Halifax County, Virginia Genealogy

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History


The county is named after George Montagu-Dunk, 2nd Earl of Halifax (1716-1771), a British statesman.

Parent County
1752--Halifax County was created 27 February 1752 from Lunenburg County. County seat: Halifax

Census
For tips on accessing census records online, see Virginia Census.

1790 - Lost, but a subsitute is available, see Taxation.

1800 - Lost, but a subsitute is available, see Taxation.

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

1820 - Exists, but is defective, see:


 * "Halifax County, Virginia, 1820 Census: A Comment," The Virginia Genealogist, Vol. 3, No. 1 (Jan.-Mar. 1959):26. Available at FHL; digital version at New England Ancestors($). [Explains that in 1820, census takers skipped entire Halifax County communities.]

Church
Quaker


 * Brown, Jane Douglas Summers and Jones Memorial Library. Jane Douglas Summers Brown (1903-) Quaker Records: Jones Memorial Library (Lynchburg, Virginia); MS 1515. MSS, Jones Memorial Library, Lynchburg, Va. Available on 26 microfilms at FHL. [Includes records of Halifax County Quakers; Brown assisted "William Wade Hinshaw in the writing of the Virginia volume of the Encyclopedia of American Quaker Genealogy."]

DNA
DNA has been collected from men claiming descent from the following Halifax County, Virginia residents. Attempts have not been made to verify the lineages of those tested.


 * [Fletcher] Descendant of Thomas Fletcher, b. c1762, resident of Halifax County, Virginia, d. 1838 Pittsylvania County, Virginia. Y-DNA 37 Marker Test, FTDNA. Genetic signature available online (labelled William Fletcher of Accomac County, Virginia/James Fletcher of Brunswick County, Virginia), courtesy: The Fletcher DNA Project.

Family Histories

 * [Goodwin] "Appendix Z: The Goodwins of Halifax County, Virginia," The William and Mary Quarterly, Vol. 6, No. 2, Supplement (Oct., 1897):131. Available at FHL; digital version at JSTOR ($).

Immigration

 * [http://www.immigrantservants.com/search/advancedResults.php?surname=&givenName=&varientSurnameSpellings=&gender=&dateOfBirthDay=&dateOfBirthMonth=&dateOfBirthQuantifier=&dateOfBirthYear=&placeOfBirthParish=&placeOfBirthTown=&placeOfBirthCity=&placeOfBirthCounty=&placeOfBirthColony=&placeOfBirthNation=&occupations=&religions=&orphan=&familyPosition=&immigrationYearQualifier=&immigrationYear=&portOfDepartureTown=&portOfDepartureCity=&portOfDepartureCounty=&portOfDepartureNation=&placeOfArrivalTown=&placeOfArrivalCounty=&placeOfArrivalColony=&shipName=&convict=&yearOfIndentureQualifier=&yearOfIndenture=&lengthOfIndentureYears=&lengthOfIndentureMonths=&yearOfFreedomQualifier=&yearOfFreedom=&placeOfIndentureTown=&placeOfIndentureCity=&placeOfIndentureCounty=Halifax&placeOfIndentureColony=Virginia&agentSurname=&agentGivenName=&agentTitle=&masterSurname=&masterGivenName=&masterTitle=&residenceParish=&residenceTown=&residenceCity=&residenceCounty=&residenceColony=&residenceNation=&landowner=&literate=&spouseSurname=&spouseGivenName=&spouseMarriageDateDay=&spouseMarriageDateMonth=&spouseMarriageDateQualifier=&spouseMarriageDateYear=&spouseMarriageLocationParish=&spouseMarriageLocationCounty=&spouseMarriageLocationColony=&spouseMarriageLocationNation=&deathDateDay=&deathDateMonth=&deathDateQualifier=&deathDateYear=&deathLocality=&deathCounty=&deathColony=&deathState=&testate=&proofServantStatus=&proofConvictStatus=&headright=&preServitudeSources=&postServitudeSources=&comments=&family=&sourceCitations=&interestedResearchers= List of imported servants and transported convicts from Europe] who served labor terms in Colonial Halifax County, Virginia (work in progress), courtesy: Immigrant Servants Database.

Land
Grants and Patents


 * Hudgins and Wells. 782 patents dated 1738-1853 in what is now Halifax County, Virginia placed on a map. DeedMapper, 2006. [Names of those who received land patents, dates, land descriptions, and references may be viewed free of charge (click "Index" next to the county listing); however, in order to view the maps, it is necessary to purchase Direct Line Software's DeedMapper product.]

Local Histories

 * Carrington, Wirt Johnson. A History of Halifax County [Virginia]. Richmond, Virginia: Appeals Press, 1924. Available at FHL; 1959 reprint available at FHL; digital version of original edition at Ancestry ($). Reviewed in The Virginia Magazine of History and Biography, Vol. 33, No. 3 (Jul., 1925):331. Review available at FHL; digital version at JSTOR ($). Reviewed by Philip Alexander Bruce in The William and Mary Quarterly, Second Series, Vol. 5, No. 1 (Jan., 1925):66-73. Review available at FHL; digital version at JSTOR ($). Reprint reviewed in The Virginia Genealogist, Vol. 14, No. 1 (Jan.-Mar. 1970):37. Review available at FHL; digital version at New England Ancestors($).
 * Edmunds, Pocahontas White. History of Halifax. 2 vols. Halifax, Virginia: P.W. Edmunds, 1978. Reviewed by Susan L. Bracey in The Virginia Magazine of History and Biography, Vol. 87, No. 3 (Jul., 1979):365-367. Review available at FHL; digital version at JSTOR ($).

