Middlesex County, Virginia Genealogy

Guide to Middlesex County Virginia ancestry, family history, and genealogy. Birth records, marriage records, death records, census records, family history, immigration records, and military records.

Virginia Online Genealogy Records

Description
Middlesex County is located in the Eastern portion of the Commonwealth of Virginia and was more than likely named for its English county equivalent.

Middlesex County, Virginia Courthouse
Middlesex County Courthouse Rts 17 &amp; 33; P O Box 428 Saluda, Virginia 223149 Phone: 804-758-0061

Clerk Circuit Court has birth and death records 1853-1871 Marriage, divorce, probate, court and land records from 1773

Parent County
1674--Middlesex County was created 21 September 1674 from Lancaster County. County seat: Saluda

Boundary Changes
For animated maps illustrating Virginia county boundary changes, "Rotating Formation Virginia County Boundary Maps" (1617-1995) may be viewed for free at the MapofUS.org website.

Record Loss
Loose papers such as chancery, judgements, and commonwealth causes were lost during the American Civil War. Bound volumes of deeds, orders, and wills exist.


 * Lost censuses: 1790, 1800, 1890

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:

Getting Started
Compiled genealogies are a good place to start research for this area, see Middlesex County, Virginia Genealogy.

If you are researching families who lived in Middlesex County, Virginia between the 1670s and 1720s, the Sparacios' book indexes are a great time saver. Surname index of Antient Press publications

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 Middlesex County, see p. 62]

African American
The original Registers of Free Negroes and Mulattoes for the County of Middlesex, 1800-1862 are held at the County Courthouse. The Library of Virginia microfilmed these records, see also 2024874 Items 1 - 2

Additional Middlesex County African American resources include:


 * Heinegg, Paul. Free African Americans of Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Maryland and Delaware. 2005-present. - free online book. Bond, Bowles, Burwell, Cassidy, Chapman, Chavis, Day, Driver, Dungee, Gillett, Gilmore, Goings, Goldman, Grimes, Haynes, Hearn, Howard, Key, Lawhan (see introduction), Lawrence, Lighty, Meggs, Month, Morris, Nickens, Ormes (see introduction), Peters, Pinn, Robinson, Sampson, Simms, Smith, Snelling, Syphax, Toyer, Twopence, Tyre, West, Whistler, Williams, Young families of pre-1820 Middlesex County, Virginia.
 * Heinegg, Paul. "Middlesex County Personal Property Tax List, 1782-1819," Free African Americans.com. [Heinegg abstracted free blacks listed in these records.]
 * Bogger, Tommy; Black Church Cultural Affairs Committee. A History of African-Americans in Middlesex County, 1646-1992. White Stone, VA: Nohill, 1994.

Cemeteries

 * 1800-1986 - at FamilySearch — index

Census
1668-1704


 * Rutman, Darrett B. and Anita H. Rutman. "'More True and Perfect Lists': The Reconstruction of Censuses for Middlesex County, Virginia, 1668-1704," Virginia Magazine of History and Biography, Vol. 88 (1980):37-74. Available at JSTOR ($).

1783 Enumeration


 * Middlesex County Heads of Families - 1783 at U.S. Census Bureau - free. See page 56.

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 of England
See also Christ Church Parish

Court
Chancery Court


 * Indexed images of Middlesex County, Virginia Chancery Records 1754-1912 are available online through Virginia Memory: Chancery Records Index. These records, often concerned with inheritance disputes, contain a wealth of genealogical information.

DNA
DNA has been collected from men claiming descent from the following Middlesex County, Virginia residents. FamilySearch has not independently verified the lineages of those tested.


 * [Doss] Multiple descendants of John Doss, b. c1650, resident Middlesex County, Virginia. Y-DNA 12, 37 Marker Tests, FTDNA (Kits 42781, 49305, 96454); also SMGF. Genetic signatures available online (labelled "Haplotype I," Jh-1, Jh-2, Jh-3, Jp-1), courtesy: The Doss DNA Project, World Families Network. [Several DNA matches have been established with Doss families in Amelia, Bedford, Buckingham, Essex, Goochland, Henrico, Lunenburg, Middlesex, and Pittsylvania counties.]


 * [Daniel] DNA of the Daniel Family of Middlesex.

