Richmond (Independent City), Virginia Genealogy

United States &gt; Virginia &gt; Richmond (Independent City)

Parent County
1782--Richmond was created in 1782 from Henrico County.

Church
Baptist


 * Newton, Blake T. "The Monumental Church of Richmond [City] and the Northern Neck Personages Connected With Its History," Northern Neck of Virginia Historical Magazine, Vol. 12 (1962).

Catholic


 * Wight, Willard E. "War Letters of the Bishop of Richmond," [Catholic Bishop] The Virginia Magazine of History and Biography, Vol. 67, No. 3 (Jul. 1959):259-270. Available at JSTOR ($).

Jewish


 * Joel, Joseph and Myron Berman. "My Recollections and Experiences of Richmond, Virginia, U.S.A., 1884-1892," The Virginia Magazine of History and Biography, Vol. 87, No. 3 (Jul. 1979):344-356. Available at JSTOR ($).

Unitarian-Universalist


 * Gibson, George H. "The Unitarian-Universalist Church of Richmond," The Virginia Magazine of History and Biography, Vol. 74, No. 3 (Jul. 1966):321-335. Available at JSTOR ($).

Court
Criminal Records


 * Saunders, Robert M. "Crime and Punishment in Early National America: Richmond, Virginia, 1784-1820," The Virginia Magazine of History and Biography, Vol. 86, No. 1 (Jan. 1978):33-44. Available at JSTOR ($).

Family Histories

 * [Cooper] Shockley, Martin Staples. "Priscilla Cooper in the Richmond Theatre," The Virginia Magazine of History and Biography, Vol. 67, No. 2 (Apr. 1959), 180-185. Available at JSTOR ($).
 * [Joel] Joel, Joseph and Myron Berman. "My Recollections and Experiences of Richmond, Virginia, U.S.A., 1884-1892," The Virginia Magazine of History and Biography, Vol. 87, No. 3 (Jul. 1979):344-356. Available at JSTOR ($).
 * [Mordecai] Weddell, Alexander Wilbourne. "Samuel Mordecai: Chronicler of Richmond 1786-1865," The Virginia Magazine of History and Biography, Vol. 53, No. 4 (Oct. 1945):265-287. Available at JSTOR ($).

Immigration

 * Coldham, Peter Wilson. "Intercepted Letters Relating to America 1777-1811," The Genealogist, Vol. 14, No. 2 (Fall 2000):184-200; Vol. 15, No. 1 (Spring 2001):53-74. [Overseas correspondence of residents of Richmond with the following surnames: Gairdner, Mitchell, and Selden.]

Military
Revolutionary War


 * "Arnold's Expedition to Richmond, Virginia, 1781," The William and Mary Quarterly, Second Series, Vol. 12, No. 3 (Jul. 1932):187-190. Available at JSTOR ($).
 * "Benedict Arnold in Richmond, January, 1781: His Proposal concerning Prize Goods: With Historical Introduction by George Green Shackelford," The Virginia Magazine of History and Biography, Vol. 60, No. 4 (Oct. 1952):591-599. Available at JSTOR ($).

War of 1812


 * "Richmond During the War of 1812," The Virginia Magazine of History and Biography, Vol. 7, No. 4 (Apr. 1900):406-418. Available at JSTOR ($).

Civil War


 * Chesson, Michael B. "Harlots or Heroines? A New Look at the Richmond Bread Riot," The Virginia Magazine of History and Biography, Vol. 92, No. 2 (Apr. 1984):131-175. Available at JSTOR ($).
 * Hoslett, Schuyler Dean. "The Richmond Daily Press on British Intervention in the Civil War: A Brief Summary," The William and Mary Quarterly, Second Series, Vol. 20, No. 1 (Jan. 1940):79-83. Available at JSTOR ($).
 * Moore, John Hammond. "Richmond Area Residents and the Southern Claims Commission, 1871-1880," The Virginia Magazine of History and Biography, Vol. 91, No. 3 (Jul. 1983):285-295. Available at JSTOR ($).
 * Rachal, William M.E. "The Occupation of Richmond, April 1865: The Memorandum of Events of Colonel Christopher Q.," The Virginia Magazine of History and Biography, Vol. 73, No. 2 (Apr. 1965):189-198. Available at JSTOR ($).
 * Shackelford, George Green. "From the Society's Collections: Attorneys Andrew of Boston and Green of Richmond Consider the John Brown Raid," The Virginia Magazine of History and Biography, Vol. 60, No. 1 (Jan. 1952):89-114. Available at JSTOR ($).
 * Spencer, Warren F. "A French View of the Fall of Richmond: Alfred Paul's Report to Drouyn De Lhuys, April 11, 1865," The Virginia Magazine of History and Biography, Vol. 73, No. 2 (Apr. 1965):178-188. Available at JSTOR ($).
 * Stuart, Meriwether. "Of Spies and Borrowed Names: The Identity of Union Operatives in Richmond Known as 'The Phillipses' Discovered," The Virginia Magazine of History and Biography, Vol. 89, No. 3 (Jul. 1981):308-327. Available at JSTOR ($).
 * "The Evacuation of Richmond," [Civil War] The Virginia Magazine of History and Biography, Vol. 41, No. 3 (Jul. 1933):215-222. Available at JSTOR ($).
 * Wight, Willard E. "War Letters of the Bishop of Richmond," [Catholic Bishop] The Virginia Magazine of History and Biography, Vol. 67, No. 3 (Jul. 1959):259-270. Available at JSTOR ($).

