Wise County, Virginia Genealogy

United States &gt; Virginia &gt; Wise County





History


The county is named after Virginia Governor Henry A. Wise (1806-1876), who was in office at the time of Wise County's organization. He later served as a Confederate States Army General during the Civil War.

Parent County
1856--Wise County was created 16 February 1856 from Lee, Russell, and Scott Counties. County seat: Wise

Biographies

 * Sutherland, Elihu Jasper. Some Sandy Basin Characters. Clintwood, Va.: Hettie Sutherland, 1962. 1985 reprint available at FHL.

Cemeteries

 * Adams, James Taylor (1892-1954). Wise County Historical Inventory: Family Burying Grounds. St. Louis, Mo.: R.R. Seibel and D.A. Griffith, 1971. Available at FHL.
 * Kilgore, Paul. Butcher's Fork, American Legion, Skeen's Ridge and Back Valley Cemeteries of Wise County, Virginia. [West Virginia]: Wise County Historical Society (Va.), [1997?]. Available at FHL.
 * Kilgore, Paul. Powell Valley Memorial Gardens: Located in Beautiful Powell Valley, Wise County, VA. Wise, Va.: Wise County Historical Society (Va.), 2003. Available at FHL.

Census
1860 Agriculture Census


 * Weaver, Jeffrey C. The 1860 Agriculture Census of Wise County, Virginia. Clintwood, Va.: Mullins Printing, 1992. Available at FHL.

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 (1855-1925) and images (1855-1912) to Wise 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
General


 * Adams, James Taylor (1892-1954). James Taylor Adams Collection. MSS., Cooke-Wyllie Library, Clinch Valley College, Wise, Va.; microfilmed reproduction available at FHL. [Adams collected material for a history of the first settlers of Wise County, Virginia.]
 * Heritage Book Committee and Wise County Historical Society. The Heritage of Wise County and the City of Norton. 2 vols. [Wise, Virginia?]: Wise County Historical Society (Va.), c1993, 2001. Available at FHL.
 * Laningham, Anne Wynn and Hattie Byrd Muncy Bales. Early Settlers of Lee County, Virginia and Adjacent Counties. 2 vols. Greensboro, North Carolina: Media, Inc., 1977. Available at FHL.
 * Lockwood, Frances B. and Hattie Byrd Muncy Bales. Annotations, Corrections and Additions to Early Settlers of Lee County, Virginia and Adjacent Counties. 1978. Available at FHL. [Includes Wise County families.]

