Pleasants County, West Virginia Genealogy

Guide to Pleasants County, West Virginia ancestry, family history and genealogy birth records, marriage records, death records, census records, family history, and military records.

County Courthouse
County Clerk has birth, marriage, death, and probate from 1853 Land records from 1851 Circuit Court Clerk has divorce and court records &lt;ref name="HBG"&gt;Handybook for Genealogists: United States of America, 10th ed. (Draper, Utah: Everton Pub., 2002), Pleasants County, West Virginia. Page 745 ;

Parent County
1851--Pleasants County was created 29 March 1851 from Wood, Tyler and Ritchie Counties. County seat: St. Marys

Boundary Changes
For animated maps illustrating West Virginia county boundary changes, "Rotating Formation West 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.

Neighboring Counties

 * Ritchie
 * Tyler
 * Washington County, Ohio
 * Wood

Research Guides

 * "A Guide to the Counties of Virginia: Pleasants County," The Virginia Genealogist, Vol. 20, No. 3 (Jul.-Sep. 1976):209-210. Available at ; digital version at American Ancestors ($).

Cemeteries

 * Random Acts WV Cemetery Records Research Guide

Census
Join us in indexing the 1940 Census

Maps

 * Maps of West Virginia (1617-1995)
 * Map of 1850 Virginia and West Virginia

Civil War

 * - 20th Regiment, Virginia Cavalry (Confederate). Company G.
 * - 26th Regiment, Virginia Cavalry (Confederate). Company A.

Records and histories are available, including:


 * West Virginia, Civil War Service Records of Union Soldiers, 1861-1865
 * 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)

Naturalization

 * 1814 - 1991 - at FamilySearch — index and images

Probate
Online Probate Records

West Virginia Will Books
 * 1724 - 1978 West Virginia Wills and Probate Records 1724-1978 at Ancestry.com — index and images $
 * 1756 - 1971 at [https:/familysearch.org/ FamilySearch] — index and images

Online West Virginia Tax site
West Virginia real and personal property tax records are managed by the County Assessor in each county. Land and land improvements are considered real property while mobile property is classified as personal property.

Many County Assessors offer an online searchable database, where assessment record searches can be performed by name, account number, year, or mp/parcel number. Where online records are not available, requests for records can be made to the Assessment Office in person, by phone, or in writing.

The search for tax information can start here

Vital Records

 * . Includes marriages 1853-1970 - free.


 * Pleasants County WV Gen Web: The Pleasants County West Virginia website for US GenWeb is host to may excellent transcriptions of county records, including of Pleasants Co Birth Records from 1853-1891 from the LDS Family History Film #0163911, with only a couple of years missing


 * There are also marriage recordsavailable, from 1853 to 1931, transcribed from both LDS film #0163911 and from courthouse record.


 * Complying with the law enacted in 1853, Pleasants County deaths were recorded and transcriptions are available at this site also.


 * The West Virginia State Archivesalso has a searchable database of the actual death certificate imagesavailable for deaths occuring during the years 1917-1919, and 1921-1957 for Pleasants County.

Societies and Libraries
See also a List of West Virginia Archives, Libraries, Publications, Historical &amp; Genealogical Societies

Family History Centers

 * Introduction to LDS Family History Centers

Web Sites

 * Pleasants County, WV History, Records, Facts and Genealogy
 * West Virginia Genealogy Network Community on Google+
 * West Virginia Genealogy Network Group on Facebook
 * Pleasants County WV GenWeb
 * Cindi's List
 * Cindi's List

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