Pittsylvania County, Virginia Genealogy

United States   Virginia    Pittsylvania County

County Courthouse


Pittsylvania County Courthouse 1 South Main Street Chatham, Virginia 24531 Phone: 804-432-2041

Clerk Circuit Court has marriage, divorce, probate, court and land records from 1767

History


The county was named after the 1st Earl of Chatham, William Pitt (1708-1778). Pitt was serving as Great Britain's Prime Minister at the time Pittsylvania County was organized.

Parent County
1766--Pittsylvania County was created 6 November 1766 from Halifax County. County seat: Chatham

Record Loss

 * Lost censuses: 1790, 1800, 1810

Research Guides

 * "A Guide to the Counties of Virginia: Pittsylvania County," The Virginia Genealogist, Vol. 20, No. 2 (Apr.-Jun. 1976):119-123. Available at New England Ancestors ($).
 * Boisseau, Mary Leigh. "Research Opportunities in Danville and Pittsylvania County," The Virginia Genealogical Society Newsletter, Vol. 18, No. 5 (Sept.-Oct. 1992):1-3. Available at ; digital version at Virginia Genealogical Society website.
 * Sweeney, Alice J. "Bassett Historical Center," The Virginia Genealogical Society Newsletter, Vol. 28, No. 4 (Aug. 2002):1-3. Available at ; digital version at Virginia Genealogical Society website.

African American
In 1860, Pittsylvania County had one of the largest slave population in the state (14,340 slaves). Ten years later in 1870, it had one of the largest African American populations in Virginia (16,084) - the town of Danville in particular.


 * Freedmen's Bureau
 * Griffith, Alva H. Pittsylvania County, Virginia, Register of Free Negroes and Related Documentation. Maryland: Heritage Books, 2001.
 * Heinegg, Paul. "Pittsylvania County Personal Property Tax List, 1782-1823," Free African Americans.com. [Heinegg abstracted free blacks listed in these records.]
 * Randolph, John. "Letter to Walter Coles, Pittsylvania," 1821. [Incomplete citation from Google Books; discusses one of Randolph's slaves.]

Bible Records

 * Pittsylvania County, Virginia Bible Records Online

Cemeteries

 * Tombstone Transcription Project Pittsylvania County- Cemetery transcriptions - USGenWeb
 * Bennett, Harold B. "Siloam Methodist Church Cemetery, Pittsylvania County, Virginia," The Virginia Genealogist, Vol. 25, No. 2 (Apr.-Jun. 1981):83-87. Digital version at American Ancestors ($).
 * Bennett, Harold B. "Walker Cemetery, Climax, Pittsylvania Co., Va.," The Virginia Genealogist, Vol. 25, No. 4 (Oct.-Dec. 1981):248. Digital version at American Ancestors ($).
 * Sutherlin, Elijah T. "Beck Family Cemetery, Pittsylvania County, Virginia," The Virginia Genealogist, Vol. 8, No. 4 (Oct.-Dec. 1964):148. Digital version at American Ancestors ($).

Census
1782 Enumeration


 * Pittsylvania County Heads of Families - 1782 at U.S. Census Bureau - free. County begins on page 40.

1785 Enumeration


 * Pittsylvania County Heads of Families - 1785 at U.S. Census Bureau - free. County begins on page 98.

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 the National Archives microfilm copy of Pittsylvania County, Virginia omits page 63. The missing names have been published in The Virginia Genealogist:


 * Petty, Gerald M. "Virginia 1820 Federal Census: Names Not on the Microfilm Copy," The Virginia Genealogist 18, no 2 (April-June 1974):136-139.


 * The list is also available online at the Shenandoah County GenWeb Project.

1890 Union Veterans


 * Turner, Ronald Ray. Virginia's Union Veterans: Eleventh Census of the United States 1890. Available online, courtesy: Prince William County Virginia website. [Includes residents of this county.]

General

 * Clement, Mrs. N.E. "Ministers Bonds of Pittsylvania Co.," The William and Mary Quarterly, Vol. 20, No. 4 (Apr. 1912):292-294. Available at JSTOR ($). [Identifies the names and religions of Baptist, Methodist, and Presbyterian ministers from bonds dated 1785 to 1843.]
 * Wood, Candace Mattox. The Restoration Movement in Pittsylvania, Henry, and Franklin Counties, Virginia. Dissertation. [Incomplete citation from Google Books.]