Genealogy
More than 325 genealogies have been published about Middlesex County families. To view a list, visit Middlesex County, Virginia Compiled Genealogies.

See also: Virginia Compiled Genealogies

Compiled genealogies that treat multiple Middlesex County families include:


 * DeBusk, Jessie M. Family Histories of Middlesex County, Virginia. Urbanna, Va.: Ralph Wormeley Branch APVA, 1982. Available at Virginia Historical Society;
 * Heinegg, Paul. Free African Americans of Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Maryland and Delaware. 2005-present. - free online book. Bond, Bowles, Burwell, Cassidy, Chapman, Chavis, Day, Driver, Dungee, Gillett, Gilmore, Goings, Goldman, Grimes, Haynes, Hearn, Howard, Key, Lawhan (see introduction), Lawrence, Lighty, Meggs, Month, Morris, Nickens, Ormes (see introduction), Peters, Pinn, Robinson, Sampson, Simms, Smith, Snelling, Syphax, Toyer, Twopence, Tyre, West, Whistler, Williams, Young families of pre-1820 Middlesex County, Virginia.
 * Yurechko, John Otto. Virginians Along and Near the Lower Rappahannock River, 1607-1799. 2 vols. Westminster, Md.: Family Line Publications, 1997-1998. . Contents: v. 1. Blake, Brooks (Brook), Churchill, Cook (Cock), Daniel, Dixon, Gore, Kidd, Lewis, Martin, Montague, Taylor and Wood -- v. 2. Brown, Clark, Elliott, Fox (Fowkes, Vaulx), Harrison, McTyre, Moore, Pate, Rawlins (Rollins), Rhodes, Sanders (Saunders) and Williams.

Darrett B. Rutman and Anita H. Rutman reconstructed families that lived in seventeenth- and early-eighteenth century Middlesex County, Virginia in order to complete a history book, but they have not yet published the genealogies they compiled.

Immigration
Urbanna has been a port since colonial times. No official passenger lists survive for the seventeenth or eighteenth centuries.


 * Coldham, Peter Wilson. North American Wills Registered in London 1611-1857. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., 2007. [Includes wills of residents of Middlesex County proved in London. These records often help establish an immigrant's place of origin.]
 * 1674-1702 - Immigrants to Middlesex County Virginia Pioneers ($).


 * Ljungstedt, Milnor. "Items from Southern Records" [Showing Family and Trade Connections with Northern Colonies and the Home Countries], The American Genealogist, Vol. 15 (1938):95-104. Available at American Ancestors ($). [Middlesex Co., VA possible residents: Hudson, Musgrove, Pickwerth, Steevens, Whiteacre.]
 * O'Brien, Michael J. "Virginia, Middlesex County. - Extracts from the Parish Register of Christ Church," The Journal of the American Irish Historical Society, Vol. 12 (1913):149-155. Available at ; digital version at Google Books (full-view). [O'Brien attempts to identify Irish surnames in this Church of England parish register.]

Land and Property

 * 1704 - Quit Rents Virginia Pioneers ($).

Migration

 * Clay, Robert Y. "Some Delinquent Taxpayers 1787-1790," The Virginia Genealogist, Vol. 22, No. 1 (Jan.-Mar. 1978):43-50. Available at ; digital version at American Ancestors ($). [These records identify migrants who left the county and often their intended destinations. Middlesex County's 1789 Delinquent List appears on 22:50.]

Colonial Militia

 * Bockstruck, Lloyd DeWitt. Virginia's Colonial Soldiers. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1988. Available at . [Identifies some Middlesex County militia officers and soldiers; see place name index.]
 * Crozier, William Armstrong. Virginia Colonial Militia 1651-1776. Baltimore: Southern Book Co., 1954. Available at ; digital book at Crozier, William Armstrong. Virginia Colonial Militia 1651-1776. Baltimore: Southern Book Co., 1954. Available at ; Ancestry ($). [Identifies some Middlesex County militia officers and soldiers; see place name index.]

