Amherst County, Virginia Genealogy

 United States&#160;  &#160;Virginia&#160;  &#160;Amherst County County Courthouse Amherst County 100 East Court Street Amherst, Virginia, 24521 Phone: 804-946-9321 Clerk Circuit Court has marriage, divorce, probate court and land records from 1761Handybook for Genealogists: United States of America, 10th ed. (Draper, Utah: Everton Pub., 2002), Amherst County, Virginia. Page 710 ;. History  The county was named after Field Marshal Jeffery Amherst, 1st Baron Amherst (1717-1797). Amherst conquered what is now Canada for the British during the French and Indian War.Wikipedia Contributors, &quot;Amherst County, Virginia,&quot; in Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amherst_County,_Virginia, accessed 13 January 2012. Parent County 1758--Amherst County was created 14 September 1758 from Albemarle</a> County. County seat: Amherst <span class="fck_mw_ref" _fck_mw_customtag="true" _fck_mw_tagname="ref" name="Handybook">The Handybook for Genealogists: United States of America, 10th ed. (Draper, UT:Everton Publishers, 2002). Boundary Changes Record Loss Places/Localities Populated Places Neighboring Counties Appomattox</a> | Bedford</a>&#160;| Campbell</a> | Lynchburg</a>&#160;(independent&#160;city)&#160;|&#160;Nelson</a> | Rockbridge</a> Resources Research Guides <ul><li>"A Guide to the Counties of Virginia: Amherst County," The Virginia Genealogist, Vol. 4, No. 1 (Jan.-Mar. 1960):38-40. <span class="fck_mw_template"> ; digital version at American Ancestors</a> ($). </li></ul> African American <ul><li>Freedmen's Bureau Letters or Correspondence, 1865-1872</a> </li><li>Heinegg, Paul. Free African Americans of Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Maryland and Delaware. 2005-present. - free online book</a>. Ailstock, Ampey, Arnold, Beverly, Brannum, Clark, Coy, Evans, Ferrar, Fields, Fortune, Hailstock, Hartless, Humbles, Jackson, Jenkins, Johns, Key, Lansford, Lantor, Mallory, Mason, Peters, Pinn, Redcross, Sneed, Thomas, Valentine, and Viers families of pre-1820 Amherst County, Virginia. </li><li>Heinegg, Paul. "Amherst County Personal Property Tax List 1782-1822,"</a> Free African Americans.com, available online. [Heinegg abstracted free blacks listed in these records.] </li><li>McLeRoy, Sherrie S. Strangers in Their Midst the Free Black Population of Amherst County, Virginia. Bowie, Md.: Heritage Books, 199_. <span class="fck_mw_template"> Information was taken from the register of free blacks, census listings, tax records, deeds, wills, marriages and land plats. Time period covers 1761-1865. </li></ul> Bible Records <span class="fck_mw_template"> Cemeteries For a detailed list, including addresses, phone numbers, and external links, see Amherst County, Virginia Cemeteries</a>. The following is a list of cemeteries in Amherst County:<span class="fck_mw_ref" _fck_mw_customtag="true" _fck_mw_tagname="ref">USGS Map, www.trails.com <ul><li>Tombstone Transcription Project Amherst County</a> - photos and transcriptions - &#160;USGenWeb </li></ul> Census <span class="fck_mw_template"> <span class="fck_mw_template"> 1783 Enumeration <ul><li>Amherst County Heads of Families - 1783</a> at U.S. Census Bureau - free. County begins on page 47. </li></ul> 1785 Enumeration <ul><li>Amherst County Heads of Families - 1785</a> at U.S. Census Bureau - free. County begins on page 83. </li></ul> 1890 Union Veterans <ul><li>Turner, Ronald Ray. Virginia's Union Veterans: Eleventh Census of the United States 1890</a>. Available online, courtesy: <a href="http://www.pwcvabooks.com/index.htm">Prince William County Virginia</a> website. [Includes residents of this county.] </li></ul> Church Records Baptist Early Baptist