Pittsylvania County, Virginia Genealogy

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

Description
Pittsylvania is the largest county (per square miles) in the Commonwealth of Virginia and is situated in the south-central Piedmont plateau region. The county was named for William Pitt, first Earl of Chatham, a British statesman who served as Prime Minister of Great Britain from 1766 to 1768.

County Courthouse
Pittsylvania County Courthouse 11 Bank Street PO Box 695 Chatham, VA 24531-0695 Phone: 434-432-7879 Pittsylvania County Website Clerk Circuit Court has marriage, divorce, probate, court and land records from 1767

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:

History Timeline


The county was named after the 1st Earl of Chatham, William Pitt (1708-1778). Pitt was serving as Great Britain's Prime Minister at the time Pittsylvania County was organized.

Bible Records

 * 1607-2007 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; index & images

Business, Commerce, and Occupations

 * 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 . [Includes a section on Danville silversmiths.]
 * Melton, Herman. Picks, Tracks and Bateaux: Industry in Pittsylvania County 1750-1950. Chatham, Virginia: H. Melton, 1993. Available at.
 * Melton, Herman. Pittsylvania's Eighteenth Century Grist Mills. [Chatham, Virginia?: H. Melton?], 1989. Available at . is also available at FHL.
 * Pittsylvania Historical Society. Visitor's Guide to Early Industry in Pittsylvania County, 1998.

Cemeteries

 * 1800-1986 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; index & images
 * Bennett, Harold B. "Siloam Methodist Church Cemetery, Pittsylvania County, Virginia," The Virginia Genealogist, Vol. 25, No. 2 (Apr.-Jun. 1981):83-87. Digital version at American Ancestors by NEHGS ($).
 * Bennett, Harold B. "Walker Cemetery, Climax, Pittsylvania Co., Va.," The Virginia Genealogist, Vol. 25, No. 4 (Oct.-Dec. 1981):248. Digital version at American Ancestors by NEHGS ($).
 * Sutherlin, Elijah T. "Beck Family Cemetery, Pittsylvania County, Virginia," The Virginia Genealogist, Vol. 8, No. 4 (Oct.-Dec. 1964):148. Digital version at American Ancestors by NEHGS ($).

Census Records
1782 Enumeration
 * Pittsylvania County Heads of Families - 1782 at U.S. Census Bureau - free. County begins on page 40.

1785 Enumeration 1790 - Lost, but a subsitute is available, see Taxation. 1800 - Lost, but a subsitute is available, see Taxation. 1810 - Lost, but a subsitute is available, see Taxation. 1820 - Exists, but the National Archives microfilm copy of Pittsylvania County, Virginia omits page 63. The missing names have been published in The Virginia Genealogist:
 * Pittsylvania County Heads of Families - 1785 at U.S. Census Bureau - free. County begins on page 98.
 * Petty, Gerald M. "Virginia 1820 Federal Census: Names Not on the Microfilm Copy," The Virginia Genealogist 18, no 2 (April-June 1974):136-139.
 * The list is also available online at the Shenandoah County GenWeb Project.

1890 Union Veterans
 * "Virginia's Union Veterans: Eleventh Census of the United States 1890." By Ronald Ray Turner.   Online at: Ancestry ($).  Includes residents of this county.