Migration

 * Elliott, Katherine B. Emigration to Other States from Southside Virginia. 2 vols. South Hill, Virginia: K.B. Elliott, 1966. Vol. 1 of original edition available at FHL; 1983 reprints (both volumes) available at FHL; 1990-1992 reprints (both volumes) also available at FHL. [Includes individuals who migrated out of Halifax County to other parts of the country.]

Military
French and Indian War


 * Bockstruck, Lloyd DeWitt. Virginia's Colonial Soldiers. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1988. Available at FHL. [Identifies some Halifax County militia officers and veterans; see place name index.]
 * Boogher, William F. Gleanings of Virginia History: An Historical and Genealogical Collection, Largely from Original Sources. Washington: n.p., 1903. Available at FHL; digital version at Google Books. [Includes a chapter titled "Legislative Enactments connecting the preceding historic sketch [French and Indian War, Lord Dunmore's War] with the adjudication of the resulting accounts that follow; with the list of officers, soldiers and civilians entitled to compensation for military and other services rendered." For Halifax County, see pp. 83-85, 108-110.]
 * Crozier, William Armstrong. Virginia Colonial Militia 1651-1776. Baltimore: Southern Book Co., 1954. Available at FHL; digital book at Ancestry ($). [Identifies some Halifax County militia officers and soldiers; see place name index.]

Revolutionary War


 * Carrington, Wirt Johnson. "Revolutionary Soldiers, Halifax County Records, Court of Pleas, 1774-1777," The William and Mary Quarterly, Second Series, Vol. 7, No. 1 (Jan., 1927):60. Available at FHL; digital version at JSTOR ($). [Recommendations for military officers.]

War of 1812


 * Douthat, James L. Roster of War of 1812, Southside, Virginia. Signal Mountain, Tennessee: Mountain Press, 2007. Available at FHL. [Includes Halifax County.]

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.

Research Guides

 * "A Guide to the Counties of Virginia: Halifax County," The Virginia Genealogist, Vol. 12, No. 4 (Oct.-Dec. 1968):184-187. Available at FHL; digital version at New England Ancestors($).

Taxation
How can Virginia tax lists help me?


 * [1752-1790] Tithables, 1752-90, Southsider [Charlotte Court House, Va.], Vol. 19, No. 1 (2000).
 * [1755-1780] Warren, Mary Bondurant. Halifax County, Virginia Colonial Poll [1764-1769] and Tithables Lists [1755-1780]. Danielsville, Georgia: Heritage Papers, 1991. Available at FHL.
 * [1771] Halifax Tithables, 1771, Piedmont Lineages, Vol. 23, No. 3 (Aug. 2001).
 * [1771] Tithables, 1771, Southside Virginian, Vol. 3, No. 2 (Jan. 1985).
 * [1782] Tax List, 1782, District 2, Halifax County Genealogical Society Newsletter, Vol. 11, No. 3 (Dec. 2001). [Halifax County, Virginia or North Carolina? check]
 * [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 FHL. [The source of this publication is the 1787 personal property tax list. Halifax County is included in Vol. 1.]
 * [1789, 1798] Indexed images of the 1789 and 1798 Personal Property Tax Lists of Halifax County, Virginia are available online, courtesy: Binns Genealogy.
 * [1800] Tax List, 1800, The Virginia Genealogist, Vol. 26, No. 4 (Oct. 1982); Vol. 27, No. 1 (Jan. 1983); Vol. 27, No. 2 (Apr. 1983); Vol. 27, No. 3 (Jul. 1983); Vol. 27, No. 4 (Oct. 1983). Available at FHL.
 * [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 FHL. [The source for this publication is the 1810 personal property tax lists. Halifax 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 FHL. [The source for this publication is the 1815 land tax. Halifax County is included in Vol. 2.]
 * [1867] Internal Revenue Tax Warning Notice, 1867, Piedmont Lineages, Vol. 29, No. 3 (Aug. 2007).
 * [1901] Delinquent Tax List, 1901, Piedmont Lineages, Vol. 29, No. 3 (Aug. 2007).

Vital Records
Marriage


 * "Halifax County Marriage Bonds" [1750s-1780s], The William and Mary Quarterly, Vol. 20, No. 3 (Jan., 1912):202-204. Available at FHL; digital version at JSTOR ($).
 * Knorr, Catherine Lindsay. Marriage Bonds and Ministers' Returns of Halifax County, Virginia, 1753-1800. Pine Bluff, Arkansas: C.L. Knorr, 1957. Reviewed in The Virginia Genealogist, Vol. 2, No. 2 (Apr.-Jun. 1958):91. Review available at FHL; digital version at New England Ancestors($).

Voting

 * Warren, Mary Bondurant. Halifax County, Virginia Colonial Poll [1764-1769] and Tithables Lists [1755-1780]. Danielsville, Georgia: Heritage Papers, 1991. Available at FHL.

Websites

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