Baptist
Early Baptist churches (with years constituted):


 * 1) Bennett's (1790)
 * 2) Birch Creek (1787)
 * 3) County Line (1771)
 * 4) Double Creek (1803)
 * 5) Lower Banister (1798)
 * 6) Mill Church (1770)
 * 7) Shockhoe (1803)
 * 8) Stewart's Creek
 * 9) Stinking River (1800). Records of Stinking Creek Baptist Church (beginning in 1816) were published in VA-NC Piedmont Genealogical Society Bulletin, Vol. 4, No. 2 (May 1982) and Vol. 4, No. 3 (Aug. 1982):.
 * 10) Union (1789)
 * 11) Upper Banister (1773)
 * 12) White Thorn (1791)
 * 13) Zion's Hill (1807)

Pittsylvania County fell within the bounds of the Roanoke Association.


 * Leek, Charles F. and Pittsylvania Baptist Association. The History of Pittsylvania Baptist Association, 1788-1963. Danville, Va.: Pittsylvania Baptist Association, 1963..
 * Virginia-North Carolina Piedmont Genealogical Society. Abstracts of Mt. Ararat Primitive Baptist Church near Whitmell, Pittsylvania County, Virginia: Includes Biographies of Area Primitive Baptist Ministers. Danville, Virginia : Virginia-North Carolina Piedmont Genealogical Society, 1981. Available at.

An article on Primitive Baptist Churches in Pittsylvania County was published in:


 * Piedmont Lineages, Vol. 21, No. 4 (Nov. 1999)..

Church of England
See also Camden Parish


 * Clement, Mrs. N.E. "Colonial Churches in Pittsylvania County," The Virginia Magazine of History and Biography, Vol. 22, No. 2 (Apr. 1914):173-176. Available at JSTOR ($).

Quaker
Early monthly meetings (with years of existence):


 * Reedy Island Monthly Meeting (1792-1812)

Court 
General


 * Melton, Herman. Pittsylvania County's Historic Courthouse: The Story Behind ExParte Virginia and the Making of a National Landmark. Central Virginia Printing, Inc., 1999.

Chancery


 * Azariah Bailey (complainant.), George W. Hall (vegetarian.), William H. Shields (respondent.), Nathaniel E. Witcher (respondent.), Virginia. Circuit Court. Record of a Suit in Chancery, Pittsylvania County, Virginia, Azariah Bailey vs. George W. Hall, Wm. H. Shields &amp; Nathaniel N. Witcher. 1858. [Citation from Google Books.]

Genealogy
More than 100 genealogies have been published about Pittsylvania County families. To view a list, visit Pittsylvania County, Virginia Genealogy.

Historic Residences

 * Fitzgerald, Madelene Vaden. Pittsylvania: Homes and People of the Past. Danville, Virginia: Womack Press, 1974. Available at.

Land
Grants and Patents


 * Hudgins, 1440 patents dated 1738-1819 in what is now Pittsylvania County, Virginia placed on a map. DeedMapper, 2004. [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.]

Record Book


 * Stith, Drury. Entries from an Old Record Book of Drury Stith Concerning Land and Property in Pittsylvania County, 1737-1770. Microfilmed reproduction available at.

Tracts


 * Tucker, George. To the Freeholders of the Counties of Campbell, Pittsylvania and Halifax. Printed at the Virginian Office, 1824.

Local Histories

 * Clement, Maud Carter. History of Pittsylvania County Virginia. Lynchburg, Virginia: J. P. Bell Co., 1929. Digital book at Ancestry ($); and World Vital Records ($). Reviewed in The Virginia Magazine of History and Biography, Vol. 38, No. 3 (Jul. 1930):280-281. Review available at JSTOR ($).

Migration
Bell published records of Pittsylvania County residents who migrated to South Carolina:


 * Bell, Mary McCampbell. "Some Migrations from Virginia to South Carolina," The South Carolina Magazine of Ancestral Research, Vol. 13, No. 3 (Summer 1985):127-129.