Church Records
List of Churches and Church Parishes
 * FamilySearch Places

General Baptist Early Baptist churches (with years constituted): Pittsylvania County fell within the bounds of the Roanoke Association. An article on Primitive Baptist Churches in Pittsylvania County was published in:
 * Clement, Mrs. N.E. "Ministers Bonds of Pittsylvania Co.," The William and Mary Quarterly, Vol. 20, No. 4 (Apr. 1912):292-294. Available at JSTOR ($). [Identifies the names and religions of Baptist, Methodist, and Presbyterian ministers from bonds dated 1785 to 1843.]
 * Wood, Candace Mattox. The Restoration Movement in Pittsylvania, Henry, and Franklin Counties, Virginia. Dissertation. [Incomplete citation from Google Books.]
 * 1) Bennett's (1790)
 * 2) Birch Creek (by 1769). Edwards published a membership list dated 1769 in Materials Towards a History of the Baptists... (1772), 24. Edwards states many of these families had moved to Pittsylvania County from Fauquier County.
 * 3) Black Water (by 1768).
 * 4) County Line (1771)
 * 5) Dan River (by 1767). Edwards published a list of early members in Materials Towards a History of the Baptists... (1772), 52.
 * 6) Double Creek (1803)
 * 7) Fall Creek (1771). Edwards published a membership list dated 1770 in Materials Towards a History of the Baptists... (1772), 56-57.
 * 8) Lower Banister (1798)
 * 9) Mill Church (1770)
 * 10) Shockhoe (1803)
 * 11) Stanton (1761).
 * 12) Stewart's Creek
 * 13) Stinking River (1800). Records of Stinking Creek Baptist Church (beginning in 1816) were published in VA-NC Piedmont Genealogical Society Bulletin, Vol. 4, No. 2 (May 1982) and Vol. 4, No. 3 (Aug. 1982):.
 * 14) Union (1789)
 * 15) Upper Banister (1773)
 * 16) White Thorn (1791)
 * 17) Winns Creek (by 1771) Edwards published a membership list dated 1769 in [http://repository.
 * 18) Zion's Hill (1807)
 * Leek, Charles F. and Pittsylvania Baptist Association. The History of Pittsylvania Baptist Association, 1788-1963. Danville, Va.: Pittsylvania Baptist Association, 1963..
 * Virginia-North Carolina Piedmont Genealogical Society. Abstracts of Mt. Ararat Primitive Baptist Church near Whitmell, Pittsylvania County, Virginia: Includes Biographies of Area Primitive Baptist Ministers. Danville, Virginia Virginia-North Carolina Piedmont Genealogical Society, 1981. Available at.
 * Piedmont Lineages, Vol. 21, No. 4 (Nov. 1999)..

Church of England See also Camden Parish Meade's 1861 history of parishes in Pittsylvania County is available online.
 * Clement, Mrs. N.E. "Colonial Churches in Pittsylvania County," The Virginia Magazine of History and Biography, Vol. 22, No. 2 (Apr. 1914):173-176. Available at JSTOR - free.

Quaker Early monthly meetings (with years of existence):
 * Reedy Island Monthly Meeting (1792-1812)

Court Records
Online Court Indexes and Records

General
 * Melton, Herman. Pittsylvania County's Historic Courthouse: The Story Behind ExParte Virginia and the Making of a National Landmark. Central Virginia Printing, Inc., 1999.

Chancery
 * Azariah Bailey (complainant.), George W. Hall (vegetarian.), William H. Shields (respondent.), Nathaniel E. Witcher (respondent.), Virginia. Circuit Court. Record of a Suit in Chancery, Pittsylvania County, Virginia, Azariah Bailey vs. George W. Hall, Wm. H. Shields &amp; Nathaniel N. Witcher. 1858. [Citation from Google Books.]

Ethnic, Political, and Religious Groups
African American In 1860, Pittsylvania County had one of the largest enslaved populations in the state (14,340 slaves). Ten years later in 1870, it had one of the largest African American populations in Virginia (16,084) - the town of Danville in particular.
 * 1865-1872 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; index & images
 * 1935-2009 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; index & images
 * Griffith, Alva H. Pittsylvania County, Virginia, Register of Free Negroes and Related Documentation. Maryland: Heritage Books, 2001.
 * Heinegg, Paul. "Pittsylvania County Personal Property Tax List, 1782-1823," Free African Americans.com. [Heinegg abstracted free blacks listed in these records.]
 * Randolph, John. "Letter to Walter Coles, Pittsylvania," 1821. [Incomplete citation from Google Books; discusses one of Randolph's slaves.]
 * Search the Library of Virginia's Virginia Untold collection for digitized records related to African Americans of Pittsylvania County.