French and Indian War

 * Bockstruck, Lloyd DeWitt. Virginia's Colonial Soldiers. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1988. Available at . [Identifies some Middlesex County militia officers, soldier enlistments, and veterans; see place name index.]
 * Boogher, William F. Gleanings of Virginia History: An Historical and Genealogical Collection, Largely from Original Sources. Washington: n.p., 1903. Available at ; digital version at Google Books. [Includes a chapter titled "Legislative Enactments connecting the preceding historic sketch [French and Indian War, Lord Dunmore's War] with the adjudication of the resulting accounts that follow; with the list of officers, soldiers and civilians entitled to compensation for military and other services rendered." For Middlesex County, see p. 95.]
 * Crozier, William Armstrong. Virginia Colonial Militia 1651-1776. Baltimore: Southern Book Co., 1954. Available at ; Ancestry ($). [Identifies some Middlesex County militia officers; see place name index.]

Revolutionary War
Regiments. Service men in Middlesex County served in various regiments. Men often joined a company (within a regiment) that originated in their county. Middlesex County supplied soldiers for the:


 * - 7th Virginia Regiment

Additional resources:


 * 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, Middlesex 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." 973 M24ur; digital version at Ancestry ($). [Includes veterans from this county; Virginia section begins on page 238.]

War of 1812
Middlesex County men served in the 109th Regiment.


 * 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, Middlesex County, p. 90. Identifies War of 1812 veterans living in this county in 1883.]

Civil War

 * - 24th Regiment, Virginia Cavalry (Confederate). Company D (Clopton's Partisan Rangers).
 * - 47th Regiment, Virginia Infantry (Confederate). Company G (1st) (Middlesex Rifles) and Company K (1st) (Middlesex Artillery).
 * - 55th Regiment, Virginia Infantry (Confederate). Companies B (Middlesex Artillery), C (Middlesex Southerners), and H (Middlesex Rifles).

Records and histories are available, including:


 * 1861-1865 - at FamilySearch — index
 * 1861-1865 - at FamilySearch — index
 * 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)

World War II

 * 1940-1945 - at FamilySearch — index and images

Miscellaneous Records

 * 1607-2007 - at FamilySearch — index and images

Naturalization

 * Virginia Naturalization Petitions, 1906-1929

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.

Occupations
Philip Alexander Bruce's book Economic History of Virginia in the Seventeenth Century (Vol. II, 1896, p. 334 footnote 1) includes a list of early English merchants in Middlesex County.

Probate Records
London Courts


 * Coldham, Peter Wilson. North American Wills Registered in London 1611-1857. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., 2007. [Includes wills of residents of Middlesex County proved in London. These records often help establish an immigrant's place of origin.]

Online Probate Links


 * 1639 – 1850 Virginia Land, Marriage and Probate Records 1639-1850 at Ancestry.com — index to transcribed records, incomplete, $
 * 1698-1713; 1713-1734; 1740-1748 - Images of Wills & Estates Virginia Pioneers ($).
 * 1713-1727 - Abstracts of wills and inventories Virginia Pioneers ($).
 * 1760-1825 - Images of Orphans recordsVirginia Pioneers ($).
 * 1767-1810; 1821-1825 - Images of Administrator Bonds Virginia Pioneers($).
 * 1675-1800; 1800-1950 - Indexes to Wills Virginia Pioneers($).
 * Images of Wills, Estates Bonds, Book D, 1748-1760; Book E, 1760-1772; Book F, 1772-1787; Book G, 1787-1793; Book H, 1794-1795; Book I, 1795-1798' Virginia Pioneers ($).
 * 1675-1935 - Index to Heirs and Devises Virginia Pioneers($).
 * 1758-1767 - Orders Virginia Pioneers.

Taxation
How can Virginia tax lists help me?

The original volumes of Middlesex County, Virginia Personal Property Tax Lists are held at the Library of Virginia in Richmond, Va. The Genealogical Society of Utah microfilmed these records for the years 1782 to 1799 in 1947:. In 1992, the Genealogical Society of Utah microfilmed these records for the years 1782 to1850:.