Minorities

 * O'Brien, John T. "Reconstruction in Richmond: White Restoration and Black Protest, April-June 1865," The Virginia Magazine of History and Biography, Vol. 89, No. 3 (Jul. 1981):259-281. Available at JSTOR ($).
 * Watkinson, James D. "William Washington Browne and the True Reformers of Richmond, Virginia," The Virginia Magazine of History and Biography, Vol. 97, No. 3, "A Sense of Their Own Power": Black Virginians, 1619-1989 (Jul. 1989):375-398. Available at JSTOR ($).

Newspapers

 * "List of Obituaries: From Richmond, Virginia Newspapers," [1786-1825] The Virginia Magazine of History and Biography, Vol. 20, No. 3 (Jul. 1912):282-291; Vol. 20, No. 4 (Oct. 1912):364-371. Available at JSTOR ($).

Obituaries

 * "List of Obituaries: From Richmond, Virginia Newspapers," [1786-1825] The Virginia Magazine of History and Biography, Vol. 20, No. 3 (Jul. 1912):282-291; Vol. 20, No. 4 (Oct. 1912):364-371. Available at JSTOR ($).

Occupations

 * Berry, Thomas S. "The Rise of Flour Milling in Richmond," The Virginia Magazine of History and Biography, Vol. 78, No. 4 (Oct. 1970):387-408. Available at JSTOR ($).
 * Shockley, Martin Staples. "The Proprietors of Richmond's New Theatre of 1819," The William and Mary Quarterly, Second Series, Vol. 19, No. 3 (Jul. 1939):302-308. Available at JSTOR ($).
 * Shockley, Martin Staples. "The Richmond Theatre, 1780-1790," The Virginia Magazine of History and Biography, Vol. 60, No. 3 (Jul. 1952):421-436. Available at JSTOR ($).
 * Spencer, Warren F. "French Tobacco in Richmond during the Civil War," The Virginia Magazine of History and Biography, Vol. 71, No. 2 (Apr., 1963), pp. 185-202
 * "The Burning of the Richmond Theatre, 1811," The Virginia Magazine of History and Biography, Vol. 51, No. 3 (Jul. 1943):297-300. Available at JSTOR ($).

Periodicals

 * Morrison, Alfred J. "The Virginia Literary and Evangelical Magazine, Richmond, 1818-1828," The William and Mary Quarterly, Vol. 19, No. 4 (Apr. 1911):266-272. Available at JSTOR ($).

Private Papers

 * [Green] Green, Thomas and Joanne L. Gatewood. "Richmond during the Virginia Constitutional Convention of 1829-1830: An Extract from the Diary of Thomas Green, October 1, 1829, to January 31, 1830," The Virginia Magazine of History and Biography, Vol. 84, No. 3 (Jul. 1976):287-332. Available at JSTOR ($).
 * [Robinson] "Letters of Moncure Robinson to His Father, John Robinson, of Richmond, Va., Clerk of Henrico Court," The William and Mary Quarterly, Second Series, Vol. 8, No. 2 (Apr. 1928):71-95; Vol. 8, No. 3 (Jul. 1928):143-156. Available at JSTOR ($).

Schools

 * "College Notices in 1806: From the Richmond Enquirer," The William and Mary Quarterly, Vol. 20, No. 1 (Jul. 1911):19. Available at JSTOR ($).
 * Daniel, W. Harrison. "The Genesis of Richmond College, 1843-1860," The Virginia Magazine of History and Biography, Vol. 83, No. 2 (Apr. 1975):131-149. Available at JSTOR ($).
 * Griffin, Barbara J. "Thomas Ritchie and the Founding of the Richmond Lancasterian School," The Virginia Magazine of History and Biography, Vol. 86, No. 4 (Oct. 1978):447-460. Available at JSTOR ($).
 * Pratt, Robert A. "A Promise Unfulfilled: School Desegregation in Richmond, Virginia, 1956-1986," The Virginia Magazine of History and Biography, Vol. 99, No. 4 (Oct. 1991):415-448. Available at JSTOR ($).
 * "Some References to Colleges and Schools in Richmond, Va. Newspapers," The Virginia Magazine of History and Biography, Vol. 22, No. 3 (Jul. 1914):288-296. Available at JSTOR ($).

Slavery

 * "Negroes in Richmond in 1864," The Virginia Magazine of History and Biography, Vol. 46, No. 3 (Jul. 1938):193-200. Available at JSTOR ($).
 * Stuart, Meriwether. "Colonel Ulric Dahlgren and Richmond's Union Underground: April 1864," The Virginia Magazine of History and Biography, Vol. 72, No. 2 (Apr. 1964):152-204. Available at JSTOR ($).

Taxation
At first glance, researchers might conclude that Virginia tax lists contain very little family history data, though one soon learns that valuable genealogical conclusions can be drawn from these records, nicknamed "annual censuses," such as: relationships, approximate years of birth, socio-economic status, identification of neighbors, the ability to distinguish between persons of the same name, evidence of land inheritance, years of migration, and years of death.

Virginia began enumerating residents' payments of personal property and land taxes in 1782. These two types of taxation were recorded in separate registers. Personal property tax lists include more names than land tax lists, because they caught more of the population. The Family History Library has an excellent microfilm collection of personal property tax lists from 1782 (or the year the county was organized) well into the late nineteenth century for most counties, but only scattered land tax lists. Microfilm collections at The Library of Virginia include land tax lists for all counties and independent cities for the years 1782 through 1978, as well as personal property tax lists for the years 1782 through 1930 (and every fifth year thereafter). Taxes were not collected in 1808.

Some tax records are available online or in print, though published abstracts often omit useful details found only in the original sources. Statewide indexes can help genealogists identify specific counties where surnames occurred in the past, providing starting points for research.


 * Images of the 1791 and 1800 Personal Property Tax Lists of Richmond, Virginia are available online at Binns Genealogy.
 * 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. Richmond is included in Vol. 1.]

Societies and Libraries

 * The Black History Museum and Cultural Center of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia

Web Sites

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