King William County, Virginia Genealogy

United States   Virginia    King William County

Tidewater county.

County Courthouse
King William County Courthouse Courthouse Lane P.O. Box 216 King William, VA 23086-0216 Phone: 804-769-4927

Fire in 1855 burned most records some from 1702 have been photocopied Clerk Circuit Court has marriage, divorce, probate and court records from 1910

Parent County
1700--King William County was created 5 December 1700 from King and Queen County. County seat: King William

Record Loss

 * Fire in 1885 burned most records ; the Sparacios published abstracts of surviving eighteenth-century records:.
 * Lost censuses: 1790, 1800, 1810, 1890

Research Guides

 * Davis, Virginia Lee Hutcheson. "Records of Tidewater Virginia Counties," Tidewater Virginia Families: A Magazine of History and Genealogy, Vol. 1, No. 2 (May-June 1992):53-66. 975.51 D25t [For King William County, see pp. 60-61]

African American

 * Freedmen's


 * Heinegg, Paul. "King William County Personal Property Tax List, 1782-1832," Free African Americans.com. [Heinegg abstracted free blacks listed in these records.]

Census
1790 - Lost, but a subsitute is available, see Taxation.

1800 - Lost, but a subsitute is available, see Taxation.

1810 - Lost, but a subsitute is available, see Taxation.

1890 Union Veterans


 * Turner, Ronald Ray. Virginia's Union Veterans: Eleventh Census of the United States 1890. Available online, courtesy: Prince William County Virginia website. [Includes residents of this county.]

Church of England
St. John's Parish St. David's Parish


 * Mason, George Carrington. "The Colonial Churches of King and Queen and King William Counties, Virginia," The William and Mary Quarterly, Second Series, Vol. 23, No. 4 (Oct. 1943):440-464. Available at JSTOR ($).
 * Mason, George Carrington. Colonial Churches of Tidewater Virginia. Richmond, Virginia: Whittet &amp; Shepperson, 1945. Available at ; digital version at Family History Archives. [Includes King William County.]



Court

 * Ryland, Elizabeth Hawes. "King William County and Its Court House," The William and Mary Quarterly, Second Series, Vol. 20, No. 1 (Jan. 1940):99-112. Available at JSTOR ($).

Genealogy
More than 100 genealogies have been published about King William County families. To view a list, visit King William County, Virginia Genealogy.

Historic Residences

 * Clarke, Peyton Neale. Old King William Homes and Families: An Account of Some of the Homesteads and Families of King William County, Virginia, From its Earliest Settlement. Louisville: J.P. Morton and Company, 1897. Available at (3 copies); digital versions at Ancestry ($), BYU Family History Archives, and Google Books (full-view); and World Vital Records ($).
 * "Old Houses in King William County," The William and Mary Quarterly, Second Series, Vol. 18, No. 4 (Oct. 1938), unpaginated. Available at JSTOR ($).
 * Ryland, Elizabeth Hawes. "Homes in King William County: Comments and Corrections," The William and Mary Quarterly, Second Series, Vol. 19, No. 1 (Jan. 1939):120-121. Available at JSTOR ($).

Immigration

 * Coldham, Peter Wilson. "Intercepted Letters Relating to America, 1777-1811," The Genealogist, Vol. 14, No. 2 (Fall 2000):184-200. [Overseas contacts of residents of King William County with the following surname: Frazer.]
 * Coldham, Peter Wilson. North American Wills Registered in London 1611-1857. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., 2007. [Includes wills of residents of St. John's Parish and King William County proved in London. These records often help establish an immigrant's place of origin.]

(also includes King George; King and Queen counties)

Land
Deeds


 * "Extracts of King William County Records," The Virginia Magazine of History and Biography, Vol. 25, No. 1 (Jan. 1917):65-70; Vol. 25, No. 2 (Apr. 1917):174-179; Vol. 25, No. 3 (Jul. 1917):290-296. Available at JSTOR ($). [Remnants of destroyed deeds.]

Grants and Patents


 * Gray, Gertrude E. Virginia Northern Neck Land Grants 1694-1742. Vol. I. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., 1987. Available at . [Includes King William County.]

Local Histories

 * Harris, Malcolm H. "'Delaware Town' and 'West Point' in King William County, Va.," The William and Mary Quarterly, Second Series, Vol. 14, No. 4 (Oct. 1934):342-351. Available at JSTOR ($).

French and Indian War

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

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


 * - 7th Virginia Regiment
 * - 15th Virginia Regiment

Additional resources:

King William residents' participation in the Revolutionary War.


 * Clerk, H. Randolph. "King William County Payments for Wives, Widows and Parents of Soldiers," [Revolutionary War] The William and Mary Quarterly, Vol. 26, No. 4 (Apr. 1918):232-233. Available at JSTOR ($).
 * A Census of Pensioners for Revolutionary or Military Services: With their Names, Ages, and Places of Residence, as Returned by the Marshalls of the Several Judicial Districts, Under the Act for Taking the Sixth Census]. 1841. Digital versions at U.S. Census Bureau and Google Books et. al. 1967 reprint: 973 X2pc 1840. [See Virginia, Eastern District, King William County on page 131.]
 * Rejected or Suspended Applications for Revolutionary War Pensions. Washington, D.C., 1852. Reprinted by Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., 1969, and 1991. Reprints include "an Added Index to States." 973 M24ur; digital version at Ancestry ($). [Includes veterans from this county; Virginia section begins on page 238.]