churches (with years constituted): <ol><li>Buffaloe<span class="fck_mw_ref" _fck_mw_customtag="true" _fck_mw_tagname="ref" name="baptist">Robert Baylor Semple and George William Beale, A History of the Rise and Progress of the Baptists in Virginia (Pitt and Dickinson, 1894), 221. Digital version at Google Books. </li><li>Ebenezer (1773)<span class="fck_mw_ref" _fck_mw_customtag="true" _fck_mw_tagname="ref" name="baptist" /> </li></ol> <span class="fck_mw_template"> Amherst County fell within the bounds of the Albemarle Association. Church of England <img src="/learn/wiki/en/images/b/b1/Gotoarrow.png" _fck_mw_filename="Gotoarrow.png" alt="" /> See also <a href="Amherst Parish, Virginia">Amherst Parish</a> <img src="/learn/wiki/en/images/b/b1/Gotoarrow.png" _fck_mw_filename="Gotoarrow.png" alt="" /> See also <a href="Lexington Parish, Virginia">Lexington Parish</a> Court Chancery Court <ul><li>Indexed images of Amherst County, Virginia Chancery Records 1773-1879 are available online through <a href="http://www.virginiamemory.com/collections/chancery/">Virginia Memory: Chancery Records Index</a>. Additional records are also available at the Amherst County Courthouse. These records, often concerned with inheritance disputes, contain a wealth of genealogical information.<span class="fck_mw_ref" _fck_mw_customtag="true" _fck_mw_tagname="ref">&quot;Virginia Memory: Chancery Records Index Availability,&quot; Library of Virginia (accessed 26 January 2010). </li><li>Sweeny, Lenora Higginbotham. "Amherst County Chancery Suits," The William and Mary Quarterly, Second Series, Vol. 19, No. 3 (Jul., 1939), pp. 318-324. Digital version at <a href="http://www.jstor.org">JSTOR</a>&#160;($). [Loose chancery papers, also discusses Sweeny's discovery of Amherst's Revolutionary-era court order book.] </li></ul> County Court <ul><li>Sweeny, Lenora Higginbotham. "Amherst County Chancery Suits," The William and Mary Quarterly, Second Series, Vol. 19, No. 3 (Jul., 1939), pp. 318-324. Digital version at <a href="http://www.jstor.org">JSTOR</a>&#160;($). [Loose chancery papers, also discusses Sweeny's discovery of Amherst's Revolutionary-era court order book.] </li></ul> Genealogy&#160; More than 125 genealogies have been published about Amherst County families. To view a list, visit <a href="Amherst County, Virginia Genealogy">Amherst County, Virginia Genealogy</a>. Immigration <span class="fck_mw_template"> Land and Property Grants and Patents <span class="fck_mw_template"> <ul><li>Bannister, <a href="http://www.directlinesoftware.com/pool.htm">971 patents dated 1738-1844 in what is now Amherst and Nelson Counties, Virginia placed on a map</a>. DeedMapper, 2005.&#160;[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 <a href="http://www.directlinesoftware.com/">DeedMapper</a>&#160;product.] </li></ul> Local Histories Maps Military French and Indian War <ul><li>Bockstruck, Lloyd DeWitt. Virginia's Colonial Soldiers. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1988. Available at <span class="fck_mw_template">. [Identifies some Amherst County veterans; see place name index.] </li><li>Boogher, William F. Gleanings of Virginia History: An Historical and Genealogical Collection, Largely from Original Sources. Washington: n.p., 1903. Available at <span class="fck_mw_template"> ; digital version at <a href="http://books.google.com/books?id=X1s_AAAAYAAJ">Google Books</a>. [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 Amherst County, see p. 104.] </li></ul> Revolutionary War Regiments. Service men in Accomack County served in various regiments. Men often joined a company (within a regiment) that originated in their county. Accomack County supplied soldiers for