Rappahannock County, 1656-1696, Virginia Genealogy

(Old) Rappahannock County, Virginia genealogy and family history research page. Guide to (Old) Rappahannock County (established 1656) genealogy, history, and courthouse sources including birth records, marriage records, death records, wills, deeds and land records, family histories, cemeteries, and churches. ''This article is about a Virginia county abolished in 1692. For other uses, see Rappahannock''.

County Courthouse
Old Rappahannock County's records are now held at the Essex County, Virginia Courthouse in Tappahannock, Va.

History


The county is named after the Rappahannock River. The Algonquian word lapihanne (also noted as toppehannock), from which the English word Rappahannock is derived, means "river of quick, rising water" or "where the tide ebbs and flows."

Parent County
Formed in 1656 from Lancaster County.

Boundary Changes
Old Rappahannock County became extinct in 1692 and was divided into Essex and Richmond counties.

Record Loss
The court order books covering the years 1656 to 1682 are lost.

Getting Started
Compiled genealogies are a good place to start research for this area, see (Old) Rappahannock County, Virginia Genealogy.

If you are researching families who lived in (Old) Rappahannock County, Virginia between the 1650s and 1690s, the Sparacios' book indexes are a great time saver.

A variety of records are abstracted in:


 * Ricks, Joel and William G. Stanard. W. G. Standard's Extracts from Virginia Records (in Three Parts). Typescript, 1942-1943. . [Contents: pt. 1. Extracts from records of Rappahannock, Essex, Middlesex, King George and Richmond counties, 1654 to 1804 -- pt. 2. Extracts from records of the counties of old Rappahanock [sic], Essex, Middlesex, King George, and Richmond -- pt. 3. Genealogical and biographical notes of Surry, Southampton, Isle of Wight, Nansemond, and Sussex counties, Virginia.]

Cemeteries

 * FamilySearch Places

Church
List of Churches and Church Parishes
 * FamilySearch Places

Church of England
See:
 * Farnham Parish
 * North Farnham Parish
 * Piscataway Parish
 * St. Mary's Parish
 * Sittenburne Parish
 * South Farnham Parish

Registers of North Farnham Parish, which begin in the second-half of the seventeenth century, survive for the section of Old Rappahannock County that split to become Richmond County. The original parish registers are held at the Library of Virginia and/or the Richmond County, Virginia Courthouse in Warsaw, Va. They were microfilmed by the Genealogical Society of Utah in 1947 and 1950. These records have also been abstracted and published by an expert:


 * King, George Harrison Sanford. The Registers of North Farnham Parish, 1663-1814 and Lunenburg Parish, 1783-1800, Richmond County, Virginia. Fredericksburg, Va.: G.H.S. King, 1966..

Court
County Court

The original Old Rappahannock County Court Orders are held at Essex County, Virginia Courthouse in Tappahannock, Va. The Sparacios abstracted, indexed, and published these records:


 * Sparacio, Ruth Trickey and Sam Sparacio. Order Book Abstracts of (Old) Rappahannock County, Virginia. [1683-1692] 4 vols. McLean, Va.: R.&amp;S. Sparacio, 1990..

Genealogy
More than 250 genealogies have been published about (Old) Rappahannock County families. To view a list, visit (Old) Rappahannock County, Virginia Genealogy.

Check compiled Genealogies in Neighboring Counties See also: Virginia Compiled Genealogies
 * Essex County, Virginia Genealogy
 * Richmond County, Virginia Genealogy


 * Yurechko, John Otto. Virginia Genealogies Along and Near the Lower Rappahannock River, 1607-1799: Allen, Buckner, Carter, Harrow, Jackson, Kellum, Long, Miles, Montgomery, Morton, Page, Reade, Roy, Tankersley, Thornley and Wilson. Westminster, Md.: Family Line Publications, 1995..
 * Yurechko, John Otto. Virginians Along and Near the Lower Rappahannock River, 1607-1799. 2 vols. Westminster, Md.: Family Line Publications, 1997-1998..

Immigration

 * Immigrant Servants Database.

Land
Deeds

The original Old Rappahannock County Deed Books are held at Essex County, Virginia Courthouse in Tappahannock, Va. The Sparacios abstracted, indexed, and published these records:


 * Sparacio, Ruth Trickey and Sam Sparacio. Deed Abstracts of Old Rappahannock County, Virginia. [1656-1692] 10 vols. McLean, Virginia: R. &amp; S. Sparacio, 1989-1990..
 * Sparacio, Ruth Trickey and Sam Sparacio. Deed &amp; Will Abstracts of (Old) Rappahannock County, Virginia. [1665-1682] 3 vols. McLean, Virginia: R. &amp; S. Sparacio, 1989-1990..

