libraries
Bath County Historical SocietyWebsite

Websites

 * Bath County, Virginia USGENWEB
 * Cyndi's List


 * – The FamilySearch catalog contains descriptions and access information for all genealogical materials (including books, online materials, microfilm, microfiche, and publications) in their collection.  Use Historical Records to search for specific individuals in genealogical records.

Research Guides

 * A Guide to the Counties of Virginia: Bath County. The Virginia Genealogist, Vol. 4, No. 3 (Jul.-Sep. 1960):128-131. CD available at: American Ancestors ($)..