Madison County, Virginia Genealogy

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

Virginia Online Genealogy Records

Description
Madison County is located in the North-Central portion of the Commonwealth of Virginia and was named for the Madison family that owned a tract of land along the Rapidan River. This family produced one of our nation’s early presidents, James Madison.

Madison County, Virginia Courthouse
Madison County Courthouse 538 South Main Street P.O. Box 220 Madison, VA 22727-0220 Phone: 540-948-6888

Clerk Circuit Court has marriage, divorce, probate, court and land records from 1793

Madison County, Virginia History


The county is named after President James Madison (1751-1836).

Parent County
1792--Madison County was created 4 December 1792 from Culpeper County. County seat: Madison

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
There is no known history of courthouse disasters in this county.


 * Lost censuses: 1800, 1890

Populated Places
For a complete list of populated places, including small neighborhoods and suburbs, visit HomeTown Locator. The following are the most historically and genealogically relevant populated places in this county:

Neighboring Counties
Culpeper | Greene | Orange | Page | Rappahannock

Research Guides

 * "A Guide to the Counties of Virginia: Madison County," The Virginia Genealogist, Vol. 17, No. 1 (Jan.-Mar. 1973):50-52. ; digital version at American Ancestors ($).

African American

 * Heinegg, Paul. "Madison County Personal Property Tax List, 1793-1818," Free African Americans.com. [Heinegg abstracted free blacks listed in these records.]

Cemeteries

 * 1800-1986 - at FamilySearch — index

Latter-day Saint Cemetery Records

Vol. 1
 * page 146 - Fairview Cemetery, at Hood
 * page 149 - Rose Park Cemetery, at Wolfton

Census
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.]

Baptist
Madison County fell within the bounds of the Culpeper Association. Early Baptist churches (with years constituted):


 * 1) Rapidan (1773)
 * 2) Robinson River (1790)

Church of England
Meade's 1861 history of parishes in Madison County is available online.

Court
Chancery Court


 * Indexes and images to Madison County, Virginia Chancery Records 1802-1881 are available online through Virginia Memory: Chancery Records Index. Additional records are available at the Madison County Courthouse. These records, which were often concerned with inheritance disputes, contain a wealth of genealogical information.

Superior Court of Chancery

The Superior Court of Chancery of Fredericksburg (1802-1831) had jurisdiction over certain Madison County court cases. An index has been compiled:


 * Indexes of Court Records in the Clerk's Office, Fredericksburg, Virginia, 1782-1904. Original records, Fredericksburg City Courthouse, Fredericksburg, Va., microfilmed reproduction available at . [Indexes the following records: District Court law book v. 8, 1782-1792; District Court law books 1790-1793, v. A-F 1789-1811; Superior Court of Law law order books v. G-H 1812-1831; Superior Court of Chancery chancery order books 1814-1831; Hustings Court orders v. A-O 1782-1871; Circuit Superior Court of Law and Chancery law order books v. A-E 1831-1875; Circuit Superior Court of Law and Chancery chancery order books v. A-D 1831-1872; Circuit Court chancery order books v. A2, B-C 1875-1904; Fredericksburg District Court (1789-1808) had jurisdiction over the following counties: Spotsylvania (including Fredericksburg), Caroline, King George, Stafford, Orange, and Culpeper; Superior Court of Chancery (1802-1831) had jurisdiction over the following localities: city of Fredericksburg and the counties of Caroline, Culpeper, Fauquier, Fairfax, Lancaster, Northumberland, Madison, King George, Orange, Prince William, Richmond, Spotsylvania, Stafford, Essex, and Westmoreland.]

Genealogy
More than 75 genealogies have been published about Madison County families. To view a list, visit Madison County, Virginia Compiled Genealogies.

Immigration

 * Coldham, Peter Wilson. North American Wills Registered in London 1611-1857. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., 2007. [Includes will a of resident of Madison County proved in London. These records often help establish an immigrant's place of origin.]

Land
Grants and Patents


 * Blankenbaker. 204 patents dated 1722-1739 in what is now Madison County, Virginia (Placed on a Map). DeedMapper, 2004. [In order to view this map, it is necessary to purchase Direct Line Software's DeedMapper product.]
 * Gray, Gertrude E. Virginia Northern Neck Land Grants, 1775-1800. Vol. III. Baltimore, MD, USA: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1993. ; digital version at Ancestry ($). [Includes Madison County.]

Local Histories

 * Yowell, Claude Lindsay. A History of Madison County, Virginia. Strasburg, Va.: Shenandoah Publishing House, c1926. Digital version at - free.

Revolutionary War

 * 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, Madison County on page 131.]
 * 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." 973 M24ur; digital version at Ancestry ($). [Includes veterans from this county; Virginia section begins on page 238.]

War of 1812
Madison County men served in the 82nd Regiment.


 * 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, Madison County, p. 89. Identifies War of 1812 veterans living in this county in 1883.]
 * Humes, Joseph, Muster roll of Captain Joseph Humes' company, War of 1812 82nd (Madison County).

Civil War

 * 1861-1865 - at FamilySearch — index
 * 1861-1865 - at FamilySearch — index
 * 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)

Regiments. Madison 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 regiment from neighboring counties. Later in the war, Confederate units often reorganized. Men from Madison County can be found in the following regiments:

Asterisk indicates regiments with fifteen or fewer men from Madison.