Funeral Homes

 * 1935-2009 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; index & images

Genealogies
Compiled Genealogies by Surname A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
 * See Pittsylvania County, Virginia Compiled Genealogies for a list of published books and articles, or jump to the surname using the alphabet bar.

Compiled Genealogies for Multiple Families
 * Fitzgerald, Madelene Vaden. Pittsylvania: Homes and People of the Past. Danville, Va.: Womack Press, 1974.
 * Pittsylvania County Virginia Heritage 1767-2004. Pittsylvania County Heritage Book Committee and County Heritage, Inc., 2004.
 * Pritchett, John W. Southside Virginia Genealogies. CD-ROM. Baltimore, Md.: Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., 2007. Free online index, courtesy: Virginians - The Family History of John W. Pritchett. [Includes a great deal of information about residents of Pittsylvania County, see discussion of cited sources.] CD-ROM no. 3887.

Land and Property Records
Online Land Indexes and Records

Grants and Patents


 * Hudgins, 1440 patents dated 1738-1819 in what is now Pittsylvania County, Virginia placed on a map. DeedMapper, 2004. [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 DeedMapper product.]

Record Book
 * Stith, Drury. Entries from an Old Record Book of Drury Stith Concerning Land and Property in Pittsylvania County, 1737-1770. Microfilmed reproduction available at.

Tracts
 * Tucker, George. To the Freeholders of the Counties of Campbell, Pittsylvania and Halifax. Printed at the Virginian Office, 1824.

Local Histories
Historic Residences
 * Clement, Maud Carter. History of Pittsylvania County Virginia. Lynchburg, Virginia: J. P. Bell Co., 1929. Digital book at Ancestry ($); and World Vital Records ($). Reviewed in The Virginia Magazine of History and Biography, Vol. 38, No. 3 (Jul. 1930):280-281. Review available at JSTOR ($).
 * Fitzgerald, Madelene Vaden. Pittsylvania: Homes and People of the Past. Danville, Virginia: Womack Press, 1974. Available at.

Maps and Gazetteers

 * FamilySearch Places: Cities and Towns in this county - How to Use FS Places

Migration

 * Bell, Mary McCampbell. "Some Migrations from Virginia to South Carolina," The South Carolina Magazine of Ancestral Research, Vol. 13, No. 3 (Summer 1985):127-129.
 * Elliott, Katherine B. Emigration to Other States from Southside Virginia. 2 vols. South Hill, Virginia: K.B. Elliott, 1966. Vol. 1 of original edition available at ; 1983 reprints (both volumes) available at ; 1990-1992 reprints (both volumes) also available at . Includes individuals who migrated out of Pittsylvania County to other parts of the country.

Military Records
French and Indian War Revolutionary War
 * Bockstruck, Lloyd DeWitt. Virginia's Colonial Soldiers. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1988. Available at . Online at: Ancestry ($). Identifies some Pittsylvania County veterans; see place name index.
 * Daughters of the American Colonists. Texas Society. The Rose Window of San Jose Chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution. San Antonio De Bexar Chapter (San Antonio, Tex.), Lucy Alice Posey. Patriots Who Took the Oath of Allegiance, 1777, Pittsylvania County, Virginia: Notarized by Pittsylvania County Clerk. The Chapter, 1977.
 * Hurt, Frances Hallam. An Intimate History of the American Revolution in Pittsylvania County, Virginia. Danville, Virginia: Womack Press, 1976. Available at.
 * "Revolutionary Pension Declarations from Pittsylvania County, Va.," The Virginia Magazine of History and Biography, Vol. 16, No. 2 (Oct. 1908):174-183; Vol. 17, No. 1 (Jan. 1909):73-80; Vol. 20, No. 3 (Jul. 1912):259-266; Vol. 25, No. 2 (Apr. 1917):149-160. Available at JSTOR ($).
 * Watts, Dorothy Chambers. "Some Pittsylvania County, Virginia, Militia Officers," [1775] The Virginia Genealogist, Vol. 23, No. 3 (Jul.-Sep. 1979):225-226. Available at American Ancestors by NEHGS ($).
 * White, Elizabeth Tunstall and VA-NC Piedmont Genealogical Society. Military Records of Pittsylvania County, Virginia, 1767-1783: Taken from Judgment Books, 1-2-and 4 and Deed, Book 4. VA-NC Piedmont Genealogical Society, 1983.
 * A Census of Pensioners for Revolutionary or Military Services: With their Names, Ages, and Places of Residence, as Returned by the Marshalls of the Several Judicial Districts, Under the Act for Taking the Sixth Census]. 1841. Digital version at Google Books et. al. 1967 reprint: 973 X2pc 1840. [See Virginia, Eastern District, Pittsylvania County on page 132.]
 * Rejected or Suspended Applications for Revolutionary War Pensions. Washington, D.C., 1852. Reprinted by Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., 1969, and 1991. Reprints include "an Added Index to States." ; digital version at Ancestry ($). Includes veterans. Virginia section begins on page 238.
 * Pittsylvania County residents' participation in the Revolutionary War.

