Mathews County, Virginia Genealogy

United States   Virginia    Mathews County

Tidewater county in the Hampton Roads region of 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

Variant Spellings

 * Matthews

Record Loss

 * 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

 * 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.

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.]

Church
Church of England

Kingston Parish


 * Mason, George Carrington. Colonial Churches of Tidewater Virginia. Richmond, Virginia: Whittet &amp; Shepperson, 1945. Available at ; digital version at BYU Family History Archives. [Includes Mathews County.]

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

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

 * 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.]

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.

Probate

 * 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.

Websites

 * USGenWeb project. May have maps, name indexes, history or other information for this county. Select the state, then the county.