Elliott has also created a list of migrants who left the area:


 * 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 ; 1983 reprints (both volumes) available at ; 1990-1992 reprints (both volumes) also available at . [Includes individuals who migrated out of Pittsylvania County to other parts of the country.]

Colonial Militia

 * Bockstruck, Lloyd DeWitt. Virginia's Colonial Soldiers. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1988. Available at . [Identifies some Pittsylvania County militia officers (1767-1774); see place name index.]

French and Indian War

 * Bockstruck, Lloyd DeWitt. Virginia's Colonial Soldiers. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1988. Available at . [Identifies some Pittsylvania County veterans; see place name index.]

Revolutionary War
Regiments. Service men in Pittsylvania County served in various regiments. Men often joined a company (within a regiment) that originated in their county. Pittsylvania County supplied soldiers for the:


 * - 6th Virginia Regiment
 * - 14th Virginia Regiment

Additional resources:

residents' participation in the Revolutionary War.


 * Daughters of the American Colonists. Texas Society. The Rose Window of San Jose Chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution. San Antonio De Bexar Chapter (San Antonio, Tex.), Lucy Alice Posey. Patriots Who Took the Oath of Allegiance, 1777, Pittsylvania County, Virginia: Notarized by Pittsylvania County Clerk. The Chapter, 1977.
 * Hurt, Frances Hallam. An Intimate History of the American Revolution in Pittsylvania County, Virginia. Danville, Virginia: Womack Press, 1976. Available at.
 * "Revolutionary Pension Declarations from Pittsylvania County, Va.," The Virginia Magazine of History and Biography, Vol. 16, No. 2 (Oct. 1908):174-183; Vol. 17, No. 1 (Jan. 1909):73-80; Vol. 20, No. 3 (Jul. 1912):259-266; Vol. 25, No. 2 (Apr. 1917):149-160. Available at JSTOR ($).
 * Watts, Dorothy Chambers. "Some Pittsylvania County, Virginia, Militia Officers," [1775] The Virginia Genealogist, Vol. 23, No. 3 (Jul.-Sep. 1979):225-226. Available at New England Ancestors ($).
 * White, Elizabeth Tunstall and VA-NC Piedmont Genealogical Society. Military Records of Pittsylvania County, Virginia, 1767-1783: Taken from Judgment Books, 1-2-and 4 and Deed, Book 4. VA-NC Piedmont Genealogical Society, 1983.
 * 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, Eastern District, Pittsylvania County on page 132.]
 * 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." ; digital version at Ancestry ($). [Includes veterans from this county; Virginia section begins on page 238.]

War of 1812
Pittsylvania county History.com War of 1812 Soldiers Graves

Pittsylvania County men served in the 42nd and 101st Regiment.


 * Douthat, James L. Roster of War of 1812, Southside, Virginia. Signal Mountain, Tenn.: Mountain Press, 2007. Free online surname index and purchase details at Mountain Press website. 975.5 M2djL. [Includes Pittsylvania County.]
 * 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, Pittsylvania County, p. 98. Identifies War of 1812 veterans living in this county in 1883.]

Civil War

 * - 5th Regiment, Virginia Cavalry (12 months, 1861-62) (Mullins') (Confederate). Company C (Danville Cavalry).
 * - 6th Regiment, Virginia Cavalry (Confederate).
 * - 18th Regiment, Virginia Infantry (Confederate). Company A (Danville Blues), Company B (Danville Grays), and Company I (Spring Garden Blues).
 * - 21st Regiment, Virginia Infantry (Confederate). Company H (Chalk Level Grays) and Company I (Turkey Cock Grays).
 * - 38th Regiment, Virginia Infantry (Pittsylvania Regiment) (Confederate). Company A, Company B (Pittsylvania Vindicators), Company C (Laurel Grove Riflemen), Company D (Whitmell Guards), Company E (Cabell Guards), Company H (Secession Guards), and Company K (The Cascade Rifles).
 * - 46th Regiment, Virginia Infantry (Confederate). Company A (Liberty Guards).