Regiments. Service men in Pittsylvania County served in various regiments. Men often joined a company (within a regiment) that originated in their county. Pittsylvania County supplied soldiers for the:
 * - 6th Virginia Regiment
 * - 14th Virginia Regiment

War of 1812
 * Pittsylvania county History.com War of 1812 Soldiers Graves
 * Douthat, James L. Roster of War of 1812, Southside, Virginia. Signal Mountain, Tenn.: Mountain Press, 2007. Mountain Press provides online surname index. 975.5 M2djL. Includes Pittsylvania County.
 * 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, Pittsylvania County, p. 98. Identifies War of 1812 veterans living in this county in 1883.

Regiments. Pittsylvania County men served in the 42nd and 101st Regiment. Civil War
 * 1861-1865 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; index & images
 * 1861-1865 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; index & images
 * 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)
 * Clement, Maud Carter. War Recollections of the Confederate Veterans of Pittsylvania County, Virginia, 1861-1865. Chatham, Virginia: The Rawley Martin Chapter, Virginia Division, United Daughters of the Confederacy, 1961. Reviewed by Mildred K. Bushong in The Virginia Magazine of History and Biography, Vol. 70, No. 2 (Apr. 1962):215-217. Review available at JSTOR ($).
 * McClurken, Jeffrey W. After the Battle: Reconstructing the Confederate Veteran Family in Pittsylvania County and Danville, Virginia, 1860-1900. Johns Hopkins University, 2002.
 * Williams, Mike K. Confederate Soldiers of Pittsylvania County &amp; Danville. Signal Mountain, Tennessee: Mountain Press, 1988. Available at.

Regiments. Civil War service men in Pittsylvania County served in various regiments. Men often joined a company (within a regiment) that originated in their county. Listed below are companies that were specifically formed here:
 * - 5th Regiment, Virginia Cavalry (12 months, 1861-62) (Mullins') (Confederate). Company C (Danville Cavalry).
 * - 6th Regiment, Virginia Cavalry (Confederate).
 * - 18th Regiment, Virginia Infantry (Confederate). Company A (Danville Blues), Company B (Danville Grays), and Company I (Spring Garden Blues).
 * - 21st Regiment, Virginia Infantry (Confederate). Company H (Chalk Level Grays) and Company I (Turkey Cock Grays).
 * - 38th Regiment, Virginia Infantry (Pittsylvania Regiment) (Confederate). Company A, Company B (Pittsylvania Vindicators), Company C (Laurel Grove Riflemen), Company D (Whitmell Guards), Company E (Cabell Guards), Company H (Secession Guards), and Company K (The Cascade Rifles).
 * - 46th Regiment, Virginia Infantry (Confederate). Company A (Liberty Guards).
 * - 53rd Regiment, Virginia Infantry (Confederate). Company B (Chatham Grays).
 * - 57th Regiment, Virginia Infantry (Confederate). Companies D (The Galveston Tigers), E (Pigg River Greys), F (Henry and Pittsylvania Rifles), G (Ladies Guard), and I (Pittsylvania Life Guards).

