Surry County, Virginia Genealogy

United States &gt; Virginia &gt; Surry County



Parent County
1652--Surry County was created in 1652 from James City County. County seat: Surry

Neighboring Counties

 * Charles City
 * Isle of Wight
 * James City
 * Prince George
 * Southampton
 * Sussex

Court
County Court


 * Davis, Eliza Timberlake and Robert Barnes. Surry County Records. [1652-1684] 195-?; reprint, Baltimore, MD, USA: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1995. Original edition available at FHL; reprint available at FHL; digital version at Ancestry ($). [Includes court, land, and probate records.]

Family Histories

 * [Cocke] "The Cocke Family of Virginia. The Cockes of Surry and Princess Anne," The Virginia Magazine of History and Biography, Vol. 5, No. 2 (Oct. 1897):181-198. Available at JSTOR ($).
 * [Cocke] Keim, Betty T. "Cocke Genealogy," The Virginia Magazine of History and Biography, Vol. 5, No. 4 (Apr. 1898):449. Available at JSTOR ($).
 * [Cocke] Warner, Pauline Pearce. Benjamin Harrison of Berkeley, Walter Cocke of Surry, Family Records. Tappahannock, Virginia, 1962. Available at FHL. Reviewed in The Virginia Genealogist, Vol. 6, No. 2 (Apr.-Jun. 1962):83. Review available at FHL; digital version at New England Ancestors ($). [Surry is spelled Surrey on FHL Catalog.]
 * [Ezell] Sheldon, Christine W. The Ezell Family in America. Descendants of George Ezell of Old Colonial Surry, Va. 1692-1961. 1961. Available at FHL; digital version at Ancestry ($).

Immigration

 * Bockstruck, Lloyd DeWitt. "Some Surry County, Virginia, Colonists, 1678-1705," The Virginia Genealogist, Vol. 23, No. 4 (Oct.-Dec. 1979):255-258. Available at FHL; digital version at New England Ancestors ($). [Arrival lists of indentured servants who appear in Surry County Court Order Books.]
 * Coldham, Peter Wilson. North American Wills Registered in London 1611-1857. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., 2007. [Includes wills of residents of Surry 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=Surry&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 Surry County, Virginia (work in progress), courtesy: Immigrant Servants Database.

Land
Deeds


 * Davis, Eliza Timberlake and Robert Barnes. Surry County Records. [1652-1684] 195-?; reprint, Baltimore, MD, USA: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1995. Original edition available at FHL; reprint available at FHL; digital version at Ancestry ($). [Includes court, land, and probate records.]

Grants and Patents


 * Hudgins. 592 patents dated 1619-1788 in what is now Surry County, Virginia placed on a map. DeedMapper. 2001. [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.]

Military
Colonial Militia


 * Bockstruck, Lloyd DeWitt. Virginia's Colonial Soldiers. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1988. Available at FHL. [Identifies some Surry County militia officers and/or soldiers; 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 Surry County militia officers and soldiers; see place name index.]

French and Indian War


 * Bockstruck, Lloyd DeWitt. Virginia's Colonial Soldiers. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1988. Available at FHL. [Identifies some Surry County militia officers, soldier enlistments, and veterans; see place name index.]
 * Boogher, William F. Gleanings of Virginia History: An Historical and Genealogical Collection, Largely from Original Sources. Washington: n.p., 1903. Available at FHL; digital version at Google Books. [Includes a chapter titled "Legislative Enactments connecting the preceding historic sketch [French and Indian War, Lord Dunmore's War] with the adjudication of the resulting accounts that follow; with the list of officers, soldiers and civilians entitled to compensation for military and other services rendered." For Surry County, see p. 101.]
 * Crozier, William Armstrong. Virginia Colonial Militia 1651-1776. Baltimore: Southern Book Co., 1954. Available at FHL; digital book at Ancestry ($). [Identifies some Surry County militia officers and soldiers; 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
Unrecorded Wills


 * Livingston, Virginia Pope. "Unrecorded Wills of Surry County, Virginia, 1759-1844," The Virginia Genealogist, Vol. 13, No. 2 (Apr.-Jun. 1969):51-55. Available at FHL; digital version at New England Ancestors ($).

Local Court


 * Davis, Eliza Timberlake and Robert Barnes. Surry County Records. [1652-1684] 195-?; reprint, Baltimore, MD, USA: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1995. Original edition available at FHL; reprint available at FHL; digital version at Ancestry ($). [Includes court, land, and probate records.]

London Courts


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

Research Guides

 * "A Guide to the Counties of Virginia: Surry County," The Virginia Genealogist, Vol. 23, No. 2 (Apr.-Jun. 1979):125-127. Available at FHL; digital version at 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.


 * [1668] "Census of Tithables in Surry County in the Year 1668," William and Mary College Quarterly, 1st Series, Vol. 8 (1900):160-164. Available at FHL; reprinted in Virginia Tax Records. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., 1983, which is also available at FHL; digital version at JSTOR ($).
 * [1668-1703] MacDonald, Edgar and Richard Slatten. Surry County (Virginia) Tithables, 1668-1703. Baltimore, Maryland: Clearfield, 2007. Available at FHL.
 * [1704] "Virginia Quit Rent Rolls, 1704," Virginia Magazine of History and Biography, Vol. 28 (1920):207-218, 328-339; Vol. 29 (1921):18-28, 337-343, 402-412; Vol. 30 (1922):21-30, 280-285, 341-347; Vol. 31 (1923):70-75, 153-163, 215-231, 314-318; Vol. 32 (1924):69-75, 144-158, 281-287, 338-343; Vol. 33 (1925):47-50, 359-370; Vol. 34 (1926):113-119, 252-258, 313, 321. Available at FHL; reprinted in Virginia Tax Records. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., 1983, which is also available at FHL; digital version of VMHB at JSTOR ($). [Surry County appears in 29:18-28.]
 * [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 FHL. [The source of this publication is the 1787 personal property tax list. Surry County is included in Vol. 2.]
 * [1790, 1800] Indexed images of the 1790 and 1800 Personal Property Tax Lists of Surry County, Virginia are available online, courtesy: Binns Genealogy.
 * [1790, 1799] Indexed images of the 1790 and 1799 Land Tax Lists of Surry County, Virginia are available online, courtesy: Binns Genealogy.
 * [1815] 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. Surry County is included in Vol. 3.]

Vital Records
Marriage


 * Knorr, Catherine Lindsay. Marriage Bonds and Ministers' Returns of Surry County, Virginia, 1768-1825. Pine Bluff, Arkansas: C.L. Knorr, 1960. Available at FHL. Reviewed in The Virginia Genealogist, Vol. 5, No. 1 (Jan.-Mar. 1961):41. Review available at FHL; digital version at New England Ancestors ($).

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