Alexandria (Independent City), Virginia Genealogy

Description
The City of Alexandria is located in the Northern portion of the Commonwealth of Virginia and is included in the Washington, DC metropolitan area. Alexandria was named for John Alexander to whom it was sold shortly after 1669.

Courthouse
For additional records, see Fairfax County, Virginia.

History

 * First settlement established in 1695. Named for Capt. Philip Alexander. Alexandria was not incorporated until 1779.
 * In 1755, General Edward Braddock organized his fatal expediation against Fort Duquesne (near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) at Carlyle House.
 * April 1755, the governors of Virginia, and the Provinces of Maryland, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts and New York met to determine concerted action against the French in America.
 * 1791, Alexandria was included in an area chosen by George Washington to become the District of Columbia. Alexandria along with Arlington County were retroceded back to Virginia in 1846.
 * City of Alexandria was re-chartered in 1852.
 * 1828-1836, Alexandria was home to the Franklin and Armfield slave market.
 * During the Civil War, the slave pen owned by Price, Birch & Co. became a jail under Union occupation.
 * Alexandria was occupied by the Federal troops at the start of the Civil War and remained occupied until the end of the war.
 * 1863 (when West Virginia was divided from Virginia) until end of the Civil War, Alexandria was the seat of the Restored Government of Virginia.
 * 1870, the City of Alexandria became independent of Alexandria County. The rest of Alexandria County became Arlington County in 1920, ending years of confusion.

Parent County
1847--Alexandria was created 13 March 1847 from Fairfax County.

Populated Places
Arlandria. Del Rey. Hume. The Landmark. Mount Ida. North Ridge. Old Town. Saint Elmo. Seminary Hill. Seminary West. Town of Potomac (1930). The Berg. West End. West of Quaker

Research Guides

 * "A Guide to the Counties of Virginia: Alexandria County [Arlington County]," The Virginia Genealogist, Vol. 3, No. 3 (Jul.-Sep. 1959):126-129. Available at New England Ancestors ($).
 * Ray, Suzanne Smith. *"Genealogical Research in the Records of Alexandria City and Arlington County," The Virginia Genealogical Society Newsletter, Vol. 10, No. 4 (Jul.-Aug. 1984):1. Available at ; digital version at Virginia Genealogical Society website.

African Americans

 * Heinegg, Paul. "Alexandria City Personal Property Tax List, 1787-1800," Free African Americans.com, available online. [Heinegg abstracted free blacks listed in these records.]

1799

 * "Alexandria, Virginia, Second Ward, 1799 Census," The Virginia Genealogist, Vol. 4, No. 3 (Jul-Sep. 1960):117-124; Vol. 4, No. 4 (Oct.-Dec. 1960):163-170. Available at New England Ancestors ($). [Often includes head of households' occupations and names and occupations of boarders.]

1800

 * "Alexandria, Virginia, Fourth Ward, 1800 Census," The Virginia Genealogist, Vol. 4, No. 2 (Apr.-Jun. 1960):51-59. Available at New England Ancestors ($).

1890 Union Veterans

 * "Virginia's Union Veterans: Eleventh Census of the United States 1890." Prince William County Virginia, by Ronald Ray Turner.

Church

 * The Truro Parish Colonial Vestry Book (1732-1785) and the proceedings of the Overseers of the Poor (1787-1802). Digitized images available online at Truro Parish Colonial Vestry Minutes.
 * Members of Alexandria Presbyterian Church Virginia Pioneers $

Chancery Court

 * Indexed images of Alexandria, Virginia Chancery Records 1859-1925 are available online through Virginia Memory: Chancery Records Index. These records, often concerned with inheritance disputes, contain a wealth of genealogical information.

Genealogy

 * [Page] Rutherford, Dolores Crumrine. Page Family Records in Virginia Counties. 2 vols. Carmichael, Calif.: D.C. Rutherford, 1982-2006. [Alexandria appears in Vol. 2 Part 1]
 * [Page] Rutherford, Dolores Crumrine. The Page Family in Virginia Personal Property Taxes (1782-1850). 2 vols. Carmichael, Calif.: D.C. Rutherford, 2002. [Alexandria appears in Vol. 2]

Immigration

 * Coldham, Peter Wilson. "Intercepted Letters Relating to America, 1777-1811" The Genealogist, Vol. 14, No. 2 (Fall 2000):184-200. [Overseas contacts of the residents of Alexandria with the following surnames: Hamilton, Taylor.]
 * Edwards, Conley L. "Abstracts of Reports of Aliens, Alexandria County, 1801-1832," The Virginia Genealogist, Vol. 24, No. 2 (Apr.-Jun. 1979):112-116; Vol. 24, No. 3 (Jul.-Sep. 1980):172-176. Available at New England Ancestors ($).

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

French and Indian War

 * Bockstruck, Lloyd DeWitt. Virginia's Colonial Soldiers. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1988. Available at . [Identifies some Alexandria militia officers, soldier enlistments, and veterans; see place name index.]