 * [1704] "Virginia Quit Rent Rolls, 1704," Virginia Magazine of History and Biography, Vol. 28 (1920):207-218, 328-339; Vol. 29 (1921):18-28, 337-343, 402-412; Vol. 30 (1922):21-30, 280-285, 341-347; Vol. 31 (1923):70-75, 153-163, 215-231, 314-318; Vol. 32 (1924):69-75, 144-158, 281-287, 338-343; Vol. 33 (1925):47-50, 359-370; Vol. 34 (1926):113-119, 252-258, 313, 321. Available at ; reprinted in Virginia Tax Records. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., 1983, which is also available at ; digital version of VMHB at JSTOR ($). [Middlesex County appears in 33:47-50.]
 * [1782-1819] Heinegg, Paul. "Middlesex County Personal Property Tax List, 1782-1819," Free African Americans.com. [Heinegg abstracted free blacks listed in these records.]
 * [1783] - Personal Property (or Land) Tax List, 1783; index online at Revolutionary War Service website - free.
 * [1787] Schreiner-Yantis, Netti and Florene Speakman Love. The 1787 Census of Virginia: An Accounting of the Name of Every White Male Tithable Over 21 Years, the Number of White Males Between 16 &amp; 21 Years, the Number of Slaves over 16 &amp; Those Under 16 Years, Together with a Listing of Their Horses, Cattle &amp; Carriages, and Also the Names of All Persons to Whom Ordinary Licenses and Physician's Licenses Were Issued. 3 vols. Springfield, Va.: Genealogical Books in Print, 1987. Available at . [The source of this publication is the 1787 personal property tax list. Middlesex County is included in Vol. 2.]
 * [1789] Clay, Robert Y. "Some Delinquent Taxpayers 1787-1790," The Virginia Genealogist, Vol. 22, No. 1 (Jan.-Mar. 1978):43-50. Available at ; digital version at American Ancestors ($). [These records identify migrants who left the county and often their intended destinations. Middlesex County's 1789 Delinquent List appears on 22:50.]
 * [1790, 1801] Indexed images of the 1790 and 1801 Personal Property Tax Lists of Middlesex County, Virginia are available online, courtesy: Binns Genealogy.
 * [1800] Tax List, 1800, Virginia Genealogist, Vol. 41, No. 3 (Jul. 1997). Available at.
 * [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 sources for this publication are the 1810 Personal Property Tax List and the 1810 U.S. Federal Census. The names listed in these two sources are compared for Middlesex County.]
 * [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. Middlesex County is included in Vol. 3.]
 * [1820-1821] Sheriffs Receipt Book, 1820-21, Tidewater Virginia Families, Vol. 4, No. 3 (Nov. 1995); Vol. 4, No. 4 (Feb. 1996); Vol. 5, No. 2 (Aug. 1996). Available at.

Birth

 * 1853-1896 - Middlesex County Birth Index 1853-1896. Batch at FamilySearch - free.
 * 1853-1866 - at FamilySearch — index and images
 * 1912-1913 - at FamilySearch — index and images

Marriage

 * 1660-1800 - Virginia Marriages 1660-1800 (Ancestry) ($).
 * 1660-1959 - Virginia, United States Marriages at FindMyPast — index $


 * 1740-1850 - Virginia Marriages 1740-1850 (Ancestry) ($).


 * 1740-1854 - Middlesex County Marriage Index 1740-1854. Batch at FamilySearch - free.


 * 1740s-1760s - "Marriage Bonds in Middlesex County Clerk's Office," The William and Mary Quarterly, Vol. 4, No. 2 (Oct. 1895):118-122. Digital version at JSTOR - free.


 * 1740s-1790s - Crozier, William Armstrong. Early Virginia Marriages. Baltimore: Southern Book Co., 1953. Digital version at - free. Includes Middlesex County marriages 1740s-1790s.


 * 1759-1803 - Marriage Bonds Virginia Pioneers ($)


 * 1785-1826 - Middlesex County Marriage Index 1785-1826. Batch at FamilySearch - free.


 * 1853-1935 - at FamilySearch — index and images


 * 1853-1904 - Middlesex County Marriage Index 1853-1904. Batch at FamilySearch - free.


 * 1936-1988 - at FamilySearch — index and images

Divorce

 * 1918-1988 - at FamilySearch — index and images

Death

 * 1853-1896 - Middlesex County Death Index 1853-1896. Batch at FamilySearch - free.
 * 1912-1987 - at FamilySearch — index and images

Middlesex County, Virginia Genealogy Societies and Libraries

 * Tidewater Genealogical Society
 * Middle Peninsula African-American Genealogical &amp; Historical Society

Middlesex County, Virginia Genealogy Websites

 * Middlesex County, Virginia USGENWEB
 * Middlesex County, VA History, Records, Facts and Genealogy (Familytree101)