Mason County, West Virginia Genealogy

Guide to Mason County, West Virginia ancestry, family history and genealogy birth records, marriage records, death records, census records, family history, and military records.

County Courthouse
County Clerk has birth and death records from 1853 Marriage and land records from 1804 Military records 1918 Circuit Court Clerk has divorce and court records

History
Mason County, West Virginia

Parent County
1804--Mason County was created 2 January 1804 from Kanawha County. County seat: Point Pleasant

Point Pleasant, West Virginia

Boundary Changes
For animated maps illustrating West Virginia county boundary changes, "Rotating Formation West Virginia County Boundary Maps" (1617-1995) may be viewed for free at the MapofUS.org website.

Record Loss
There is no known history of courthouse disasters in this county.

African American

 * Heinegg, Paul. "Mason County Personal Property Tax List, 1805-1846," Free African Americans.com. [Heinegg abstracted free blacks listed in these records.]

Cemeteries

 * Mason County Obituaries
 * West Virginia Cemetery Preservation Association, Inc - Mason County
 * Political Graveyard Mason County, West Virginia
 * Random Acts WV Cemetery Records Research Guide

Church
Churches in Mason County, West Virginia

Census
Mason County Census Records 

Family Histories
This bibliography will eventually identify all known family histories published about residents of this county. Use this list to:


 * Locate publications about direct ancestors
 * Find the most updated accounts of an ancestor's family
 * Identify publications, to quote Elizabeth Shown Mills, about an ancestor's "FAN Club" [Friends, Associates, and Neighbors]

Bibliography


 * Chapman - Machir, Violette S. Some Chapman, Jolly, Rayburn and Smith Families in W.Va. &amp; Ohio. Middleport, Ohio: Quality Print Shop, 1966..
 * Clemens - Bell, Raymond Martin. The Ancestry of Samuel Clemens, Grandfather of Mark Twain. Washington, Pa.: R.M. Bell, 1980. Digital version at ;.
 * Henderson - Crozier, William Armstrong. Virginia Heraldica: Being a Registry of Virginia Gentry Entitled to Coat Armor, With Genealogical Notes of the Families. New York: The Genealogical Association, 1908. Digital version at Internet Archive - free.
 * Hornish - Hornish family records : some of the descendants of Martin B. Hornish and Helena Rupert of Point Pleasant, now West Virginia (ca. 1824), Centreville, Wayne County, Indiana (ca. 1829 to 1856), and Tazewell and Peoria Counties, Illinois (1856- )
 * Jolly - Machir, Violette S. Some Chapman, Jolly, Rayburn and Smith Families in W.Va. &amp; Ohio. Middleport, Ohio: Quality Print Shop, 1966..
 * Lane - Quackenbush, Nancy. "Some Northern Neck Lanes," Magazine of Virginia Genealogy, Vol. 24, No. 4 (Nov. 1986):3-22. Digital version at Ancestry ($);.
 * Somerville - A brief biographical sketch of the Somerville family for seven generations : written from the reunion at Point Pleasant, West Virginia, July 4, 1904 digital view.

Maps



 * Maps of West Virginia (1617-1995)
 * Mason County, West Virginia Map

Revolutionary War
The Battle of Point Pleasant October 10, 1774


 * 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, Mason County on page 135.
 * 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.
 * West Virginia, Civil War Service Records of Union Soldiers, 1861-1865

War of 1812
Mason County men served in the 106th Virginia Regiment.

Civil War
Union


 * 1861-1865 - at FamilySearch — index
 * 1861 - 1865 U.S., Confederate Soldiers Compiled Service Records, 1861-1865 at Ancestry — index (free)
 * 1861 - 1865 U.S., Union Soldiers Compiled Service Records, 1861-1865 at Ancestry — index (free)


 * - 8th Regiment, West Virginia Infantry.

World War II

 * Mason County, West Virginia World War II Casualties Army and Air Force

Naturalization

 * 1814 - 1991 - at FamilySearch — index and images

Newspapers
The Point Pleasant Register 200 Main Street Point Pleasant, West Virginia 25550 Telephone: 304-675-1333

Probate
Online Probate Records

Mason County, West Virginia Will Book 1834 - 1968
 * 1724 - 1978 West Virginia Wills and Probate Records 1724-1978 at Ancestry.com — index and images $
 * 1756 - 1971 at [https:/familysearch.org/ FamilySearch] — index and images

West Virginia

Taxation
How can West Virginia tax lists help me?


 * 1805 - 1846 Heinegg, Paul. "Mason County Personal Property Tax List, 1805-1846," Free African Americans.com. [Heinegg abstracted free blacks listed in these records.]
 * 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. Mason County is included in Vol. 6.]

 Online West Virginia Tax site 

West Virginia real and personal property tax records are managed by the County Assessor in each county. Land and land improvements are considered real property while mobile property is classified as personal property.

Many County Assessors offer an online searchable database, where assessment record searches can be performed by name, account number, year, or mp/parcel number. Where online records are not available, requests for records can be made to the Assessment Office in person, by phone, or in writing.

The search for tax information can start here

Vital Records

 * . Includes marriages 1806-1812, 1814-1854, 1857, 1861-1969 - free.

Births

 * Mason County, West Virginia Births

Marriages

 * Mason County, West Virginia Marriages, 1806-1915 at Ancestry.com ($)
 * . Includes marriages 1806-1812, 1814-1854, 1857, 1861-1969 - free.
 * Mason County, West Virginia Marriages

Societies and Libraries
See also a List of West Virginia Archives, Libraries, Publications, Historical &amp; Genealogical Societies

Mason County Genealogical Historical Society Henderson, West Virginia 25106

Mason County Public Library 508 Viand Street Point Pleasant, West Virginia 25550 Telephone: 304-675-0894 Fax: 304-675-0895

Hannan Public Library 6760 Ashton Upland Road Ashton, West Virginia 25503 Telephone and Fax: 304-743-6200

Mason City Public Library 8 Brown Street Mason, West Virginia 25260 Telephone and Fax: 304-773-5580

New Haven Public Library P O Box 417 New Haven, West Virginia 25265 Telephone and Fax: 304-882-3252

Source: West Virginia Library Commission Library Directory

Family History Centers
The closest family history centers are the Huntington West Virginia Family History Center and the Charleston West Virginia Family History Center.


 * Introduction to LDS Family History Centers
 * Masontown West Virginia Family History Center

Web Sites

 * Mason County, WV History, Records, Facts and Genealogy
 * West Virginia Genealogy Network Community on Google+
 * West Virginia Genealogy Network Group on Facebook
 * CYNDI'S List West Virginia
 * Biographies of Mason County, West Virginia
 * Family History Pages
 * Family Websites of Mason County Folk
 * Point Pleasant's West Virginia Ordinance Works
 * Mason County West Virginia Reference Materials
 * Flowers Family of Mason County, West Virginia
 * Learning How to Edit our Wiki Sites
 * Learning How to Edit our Wiki Sites