Cabell County, West Virginia Genealogy

Guide to Cabell County West Virginia ancestry, family history and genealogy birth records, marriage records, death records, census records, family history, and military records.

County Courthouse
Count Clerk has birth and death from 1853 Marriage Records from 1809 Land Record from 1808 and Probate Records from 1809 Clerk Circuit Court records from 1809

History
Cabell County, West Virginia History

Parent County

1809--Cabell County was created 2 January 1809 from Kanawha County. County seat: Huntington, as of 1887. Previous seats include Guyandotte and Barboursville.

Boundary Changes

 * Wayne County was carved from Cabell in 1842, while still part of Virginia.


 * Boone County was created in 1847 from parts of Cabell, Kanawha and Logan.


 * In 1867, parts of Cabell, Boone, Kanawha and Putnam were used to create Lincoln County, West Virginia.

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

Record Loss
Some records have been damaged by flood water and are not very legible. Transcripts of many of these records are available as an aid in deciphering them.

Populated Places
The largest city is the county seat, Huntington (originally Cabell City). Other communities include Barboursville, Guyandotte, Ona, Salt Rock and Milton.

Barboursville, West Virginia

Neighboring Counties

 * Gallia County, Ohio
 * Lawrence County, Ohio
 * Lincoln
 * Mason
 * Putnam
 * Wayne

Bible Records

 * Cabell County Bible Records

Cemeteries

 * The Cabell County WVGenWeb site includes Cabell County cemeteries
 * Random Acts WV Cemetery Records Research Guide


 * The Heck Funeral Home, located in Milton, Cabell County, West Virginia, has served many individuals in Cabell County and surrounding counties. Thousands of alphabetically arranged abstracts of records are available online and may include age, birth, death, and burial dates and locations. Some records also include parents' names.
 * West Virginia Obituaries

Census
1840


 * Turner, Ronald Ray. Cabell County West Virginia 1840 Census Alphabetically Arranged. 1995. Available online, courtesy: Prince William County Virginia website.

1850


 * Turner, Ronald Ray. Cabell County West Virginia 1850 Census Annotated. 1998. Available online, courtesy: Prince William County Virginia website.

Church
Cabell County Churches

Mud River Baptist Church

LDS Ward and Branch Records


 * Huntington

Genealogy

 * Greenwood - Greenwood, Frederick and Brown Thurston. Greenwood Genealogies, 1154-1914: The Ancestry and Descendants of Thomas Greenwood, of Newton, Massachusetts; Nathaniel and Samuel Greenwood, of Boston, Massachusetts; John Greenwood, of Virginia, and Many Later Arrivals in America, Also the Early History of the Greenwoods in England, and the Arms They Used. New York: Lyons Genealogical Co., 1914. Digital version at Internet Archive - free.

Local Histories
Birt, William A. "Historical Sketch of Milton, Cabell County West Virginia," West Virginia History, Charleston, WV, vol. 23 (1961-1962). Arc 1. 4:23. Blankenship, James T. A Brief History of Davis Creek Community. Morgantown, Agricultural Extension Division, 1925. (On-line version) Xwv 1. Agr 3. 2: B4. Burdette, Frank Lee. History of Ona.Community. Morgantown, Agricultural Extension Division, 1925. (On-line version) Xwv 1. Agr 3. 2: B8. ________________. Manuscript Collection of Cabell County History, 1927-1939. MS 79-203. Comstock. Jim. Hardesty's Historical and Geographical Encyclopedia. Richwood, West Virginia, 1973. 975.4003 H259 v.6, 12. Dickinson, Jack L. Historical Survey of Greenbottom, Cabell County, WV. Barboursville, West Virginia Jack L. Dickinson, 1988. 975.442 D553. Eldridge, Carrie. A Gazetteer of Extinct Towns of Cabell County, WV. Chesapeake, Ohio, C. Eldridge, 1992. R 917.5442 E37. Geiger, Joe. Civil War in Cabell County, WV, 1861-1865. Charleston, West Virginia, Pictorial Histories Publishing, 1991. 975.442 G312. Geiger, Joe. "Tragic Fate of Guyandotte,"West Virginia History, Volume 54. Guyandotte Civil War Days and Raid on Guyandotte Inc. Thunder in the Village: 137th Anniversary of the Raid on Guyandotte''. Huntington, West Virginia, 1998.''973.442 G986 1998.'. Johnson, Mary. Representative Men and Women of Cabell County, West Virginia. Parkersburg, West Virginia, 1929. 920.0754 J68

Kyle, Mrs. John. ''Early History of Little Seven Mile Community, Cabell County, West Virginia'. Morgantown, West Virginia, Agricultural Extension Division, n.d. (On-line version) Xwv 1. Agr 3. 2:K8. ''KYOWVA Genealogical Society. Cabell County Heritage, 1809-1996''. Huntington, West Virginia, 1996. 975.442 C114. Love, Charles. History of Martha Community, Cabell County, West Virginia. Morgantown, West Virginia, Agricultural Extension Division, 1925. (On-line version) Xwv 1. Agr 3. 2:L6. Miller, Doris C. A Centennial History of Huntington West Virginia, 1870-1971. Huntington, West Virginia, Huntington Centennial Commission, 1971. 975.442 M647.''

