Isle of Wight County, Virginia Genealogy

United States   Virginia    Isle of Wight County

Tidewater county in the Hampton Roads region of Virginia.

County Courthouse
Isle of Wight County Courthouse 17122 Monument Circle Isle of Wight, VA 23397

757-365-6233


 * Formerly Warrosquyoacke.
 * Name changed to Isle of Wight 1637
 * Clerk Circuit Court has birth records 1853-1876
 * death records 1853-1874 marriage records from 1772
 * div records from 1853,
 * probate records from 1647, court records
 * from 1746 &amp; land records

History


The county is named after the Isle of Wight, off the south coast of England.

Parent County
1634--Isle of Wight was created in 1634 as an original shire or county. County seat: Isle of Wight The original shire name of Warrosquyoake (also spelled Warrosquoyacke or Warrascoyak) was given then. The name was changed in 1637 to Isle of Wight County

Record Loss

 * Lost censuses: 1790, 1800, 1890

Populated Places
Isle of Wight

Neighboring Counties
Historically, Isle of Wight County has shared borders with all of the following counties:

CENSUS

Civil War

Virginia, Civil War Service Records of Confederate Soldiers 1861-1865 Virginia, Civil War Service Records of Union Soldiers 1861-1865


 * United States. Selective Service System. Draft Registrations, 1942-1946, from Local Draft Board No. 1 of Isle of Wight County, Virginia. Original manuscripts at the Smithfield Branch of the Isle of Wight Library in Smithfield, Virginia; also available at.

NATURALIZATION

 VirginiaNaturalization Petitions, 1906-1929 

Native Americans

 * Boddie, John Bennett. Seventeenth Century Isle of Wight County, Virginia: A History of the County of Isle of Wight, Virginia, During the Seventeenth Century, Including Abstracts of the County Records. Chicago: Chicago Law Print. Co., 1938. Available at [3 copies]; digital versions at Ancestry ($) and BYU Family History Archives. [Includes a chapter on local Native Americans.]

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.

Officials

 * Boddie, John Bennett. Seventeenth Century Isle of Wight County, Virginia: A History of the County of Isle of Wight, Virginia, During the Seventeenth Century, Including Abstracts of the County Records. Chicago: Chicago Law Print. Co., 1938. Available at [3 copies]; digital versions at Ancestry ($) and BYU Family History Archives. [Includes a chapter on county officers.]

Private Papers
Virginia, Historical Society Papers, 1607-2007


 * Family Bible of the Scott, Brock, and Dornin Family of Isle of Wight County, Virginia. MSS. Available at.

Probate
Local Court


 * Boddie, John Bennett. Seventeenth Century Isle of Wight County, Virginia: A History of the County of Isle of Wight, Virginia, During the Seventeenth Century, Including Abstracts of the County Records. Chicago: Chicago Law Print. Co., 1938. Available at [3 copies]; digital versions at Ancestry ($) and BYU Family History Archives. [Includes chapter on wills 1662-1686.]
 * Chapman, Blanche Adams. Wills and Administrations of Isle of Wight County, Virginia, 1647-1800. 1938; reprint, Baltimore, MD, USA: Genealogical Publishing Co., 2003. Original edition at ; 1995 reprint at ; digital version at Ancestry ($); and World Vital Records ($). ["The original records on file in Isle of Wight County and abstracted in this work are: Wills and Administrations Book A (1641-1650); Will and Deed Books 1 and 2 (1658-1659, 1666-1719); Will Books 3-11 (1726-1800); Deed Book I (1691-1695); Administrations and Probates (1666-1701); and The Great Book (1719-1729). In addition to the names of the testators and legatees, the entries provide the names of executors, securities, and witnesses and frequently include assignments of property."]
 * Hopkins, William Lindsay. Some Wills from the Burned Counties of Virginia and Other Wills Not Listed in Virginia Wills and Administrations 1632-1800. Richmond, Virginia: W.L. Hopkins, 1987. Available at . [Includes Isle of Wight County.]

London Courts


 * Coldham, Peter Wilson. North American Wills Registered in London 1611-1857. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., 2007. [Includes wills of residents of Warwicksquick and Isle of Wight 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 ($). [Isle of Wight County appears in 29:337-343.]
 * [1704] Boddie, John Bennett. Seventeenth Century Isle of Wight County, Virginia: A History of the County of Isle of Wight, Virginia, During the Seventeenth Century, Including Abstracts of the County Records. Chicago: Chicago Law Print. Co., 1938. Available at [3 copies]; digital versions at Ancestry ($) and BYU Family History Archives. [Includes 1704 quit rents.]
 * [1714] Quit Rent Roll, 1714, Virginia Magazine of History and Biography, Vol. 87, No. 2 (Apr. 1979). Digital version at JSTOR ($).
 * [1778] Assessors Book, 1778, William and Mary Quarterly Historical Magazine, Vol. 25, No. 3 (Jan. 1917). Digital version at JSTOR ($).
 * [1782-1833] Heinegg, Paul. "Isle of Wight County Personal Property Tax List, 1782-1833," Free African Americans.com. [Heinegg abstracted free blacks listed in these records.]
 * [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. Isle of Wight County is included in Vol. 2.]
 * [1790, 1799] Indexed images of the 1790 and 1799 Personal Property Tax Lists of Isle of Wight County, Virginia are available online, courtesy: Binns Genealogy.
 * [1800] Tax List, 1800, Virginia Genealogist, Vol. 32, No. 4 (Oct. 1988); Vol. 33, No. 1 (Jan. 1989); Vol. 33, No. 2 (Apr. 1989). Available at.
 * [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. Isle of Wight County is included in Vol. 3.]

Birth

 * Fridley, Beth, comp. Isle of Wight County Virginia Birth Records, 1867-96 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: The Generations Network, Inc., 2001. Available at Ancestry ($).

Marriage

 * Chapman, Blanche Adams and Anita Comtois. Marriages of Isle of Wight County, Virginia, 1628-1800. Originally published in 1933. Reprint: Baltimore, MD: Genealogical Pub. Co., 1976. Reprint available at ; digital version at World Vital Records ($).

Family History Centers

 * Introduction to LDS Family History Centers

Websites

 * Isle of Wight Co., VAGenWeb. Part of the USGenWeb Project. Maps, name indexes, history.
 * Cyndi's List
 * Cyndi's List

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