York County, Virginia Genealogy

For more information, see the discussion page

United States   Virginia    York County



York County, created in 1643, is a Tidewater county located on the Virginia Peninsula in the Hampton Roads region in Southeast Virginia. It has an area of 106 square miles.

County Courthouse


York County - Poquosin Courthouse aka York County Circuit Court 300 Ballard St. Yorktown, VA 23690

The courthouse serves both York County and the independent city of Poquoson.

The Records room is open from 8:15 AM to 4:45 PM Monday through Friday and can be contacted by calling (757) 890-4103.

Quick Facts


The county is believed to have been named after the English city of York.

Parent County
1634--York County was created in 1634 as an original shire or county. County seat: Yorktown

Record Loss

 * Lost censuses: 1790, 1800, 1890

Populated Places
Places recognized by the US Census Bureau:


 * Hampton - Incorporated City
 * Yorktown, Virginia - County Seat

Other places not recognized by the US Census Bureau:


 * Grafton
 * Lackey
 * Lightfoot
 * Seaford
 * Tabb
 * Yorktown Naval Weapons Stati

Neighboring Counties

 * Gloucester
 * James City
 * Northampton

Research Guides

 * "A Guide to the Counties of Virginia: York County," The Virginia Genealogist, Vol. 25, No. 1 (Jan.-Mar. 1981):51-53. Available at New England Ancestors ($).
 * Hopkins, Garland Evans. York County Source Book; Includes a Brief History of Colonial York County, Virginia; Petitions to the General Assembly from 1776 to 1858; and Guides to Source Materials Concerning the History and Genealogy of the County. Winchester, Va.: Hopkins, 1942. Item 25.

African American

 * Heinegg, Paul. "York County Personal Property Tax List 1782-1825," Free African Americans.com. [Heinegg abstracted free blacks listed in these records.]
 * Heinegg, Paul. "York County Register of Free Negroes 1798-1831," Free African Americans.com. [This list can be found after the index in Guardians' Accounts, 1780-1823, Library of Virginia Microfilm Reel 65.]
 * Johnson, Martha C. Black Families of Elizabeth City Co., VA, 1800-1990: Research of Families of Callis, Davis, Simpson, Radcliff, Originating from Gloucester Co., Mathews Co., York and James Counties and Elizabeth Co., Hampton, Virginia. 1728886 Item 2.

Cemeteries
For a detailed list, including addresses, phone numbers, and external links, see York County, Virginia Cemeteries.

The following is a list of cemeteries in York County:

Census
1890 Union Veterans' Census


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

Church History and Records

 * Baptist


 * New Bethel Baptist Church
 * New Quarters Baptist Church
 * Rising Sun Baptist Church
 * Zion Prospect Baptist Church


 * Church of England


 * Kinard, June. Charles Parish Records, York County, Virginia, 1648-1789 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: The Generations Network, Inc., 1998. Available at Ancestry ($).
 * Mason, George Carrington. Colonial Churches of Tidewater Virginia. Richmond, Virginia: Whittet &amp; Shepperson, 1945. Available at FHL; digital version at BYU Family History Archives. [Includes York County.]


 * Christian


 * Northside Christian Church


 * The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints


 * Poquoson Ward and Virginia Peninsula Branch (YSA) 113 Sinclair Lane Yorktown, VA


 * Episcopal


 * Grace Episcopal Church 111 Church Street (for mailing, P.O. Box 123) Yorktown, VA 23690


 * Methodist


 * Providence United Methodist Church
 * Tabernacle United Methodist Church
 * Zion Methodist Church


 * Presbyterian


 * York River Presbyterian Church

Court Records
County Court


 * Fleet, Beverley. York County, 1633-1646. Baltimore: Genealogical Pub. Co., 1961. Available at FHL; digital version at Ancestry ($). [Includes York County Records; Deeds, Orders, Wills, Etc. No. 1 and No. 2; Record Book No. 2.]
 * Fleet, Beverley. York County, 1646-1648. Baltimore: Genealogical Pub. Co., 1961. Available at FHL; digital version at Ancestry ($). [Includes court orders 1646-1648.]