Miller, J. W. History of Barboursville Community, Cabell County, West Virginia. Morgantown, West Virginia, Agricultural Extension Division, 1925. (On- line version) Xwv 1. Agr 3. 2:M5 Mitchell, Mrs. Walter. History of Cabell Creek Community Cabell County, West Virginia Morgantown, West Virginia, Agricultural Extension Division, 1925. (On-line version) Xwv 1. Agr 3. 2:M57. Odell, Mrs W. Cabell County, West Virginia and the Agriculture Extension Program. n.p., 1967. 630.715 O23c. Smith, Wiatt. Honor Roll of Cabell County, West Virginia. An Illustrated Historical and Biographical Record of Cabell County's Part in the World War, 1914-1918. Severinghaus Printing Company, 1920. 940.9 Sm5.

___________ Program, Guyandotte Centennial, 1810-1910, Cabell County Homecoming Celebration. Huntington, West Virginia, Guyandotte Centennial and Cabell County Homecoming Association, 1910. 975.442 S663.

Wallace, George Selden. Cabell County Annals and Families. Richmond, Virginia, Garrett and Massie, 1935. 975.442 W189.

___________________. Cabell County Courthouse, 1809-1940, Record of Cost and Financing Prepared by W. Gregory Crawford and R. S. Douthat. n.p., 1940. 975.442 W189c.

___________________. ''Huntington Through Seventy-five Years. Huntington, West Virginia'', George Seldon Wallace, 1947. 975.442 W189h.

Wolfe, Matt. ''The History of Pea Ridge. Huntington, West Virginia'', 1979. 975.442 W855 Pam.

A very rare and valuable resource, little known to those not from this area, are the papers of Fred Lambert, housed at the Special Collections of Morrow Library, Marshall University in Huntington. Lambert wrote down oral family histories of hundreds of local families and the collection includes several boxes of his notebooks. Some, but not all, are indexed.

Maps



 * Maps of West Virginia (1617-1995)

Map of 1850 Virginia and West Virginia

Cabell County West Virginia 1895

Cabell County, West Virginia Map

Revolutionary War

 * 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, Western District, Braxton County on page 134.]

War of 1812
Cabell County men served in the 120th Regiment.

Civil War

 * - 1st Regiment, Virginia State Line (Cavalry) (Confederate). Companies F and I.
 * - 2nd Regiment, Virginia State Line (Cavalry) (Confederate). Company H.
 * - 4th Regiment, Virginia State Line (Cavalry and Infantry) (Confederate). Company G.
 * - 8th Regiment, Virginia Cavalry (Confederate). Company D (2nd) (Gunn's Rangers).
 * - 16th Regiment, Virginia Cavalry (Confederate). Company D.
 * - 34th Battalion, Virginia Cavalry (Witcher's Battalion, Virginia Mounted Rifles) (Confederate). Company B.
 * - 36th Battalion, Virginia Cavalry (Confederate). Company B.

Records and histories are available, including:


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

Naturalization
West Virginia, Naturalization Records, 1814-1991

Newspapers
Huntington's daily newspapers included the Herald Advertiser (historical) and Herald-Dispatch

Probate
Online Probate Records


 * 1724 - 1978 West Virginia Wills and Probate Records 1724-1978 at Ancestry.com — index and images $
 * 1756 - 1971 at FamilySearch — index and images

Cabell County, West Virginia Will Books 1820-1968 West Virginia Will Books

Taxation
How can West Virginia tax lists help me?


 * 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 source for this publication is the 1810 personal property tax list. Cabell County is included because the 1810 Census for that county has been destroyed.
 * 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. Cabell County is included in Vol. 6.

Online West Virginia Tax site
West Virginia real and personal property tax records are managed by the County Assessor in each county. Land and land improvements are considered real property while mobile property is classified as personal property.

Many County Assessors offer an online searchable database, where assessment record searches can be performed by name, account number, year, or mp/parcel number. Where online records are not available, requests for records can be made to the Assessment Office in person, by phone, or in writing.

The search for tax information can start here

Vital Records
. Includes marriages 1809-1968 - free. Cabell County (West Virginia) Deaths 1853-1854, 1865-1889, 1853-1859 Cabell County (West) Virginia marriages, 1851-1899


 * Cabell County Clerk has birth and death records from 1853 marriage records from 1809 (see West Virginia Archives and History)

Societies and Libraries
See also a List of West Virginia Archives, Libraries, Publications, Historical &amp; Genealogical Societies

Societies
KYOVA Genealogical and Historical Society Box 1254 Huntington, WV 25714-1254 Library located at the second floor of the Second Presbyterian Church Building, 901 Jefferson Ave, Huntington, West Virginia

Cabell - Wayne County Historical Society P O Box 9412 Huntinton, WV 25704

Libraries
Cabell County Public Library 455 9th Street Plaza Huntington, WV, 25701

Marshall Library Stacks Marshall University 3rd Avenue Huntington, WV 25755 1-304-696-3121

Family History Centers
The closest family history center is the Huntingon Family History Center


 * Introduction to LDS Family History Centers

Websites

 * Cabell County, WV History, Records, Facts and Genealogy
 * West Virginia Genealogy Network Community on Google+
 * West Virginia Genealogy Network Group on Facebook
 * CYNDI'S List West Virginia
 * Cabell County Public Library
 * Cabell County WV GenWeb
 * KYOVA Genealogical and Historical Society
 * Cabell County Family Histories
 * Cabell County, West Virginia Microfilms at the Library of Virginia
 * Cabell County, West Virginia photographs
 * Cabell County, West Virginia photographs


 * Learning How to Edit our Wiki Sites