Loudoun County, Virginia Genealogy

United States   Virginia    Loudoun County

Northern Virginia county in the Piedmont region.

County Courthouse


Loudoun County Courthouse 18 East Market Street Leesburg, VA 20176

Telephone: 703-777-0270 (Clerk of the Circuit Court) Website: Circuit Court of Loudoun County Directions

Hours: Open 8:30 A.M. to 4:00 P.M. Monday through Friday The Clerk's office closes at 4:30 P.M.

Clerk Circuit Court has birth records 1853-1859

1864-1866 1869-1879 death records 1853-1866

Marriage records 1793

divorce, probate &amp; land from 1757,

court records from 1858 &amp; tithables

History
Loudoun County is named after Major General John Campbell, 4th Earl of Loudoun (1705-1782). Campbell, a Scottish nobleman, served as Governor General of Virginia (1756-1758) at the time Loudoun County was organized.

Parent County
1757--Loudoun County was created 25 March 1757 from Fairfax County. County Seat: Leesburg

Boundary Changes
When Loudoun County was organized, the eastern border was Difficult Run. Officials moved the line further northwest to near Sugarland Run in 1798. The boundary, a straight line, does not follow the stream. This boundary change impacts genealogists, because this land and its occupants, which had originally belonged to Fairfax County, fell under the jurisdiction of Loudoun County for 40 years, from 1757 to 1798, after which time it went back to Fairfax County.

For animated maps illustrating Virginia county boundary changes, visit My Virginia Genealogy. [Maps created using AniMap Plus County Boundary Historical AniMap 3.0, by permission of the Goldbug Company.]

Variant Spellings

 * Loudon

Record Loss
Loudoun County has suffered some record loss. The following records cannot be found:


 * 1) Survey books.
 * 2) A few original wills.
 * 3) Pre-1793 marriage bonds (only "F" groom surname bonds survive). Ministers' returns can be used as a substitute for many of the marriages occurring between 1757 and 1793.
 * 4) One court minute/order book.
 * 5) Lost censuses: 1790, 1800, 1890

Populated Places
Loudoun County, Virginia Populated Places identifies local towns and post offices.

Military
Civil War

Virginia, Civil War Service Records of Confederate Soldiers 1861-1865

Virginia, Civil War Service Records of Union Soldiers 1861-1865

Virginia Naturalization Petitions, 1906-1929 Aliens, 1800s-1900s. Available online, courtesy: The Archives of the Clerk of the Loudoun County Circuit Court.


 * Index to Naturalization Petitions, U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Virginia, Alexandria, 1909-1929, available online, courtesy: Alexandria Library, Special Collections Division, Alexandria, Va. [Includes WWI soldies stationed in or near Loudoun County.]

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.

Loudoun Co. Newspapers: Information Regarding Newspapers Previously Published in Loudoun Co. is a helpful guide, courtesy: USGenWeb.


 * "The Genius of Liberty," Loudoun: The 1757 Legacy, Newsletter of the Loudoun Genealogy Club, Vol. 10, Nos. 1 &amp; 2 (Mar.-June 2002):1.
 * "Marriage Records from the Genius of Liberty," [1810s-1820s] Loudoun: The 1757 Legacy, Newsletter of the Loudoun Genealogy Club, Vol. 10, Nos. 1 &amp; 2 (Mar.-June 2002):2-4.
 * Osburn, Penelope M. "A Hometown Newspaper: 'The True American,' The Bulletin of the Historical Society of Loudoun County, Virginia, 1957-1976. Leesburg, Va.: Goose Creek Productions, 1998, pp. 97-110.

Occupations

 * "Beard Account Book," Loudoun: The 1757 Legacy, Newsletter of the Loudoun Genealogy Club, Vol. 5, No. 3 (Sep. 1997):1; Vol. 5, No. 4 (Dec. 1997):3; Vol. 6, No. 1 (Mar. 1998):3. [Identifies persons with accounts 1790s-1840s.]
 * Binns, John. A Treatise on Practical Farming. Thomas Balch Library, Leesburg, Va.
 * "Business Directory of Leesburg: Containing the Names of Merchants and Mechanics with Their Places of Business, published by William L. Stork, Bookseller &amp; Stationer, Leesburg, VA, 1860," Loudoun: The 1757 Legacy, Newsletter of the Loudoun Genealogy Club, Vol. 5, No. 1 (Mar. 1997):1; Vol. 5, No. 2 (June 1997):3; Vol. 5, No. 3 (Sep. 1997):2.
 * Business Licenses, 1757-1900. Available online, courtesy: The Archives of the Clerk of the Loudoun County Circuit Court. [Includes liquor, mill, ordinary, restaurant and hotel, and retail indexes.]
 * Cutten, George Barton. The Silversmiths of Virginia (together with Watchmakers and Jewelers) from 1694 to 1850. Richmond, Va.: The Dietz Press, Incorporated, 1952. [Includes a section on Leesburg silversmiths.]
 * "Hillsboro General Store, Post Office and Lending Library 1821-1836," Loudoun: The 1757 Legacy, Newsletter of the Loudoun Genealogy Club, Vol. 6, No. 2/3 (Sep. 1998):1; Vol. 6, No. 4 (Dec. 1998):3. [Indexes persons with accounts.]
 * List of Male and Female Indentures (Apprenticeships) from 1757-1872. Available online, courtesy: The Archives of the Clerk of the Loudoun County Circuit Court.
 * Marsh, Helen Hirst. "Early Loudoun Water Mills," The Bulletin of the Historical Society of Loudoun County, Virginia, 1957-1976. Leesburg, Va.: Goose Creek Productions, 1998, pp. 29-34.
 * Marsh, Helen Hirst. "Hometown Banking: The Loudoun Company," The Bulletin of the Historical Society of Loudoun County, Virginia, 1957-1976. Leesburg, Va.: Goose Creek Productions, 1998, pp. 111-116.
 * U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Patents, 1790-1909. Available online, courtesy: Ancestry ($). [Lists dozens of inventions patented by residents of Loudoun County, Virginia.]