the: <dl><dd><dl><dd>- <a href="6th Virginia Regiment (Revolutionary War)">6th Virginia Regiment</a> </dd><dd>- <a href="10th Virginia Regiment (Revolutionary War)">10th Virginia Regiment</a> </dd></dl> </dd></dl> Additional resources: <span class="fck_mw_template"> The following Amherst County Revolutionary War records&#160;are available for free online, courtesy: <a href="http://www.southerncampaign.org/">Southern Campaigns of the American Revolution</a>: <ol><li><a href="http://southerncampaign.org/pen/b2.pdf">"Petition by the men of the Amherst County, Virginia Militia who fought at the Battle of Camden,"</a> transcribed by James Lynch. </li><li><a href="http://southerncampaign.org/pen/b3.pdf">"Payroll of Capt. Azariah Martin's Company of Militia from Amherst County VA,"</a> transcribed by C. Leon Harris. </li></ol> Additional Revolutionary War records for Amherst County include: <ul><li>Sweeny, Lenora Higginbotham. "Amherst County," The William and Mary Quarterly, Second Series, Vol. 9, No. 4 (Oct., 1929), p. 324. Digital version at <a href="http://www.jstor.org">JSTOR</a> ($). [List, found in private papers, which appears to identify payments made to Amherst County residents for Revolutionary War provisions.] </li><li>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 version at <a href="http://books.google.com/books?id=W7JYAAAAMAAJ">Google Books</a>. 1967 reprint: <span class="fck_mw_template"> 973 X2pc 1840. [See Virginia, Eastern District, Amherst County on page 128.] </li><li>Rejected or Suspended Applications for Revolutionary War Pensions. Washington, D.C., 1852. Reprinted by Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., 1969, and 1991. Reprints include&#160;"an Added Index to States." <span class="fck_mw_template"> 973 M24ur; digital version at <a href="http://search.ancestryinstitution.com/search/db.aspx?dbid=48141">Ancestry</a> ($). [Includes veterans from this county; Virginia section begins on page 238.] </li></ul> War of 1812 Amherst County men served in the 90th Regiments.<span class="fck_mw_ref" _fck_mw_customtag="true" _fck_mw_tagname="ref">Stuart Lee Butler, A Guide to Virginia Militia Units in the War of 1812 (Athens, Ga.: Iberian Pub. Co., 1988), 47. . <ul><li>Douthat, James L. Roster of War of 1812, Southside, Virginia. Signal Mountain, Tenn.: Mountain Press, 2007. Free online surname index and purchase details at <a href="http://www.mountainpress.com/books/va/details/va-0697w.html">Mountain Press</a> website. <span class="fck_mw_template"> 975.5 M2djL. [Includes Amherst County.] </li><li>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. <span class="fck_mw_template"> 973 M2Lp v. 5; digital versions at <a href="http://books.google.com/books?id=t7oqAAAAMAAJ">Google Books</a> and <a href="http://www.archive.org/details/listpensionerso02buregoog">Internet Archive</a>. [See Vol. 5, Virginia, Amherst County, p. 61.] </li></ul> Civil War <span class="fck_mw_template"> <dl><dd>- <a href="2nd Regiment, Virginia Cavalry (Confederate)">2nd Regiment, Virginia Cavalry (Confederate)</a>. Company E (Amherst Mounted Rangers) </dd><dd>- <a href="19th Regiment, Virginia Infantry (Confederate)">19th Regiment, Virginia Infantry (Confederate)</a>. Company H (The Southern Rights Guard) and Company I (The Amherst Rifles).<span class="fck_mw_ref" _fck_mw_customtag="true" _fck_mw_tagname="ref">Ervin L. Jordan and Herbert A. Thomas, 19th Virginia Infantry (Lynchburg, Va.: H.E. Howard, 1987). . </dd><dd>- <a href="20th Battalion, Virginia Heavy Artillery (Confederate)">20th Battalion, Virginia Heavy Artillery (Confederate)</a>. Company D.