War of 1812

 * 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.: Governnment Printing Office, 1883. 973 M2Lp v. 5; digital versions at Google Books and Internet Archive. [See Vol. 5, Virginia, Alexandria County, pp. 59-60]

Civil War
Since Alexandria was created in 1847, the Civil War records for that area will be in the city of Alexandria. During the Civil War men often joined a company (within a regiment) that originated in their area.

Indexes
Fairfax County Historical Newspaper Index (1785-2000 nonconsecutive) index only - Free; includes:


 * Alexandria Gazette (1785-1788; July 25, 1854-December 31, 1855; and May 3, 1860-January 20, 1865)
 * Arlington County Record (1932-1933)
 * Fairfax City Times (1961-1968)
 * Fairfax County Independent (1929-1932)
 * Fairfax Herald (1886-1973)
 * Fairfax News (1872-1875)
 * Fairfax News - Herndon Observer (1925-1943)
 * The Local News (1861-1862)
 * The Rambler, Washington Star (1912-1928)
 * Reston Times (1965-1973; 1975-January 6, 1977; 1978; 1980-1983; 1985; and 2000)


 * 1784-1915 - Obituary Notices from the Alexandria Gazette, 1784-1915. Rev. ed. Willow Bend Books.

Scanned 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.


 * 1784-1789 - Virginia Journal (Alexandria, Va.) at Genealogy Bank ($).
 * 1792-1800 - Columbian Mirror (Alexandria, Va.) at Genealogy Bank ($).
 * 1797-1802 - Alexandria Times (Alexandria, Va.) at Genealogy Bank ($).
 * 1800-1808 - Alexandria Advertiser (Alexandria, Va.) at Genealogy Bank ($).
 * 1802 - Columbian Advertiser (Alexandria, Va.) at Genealogy Bank ($).
 * 1802-1807 - Alexandria Expositor (Alexandria, Va.) at Genealogy Bank ($).
 * 1808-1876 - Alexandria Gazette (Alexandria, Va.) at Genealogy Bank ($).
 * 1811-1825 - Alexandria Herald (Alexandria, Va.) at Genealogy Bank ($).
 * 1876 - People's Advocate (Alexandria, Va.) at Genealogy Bank ($).
 * 1916-1946 - Obituary Index to the Alexandria Gazette, 1916-1946 is available online, courtesy: Alexandria Library, Local History/Special Collections.
 * 1927-1928 - Lane, Estelle. "News of Interest to Colored Readers", Alexandria Gazette. 1927-1928 is available online, courtesy: Alexandria Library, Local History/Special Collections.
 * 2002-present - Springfield Connection (Springfield, Va.) at Genealogy Bank ($).
 * 2002-present - Reston Connection (Reston, Va.) at Genealogy Bank ($).

Occupations

 * Cutten, George Barton. The Silversmiths of Virginia (Together with Watchmakers and Jewelers) from 1694 to 1850. Richmond, Va.: The Dietz Press, Incorporated, 1952. Available at . [Includes a section on Alexandria silversmiths.]

Petitions

 * Eckenrode, H.J. Virginia State Library: A Calendar of Legislative Petitions Arranged by Counties Accomac - Bedford. Richmond, Va.: Davis Bottom, Superintendent of Public Printing, 1908. Digital version at Google Books (full-view). [Alexandria petitions (1778-1861) are described on pp. 61-87.]

Probate

 * [1800-1804; 1804-1807; 1807-1810]  Indexes to Wills, Estates,, Inventories  Virginia Pioneers ($)
 * [Bk A 1800-1804; Bk B 1804-1807; Bk C 1807-1810; 1810-1815; 1815-1821; 1821-1823] Images of Wills, Inventories, Orphans, Affidavits, Guardianships Virginia Pioneers ($)

Taxation
How can Virginia tax lists help me?


 * [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. Online at FamilySearch - free; . [The source of this publication is the 1787 personal property tax list. Alexandria is included in Vol. 1.]
 * [1787-1800] Alexandria Personal Property Tax Lists 1787-1800 (images); digital version in Tax List Club at Binns Genealogy ($).
 * [1787-1800] Heinegg, Paul. "Alexandria City Personal Property Tax List, 1787-1800," Free African Americans.com, available online. [Heinegg abstracted free blacks listed in these records.]
 * [1790, 1799] Indexed images of the 1790 and 1799 Personal Property Tax Lists of Alexandria, Virginia are available online at Binns Genealogy.
 * [1800] "Alexandria, Virginia, 1800 Tax List," The Virginia Genealogist, Vol. 4, No. 1 (Jan.-Mar. 1960):17-26. Available at New England Ancestors ($).
 * [1815] Ward, Roger D. 1815 Directory of Virginia Landowners (and Gazetteer). 6 vols. Athens, Georgia: Iberian Pub. Co., 1997-2000. Available at . [This source is based on the 1815 land tax. Alexandria is included in Vol. 4.]

Societies and Libraries

 * Alexandria Black History Museum, Alexandria, Virginia