Botetourt County, Virginia Genealogy

United States   Virginia    Botetourt County

Southwest Virginia county in the Shenandoah Valley region.

County Courthouse
Boutetourt County, Virginia

Box 219

Fincastle, Virginia 24090

540-473-8274


 * Clerk Circuit Court has birth, and death records 1853-1870
 * Marriage, divorce, Probate, Land Court

&amp; Cemetery Records from1770

History


The county was named after Norborne Berkeley, 4th Baron de Botetourt (c1717-1770). Berkeley, formerly a Member of British Parliament, served as Virginia's Royal Governor at the time of Botetourt County's organization.

Parent County
7 November 1769: Botetourt County was created from Augusta County. County seat: Fincastle

Variant Spellings

 * Bottetourt
 * Bottetout

Record Loss

 * Lost censuses: 1790, 1800, 1890

Civil War
Virginia, Civil War Service Records of Confederate Soldiers 1861-1865

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

NATURALIZATION

 Virginia Naturalization Petitions, 1906-1929 

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.

Private Papers
 Virginia, Historical Society Papers, 1607-2007

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 Fincastle silversmiths.]
 * Stewart, William C. "Mercantile Adventures in Early Virginia, John Stewart, Tailor of Augusta and Botetourt Counties," The Virginia Genealogist, Vol. 11, No. 1 (Jan.-Mar. 1967):3-11; Vol. 11, No. 2 (Apr.-Jun. 1967):61-66. Available at New England Ancestors ($).

Periodicals
Watauga Association of Genealogists Bulletin

Genealogical articles with abstracts of Botetourt County, Virginia records have been published in the Watauga Association of Genealogists Bulletin (39+ vols., 1972-present), the journal of the Watauga Association of Genealogists. The organization has posted tables of contents for most volumes on their website. Back issues are available for purchase. The Family History Library has a complete collection, including Margaret W. Hougland and Betty Jane Hylton's Bulletin Subject Index: The First Thirty Years, 1972-2001 (Johnson City, Tenn.: Watauga Association of Genealogists, 2002).

Probate
Wills


 * Worrell, Anne Lowry. Early Marriages, Wills, and Some Revolutionary War Records: Botetourt County, Virginia. Baltimore, MD: Genealogical Pub. Co., 1976 (Originally published: Hillsville, Va.: A.L. Worrell, 1958. Available at . Digital version available at World Vital Records ($)

Research Guides

 * "A Guide to the Counties of Virginia: Botetourt County," The Virginia Genealogist, Vol. 5, No. 3 (Jul.-Sep. 1961):131-134. Available at New England Ancestors ($).

Taxation
How can Virginia tax lists help me?


 * [1770-1789] Botetourt County, Virginia Lists of Tithables, 1770-1789. Original records, Botetourt County Courthouse, Fincastle, Virginia; also available on microfilm at.
 * [1770-1777] Burton, Charles T. Botetourt County, Virginia, Its Men, 1770-1777. Troutville, Virginia: C.T. Burton, [197-?]. Available at . [Contains names of tithable men in Botetourt Co., 1770-1777. Includes delinquent lists.]
 * [1770-1771] Creekmore, Pollyanna. "Botetourt County, Virginia, Tithables, 1770-1771," The Virginia Genealogist, Vol. 10, No. 2 (Apr.-Jun. 1966):51-56; Vol. 10, No. 3 (Jul.-Sep. 1966):109-122. Available at ; digital version at New England Ancestors ($).
 * [1770-1773] Kegley, Mary B. New River Tithables, 1770-1773. Wytheville, Virginia: M.B. Kegley, 1972. Available at.
 * [1782] Tithables, 1782, Magazine of Virginia Genealogy, Vol. 33, No. 3 (Summer 1995). Available at ; digital version at Ancestry ($).
 * [1782] Land Tax List, 1782, Watauga Association of Genealogists Bulletin, Vol. 3, Nos. 1-2 (1974).
 * [Pre-1783] County Delinquents List, Pre-Revoluntionary War Period, Magazine of Virginia Genealogy, Vol. 41, No. 3 (Aug. 2003). Available at.
 * [1783-1822] Heinegg, Paul. "Botetourt County Personal Property Tax List 1783-1822," Free African Americans.com, available online. [Heinegg abstracted free blacks listed in these records.]
 * [1784] Fothergill, Augusta B. and John Mark Naugle. Virginia Tax Payers, 1782-87, Other Than Those Published by the United States Census Bureau. 1940; reprint, Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., 1978. Available at . [1784 personal property tax list of Botetourt County.]
 * [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 . [The source of this publication is the 1787 personal property tax list. Botetourt County is included in Vol. 1.]
 * [1789] Indexed images of the 1789 Personal Property Tax List of Botetourt County, Virginia are available online, courtesy: Binns Genealogy.
 * [1799] Images of the 1799 Personal Property Tax List of Botetourt County, Virginia are available to browse online, courtesy: Binns Genealogy.
 * [1800] "Botetourt County, Virginia 1800 Tax List," The Virginia Genealogist, Vol. 9, No. 3 (Jul.-Sep. 1965):105-110; Vol. 9, No. 4 (Oct.-Dec. 1965):154-158; Vol. 10, No. 1 (Jan.-Mar. 1966):11-17. Available at ; digital version at New England Ancestors ($).
 * [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. Botetourt County is included in Vol. 5.]
 * [1852] Taxable Property of Botetourt, 1852, Roanoke Historical Society Journal, Vol. 5, No. 2 (Winter 1969).

Birth

 * Fridley, Beth, comp. Botetourt County, Virginia Births, 1885-96 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: The Generations Network, Inc., 2000. Available at Ancestry ($).

Marriages

 * Worrell, Anne Lowry. Early Marriages, Wills, and Some Revolutionary War Records: Botetourt County, Virginia. Baltimore, MD: Genealogical Pub. Co., 1976 (Originally published: Hillsville, Va.: A.L. Worrell, 1958. Available at . Digital version available at World Vital Records ($)

Societies and Libraries
Botetourt County Historical Society

1 West Main Street

P O Box 468

Fincastle, Virginia 24090

540-473-8394

Family History Centers

 * Introduction to LDS Family History Centers

Websites

 * Botetourt County, Virginia  USGENWEB
 * Cyndi's List
 * Cyndi's List

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