War of 1812
King William County men served in the 87th 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... Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1883. 973 M2Lp v. 5; digital versions at Google Books and Internet Archive. [See Vol. 5, Virginia, King William County, p. 87. Identifies War of 1812 veterans living in this county in 1883.]

Civil War

 * - 9th Regiment, Virginia Infantry (Confederate). Company H (Lee's Rangers).

Records and histories are available, including:


 * Virginia,
 * Virginia,

Naturalization

 * Virginia

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
London Courts


 * Coldham, Peter Wilson. North American Wills Registered in London 1611-1857. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., 2007. [Includes wills of residents of St. John's Parish and King William County proved in London. These records often help establish an immigrant's place of origin.]

Taxation
How can Virginia tax lists help me?


 * [1704] "Virginia Quit Rent Rolls, 1704," Virginia Magazine of History and Biography, Vol. 28 (1920):207-218, 328-339; Vol. 29 (1921):18-28, 337-343, 402-412; Vol. 30 (1922):21-30, 280-285, 341-347; Vol. 31 (1923):70-75, 153-163, 215-231, 314-318; Vol. 32 (1924):69-75, 144-158, 281-287, 338-343; Vol. 33 (1925):47-50, 359-370; Vol. 34 (1926):113-119, 252-258, 313, 321. Available at ; reprinted in Virginia Tax Records. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., 1983, which is also available at ; digital version of VMHB at JSTOR ($). [King William County appears in 32:69-75.]
 * [1782-1832] Heinegg, Paul. "King William County Personal Property Tax List, 1782-1832," Free African Americans.com. [Heinegg abstracted free blacks listed in these records.]
 * [1782-1850] Lee, Ida J. "King William County Personal Tax List, 1782-1850," [some letter 'A' surnames] The William and Mary Quarterly, Second Series, Vol. 7, No. 2 (Apr. 1927):114-122. Available at ; reprinted in Virginia Tax Records. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., 1983, which is also available at ; digital version at JSTOR ($).
 * [1782-1820] Ward, Roger G. "Burned County Gleanings: King William County Land Tax Lists, 1782-1820," Magazine of Virginia Genealogy, Vol. 36, No. 4 (Fall 1998):262-270. Available at ; digital version at Ancestry ($). [Some abstracts of taxpayers and "genealogical tidbits," such as relationships, land transfers, etc.]
 * [1782] Lee, Ida J. "Land Taxed in King William County in 1782," [1782 Land Tax] The William and Mary Quarterly, Second Series, Vol. 6, No. 4 (Oct. 1926):326-328. Available at ; reprinted in Virginia Tax Records. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., 1983, which is also available at ; digital version at JSTOR ($).
 * [1782] Fothergill, Augusta B. and John Mark Naugle. Virginia Tax Payers, 1782-87, Other Than Those Published by the United States Census Bureau. 1940; reprint, Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., 1978. Available at . [1782 personal property tax list of King William County.]
 * [1783] County Land Tax Records, 1783, Tidewater Virginia Families, Vol. 12, No. 1 (May 2003). Available at.
 * [1787] Schreiner-Yantis, Netti and Florene Speakman Love. 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 &amp; Carriages, and Also the Names of All Persons to Whom Ordinary Licenses and Physician's Licenses Were Issued. 3 vols. Springfield, Va.: Genealogical Books in Print, 1987. Available at . [The source of this publication is the 1787 personal property tax list. King William County is included in Vol. 2.]
 * [1787, 1797] Indexed images of the 1787 and 1797 Personal Property Tax Lists of King William County, Virginia are available online, courtesy: Binns Genealogy.
 * [1787, 1797] Indexed images of the 1787 and 1797 Land Tax Lists of King William County, Virginia are available online, courtesy: Binns Genealogy.
 * [1800] Tax List, 1800, Virginia Genealogist, Vol. 34, No. 3 (Jul. 1990). Available at.
 * [1810] Schreiner-Yates, Netti. A Supplement to the 1810 Census of Virginia: Tax Lists of the Counties for which the Census is Missing. Springfield, Va.: Genealogical Books in Print, 1971. Available at . [The source for this publication is the 1810 personal property tax list. King William County is included because the 1810 Census for that county has been destroyed.]
 * [1815] Ward, Roger D. 1815 Directory of Virginia Landowners (and Gazetteer). 6 vols. Athens, Georgia: Iberian Pub. Co., 1997-2000. Available at . [The source for this publication is the 1815 land tax. King William County is included in Vol. 3.]

Societies and Libraries

 * Tidewater Genealogical Society

Family History Centers

 * Introduction to LDS Family History Centers

Websites

 * King William Co., VAGenWeb. Part of the USGenWeb Project. Maps, name indexes, history.

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