Bland County, Virginia Genealogy

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

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Description
Bland County is located in the Southwest portion of the Commonwealth of Virginia sharing a border with West Virginia. Bland County was established by an Act passed by the State General Assembly on March 30, 1861 and was named after Richard Bland, a leader of Colonial Virginia. Bland is the County seat.

Bland County Virginia Courthouse
Bland County Courthouse 612 Main Street, Suite 104 Bland, VA 24315 Phone: 540-688-4562

Clerk Circuit court has marriage, probate and land records 1861 and divorce records from 1900

Bland County Virginia History


The county was named after Richard Bland (1710-1776), Virginia delegate to the Continental Congress in 1774 and 1775.

Parent County
1861--Bland County was created 30 March 1861 from Giles, Tazewell and Wythe Counties. County seat: Bland

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

Record Loss
1888 Most loose papers were destroyed by a courthouse fire in 1888. Bound volumes, and some of the chancery papers remain.

Research Guides

 * Dorman, John Frederick. "A Guide to the Counties of Virginia: Bland County," The Virginia Genealogist, Vol. 5, No. 2 (Apr.-Jun. 1961):77-78. Available at New England Ancestors ($).

Cemeteries
For a more detailed list, including addresses and external links, see Bland County, Virginia Cemeteries.

The following is a list of cemeteries in Bland County:

Chancery Court

 * Indexed images of Bland County, Virginia Chancery Records 1874-1928 are available online through Virginia Memory: Chancery Records Index. The online indexes continues from 1928 through 1938, but at present does not include images. These records, often concerned with inheritance disputes, contain a wealth of genealogical information.

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.: Government Printing Office, 1883. 973 M2Lp v. 5; digital versions at Google Books and Internet Archive. [See Vol. 5, Virginia, Bland County, p. 64.]

Civil War

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

Bland County men most often served in regiments (and companies) from their home county. At times, however, individuals and small groups can be found serving in regiments from neighboring counties. Later in the war, Confederate units often reorganized.


 * History of Bland County (Virginia).Radford, Virginia: Commonwealth Press, 1961, that includes names of units from this county and a roster of the men who served in these units on pages 259-277. Pages 275-276 lists very small groups of Bland County soldiers who served in other regiments.


 * - 8th Regiment, Virginia Cavalry (Confederate). Company F (Bland Rangers)
 * - 36th Regiment, Virginia Infantry (Confederate).
 * - 45th Regiment, Virginia Infantry (Confederate). Company F (Sharpshooters).
 * - 47th Battalion, Virginia Cavalry (Confederate). Company B.
 * - 51st Regiment, Virginia Infantry (Confederate). Company F (or K).

Miscellaneous Records

 * 1607-2007 - at FamilySearch — index and images

Taxation

 * 1890 - Smith, Denise A. 1890 Bland County, Virginia Property Tax Records. Signal Mountain, Tenn.: Mountain Press, 2004. - free.

Birth

 * 1861-1896 - Fridley, Beth, comp. Bland County, Virginia Births: 1861-96 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: The Generations Network, Inc., 2000. Digital version at Ancestry ($).
 * 1912-1913 - at FamilySearch — index and images

Marriage

 * 1660-1959 - Virginia, United States Marriages at FindMyPast — index $
 * 1861-1929 - Bland County Marriage Index 1861-1929. Batch at FamilySearch - free.
 * 1861-1929 - Bland County Marriage Index 1861-1929. Batch (broken link) at FamilySearch - free.
 * 1936-1988 - at FamilySearch — index and images

Divorce

 * 1918-1988 - at FamilySearch — index and images

Death

 * 1912-1987 - at FamilySearch — index and images

Bland County Virginia Genealogy Websites

 * Bland Co., VAGenWeb. Part of the USGenWeb Project. Maps, name indexes, history.
 * Bland County, VA History, Records, Facts and Genealogy (Familytree101)
 * Cyndi's List
 * Cyndi's List