Officials

 * "Some of the Officials of Loudoun County 1757 - The Civil War," Loudoun: The 1757 Legacy, Newsletter of the Loudoun Genealogy Club, Vol. 6, No. 2/3 (Sep. 1998):4; Vol. 7, No. 1 (Mar. 1999):1. . [N.B. This serial article was published backwards, includes Court Clerks, Deputy King's Attorneys and Commonwealth Attorneys, and Sheriffs.]

Private Papers
Virginia, Historical Society Papers, 1607-2007

Researchers should not limit their searches to records kept by government officials and religious organizations. Diaries, business account books, and family Bibles, kept in private hands, though they can be difficult to track down, yield valuable genealogical data. Loudoun County, Virginia Private Papers points researchers to some of these resources.

Probate
Virginia, Historical Society Papers, 1607-2007administrations, and guardianship records survives for Loudoun County, see: Loudoun County, Virginia Probate.

School

 * History of Secondary Education in Loudoun County. 1948. Thomas Balch Library, Leesburg, Va.
 * "Virginia Public School Register, Broad Run District, Frankville School, 1886-1893," Loudoun: The 1757 Legacy, Newsletter of the Loudoun Genealogy Club, Vol. 4, No. 2 (June 1996):1; Vol. 4, No. 3 (Sep. 1996):1.

Taxation
Virginia tax records provide valuable clues to genealogical relationships. Many survive and have been published and indexed dating back to the county's formation, see: Loudoun County, Virginia Taxation.

Transportation

 * Constantino, Roberto. Miscellaneous Road Cases, Loudoun County, Virginia, 1758-1782: Loudoun County Circuit Court, Clerk of Circuit Court, Archives: Miscellaneous Road Cases, Files No. 38 to 48, Leesburg, Virginia. Westminster, Maryland: Willow Bend Books: Heritage Books, 2003.
 * Rose, Murray. "Potomac River Bridges into Loudoun County," Loudoun: The 1757 Legacy, Newsletter of the Loudoun Genealogy Club, Vol. 1, No. 3 (Spring 1993):1-2; Vol. 1, No. 4 (Summer 1993):1.
 * Saffer, Wynne. "Overseers of the Road in Southern Loudoun in 1801," Northern Virginia Genealogy, Vol. 3, No. 4 (Oct. 1998):166-169.
 * "Seven Ferries Served Loudoun in 1700s," Loudoun: The 1757 Legacy, Newsletter of the Loudoun Genealogy Club, Vol. 10, No. 4 (Dec. 2002):2-4.

Vital Records
Vital records include births, marriages, and deaths. To learn what survives for the area, visit Loudoun County, Virginia Vital Records.

Acknowledgement
We would like to acknowledge the contributions of local expert Marty Hiatt, CG. Her knowledge has greatly improved this research guide.

Societies and Libraries

 * Thomas Balch Library, Leesburg, Va., is an excellent facility devoted entirely to the area's local history and genealogy. It is supported by the Town of Leesburg.
 * The Friends of the Thomas Balch Library, Leesburg, Va., is an organization devoted to supporting the Thomas Balch Library and its collections.

Family History Centers

 * Introduction to LDS Family History Centers
 * Ashburn Virginia Family History Center

Websites
Loudoun County, Virginia USGENWEB


 * Loudoun County, Virginia at USGenWeb. Includes maps, name indexes, history and other information about Loudoun County. Don't miss Loudoun County, Virginia Resource Materials and Look-Ups, on this site. It is an excellent free resource.
 * at FamilySearch. Learn what Loudoun County resources are available at the Family History Library.
 * Loudoun County, Virginia - Family History &amp; Genealogy Message Board atAncestry. 7500 posts about Loudoun County families.
 * Loudoun County, Virginia Genealogy Forum at GenForum. Over 1500 posts about Loudoun County families.
 * Loudoun County, Virginia Mailing List at Rootsweb. Thousands of messages about Loudoun County families.

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