World War I World War II
 * Williams, Hugh T. and Samuel Gardner Walker. Why Soldiers Do Not Talk About the War: Or, Danville and Pittsylvania County's Part. A History of Company "C", 116th Infantry; Battery "E", 111th Field Artillery; Sixth Company, Coast Artillery; Together with Complete Alphabetical Rosters of Officers and Men. Rosters of Danville and Pittsylvania ... J.T. Townes Print. Co., 1919.
 * 1940-1945 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; index & images

Naturalization and Citizenship
Online Naturalization Indexes and Records
 * 1906-1929 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; index & images

Newspapers
Indexed images of the Virginia Gazette (1736-1780) are available online through the Colonial Williamsburg 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: The Geography of Slavery in Virginia. These newspapers are valuable resources for all regions of Virginia.

Other Records
Private Papers
 * 1607-2007 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; index & images
 * [Shelton] Shelton, William Christopher and R.D. Ricketts. A Diary Kept by William C. Shelton for the Year 1850: The Daily Journal of a School Master and Farmer of Pittsylvania County, Virginia. n.p.: n.p., 199-?..

Probate Records
Online Probate Indexes and Records
 * 1639-1850 Virginia Land, Marriage and Probate Records 1639-1850 at Ancestry — index, incomplete ($)
 * 1809-1853 Images of Wills, Estates, Inventories Virginia Pioneers ($)
 * 1854-1865 Wills, Estates, Inventories from Circuit Court Virginia Pioneers ($)
 * Images of Accounts (Estate Inventories) 1770-1778, No. 1; 1788-1797, No. 2; 1797-1805, No. 3;  1805-1812, No. 4. Virginia Pioneers.net ($)
 * Images of Wills, Deeds 1774-1778, No. 4; 1767-1780, No. 5;  1791-1794, No. 9;  1794-1797, No. 10; 1780-1820, No. 11. Virginia Pioneers.net ($)

Social Security Records

 * 1935-2014 at FamilySearch — How to use this collection; index. Also at Ancestry, findmypast, Fold3, GenealogyBank, MyHeritage, and Steve Morse. Click here for more information.
 * 1936-2007 U.S., Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936-2007