Records and histories are available, including:


 * Virginia, Civil War Service Records of Confederate Soldiers 1861-1865
 * Virginia, Civil War ServiceRecords of Union Soldiers 1861-1865
 * Clement, Maud Carter. War Recollections of the Confederate Veterans of Pittsylvania County, Virginia, 1861-1865. Chatham, Virginia: The Rawley Martin Chapter, Virginia Division, United Daughters of the Confederacy, 1961. Reviewed by Mildred K. Bushong in The Virginia Magazine of History and Biography, Vol. 70, No. 2 (Apr. 1962):215-217. Review available at JSTOR ($).
 * McClurken, Jeffrey W. After the Battle: Reconstructing the Confederate Veteran Family in Pittsylvania County and Danville, Virginia, 1860-1900. Johns Hopkins University, 2002.
 * Williams, Mike K. Confederate Soldiers of Pittsylvania County &amp; Danville. Signal Mountain, Tennessee: Mountain Press, 1988. Available at.

World War I

 * Williams, Hugh T. and Samuel Gardner Walker. Why Soldiers Do Not Talk About the War: Or, Danville and Pittsylvania County's Part. A History of Company "C", 116th Infantry; Battery "E", 111th Field Artillery; Sixth Company, Coast Artillery; Together with Complete Alphabetical Rosters of Officers and Men. Rosters of Danville and Pittsylvania ... J.T. Townes Print. Co., 1919.

Naturalization
Virginia }

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.

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 Danville silversmiths.]
 * Melton, Herman. Picks, Tracks and Bateaux: Industry in Pittsylvania County 1750-1950. Chatham, Virginia: H. Melton, 1993. Available at.
 * Melton, Herman. Pittsylvania's Eighteenth Century Grist Mills. [Chatham, Virginia?: H. Melton?], 1989. Available at . is also available at FHL.
 * Pittsylvania Historical Society. Visitor's Guide to Early Industry in Pittsylvania County, 1998.

Private Papers
Virginia,


 * [Coles] Randolph, John. "Letter to Walter Coles, Pittsylvania," 1821. [Citation from Google Books; discusses one of Randolph's slaves.]


 * [Shelton] Shelton, William Christopher and R.D. Ricketts. A Diary Kept by William C. Shelton for the Year 1850: The Daily Journal of a School Master and Farmer of Pittsylvania County, Virginia. n.p.: n.p., 199-?..

Taxation
How can Virginia tax lists help me?

Tithe lists for 1773, 1774, 1775, 1776, 1777, 1781, and 1782 are kept at the Library of Virginia.


