Powhatan County, Virginia Genealogy

United States &gt; Virginia &gt; Powhatan County





History


The county is named after Chief Powhatan (c1545-c1618).

Parent County
1777--Powhatan County was created 5 May 1777 from Chesterfield and Cumberland Counties. County seat: Powhatan

African American

 * Heinegg, Paul. "Powhatan County Personal Property Tax List, 1782-1817," Free African Americans.com. [Heinegg abstracted free blacks listed in these records.]
 * Kegley, Mary B. Free People of Colour: Free Negroes, Indians, Portuguese and Freed Slaves. Wytheville, Virginia: Kegley Books, 2003. Available at FHL; digital version at BYU Family History Archives. [Includes information from Powhatan County.]

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.]

Court
Chancery Court


 * Indexes (1782-1938) and images (1782-1913) to Powhatan County, Virginia Chancery Records are available online through Virginia Memory: Chancery Records Index. These records, often concerned with inheritance disputes, contain a wealth of genealogical information.

Family Histories
It is anticipated that this bibliography will eventually identify all known family histories published about residents of this county. Use this list to:


 * Locate publications about direct ancestors
 * Find the most updated accounts of an ancestor's family
 * Identify publications, to quote Elizabeth Shown Mills, about an ancestor's "FAN Club" [Friends, Associates, and Neighbors]

General


 * 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 Powhatan County, see discussion of cited sources.] FHL US/CAN CD-ROM no. 3887. Purchase at Virginians.com.

Bibliography


 * [Depp] Allen, Cameron. "Lucinda Depp and Her Descendants: A Freed Black Family of Virginia and Ohio," The Genealogist, Vol. 17, No. 1 (Spring 2003):3-36.
 * [Skelton] Baskervill, P. Hamilton. The Skeltons of Paxton, Powhatan County, Virginia and Their Connections: Including Sketches of the Families of Skelton, Gifford and Crane. Richmond, Va.: Old Dominion Press, Printers, 1922. Available at FHL; digital versions at Ancestry ($) and BYU Family History Archives.

Immigration

 * Coldham, Peter Wilson. "Intercepted Letters Relating to America, 1777-1811" The Genealogist, Vol. 14, No. 2 (Fall 2000):184-200. [Overseas contacts of a resident of Powhattan Co. with the following surname: Mayo.]

Land
Grants and Patents


 * Bannister et al. 380 patents dated 1702-1751 in what is now Powhatan County, Virginia placed on a map. DeedMapper. [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.]

Migration

 * Clay, Robert Y. "Some Delinquent Taxpayers 1787-1790," The Virginia Genealogist, Vol. 20, No. 4 (Oct.-Dec. 1976):269-274. Available at FHL; digital version at New England Ancestors ($). [These records identify migrants who left the county and often their intended destinations. Powhatan County's 1787 Delinquent List appears on p. 271.]

Military
French and Indian War


 * Bockstruck, Lloyd DeWitt. Virginia's Colonial Soldiers. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1988. Available at FHL. [Identifies some Powhatan County veterans; see place name index.]

War of 1812


 * Douthat, James L. Roster of War of 1812, Southside, Virginia. Signal Mountain, Tennessee: Mountain Press, 2007. Available at FHL. [Includes Powhatan County.]

Newspapers
Indexed images of the Virginia Gazette(1736-1780) are available online through the Colonial Williamsburgwebsite. 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.

Research Guide

 * "A Guide to the Counties of Virginia: Powhatan County," The Virginia Genealogist, Vol. 20, No. 3 (Jul.-Sep. 1976):210-212-214. Available at New England Ancestors ($).

Taxation
How can Virginia tax lists help me?


 * [1782-1817] Heinegg, Paul. "Powhatan County Personal Property Tax List, 1782-1817," Free African Americans.com. [Heinegg abstracted free blacks listed in these records.]
 * [1782, 1784] Powhatan County Tax List 1782 and 1784. Purchase at Simmons Historical Bookstore.
 * [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. Available at FHL. [The source of this publication is the 1787 personal property tax list. Powhatan County is included in Vol. 2.]
 * [1787] Clay, Robert Y. "Some Delinquent Taxpayers 1787-1790," The Virginia Genealogist, Vol. 20, No. 4 (Oct.-Dec. 1976):269-274. Available at FHL; digital version at New England Ancestors ($). [These records identify migrants who left the county and often their intended destinations. Powhatan County's 1787 Delinquent List appears on p. 271.]
 * [1787-1789] Powhatan County Tax List 1787-1789. Purchase at Simmons Historical Bookstore.
 * [1790, 1801] Indexed images of the 1790 and 1801 Personal Property Tax Lists of Powhatan County, Virginia are available online, courtesy: Binns Genealogy.
 * [1800] County Tax List, 1800, Virginia Genealogist. Falmouth VA: Apr 2005. Vol. 49 Iss. 2.
 * [1815] Ward, Roger D. 1815 Directory of Virginia Landowners (and Gazetteer). 6 vols. Athens, Georgia: Iberian Pub. Co., 1997-2000. Available at FHL. [The source for this publication is the 1815 land tax. Powhatan County is included in Vol. 1.]
 * [1816, 1818] Insolvents and Removals, 1816, 1818, Southside Virginian. Richmond VA: Jul 1983. Vol. 1 Iss. 4.

Vital Records
Birth


 * Fridley, Beth, comp. Powhatan County, Virginia Births, 1853-96 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: The Generations Network, Inc., 2000. Available at Ancestry ($).

Marriage


 * Knorr, Catherine Lindsay. Marriage Bonds and Ministers' Returns of Powhatan County, Virginia, 1777-1830. Pine Bluff, Arkansas, 1957. Reviewed in The Virginia Genealogist, Vol. 1, No. 2 (Apr.-Jun. 1957):90-91. Review is available online at New England Ancestors ($).

Websites

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