Tax Records
Online Tax Indexes and Records

Bibliography Tithe lists for 1773, 1774, 1775, 1776, 1777, 1781, and 1782 are kept at the Library of Virginia.
 * 1767 "First List of Tithables of Pittsylvania County, Year 1767," The Virginia Magazine of History and Biography, Vol. 23, No. 1 (Jan. 1915):79-80; Vol. 23, No. 3 (Jul. 1915):303-304; Vol. 23, No. 4 (Oct. 1915):371-380; Vol. 24, No. 2 (Apr. 1916):180-192; Vol. 24, No. 3 (Jun. 1916):271-274. Available at ; reprinted in Virginia Tax Records Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., 1983, which is also available at ; digital version at JSTOR; Ancestry ($).
 * 1767 Clement, Maud Carter, The History of Pittsylvania County, Virginia. Lynchburg, Virginia: J. P. Bell Co., 1929. Digital version at Ancestry ($); http://files.usgwarchives.net/va/pittsylvania/census/tith.txt USGenWeb Archives] - free. Includes 1767 tithe list.
 * 1770 Tithables, 1770, Southside Virginian, Vol. 4, No. 3 (Apr. 1986); Vol. 5, No. 2 (Apr. 1987); Vol. 5, No. 4 (Oct. 1987); Vol. 6, No. 2 (Apr. 1988); Vol. 7, No. 3 (Jul. 1989); online at Internet Archive - free.
 * 1770-1774 Tithables List, 1770-1774, Piedmont Lineages. Danville VA: May 2005. Vol. 27 Iss. 2.
 * 1773 Tithables, 1773, Piedmont Lineages, Vol. 13, No. 1 (Feb. 1991); Vol. 13, No. 2 (May 1991); Vol. 13, No. 3 (Aug. 1991); Vol. 13, No. 4 (Nov. 1991); Vol. 14, No. 1 (Feb. 1992).
 * 1782-1812 Pittsylvania County Personal Property Tax Lists 1782-1812 (images); digital version in Tax List Club at Binns Genealogy ($).
 * 1782 1782 Land Taxes Pittsylvania County, Virginia. Available online, courtesy: VAGenWeb: Pittsylvania County, Virginia Genealogy Project.
 * 1782-1802 Austin, Gayle. The Land Tax Lists of Pittsylvania County, Virginia, 1782-1802. Greenville, South Carolina: Southern Historical Press, 2006. Available at.
 * 1782-1823 Heinegg, Paul. "Pittsylvania County Personal Property Tax List, 1782-1823," Free African Americans.com. Heinegg abstracted free blacks listed in these records.
 * 1783 - Personal Property (or Land) Tax List, 1783; index online at Revolutionary War Service website - free.
 * 1783 1783 Alterations to Pittsylvania County Land Tax. Available online, courtesy: VAGenWeb: Pittsylvania County, Virginia Genealogy Project.
 * 1784 1784 Alterations to Pittsylvania County Land Tax. Available online, courtesy: VAGenWeb: Pittsylvania County, Virginia Genealogy Project.
 * 1785 1785 Alterations to Pittsylvania County Land Tax. Available online, courtesy: VAGenWeb: Pittsylvania County, Virginia Genealogy Project.
 * 1785 Insolvents Tax List, 1785, Virginia Appalachian Notes, Vol. 5, No. 1 (Feb. 1981); online at Roanoke Public Library - free.
 * 1785 Tax List, 1785, Non-residents/Insolvents, VA-NC Piedmont Genealogical Society Bulletin, Vol. 3, No. 3 (Aug. 1981).
 * 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 Licenses Were Issued. 3 vols. Springfield, Va.: Genealogical Books in Print, 1987. . The source of this publication is the 1787 personal property tax list. Pittsylvania County is included in Vol. 1.
 * 1788-1806 Select abstracts from Personal Property Tax Lists, 1788-1806, Piedmont Lineages. Danville VA: Aug 2004. Vol. 26 Iss. 3.
 * 1789, 1800 Indexed images of the 1789 and 1800 Personal Property Tax Lists of Pittsylvania County, Virginia are available online, courtesy: Binns Genealogy.
 * 1793 Top Land Owners from Tax List, 1793, Piedmont Lineages. Danville VA: Feb 2007. Vol. 29 Iss. 1.
 * 1797 Land Tax List, 1797, Piedmont Lineages, Vol. 20, No. 3 (Aug. 1998); Vol. 20, No. 4 (Nov. 1998); Vol. 21, No. 1 (Feb. 1999); Vol. 21, No. 2 (May 1999); Vol. 21, No. 3 (Aug. 1999); Vol. 21, No. 4 (Nov. 1999);
 * 1800 County tax list, 1800, Virginia Genealogist, Vol. 48 Iss. 4 (Oct 2004), pp. 285-299; Vol. 49 Iss. 1 (Jan 2005), pp. 49-62.
 * 1810 Schreiner-Yates, Netti. A Supplement to the 1810 Census of Virginia: Tax Lists of the Counties for which the Census is Missing. Springfield, Va.: Genealogical Books in Print, 1971. Available at . The source for this publication is the 1810 personal property tax list. Pittsylvania County is included because the 1810 Census for that county has been destroyed.
 * 1815 Ward, Roger D. 1815 Directory of Virginia Landowners (and Gazetteer). 6 vols. Athens, Georgia: Iberian Pub. Co., 1997-2000. Available at . The source for this publication is the 1815 land tax. Pittsylvania County is included in Vol. 2.