Infantry:


 * - 2nd Virginia Militia
 * - 7th Regiment, Virginia Infantry (Confederate) - Company A (The Richardson Guards) and Company K (The Madison Grays) had many men from Madison County while Companies A, C, E, F, G only had eight or fewer men from Madison County. See also 7th Battalion, Virginia Infantry, Local Defense (1st Nitre Battalion) (Confederate)
 * - 10th Regiment Virginia Infantry (Confederate). Company L (Jeff Davis Guards).
 * - 13th Regiment Virginia Infantry (Confederate)
 * - 34th Regiment, Virginia Infantry (Confederate). Company L (Fray's Artillery) (Madison Artillery).
 * - 38th Regiment Virginia Infantry (Confederate)
 * - 49th Regiment Virginia Infantry (Confederate)
 * - 82nd Regiment Virginia Militia
 * - 108th Virginia Militia
 * - 135th Virginia Militia
 * - Quartermaster Department

Cavalry:


 * - 1st Regiment Virginia Cavalry (Confederate), Co. I mustered one trooper from Madison County
 * - 2nd Regiment Virginia Cavalry (Confederate), Co. K mustered one trooper from Madison County
 * - 4th Regiment Virginia Cavalry (Confederate). Company C (The Madison Invincibles)
 * - 5th Regiment Virginia Cavalry (Confederate), Co. H mustered one trooper from Madison County
 * - 6th Regiment Virginia Cavalry (Confederate), Co. F mustered one trooper from Madison County
 * - 7th Regiment Virginia Cavalry (Confederate), Co. B mustered one trooper from Madison County
 * - 11th Regiment Virginia Cavalry (Confederate), Co. A mustered one trooper from Madison County
 * - 12th Regiment Virginia Cavalry (Confederate), Co. G mustered eleven troopers from Madison County
 * - 35th Battalion Virginia Cavalry (Confederate), Co. F mustered one trooper from Madison County
 * - 39th Battalion Virginia Cavalry (Confederate), Co. D mustered one trooper from Madison County
 * - 43rd Battalion Virginia Cavalry (Confederate), this battalion, known as Mosby's Rangers, mustered four troopers from Madison County

Artillery:


 * - 1st Battalion, Virginia Light Artillery (Hardaway's) (Moseley's) (Confederate)
 * - 1st Regiment Virginia Artillery (Richmond Howitzers)
 * - 4th Battalion Virginia Heavy Artillery (Confederate)
 * - 13th Virginia Artillery
 * - Charlottesville Light Artillery (Confederate)
 * - King William Artillery (Confederate)
 * - Rockbridge Artillery, No. 2 (Confederate)
 * - Letcher's Battery Light Artillery
 * - Capt. Rice's Company Virginia Light Artillery
 * - 1st Battalion Virginia Reserves (Madison Reserves)


 * Information about the history of the companies in these regiments can be found in:


 * - For Home and Honor
 * - titled A Guide to Virginia Military Organizations 1861-1865

World War II

 * 1940-1945 - at FamilySearch — index and images

Miscellaneous Records

 * 1607-2007 - at FamilySearch — index and images

Newspapers
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 the Virginia Gazette and other Virginia newspapers (1736-1803), see: The Geography of Slavery in Virginia.

Private Papers

 * Mallory, James. Journal of James Mallory, Son of Uriel Mallory, Jr. and Melinda Welch; Grandson of Capt. Uriel Mallry, Sr. and Hannah Cave, and of Major Nathaniel Welch and Elizabeth Terrell, of Virginia, Begins April 20, 1834, Madison County, Virginia, Ends November 12, 1877, Talladega County, Alabama. MSS., microfilmed 1962.

Probate Records
London Courts


 * Coldham, Peter Wilson. North American Wills Registered in London 1611-1857. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., 2007. [Includes will a of resident of Madison County proved in London. These records often help establish an immigrant's place of origin.]

Taxation
How can Virginia tax lists help me?


 * 1797-1817- Madison County Land Tax Lists 1797-1817 (images); digital version in Tax List Club at Binns Genealogy ($).
 * 1793-1818- Heinegg, Paul. "Madison County Personal Property Tax List, 1793-1818," Free African Americans.com. [Heinegg abstracted free blacks listed in these records.]
 * 1799- Images of the 1799 Personal Property Tax Lists of Madison County, Virginia are available online, courtesy: Binns Genealogy.
 * 1800- Tax List, 1800, Virginia Genealogist, Vol. 39, No. 3 (Jul. 1995); Vol. 39, No. 4 (Oct. 1995).
 * 1815 - Ward, Roger D. 1815 Directory of Virginia Landowners (and Gazetteer). 6 vols. Athens, Georgia: Iberian Pub. Co., 1997-2000. [The source for this publication is 1815 land tax. Madison County is included in Vol. 4.]

Birth

 * 1853-1866 - at FamilySearch — index and images
 * 1912-1913 - at FamilySearch — index and images

Marriage

 * 1660-1800 - Virginia Marriages 1660-1800 (Ancestry) ($).
 * 1660-1959 - Virginia, United States Marriages at FindMyPast — index $
 * 1740-1850 - Virginia Marriages 1740-1850 (Ancestry) ($).
 * 1793-1905 - Madison County Marriage Index 1793-1905. Batch at FamilySearch - free.
 * 1853-1935 - at FamilySearch — index and images
 * 1936-1988 - at FamilySearch — index and images

Divorce

 * 1918-1988 - at FamilySearch — index and images

Death

 * 1912-1987 - at FamilySearch — index and images

Madison County, Virginia Genealogy Societies and Libraries

 * Central Virginia Genealogical Association

Madison County, Virginia Genealogy Websites

 * Madison County, Virginia GenWeb. Part of the USGenWeb Project. Maps, name indexes, history.
 * Madison County, VA History, Records, Facts and Genealogy (Familytree101)
 * RootsWeb Mailing List: GERMANNA_COLONIES-L