Record Book


 * Fleet, Beverley. York County, 1633-1646. Baltimore: Genealogical Pub. Co., 1961. Available at FHL; digital version at Ancestry ($). [Includes York County Records; Deeds, Orders, Wills, Etc. No. 1 and No. 2; Record Book No. 2.]
 * Fleet, Beverley. York County, 1648-1657. Baltimore: Genealogical Pub. Co., 1961. Available at FHL; digital version at Ancestry ($). [Includes abstracts of Record Book No. 2 (1648), Record Book No. 1 (1652-1657), and Record Book No. 3 (1657).]

Genealogy
More than 50 genealogies have been published about York County families. To view a list, visit York County, Virginia Genealogy.

Immigration

 * Coldham, Peter Wilson. "Correspondence with the American Colonies 1739-1782," The Genealogist, Vol. 12, No. 1 (Spring 1998):108-128; Vol. 12, No. 2 (Fall 1998):189-205. [Overseas correspondence of residents of Yorktown with the following surname: Norton.] Available at FHL.
 * Coldham, Peter Wilson. "Intercepted Letters Relating to America, 1777-1811" The Genealogist, Vol. 14, No. 2 (Fall 2000):184-200. [Overseas contacts of a resident of York Co., VA with the following surname: Cunninghame.]
 * Coldham, Peter Wilson. North American Wills Registered in London 1611-1857. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., 2007. [Includes wills of residents of Brewerton Parish, York River, York Town [Yorktown], and York County proved in London. These records often help establish an immigrant's place of origin.]
 * [http://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=York&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 York County, Virginia (work in progress), courtesy: Immigrant Servants Database.
 * Ljungstedt, Milnor. "Items from Southern Records" [Showing Family and Trade Connections with Northern Colonies and the Home Countries], The American Genealogist, Vol. 15 (1938):95-104. Available at New England Ancestors. [York Co., VA: Chesely, Clarke, Hall, Hethersall, Lane, Martin, Moosser [?], Perry, Phelps, Rogers, Weatherall, Williams.]

Land
Deeds


 * Fleet, Beverley. York County, 1633-1646. Baltimore: Genealogical Pub. Co., 1961. Available at FHL; digital version at Ancestry ($). [Includes York County Records; Deeds, Orders, Wills, Etc. No. 1 and No. 2; Record Book No. 2.]

Grants and Patents


 * Nugent, Nell Marion. Cavaliers and Pioneers: Abstracts of Virginia Land Patents and Grants 1623-1666. Vol. I (1934; reprint, Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., 1991). Available at FHL; digital version at Ancestry ($). [Includes York County. N.B. If Ancestry's search engine fails, try checking the printed index at the end of the book.]

Colonial Militia

 * Bockstruck, Lloyd DeWitt. Virginia's Colonial Soldiers. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1988. Available at FHL. [Identifies some York County militia officers and/or soldiers; 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 York County, see p. 102.]
 * Crozier, William Armstrong. Virginia Colonial Militia 1651-1776. Baltimore: Southern Book Co., 1954. Available at FHL; digital book at Ancestry ($). [Identifies some York County militia officers; see place name index.]

French and Indian War

 * Bockstruck, Lloyd DeWitt. Virginia's Colonial Soldiers. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1988. Available at FHL. [Identifies some York County militia officers, soldier enlistments, and veterans; see place name index.]
 * Crozier, William Armstrong. Virginia Colonial Militia 1651-1776. Baltimore: Southern Book Co., 1954. Available at FHL; digital book at Ancestry ($). [Identifies some York County militia officers; 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.: Government Printing Office, 1883. 973 M2Lp v. 5; digital versions at Google Books and Internet Archive. [See Vol. 5, Virginia, York County, p. 108. Identifies War of 1812 veterans living in this county in 1883.]

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
Philip Alexander Bruce's book Economic History of Virginia in the Seventeenth Century (Vol. II, 1896, p. 334 footnote 1) includes a list of early English merchants in York County.


 * 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 FHL. [Includes a section on Yorktown silversmiths.]

Private Papers

 * Coldham, Peter Wilson. "Correspondence with the American Colonies 1739-1782," The Genealogist, Vol. 12, No. 1 (Spring 1998):108-128; Vol. 12, No. 2 (Fall 1998):189-205. [Overseas correspondence of residents of Yorktown with the following surname: Norton.] Available at FHL.