<span class="fck_mw_ref" _fck_mw_customtag="true" _fck_mw_tagname="ref">Tracy Chernault and Jeffrey C. Weaver, 18th and 20th Battalions of Heavy Artillery (Lynchburg, Va.: H.E. Howard, 1995). . </dd><dd>- <a href="49th Regiment, Virginia Infantry (Confederate)">49th Regiment, Virginia Infantry (Confederate)</a>. Company B (Amherst Rough and Readys) were presumably from Amherst County.<span class="fck_mw_ref" _fck_mw_customtag="true" _fck_mw_tagname="ref">Richard B. Kleese, 49th Virginia Infantry (Appomattox, Va.: H.E. Howard, 2002). . </dd><dd>- <a href="50th Regiment, Virginia Infantry (Confederate)">50th Regiment, Virginia Infantry (Confederate)</a>. Company F (Pedlar Mills Guard).<span class="fck_mw_ref" _fck_mw_customtag="true" _fck_mw_tagname="ref">John C. Chapla, 50th Virginia Infantry (Lynchburg, Va.: H.E. Howard, 1997). . </dd></dl> Records and histories are available, including: <ul><li>Virginia, Civil War <a href="https://www.familysearch.org/search/collection/show#uri=http://www.familysearch.org/searchapi/search/collection/1932382">Service Records of Confederate Soldiers 1861-1865</a> </li><li>Virginia, Civil War <a href="https://www.familysearch.org/search/collection/show#uri=http://www.familysearch.org/searchapi/search/collection/1932427">Service Records of Union Soldiers 1861-1865</a> </li><li>Amherst County Families and History , compiled from Henry Hardesty's Historical and Geographical Encyclopaedia. Inc. Includes the reigments that served,&#160;campaigns and unit rosters on pages 5-19. <span class="fck_mw_template"> </li></ul> Naturalization Virginia <span class="fck_mw_template"> Newspapers Indexed images of the <a href="http://research.history.org/DigitalLibrary/BrowseVG.cfm">Virginia Gazette </a>(1736-1780) are available online through the <a href="http://www.colonialwilliamsburg.org/">Colonial Williamsburg </a>website. 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: <a href="http://www2.vcdh.virginia.edu/gos/">The Geography of Slavery in Virginia</a>. These newspapers are valuable resources for all regions of Virginia. Officials <ul><li>Starke, Aubrey H. "Amherst County Magistrates, 1779-1798," The Virginia Genealogist, Vol. 4, No. 3 (Jul.-Sep. 1960):125-126. Available at <span class="fck_mw_template">. Digital version at <a href="http://www.americanancestors.org/search.aspx?Ca=098&amp;Da=285">New England Ancestors</a> ($). </li></ul> Petitions <ul><li>Eckenrode, H.J. Virginia State Library:&#160;A Calendar of Legislative Petitions Arranged by Counties Accomac - Bedford. Richmond, Va.: Davis Bottom, Superintendent of Public Printing, 1908. Digital version at <a href="http://books.google.com/books?id=9VUVAAAAYAAJ">Google Books</a> (full-view). [Amherst County petitions (1775-1856) are described on pp. 107-132.] </li></ul> Probate Records <span class="fck_mw_template"> <ul><li>Clemens, William M. Virginia Wills Before 1799: A Complete Abstract Register of All Names Mentioned in Over Six Hundred Recorded Wills, ... Copied from the Court House Records of Amherst, Bedford, Campbell, Loudoun, Prince William and Rockbridge Counties. Pompton Lakes, N.J.: Biblio Co., 1924. <span class="fck_mw_template"> Fiche 6015628-6015629; digital versions at <a href="http://www.accessgenealogy.com/virginia/virginia_wills_before_1799.htm">Access Genealogy</a>; <a href="http://search.ancestryinstitution.com/search/db.aspx?dbid=10611">Ancestry</a> ($); and <a href="http://www.heritagequestonline.com">Heritage Quest Online</a> ($). Free online surname index and 2004 reprint purchase details at <a href="http://www.mountainpress.com/books/va/details/va-0683w.html">Mountain Press</a> website. </li><li>&#160;Digital Images of Amherst County&#160;Wills 1810-1831; 1832-1897.