Hardy County, West Virginia Genealogy

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

Description
The County was named for Samuel Hardy. The County has Moorefield as its seat and the County was created October 17, 1786. The County is located in the northeast area of the state.

County Courthouse
Hardy County Courthouse 204 Washington Street Moorefield, WV 26836 Phone: 304-538-2929 Hardy County Website County Clerk has birth, marriage, death and burials from 1853, probate and land records from 1786, court records from 1860 and divorce records.

Populated Places
For a complete list of populated places, including small neighborhoods and suburbs, visit Hometown Locator. The following are the most historically and genealogically relevant populated places in this county:

Census Records

 * 1790 - Lost, but a substitute is available, see Taxation.
 * 1800 - Lost, but a substitute is available, see Taxation.
 * 1810 - Lost, but a substitute is available, see Taxation.

Church Records
Baptist Early Baptist churches (with years constituted):


 * 1) Lunie's Creek (1777)

Court Records

 * Chancery order book, 1873-1880 For these cases the court sat in chancery which meant it acted as a court of equity. Equity law is a body of legal and procedural rules and doctrines which supplement or override common and statute law to protect rights and enforce duties defined or fixed by substantive law. The court usually dealt with cases which did not need a jury, such as divorces or foreclosures. Orders are judgments based on those laws.
 * Court proceedings, 1821-1827 Contains pleas and other proceedings brought before the court. Each plea might contain exhibits of documents, such as court orders for administration and inventory of estates, deed and dower acknowledgments, bills of sale, deeds, powers of attorney, appointments of militia officers, etc

African Americans

 * Heinegg, Paul. "Hardy County Personal Property Tax List, 1786-1819," Free African Americans.com. Heinegg abstracted free blacks listed in these records.

Genealogies
It is anticipated that 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]


 * Cartmell, T. K. Shenandoah Valley Pioneers and Their Descendants: A History of Frederick County, Virginia (Illustrated) from Its Formation in 1738 to 1908, Compiled Mainly from Original Records of Old Frederick County, Now Hampshire, Berkeley, Shenandoah, Jefferson, Hardy, Clarke, Warren, Morgan and Frederick. n.p.: n.p., c1909. Available at ; ; digital version at Ancestry ($); and World Vital Records ($). [3 copies at FHL.]
 * O'Dell, Cecil. Pioneers of Old Frederick County, Virginia. Marceline, Mo.: Walsworth Pub. Co., 1995. . One of the most impressively researched one-place studies in the United States. In a review, Dorman stated "Comprehensive studies such as this appear only rarely. This volume should be in every Virginia genealogical collection."


 * Coberly - Arthaud, John Bradley. "Dr. James Stell Coberly 18th Century Migrant from New Jersey to Virginia and Revolutionary Patriot," The Virginia Genealogist, Vol. 26, No. 2 (Apr.-Jun. 1982):112-117; Vol. 26, No. 3 (Jul.-Sep. 1982):183-189. Digital version at American Ancestors ($)..
 * Coberly - Arthaud, John Bradley. "George Coberly (1788-1855) Virginia Migrant to the Midwest," The Virginia Genealogist, Vol. 28, No. 3 (Jul.-Sep. 1984):217-221; Vol. 28, No. 4 (Oct.-Dec. 1984):256-260. Digital version at American Ancestors ($)..
 * Coberly - Arthaud, John Bradley. "The Ancestry of Mary (Poffenberger) (Coberly) Power (1752-27 Oct. 1840)," The Virginia Genealogist, Vol. 35, No. 1 (Jan.-Mar. 1991):39-42. Digital version at American Ancestors ($)..
 * Coberly - Arthaud, John Bradley and Marian (Kortum) Coberly. "The Ancestry of Mary C. Coberly (1820-1875)," The Virginia Genealogist, Vol. 43, No. 4 (Oct.-Dec. 1999):293-296. Digital version at American Ancestors ($)..
 * Cunningham - Harter, Mary. "James Cunningham of Western Virginia," The Virginia Genealogist, Vol. 29, No. 1 (Jan.-Mar. 1985):9-16. Digital version at American Ancestors ($)..
 * Franklin - Mathys, Mary Sue and Dorsey W. Franklin. "A Mystery Story: The Case of the Origins of John Franklin Sr. (1729-1819) of Burke County, North Carolina," The Virginia Genealogist, Vol. 32, No. 4 (Oct.-Dec. 1988):243-252; Vol. 33, No. 1 (Jan.-Mar. 1989):27-33. Digital version at American Ancestors ($)..
 * Homan - Arthaud, John Bradley. "The Ancestry of Mary (Poffenberger) (Coberly) Power (1752-27 Oct. 1840)," The Virginia Genealogist, Vol. 35, No. 1 (Jan.-Mar. 1991):39-42. Digital version at American Ancestors ($)..
 * Mathias - Griffiths, George R. The Mathias Family of Hardy County, Virginia and West Virginia, A Pioneer Mountain Family. Chicago, Ill.: Adams Press, 1977..
 * Newman - Boogher, William F. Gleanings of Virginia History: An Historical and Genealogical Collection, Largely from Original Sources. Washington: n.p., 1903. Available at ; digital version at Google Books. Includes a chapter titled "Genealogy of the Newman Family, 1618-1900," see Table of Contents; discusses Newmans of Hardy County.
 * Post - Poinsett, Doris Jean Post. Valentin Pfost/Post, 1740-1800, of Hardy County (West) Virginia and Some of His Descendants. Baltimore, Md.: Gateway Press, 1989. Digital version at Family History Archives;.
 * Renick - Renick, E.I. "The Renick Family of Virginia," Publications of the Southern History Association, Vol. 3, No. 3 (Jul. 1899): 221-227. Digitized by Internet Archive - free.
 * Rohrbough - Rohrbough, Fred Ware. The Rohrbough Family. 1962.
 * Strother - Owen, Thomas McAdory, "William Strother of Virginia and His Descendants," Publications of the Southern History Association, Vol. 2, No. 1 (Apr. 1898):149-173. Digitized by Internet Archive.
 * Trader - Dorman, John Frederick. Adventurers of Purse and Person Virginia 1607-1624/5. 3 vols. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., 2005. See Volume 2..