Probate Records
Local Court


 * Fleet, Beverley. York County, 1633-1646. Baltimore: Genealogical Pub. Co., 1961. Available at FHL; digital version at Ancestry ($). [Includes York County Records; Deeds, Orders, Wills, Etc. No. 1 and No. 2; Record Book No. 2.]
 * Hopkins, William Lindsay. Some Wills from the Burned Counties of Virginia and Other Wills Not Listed in Virginia Wills and Administrations 1632-1800. Richmond, Virginia: W.L. Hopkins, 1987. Available at FHL. [Includes York County.]

London Courts


 * Coldham, Peter Wilson. North American Wills Registered in London 1611-1857. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., 2007. [Includes wills of residents of Brewerton Parish, York River, York Town [Yorktown], and York County proved in London. These records often help establish an immigrant's place of origin.]

Taxation
How can Virginia tax lists help me?


 * [1704] "Virginia Quit Rent Rolls, 1704," Virginia Magazine of History and Biography, Vol. 28 (1920):207-218, 328-339; Vol. 29 (1921):18-28, 337-343, 402-412; Vol. 30 (1922):21-30, 280-285, 341-347; Vol. 31 (1923):70-75, 153-163, 215-231, 314-318; Vol. 32 (1924):69-75, 144-158, 281-287, 338-343; Vol. 33 (1925):47-50, 359-370; Vol. 34 (1926):113-119, 252-258, 313, 321. Available at FHL; reprinted in Virginia Tax Records. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., 1983, which is also available at FHL; digital version of VMHB at JSTOR ($). [York County appears in 31:70-75.]
 * [1704, 1782-1784] Hansford, Thelma. Tax Lists York County 1782, 1783, 1784; Rent Roll York County 1704, Gloucester 1704, Warwick 1704; James City County Taxes 1768. Virginia?: T.I. Hansford?, 1950. Available at FHL.
 * [1763] "Tithables in York-Hampton Parish, York County, Va.," Tyler's Quarterly Historical and Genealogical Magazine, Vol. 7(1926):179-185. Available at FHL; reprinted in Virginia Tax Records. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., 1983, which is also available at FHL. [The source for this publication is a tithable list published in 1763. Could it, perhaps, record tithables from a year or two before that time?]
 * [1763] York County, Virginia Records: Tithables 1763 (York-Hampton Parish), Marriages 1772-1792. Signal Mountain, Tennessee: Mountain Press, 2007. Available at FHL.
 * [1780] Account of Indian corn received for taxes, 1780, Magazine of Virginia Genealogy. Richmond VA: Feb 1992. Vol. 30 Iss. 1.
 * [1782] Land tax records, 1782, Tidewater Virginia Families. Williamsburg VA: May 1999. Vol. 8 Iss. 1.
 * [1782-1784] See 1704.
 * [1782-1825] Heinegg, Paul. "York County Personal Property Tax List 1782-1825," Free African Americans.com. [Heinegg abstracted free blacks listed in these records.]
 * [1784] 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. Available at FHL. [1784 personal property tax list of York County.]
 * [1786, 1788] 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. [Sources for this publication are the York County 1788 personal property tax list, the York Town 1788 personal property tax list, and partial York County 1786 personal property tax list (individuals who do not appear on 1788 list were abstracted). York County is included in Vol. 2.]
 * [1788-1789] York County Tax List 1788-1789. Purchase at Simmons Historical Bookstore.
 * [1790, 1800] Indexed images of the 1790 and 1800 Personal Property Tax Lists of York County, Virginia are available online, courtesy: Binns Genealogy.
 * [1791, 1801] Indexed images of the 1791 and 1800 Land Tax Lists of York County, Virginia are available online, courtesy: Binns Genealogy.
 * [1793] Tithables, 1793, Upper precinct, Tidewater Virginia Families. Williamsburg VA: Aug 1994. Vol. 3 Iss. 2.
 * [1793] Tithables, ca.1793, Williamsburg, Tidewater Virginia Families. Williamsburg VA: Nov 1994. Vol. 3 Iss. 3.
 * [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. York County is included in Vol. 3.]

Vital Records
Marriage


 * York County, Virginia Records: Tithables 1763 (York-Hampton Parish), Marriages 1772-1792. Signal Mountain, Tennessee: Mountain Press, 2007. Available at FHL.

Societies, Libraries and Museums
(at Wikipedia), covering York and James City counties, Jamestowne, Colonial Williamsburg, Yorktown Battlefield Park, Yorktown National Cemetery

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
 * National Park Service - Colonial National Historical Park
 * National Park Service - Historic Jamestowne
 * National Park Service - Yorktown Battlefield