Grants and Patents

Search for pre-1673 land grants and patents among Virginia Land Office records. After that year, be sure to check Virginia Northern Neck land grants.


 * Gray, Gertrude E. Virginia Northern Neck Land Grants 1694-1742. Vol. I. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., 1987. Available at ; digital version at Ancestry ($). [Includes (Old) Rappahannock County.]
 * Nugent, Nell Marion. Cavaliers and Pioneers: Abstracts of Virginia Land Patents and Grants 1623-1666. Vol. I (1934; reprint, Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., 1991). Available at ; online at: Hathitrust, Ancestry ($). Includes (Old) Rappahannock County.

Local Histories

 * Warner, Thomas Hoskins. History of Old Rappanhannock County, Virginia, 1656-1692: With Introduction, 1608-1656, Including the Present Counties of Essex and Richmond and Parts of Westmoreland, King George, Stafford, Caroline and Spotsylvania Counties. Tappahannock, Va.: P.P. Warner, 1965..

Maps

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

Military
Colonial Militia


 * Bockstruck, Lloyd DeWitt. Virginia's Colonial Soldiers. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1988. Available at . Online at: Ancestry ($). Identifies some Old Rappahannock County militia officers and/or soldiers; see place name index.
 * Crozier, William Armstrong. Virginia Colonial Militia 1651-1776. Baltimore: Southern Book Co., 1954. Available at ; digital book at Ancestry ($). Identifies some Old Rappahannock County militia officers; see place name index.

Native American
The Portobaccoes Tribe, Nanzcattico Tribe, and Mattehatique Tribe lived in the area in the late 1600s.

Occupations
Philip Alexander Bruce's book Economic History of Virginia in the Seventeenth Century (Vol. II, 1896, p. 334 footnote 1) includes a list of early English merchants in (Old) Rappahannock County.

Probate
The original Old Rappahannock County Will Books are held at Essex County, Virginia Courthouse in Tappahannock, Va. These records have been abstracted, indexed, and published several times:


 * McGhan, Judith. Virginia Will Records: From the Virginia Magazine of History and Biography, the William and Mary College Quarterly, and Tyler's Quarterly. Baltimore, Maryland: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1982. . Includes Old Rappahannock County wills.
 * Sparacio, Ruth Trickey and Sam Sparacio. Deed &amp; Will Abstracts of (Old) Rappahannock County, Virginia. [1665-1682] 3 vols. McLean, Virginia: R. &amp; S. Sparacio, 1989-1990..
 * Sparacio, Ruth Trickey and Sam Sparacio. Will Abstracts of (Old) Rappahannock County, Virginia [1682-1687]. McLean, Va.: R.&amp;S. Sparacio, 1990..
 * Sweeny, William Montgomery. Wills of Rappahannock County, Virginia 1656 - 1692. [Lynchburg, Virginia?]: Mrs. W.M. Sweeny, 1947. Available and . Digital version World Vital Records ($).

Research Guides

 * "A Guide to the Counties of Virginia: (Old) Rappahannock County," The Virginia Genealogist, Vol. 21, No. 3 (Jul.-Sep. 1977):219. Available at American Ancestors by NEHGS ($).
 * Browning, Joyce. "Research in 'Old' Rappahannock and Her Descendants," The Virginia Genealogical Society Newsletter, Vol. 11, No. 3 (May-Jun. 1985):1. Available at ; digital version at Virginia Genealogical Society.

Vital Records
Marriage


 * Headley, Robert K. Married Well and Often: Marriages of the Northern Neck of Virginia 1649-1800: Marriages and Marriage References for the Counties of Lancaster, Northumberland, Old Rappahannock, Richmond, and Westmoreland. Baltimore, Maryland: Genealogical Publishing Co., 2003..
 * Wilkerson, Eva Eubank. Index to Marriages of Old Rappahannock and Essex Counties, Virginia, 1655-1900. Richmond, VA, USA: Clearfield Co., 1953. ; 1983 reprint available at ; online at: FamilySearch Digital Library, Ancestry ($).

Family History Centers

 * Introduction to Family History Centers

Websites

 * USGenWeb project. May have maps, name indexes, history or other information for this county. Select the state, then the county. *