Bibliography


 * [Boggs] Williams, Cratis D. and William Henderson Boggs. The Boggs Family. U.S.A.?: C.D. Williams, 1965?. Available at FHL.
 * [Bolling] Bolling, C. Glenn. History of the Bolling Family, of Wise County, Virginia, Formerly (until 1856) a Part of Russell County, Virginia. MSS., 1963, microfilmed reproduction available at FHL.
 * [Brock] Addington, Luther F. The Brocks: Ephraim Brock and Aggie Caldwell of Eastern Kentucky and Southwest Virginia, their Ancestors and Descendants. Wise, Va.: Historical Society of Southwest Virginia, [1972]. Available at FHL.
 * [Campbell] Nodine, P. Geraldine. Daugherty and Related Families, ca. 1800-1979. MSS., microfilmed reproduction available at FHL.
 * [Creech] Robertson, Bruce E. The Descendants of Elijah Creech, 1841-1926. Slidell, Louisiana: B.E. Robertson, 1995. Available at FHL.
 * [Hamilton] Hamilton, Ernest, Jim Hamilton, and Bertha Qualls. William A. Hamilton Family 1787-1989. [1989]. Available at FHL.
 * [Hayes] Walter, L. Thelma Chandler and Theodore B. Walter. A Genealogical Record of the Descendants of Bazeal Hayes of Charley, Lawrence County, Kentucky. Lexington, Kentucky: Theodore B. Walter, 1981. Available at FHL.
 * [Lane] Steele, Fannie Lane. The Lane Family: The Ancestry and Descendants of General Jackson Lane and Allied Families: Crabtree, Estep, Hutchinson, Powers, Ritchie, Roberson, Russell. Wise, Virginia: F.L. Steele, 1991. Available at FHL.
 * [McCoy] The McCoys of Russell &amp; Wise Counties: MacKay, MacKoy, MacCoy, McKoy, McCoy. 200-?. Available at FHL.
 * [McNiel] McNiel, Robert Osborn. The Ancestors and Immediate Descendants of William Kennett McNiel of Wise County, Virginia. James Taylor Adams Collection, Box 62. Microfilmed reproduction available at FHL.
 * [Moore] McCloskey, Cheryl Moore. Descendants of John Moore, Revolutionary War Veteran, Floyd County, Kentucky: the Moore Book, an Account of John Moore (1758-1836) Birth, Orange County, North Carolina; Revolution Residence, Surry County, North Carolina; Marriage, Rockingham County, North Carolina; Deceased, Floyd County, Kentucky and His Descendants Floyd County, Kentucky; Scott and Wise Counties, Virginia. Villa Hills, Ky.: C.M. McCloskey, 1996. Available at FHL.
 * [Powers] See Lane.
 * [Sturgill] Hamilton, Emory L. and Virginia Wise. John Sturgill and Jemema Wells of Grayson Co. Va.; Their Posterity and History. MSS., microfilmed reproduction available at FHL.
 * [Vanderpool] Magoffin County Historical Society, Kay Conley Bentley and Stacey Blanton. The Vanderpool Family of Eastern Kentucky. 2 vols. plus index. Salyersville, Kentucky: Magoffin County Historical Society, c2001. Available at FHL.
 * [Weedon] Karracker, James L. and George Harrison Sanford King. The Weedon Family of Westmoreland, Prince William, Fauquier, Culpeper Counties, Va. Available at FHL.

Local Histories

 * Johnson, Charles A. A Narrative History of Wise County, Virginia. Norton, Va.: Norton Press, 1938. Available at FHL; digital version at Ancestry ($); and World Vital Records ($).
 * Wise County: Her Industries, Resources and Prominent Men. Norton, Va.: n.p., 1920. Available at FHL; digital version at Ancestry ($).

Military
Civil War


 * Gobble, Lillian and Rhonda Robertson. Between Brothers: Civil War Soldiers of Wise &amp; Dickenson County [Virginia]. [Big Stone Gap, Va.: L. Gobble &amp; R. Robertson, 200-?]. Available at FHL.

Newspapers

 * Meade, Angie Bell. A Collection of Obituaries and Other Published Death Notices: Mostly of Russell, Scott and Wise Counties of Virginia, a Few Other Counties, Some Out-of-state: Most Collections Before 1940. Wise, Va.: Wise County Historical Society (Va.), [2000?]. Available at FHL.

Research Guides

 * "A Guide to the Counties of Virginia: Wise County," The Virginia Genealogist, Vol. 24, No. 3 (Jul.-Sep. 1980):204-206. Available at New England Ancestors ($).

Taxation
How can Virginia tax lists help me?


 * [1857] Weaver, Jeffrey C. The 1857 Wise County, Virginia Land Tax List (Surnames A through M only), available online, courtesy: New River Notes.

Vital Records
Birth


 * Wise Co., Va., Births, 1867-1871, MSS., James Taylor Adams Collection, Box 68. St. Louis, Mo.: R.R. Seibel and D.A. Griffith, 1971. Microfilmed reproduction available at FHL.

Death


 * Kilgore, Paul and Fred Harry King Funeral Home. Death Records, Fred H. King Funeral Home, 1927-1935. Wise, Va.: Wise County Historical Society (Va.), [1999?]. Available at FHL.
 * Robertson, Rhonda. The Wise County, Virginia Death Register 1856-1894. [Wise, Virginia]: Wise County Historical Society (VA), [200-?]. Available at FHL.

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
 * RootsWeb Mailing List: SW_VA-L (Topic: Southwest Virginia)