King George, Virginia

United States &gt; Virginia &gt; King George County

Parent County
1720--King George County was created 2 November 1720 from Richmond and Westmoreland Counties. County seat: King George

Neighboring Counties

 * Caroline
 * Charles County, Maryland
 * Essex
 * Stafford
 * Westmoreland

Family Histories
It is anticipated that this bibliography will eventually identify all known family histories published about residents of this county. In addition to finding a direct ancestor’s surname listed, and watching to see if more recent publications make additions and corrections to earlier works, this list is also useful for determining if genealogists have published accounts, to quote Elizabeth Shown Mills, for any members of an ancestor’s “FAN Club” [Family, Associates, and Neighbors]. Checking publications about those individuals can lead you to new information about your own ancestry. Be mindful that compiled genealogies may contain errors.

Bibliography


 * [Berry] King, George Harrison Sanford. "Copies of Extant Wills from Counties Whose Records Have Been Destroyed: Will of William Berry of King George County," [and Berry Family Notes] The Virginia Genealogist, Vol. 1, No. 1 (Jan-Mar 1957):5-17. Available at New England Ancestors ($).
 * [Dinwiddie] King, George Harrison Sanford. "Copies of Extant Wills from Counties Whose Records Have Been Destroyed: Will of Major John Dinwiddie of King George County, Virginia," [and Dinwiddie Family Notes] The Virginia Genealogist, Vol. 3, No. 2 (Apr.-Jun. 1959):51-64. Available at New England Ancestors ($).
 * [Roane] Ryland, Elizabeth Hawes. "The Roanes of King and Queen and King William Counties," The William and Mary Quarterly, Second Series, Vol. 18, No. 3 (Jul. 1938):286-290. Available at JSTOR ($).

Immigration

 * Coldham, Peter Wilson. North American Wills Registered in London 1611-1857. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., 2007. [Includes will of a resident of King George County proved in London. These records often help establish an immigrant's place of origin.]
 * [http://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=King&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 King George, King and Queen, and King William Counties, Virginia (work in progress), courtesy: Immigrant Servants Database.

Migration

 * Clay, Robert Y. "Some Delinquent Taxpayers 1787-1790," The Virginia Genealogist, Vol. 20, No. 3 (Jul.-Sep. 1976):199-208; Vol. 21, No. 4 (Oct.-Dec. 1977):287-292. Available at FHL; digital version at New England Ancestors ($). [These records identify migrants who left the county and often their intended destinations. King George County's 1786, 1789, and 1790 Delinquent Lists appear on 20:199-201; another 1789 Delinquent List appears on 21:292.]

Military
French and Indian War


 * Bockstruck, Lloyd DeWitt. Virginia's Colonial Soldiers. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1988. Available at FHL. [Identifies some Westmoreland 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 Accomack County militia officers; 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
Local Court


 * King, George Harrison Sanford. "Copies of Extant Wills from Counties Whose Records Have Been Destroyed: Will of Major John Dinwiddie of King George County, Virginia," [and Dinwiddie Family Notes] The Virginia Genealogist, Vol. 3, No. 2 (Apr.-Jun. 1959):51-64. Available at New England Ancestors ($).
 * King, George Harrison Sanford. "Copies of Extant Wills from Counties Whose Records Have Been Destroyed: Will of William Berry of King George County," [and Berry Family Notes] The Virginia Genealogist, Vol. 1, No. 1 (Jan-Mar 1957):5-17. Available at New England Ancestors ($).

London Courts


 * Coldham, Peter Wilson. North American Wills Registered in London 1611-1857. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., 2007. [Includes will of a resident of King George County proved in London. These records often help establish an immigrant's place of origin.]

Research Guides

 * "A Guide to the Counties of Virginia: King George County," The Virginia Genealogist, Vol. 15, No. 3 (Jul.-Sep. 1971):193-195. Available at [[*King, George Harrison Sanford. "Copies of Extant Wills from Counties Whose Records Have Been Destroyed: Will of Major John Dinwiddie of King George County, Virginia," [and Dinwiddie Family Notes] The Virginia Genealogist, Vol. 3, No. 2 (Apr.-Jun. 1959):51-64. Available at New England Ancestors ($).|New England Ancestors]] ($).

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.


 * Clay, Robert Y. "Some Delinquent Taxpayers 1787-1790," The Virginia Genealogist, Vol. 20, No. 3 (Jul.-Sep. 1976):199-208; Vol. 21, No. 4 (Oct.-Dec. 1977):287-292. Available at FHL; digital version at New England Ancestors ($). [These records identify migrants who left the county and often their intended destinations. King George County's 1786, 1789, and 1790 Delinquent Lists appear on 20:199-201; another 1789 Delinquent List appears on 21:292.]
 * 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. King George County is included in Vol. 3.]

Vital Records
One of my favorite sources for this county is the book King George County, Virginia, Death Records 1853-1896, written by Elizabeth Nuckols Lee. It's in book form on the shelf at the Family History Library. Lee copied the county records and they are neatly typed and indexed. Very helpful.

Societies and Libraries

 * Mary Ball Washington Museum and Library
 * The Northern Neck of Virginia Historical Society

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