 * [1767] "First List of Tithables of Pittsylvania County, Year 1767," The Virginia Magazine of History and Biography, Vol. 23, No. 1 (Jan. 1915):79-80; Vol. 23, No. 3 (Jul. 1915):303-304; Vol. 23, No. 4 (Oct. 1915):371-380; Vol. 24, No. 2 (Apr. 1916):180-192; Vol. 24, No. 3 (Jun. 1916):271-274. Available at ; reprinted in Virginia Tax Records. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., 1983, which is also available at ; digital version at JSTOR ($).
 * [1767] Clement, Maud Carter, The History of Pittsylvania County, Virginia. Lynchburg, Virginia: J. P. Bell Co., 1929. Digital version at Ancestry [Includes 1767 tithe list.]
 * [1770] Tithables, 1770, Southside Virginian, Vol. 4, No. 3 (Apr. 1986); Vol. 5, No. 2 (Apr. 1987); Vol. 5, No. 4 (Oct. 1987); Vol. 6, No. 2 (Apr. 1988); Vol. 7, No. 3 (Jul. 1989).
 * [1770-1774] Tithables List, 1770-1774, Piedmont Lineages. Danville VA: May 2005. Vol. 27 Iss. 2.
 * [1773] Tithables, 1773, Piedmont Lineages, Vol. 13, No. 1 (Feb. 1991); Vol. 13, No. 2 (May 1991); Vol. 13, No. 3 (Aug. 1991); Vol. 13, No. 4 (Nov. 1991); Vol. 14, No. 1 (Feb. 1992).
 * [1782] 1782 Land Taxes Pittsylvania County, Virginia. Available online, courtesy: VAGenWeb: Pittsylvania County, Virginia Genealogy Project.
 * [1782-1802] Austin, Gayle. The Land Tax Lists of Pittsylvania County, Virginia, 1782-1802. Greenville, South Carolina: Southern Historical Press, 2006. Available at.
 * [1782-1823] Heinegg, Paul. "Pittsylvania County Personal Property Tax List, 1782-1823," Free African Americans.com. [Heinegg abstracted free blacks listed in these records.]
 * [1783] 1783 Alterations to Pittsylvania County Land Tax. Available online, courtesy: VAGenWeb: Pittsylvania County, Virginia Genealogy Project.
 * [1784] 1784 Alterations to Pittsylvania County Land Tax. Available online, courtesy: VAGenWeb: Pittsylvania County, Virginia Genealogy Project.
 * [1785] 1785 Alterations to Pittsylvania County Land Tax. Available online, courtesy: VAGenWeb: Pittsylvania County, Virginia Genealogy Project.
 * [1785] Insolvents Tax List, 1785, Virginia Appalachian Notes, Vol. 5, No. 1 (Feb. 1981).
 * [1785] Tax List, 1785, Non-residents/Insolvents, VA-NC Piedmont Genealogical Society Bulletin, Vol. 3, No. 3 (Aug. 1981).
 * [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. Pittsylvania County is included in Vol. 1.]
 * [1788-1806] Select abstracts from Personal Property Tax Lists, 1788-1806, Piedmont Lineages. Danville VA: Aug 2004. Vol. 26 Iss. 3.
 * [1789, 1800] Indexed images of the 1789 and 1800 Personal Property Tax Lists of Pittsylvania County, Virginia are available online, courtesy: Binns Genealogy.
 * [1793] Top Land Owners from Tax List, 1793, Piedmont Lineages. Danville VA: Feb 2007. Vol. 29 Iss. 1.
 * [1797] Land Tax List, 1797, Piedmont Lineages, Vol. 20, No. 3 (Aug. 1998); Vol. 20, No. 4 (Nov. 1998); Vol. 21, No. 1 (Feb. 1999); Vol. 21, No. 2 (May 1999); Vol. 21, No. 3 (Aug. 1999); Vol. 21, No. 4 (Nov. 1999);
 * [1800] County tax list, 1800, Virginia Genealogist. Falmouth VA: Oct 2004. Vol. 48 Iss. 4; Jan 2005. Vol. 49 Iss. 1.
 * [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. Pittsylvania 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. Pittsylvania County is included in Vol. 2.]

Birth

 * Fridley, Beth, comp. Danville, Pittsylvania County, Virginia Births, 1853-96 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: The Generations Network, Inc., 2000. Original data: Library of Virginia, Richmond VA. Available at Ancestry ($).

Marriage

 * Knorr, Catherine Lindsay. Marriage Bonds and Ministers' Returns of Pittsylvania County, Virginia, 1767-1805. Pine Bluff, Arkansas, 1956. and available at FHL.
 * Reviewed in The Virginia Genealogist, Vol. 1, No. 1 (Jan.-Mar. 1957):46. Review available at American Ancestors ($).
 * James, Edward W. et al. "Marriage Bonds, Pittsylvania County," [1760s-1780] The William and Mary Quarterly, Vol. 6, No. 2 (Oct. 1897):86-87; Vol. 6, No. 4 (Apr. 1898):220-221; Vol. 7, No. 1 (Jul. 1898):55-56; Vol. 20, No. 2, (Labeled issue 1) (Oct., 1911):143-144. Available at JSTOR ($).
 * Williams, Kathleen Booth. Marriages of Pittsylvania County, 1806-1830. Danville, Virginia, 1965.
 * Reviewed in The Virginia Genealogist, Vol. 10, No. 2 (Apr.-Jun. 1966):83. Review available at American Ancestors ($).

Societies and Libraries

 * Bassett Historical Center, Bassett, Virginia. Website includes descriptions of collections. Excellent resource for family history research in Henry, Patrick, Floyd, Franklin and Pittsylvania counties in Virginia, the city of Martinsville, Virginia, and Rockingham, Stokes and Surry counties in North Carolina.
 * VA-NC Piedmont Genealogical Society

Websites

 * Pittsylvania County, Virginia USGENWEB
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