Birth

 * 1853-1866 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; index & images
 * 1853-1896 Fridley, Beth, comp. Danville, Pittsylvania County, Virginia Births, 1853-96 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: The Generations Network, Inc., 2000. Original data: Library of Virginia, Richmond VA. Available at Ancestry ($).
 * 1912-1913 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; index & images
 * 1584-1917 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; index & images

Marriage

 * 1660-1800 Virginia Marriages 1660-1800 at Ancestry — index ($)
 * 1660-1959 Virginia, United States Marriages at at Findmypast — index, ($) — index $
 * 1700-1799 Pittsylvania County, VA Marriages 1700-1799 - free.
 * 1740-1850 Virginia Marriages 1740-1850 at Ancestry — index ($)
 * 1767-1805 Knorr, Catherine Lindsay. Marriage Bonds and Ministers' Returns of Pittsylvania County, Virginia, 1767-1805. Pine Bluff, Arkansas, 1956. and available at FHL.
 * 1760s-1780 James, Edward W. et al. "Marriage Bonds, Pittsylvania County," [1760s-1780] The William and Mary Quarterly, Vol. 6, No. 2 (Oct. 1897):86-87; Vol. 6, No. 4 (Apr. 1898):220-221; Vol. 7, No. 1 (Jul. 1898):55-56; Vol. 20, No. 2, (Labeled issue 1) (Oct., 1911):143-144. Available at JSTOR ($).
 * 1785-1940 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; Index; Also at: MyHeritage ($)
 * 1785-1940 Virginia, Select Marriages, 1785-1940 at Ancestry — index ($)
 * 1806-1830 Williams, Kathleen Booth. Marriages of Pittsylvania County, 1806-1830. Danville, Virginia, 1965.
 * 1853-1935 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; index
 * 1862-1875 Virginia Marriages 1862-1875 (Ancestry) ($).
 * 1936-1988 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; index & images

Death

 * 1853-1859 Death Records of Pittsylvania County 1853-1859 at VAGenWeb
 * 1912-1987 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; index & images
 * 1853-1912 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection;  index & images

Divorce

 * 1918-1988 at FamilySearch — index & images

Family History Centers

 * Caswell North Carolina Family History Center
 * Danville Virginia Family History Center
 * Eden North Carolina Family History Center
 * Roanoke Virginia Family History Center


 * Blue Ridge Regional Library - Bassett Branch - an affiliate library
 * Blue Ridge Regional Library - Collinsville Branch - an affiliate library
 * Blue Ridge Regional Library - Martinsville Branch - an affiliate library
 * Roanoke Public Libraries - an affiliate library

Libraries
Bassett Historical Center, Bassett, Virginia. Website includes descriptions of collections. Excellent resource for family history research in Henry, Patrick, Floyd, Franklin and Pittsylvania counties in Virginia, the city of Martinsville, Virginia, and Rockingham, Stokes and Surry counties in North Carolina.
 * VA-NC Piedmont Genealogical Society

Websites

 * Pittsylvania County, Virginia Genweb, USGENWEB


 * – The FamilySearch catalog contains descriptions and access information for all genealogical materials (including books, online materials, microfilm, microfiche, and publications) in their collection.  Use Historical Records to search for specific individuals in genealogical records.

Research Guides

 * "A Guide to the Counties of Virginia: Pittsylvania County," The Virginia Genealogist, Vol. 20, No. 2 (Apr.-Jun. 1976):119-123. Available at American Ancestors by NEHGS ($).
 * Boisseau, Mary Leigh. "Research Opportunities in Danville and Pittsylvania County," The Virginia Genealogical Society Newsletter, Vol. 18, No. 5 (Sept.-Oct. 1992):1-3. Available at ; digital version at Virginia Genealogical Society website.
 * Sweeney, Alice J. "Bassett Historical Center," The Virginia Genealogical Society Newsletter, Vol. 28, No. 4 (Aug. 2002):1-3. Available at ; digital version at Virginia Genealogical Society website.