Mathews County, Virginia Genealogy

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

Mathews County, Virginia Courthouse
Matthews County Courthouse P.O. Box 463 10622 Buckley Hall Road Mathews, Virginia 23109 Phone: 804-725-2550

Clerk Circuit Court has marriage, divorce, probate, court and land records from 1865

Mathews County, Virginia History


The county is named after Admiral Thomas Mathews (1676-1751) of the British Navy.

Parent County
1790--Mathews County was created 16 December 1790 from Gloucester County. County seat: Mathews

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.

Variant Spellings

 * Matthews

Record Loss
1865 Most of the Mathews County Courthouse records were moved to Richmond for safekeeping during the American Civil War, but were destroyed there in the fire of 3 April 1865.


 * Lost censuses: 1800, 1890

Neighboring Counties
Middlesex | Gloucester

Research Guides

 * Davis, Virginia Lee Hutcheson. "Records of Tidewater Virginia Counties," Tidewater Virginia Families: A Magazine of History and Genealogy, Vol. 1, No. 2 (May-June 1992):53-66. 975.51 D25t [For Mathews County, see p. 61]

African American

 * Freedmen's Bureau


 * Heinegg, Paul. "Mathews County Personal Property Tax List, 1791-1815," Free African Americans.com. [Heinegg abstracted free blacks listed in these records.]


 * 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

 * Tyler, Lyon G. "Old Tombstones in Mathews County," The William and Mary Quarterly, Vol. 3, No. 4 (Apr. 1895):255-256. Digital version at JSTOR - free

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.]

Church of England
Kingston Parish


 * Mason, George Carrington. Colonial Churches of Tidewater Virginia. Richmond, Virginia: Whittet and Shepperson, 1945. Available at ; digital version at . [Includes Mathews County.]

Genealogy
Several genealogies have been published about Mathews County families. To view a list, visit Mathews County, Virginia Compiled Genealogies.

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, Matthews County on pages 131-132.]

War of 1812
Mathews County men served in the 61st 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, Matthews County [sic], p. 90. Identifies War of 1812 veterans living in this county in 1883.]

Civil War

 * - 5th Regiment, Virginia Cavalry (Confederate).
 * - 26th Regiment, Virginia Infantry (Confederate). Company D.

Records and histories are available, including:


 * 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)

Miscellaneous Records

 * 1607-2007 - at FamilySearch — index and images

Naturalization

 * Virginia

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.

Papers Private

 * Virginia,

Probate Records

 * 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. [Includes Mathews County.]

Taxation
How can Virginia tax lists help me?


 * [1774-1775] Billups, John R. Tithables, 1774-1775, of Kingston Parish, also Billups' Accounts, 1787-1842. MSS., Library of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia; also available at . [Kingston Parish was located in Gloucester County at the time, but later fell within the bounds of Mathews County.]
 * [1774-1791] Mason, Polly Cary. Records of Colonial Gloucester County Virginia. 2 vols. 1946-1948; reprint, Baltimore: Clearfield, 2003. and available at FHL; digital version at Ancestry ($); and World Vital Records ($). [Includes land patent abstracts, 1704/05 rent roll, Gloucester County tax lists 1770-1782, Mathews County tax lists 1774-1791, burgesses, council, and court, county officials, etc.]
 * [1791-1820] Ward, Roger G. "Burned County Gleanings: Mathews County Land Tax Lists, 1791-1820," Magazine of Virginia Genealogy, Vol. 35, No. 4 (Fall 1997):317-323. Available at ; digital version at Ancestry ($). [Abstracts of some taxpayers that include "genealogical tidbits," such as relationships, land transfers, etc.]
 * [1791-1815] Heinegg, Paul. "Mathews County Personal Property Tax List, 1791-1815," Free African Americans.com. [Heinegg abstracted free blacks listed in these records.]
 * [1803] Indexed images of the 1803 Personal Property Tax List of Mathews County, Virginia are available online, courtesy:Binns Genealogy.
 * [1803] Indexed images of the 1803 Land Tax List of Mathews County, Virginia are available online, courtesy: Binns Genealogy.

Birth

 * 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) ($).

Divorce

 * 1918-1988 - at FamilySearch — index and images

Death

 * 1912-1987 - at FamilySearch — index and images

Mathews County, Virginia Genealogy Societies and Libraries

 * Tidewater Genealogical Society
 * Middle Peninsula African-American Genealogical &amp; Historical Society

Mathews County, Virginia Genealogy Websites

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