Land and Property Records

 * Homestead records, 1877-1909
 * Land entries, 1843-1861
 * List of real estate, 1869-1932. The county recorder existed from 1863 to 1872 and handled many of the legal documents that the clerk of the county court managed before and after this.

Contains lists of real estate being sold for the non-payment of taxes, 1869, 1879-1932, and liens or mechanic liens 1870, 1876-1893.


 * Gray, Gertrude E. Virginia Northern Neck Land Grants, 1775-1800. Vol. III. Baltimore, MD, USA: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1993. Available at ; digital version at Ancestry ($). Includes Hardy County.

Local Histories

 * The history of Hardy County : 1786-1986
 * Cartmell, T. K. Shenandoah Valley Pioneers and Their Descendants: A History of Frederick County, Virginia (Illustrated) from Its Formation in 1738 to 1908, Compiled Mainly from Original Records of Old Frederick County, Now Hampshire, Berkeley, Shenandoah, Jefferson, Hardy, Clarke, Warren, Morgan and Frederick. n.p.: n.p., c1909. Available at ; ; digital version at Ancestry ($); and World Vital Records ($).

Maps and Gazetteers

 * Maps of West Virginia (1617-1995)
 * Map of 1850 Virginia and West Virginia

Revolutionary War

 * 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, Hardy County on page 134.

War of 1812
Hardy County men served in the 14th Regiment.

Civil War

 * - 7th Regiment, Virginia Cavalry (Ashby's) (Confederate). Company F (Hampshire Riflemen aka New Creek Riflemen).
 * - 11th Regiment, Virginia Cavalry. Company B (The Hardy Rangers).
 * - 18th Regiment, Virginia Cavalry (Confederate). Companies B, E, and H.
 * - 25th Regiment, Virginia Infantry (Heck's) (Confederate). Company H (Hardy Blues) and Company K (South Branch Riflemen).
 * - 62nd Regiment, Virginia Mounted Infantry (Confederate). Company B (Hardy Blues).

Records and histories are available, including:


 * West Virginia, Civil War Service
 * 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)

Civil War Battle The following Civil War battle was fought in Hardy County:


 * August 7, 1864 - Moorefield, also known as Oldfields


 * Map showing Civil War battles in West Virginia.

Naturalization and Citizenship

 * 1814-1991 at FamilySearch — index and images
 * Naturalization records, 1913-1916 These can be viewed online.

Probate Records
'''Online Probate Records


 * 1724-1978 West Virginia Wills and Probate Records 1724-1978 at Ancestry.com — index and images $
 * 1756-1971 at FamilySearch — index and images
 * Hardy County, West Virginia Will Books 1786-1970
 * West Virginia Will Books

Tax Records
How can Virginia tax lists help me?


 * 1786 Fothergill, Augusta B. and John Mark Naugle. Virginia Tax Payers, 1782-87, Other Than Those Published by the United States Census Bureau. 1940; reprint, Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., 1978. Online at FamilySearch - free; . 1786 personal property tax list of Hardy County.
 * 1786 - 1819 Heinegg, Paul. "Hardy County Personal Property Tax List, 1786-1819," 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. Hardy County is included in Vol. 2.
 * 1789 Indexed images of the 1789 Personal Property Tax List of Hardy County, Virginia (now West Virginia) are available online, courtesy: Binns Genealogy.
 * 1799 Images of the 1799 Personal Property Tax List of Hardy County, Virginia (now West Virginia) are available online, courtesy: Binns Genealogy.
 * 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. Hardy County is included because the 1810 Census for that county has been destroyed.]
 * 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. Hardy 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

 * West Virginia Vital Records, 1865 - 1969 (varies) - Includes birth, death, and marriage.

Marriage

 * 1780-1970 - at FamilySearch — index
 * 1801-1962 - West Virginia, United States Marriages at FindMyPast — index $

Family History Centers

 * Introduction to Family History Centers
 * Petersburg West Virginia Family History Center

Societies

 * Hardy County Genealogical-Historical Society Moorefield, West Virginia 26836

Websites

 * Hardy County, WV History, Records, Facts and Genealogy
 * West Virginia Genealogy Network Community on Google+
 * West Virginia Genealogy Network Group on Facebook
 * USGenWeb project. May have maps, name indexes, history or other information for this county. Select the state, then the county.
 * Cyndi's List for West Virginia
 * Microfilms at the Library of Virginia for Hardy County, West Virginia
 * - The FamilySearch catalog contains descriptions and access information for all genealogical materials (including books, online materials, microfilm, microfiche, and publications) in their collection.  Use Historical Records to search for specific individuals in genealogical records