Grayson County, Virginia Genealogy

United States   Virginia    Grayson County

Grayson County, Virginia genealogy and family history research page. Guide to Grayson County (established 1792) genealogy, history, and courthouse sources including birth records, marriage records, death records, census records, wills, deeds and land records, Civil War records, Revolutionary War records, family histories, cemeteries, churches, tax records, newspapers, and obituaries.

County Courthouse
Grayson County Courthouse P.O. Box 130 129 Davis Street Independence, Virginia 24348-0130 Phone: 276-773-2231

Clerk Circuit Court has marriage, divorce, probate, court and land records from 1793

Parent County
1792--Grayson County was created 7 November 1792 from Wythe and Patrick Counties. County seat: Independence

Record Loss

 * Lost censuses: 1800, 1810, 1890

Resources
New River Notes

Research Guides

 * "A Guide to the Counties of Virginia: Grayson County," The Virginia Genealogist, Vol. 11, No. 4 (Oct.-Dec. 1967):157-159. Available at ; digital version at American Ancestors($).

African American

 * Freedmen's Bureau


 * Heinegg, Paul. "Grayson County Personal Property Tax List, 1805-1818," Free African Americans.com. [Heinegg abstracted free blacks listed in these records.]

Cemeteries

 * Tombstone Transcription Project Grayson County- cemetery transcriptions and photos - USGenWeb

Census
1800 - Lost, but a substitute is available, see Taxation.

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

1840


 * Douthat, James L. 1840 Mountain Empire of Virginia Census. Signal Mountain, Tenn.: Mountain Press, 2001. 975.5 X2d 1840. Free online surname index and purchase details at Mountain Press website. [Includes Grayson County.]

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.]

Baptist
Early Baptist churches (with years constituted):


 * 1) Cedar Island or Fox Creek (1782)
 * 2) Meadow Creek (1797). A list of new members (1840) was published in Glimpses of Grayson, Vol. 7, No. 3 (Dec. 1985).
 * 3) N. Fork of New River (1796)

Grayson County fell within the bounds of the Holston and Mountain Associations.

Quaker
Early monthly meetings (with years of existence):


 * Chestnut Creek Monthly Meeting (1785-1841)
 * Fruit Hill Monthly Meeting (1790-1814)
 * Mount Pleasant Monthly Meeting (1790-1825, 1980s)

Genealogy
More than 25 genealogies have been published about Grayson County families. To view a list, visit Grayson County, Virginia Genealogy.

Immigration
During the War of 1812, American officials reported finding a total of 1 British alien living in Grayson County.

Revolutionary War

 * Kegley, Mary B. Revolutionary War Pension Applications of Southwest Virginia Soldiers. n.p.: M.B. Kegley, 1997. Available at . [Includes Grayson County pensioners.]
 * 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, Western District, Grayson County on page 134.]
 * 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." ; digital version at Ancestry ($). [Includes veterans from this county; Virginia section begins on page 238.]

War of 1812
Grayson County, Virginia in the War of 1812

Grayson County men served in the 78th 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, Grayson County, p. 82. Identifies War of 1812 veterans living in this county in 1883.]

Civil War

 * - 4th Regiment, Virginia Infantry (Confederate). Company F (Grayson Dare Devils).
 * - 4th Regiment, Virginia State Line (Cavalry and Infantry) (Confederate). Companies B and D.
 * - 8th Regiment, Virginia Cavalry (Confederate). Company C (Grayson Cavalry)
 * - 22nd Regiment, Virginia Cavalry (Bowen's Virginia Mounted Riflemen) (Confederate). Company G.
 * - 37th Battalion, Virginia Cavalry (Dunn's Battalion, Partisan Rangers) (Confederate). Company D and Company I.
 * - 45th Regiment, Virginia Infantry (Confederate). Company C (Grayson Rifles).
 * - 50th Regiment, Virginia Infantry (Confederate). Company D (Wilson Rifles) (Grayson Hornets).

Records and histories are available, including:


 * Virginia, Civil War
 * Virginia, Civil War

Naturalization

 * Virginia

Newspapers
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 the Virginia Gazette and other Virginia newspapers (1736-1803), see: The Geography of Slavery in Virginia.

Taxation
How can Virginia tax lists help me?


 * Tax Laws, Local, Glimpses of Grayson, Vol. 9, Nos. 1-2 (Jun. 1988).
 * [1800] "Grayson County, Virginia, 1800 Tax List," The Virginia Genealogist, Vol. 25, No. 3 (Jul.-Sep. 1981):204-210. Available at ; digital version at New England Ancestors($).
 * [1805-1818] Heinegg, Paul. "Grayson County Personal Property Tax List, 1805-1818," Free African Americans.com. [Heinegg abstracted free blacks listed in these records.]
 * [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. Grayson County is included because the 1810 Census for that county has been destroyed.]
 * [1810] Tax List, 1810, Southwest Virginian, Vol. 5, No. 27 (Dec. 1982).
 * [1810] Tax List, 1810, Southwest Virginia Ancestors, Vol. 9, No. 1 (Spring 1995); Vol. 9, No. 2 (Summer 1995).
 * [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. Grayson County is included in Vol. 5.]
 * [1815] Kegley, Mary B. Southwest Virginia Tax Assessments, 1815: Grayson, Lee, Scott, Russell, Washington, and Wythe Counties. Wytheville, Va.: Kegley Books, 1991. Original edition and 1992 supplement available at . [The source for this publication is a private collection of 1815 tax assessment tickets for the First District of Virginia. The tickets includes landowners' names, number of acres or lots, number of buildings along with descriptions, and number of slaves. N.B. These are not the 1815 land tax books.]

Vital Records

 * Grayson County, VA Marriages 1853-1931.

Family History Centers

 * Introduction to LDS Family History Centers

Websites

 * Grayson Co., VAGenWeb. Part of the USGenWeb Project. Maps, name indexes, history.
 * RootsWeb Mailing List: SW_VA-L (Topic: Southwest Virginia)
 * Cyndi's List
 * Learning How to Edit our Wiki Sites
 * Learning How to Edit our Wiki Sites