&#160; See names of Testators. <a href="http://www.virginiapioneers.net/counties/countyamherst.html">Virginia Pioneers</a> </li></ul> Taxation <a href="Virginia Tax Lists">How can Virginia tax lists help me?</a>&#160; <ul><li>[1782-1822] Heinegg, Paul. <a href="http://freeafricanamericans.com/Amherst.htm">"Amherst County Personal Property Tax List 1782-1822,"</a> Free African Americans.com, available online. [Heinegg abstracted free blacks listed in these records.] </li><li>[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&#160;Licenses Were Issued. 3 vols. Springfield, Va.: Genealogical Books in Print, 1987. <span class="fck_mw_template">. [The source of this publication is the 1787 personal property tax list. Amherst County is included in Vol. 1.] </li><li>[1790, 1799] Indexed images of the <a href="http://www.binnsgenealogy.com/VirginiaTaxListCensuses/">1790 and 1799 Personal Property Tax Lists of Amherst County, Virginia</a>&#160;are available online, courtesy: <a href="http://www.binnsgenealogy.com/">Binns Genealogy</a>. </li><li>[1800] "Amherst County, Virginia, 1800 Tax List," The Virginia Genealogist, Vol. 5, No. 2 (Apr.-Jun. 1961):80-84; Vol. 5, No. 3 (Jul.-Sep. 1961):125-130; Vol. 5, No. 4 (Oct.-Dec. 1961):155-160; Vol. 6, No. 1 (Jan.-Mar. 1962):18-22. <span class="fck_mw_template">. Digital version at <a href="http://www.americanancestors.org/search.aspx?Ca=098&amp;Da=285">New England Ancestors</a> ($). </li><li>[1800] Tax List, 1800, Bedford Genealogical Society Newsletter, Vol. 9, No. 2 (May 1998); Vol. 9, No. 3 (Aug. 1998); Vol. 9, No. 4 (Nov. 1998). </li><li>[1815] Ward, Roger D. 1815 Directory of Virginia Landowners (and Gazetteer). 6 vols. Athens, Georgia: Iberian Pub. Co., 1997-2000. <span class="fck_mw_template">. [The source for this publication is the 1815 land tax. Amherst County is included in Vol. 1.] </li></ul> Vital Records <span class="fck_mw_template"> Marriage <ul><li>Sweeny, Lenora Higginbotham. Marriage Records of Amherst County, 1815-1821; And Subscriptions for Building St. Mark's Church, Amherst County, Virginia. Lynchburg, Virginia, 1961. Reviewed in The Virginia Genealogist, Vol. 6, No. 2 (Apr.-Jun. 1962):86. The review is available at <span class="fck_mw_template"> Digital version is at <a href="http://www.americanancestors.org/search.aspx?Ca=098&amp;Da=285">American Ancestors</a> ($). </li></ul> Death <span class="fck_mw_template"> Vital Record Substitutes <span class="fck_mw_template"> <span class="fck_mw_template"> Societies and Libraries <ul><li><a href="Central Virginia Genealogical Association">Central Virginia Genealogical Association</a> </li></ul> Family History Centers <ul><li><a _fcknotitle="true" href="Introduction to LDS Family History Centers">Introduction to LDS Family History Centers</a> </li></ul> Websites <ul><li>Amherst County, Virginia <a href="http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~vaamhers/">USGENWEB</a> <ul><li><a href="http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~vaamhers/">Amherst County, VAGenWeb</a>. Part of the <a href="http://usgenweb.org/">USGenWeb Project</a>. Cemetery, census, family, land, marriage, military, newspaper, and will records. Queries, mailing lists. </li></ul> </li><li><span class="fck_mw_template"> </li><li><a href="http://www.cyndislist.com/us/va/counties/amherst/">Cyndi's List</a> <span class="fck_mw_template"> &#160; </li><li><a href="http://www.virginiapioneers.net} ($)"> Learning How to [https://www.familysearch.org/learn/wiki/en/Help:Contributor_Help Edit our Wiki Sites</a> </li></ul> &#160; References <span class="fck_mw_references" _fck_mw_customtag="true" _fck_mw_tagname="references" /> <span class="fck_mw_template"> <span class="fck_mw_template">

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