An Introduction

Gen-Tool Kit

Researching

 by Surname

Researching

by Location

Internet Resources

Contact Information

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General Description

     The Commonwealth of Virginia is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" because it is the birthplace of eight U.S. presidents. The geography and climate of the state are shaped by the Blue Ridge Mountains and the Chesapeake Bay, which are home to much of its flora and fauna. The capital of the Commonwealth is Richmond; Virginia Beach is the most populous city and Fairfax County the most populous political subdivision. The state population is nearly eight million.

     The area's history begins with indigenous settlements, and the founding of the Virginia Colony in 1607 by the Virginia Company of London as the first permanent New World English colony. Land from displaced Native American tribes, including the Powhatan, and slave labor each played significant roles in Virginia's early politics and plantation economy. Virginia was one of the Thirteen Colonies in the American Revolution and joined the Confederacy in the American Civil War, during which Richmond was the Confederate capital and the state of West Virginia separated. Although traditionally conservative and historically part of the South, both major national parties are competitive in modern Virginia. 

Historical Information

History of Virginia;   Colony of Virginia;   Virginia in the American Civil War

gen tool

GENEALOGICAL ARCHIVES & LIBRARIES

·        The Library of Virginia, Archives And Research Services , 800 East Broad Street, Richmond, Virginia 23219-8000; 804-692-3500

·        Virginia Department of Health Office of Vital Records, P.O. Box 1000, Richmond, VA 23218-1000; (804) 225-5000

·        Mary Ball Washington Museum & Library, 8346 Mary Ball Road, Lancaster, Virginia 22503, (804) 462-7280

·        The National Archives

·        Daughters of the American Revolution Library   

HISTORICAL & GENEALOGICAL SOCIETIES 

·        Virginia Genealogical Society, 5001 West Broad Street, Suite 115, Richmond, Virginia 23230-3023; Telephone (804) 285-8954

·        Virginia Historical Society, 428 North Boulevard, Richmond, Virginia 23220, Phone: 804.358.4901
Mail: P.O.Box 7311, 23221-0311 

STATE LIBRARY

Library of Virginia, Library of Virginia, 800 East Broad Street, Richmond, Virginia 23219-8000
Parking and Directions;  Phone: 804.692.3500 ▪ TTY/TDD: 804.692.3976
Regular Hours: Monday - Saturday 9:00 AM until 5:00 PM

·        Biographical and Genealogical

·        Historic Virginia Government

Land Office Patents & Grants

·        Maps and Architecture

·        Military Service

Virginia History and Culture

HISTORICAL PLACES

(select a county)

Accomack Albemarle Alexandria Alleghany Amelia Amherst Appomattox Arlington Augusta Bath Bedford Bland Botetourt Bristol Brunswick Buchanan Buckingham Buena Vista Campbell Caroline Carroll Charles City Charlotte Charlottesville Chesapeake Chesterfield Clarke Clifton Forge Colonial Heights Covington Craig Culpeper Cumberland Danville Dickenson Dinwiddie Emporia Essex Fairfax Falls Church Fauquier Floyd Fluvanna Franklin Frederick Fredericksburg Galax Giles Gloucester Goochland Grayson Greene Greensville Halifax Hampton Hanover Harrisonburg Henrico Henry Highland Hopewell Isle Of Wight James City King And Queen King George King William Lancaster Lee Lexington Loudoun Louisa Lunenburg Lynchburg Madison Manassas Martinsville Mathews Mecklenburg Middlesex Montgomery Nelson New Kent Newport News Norfolk Northampton Northumberland Nottoway Orange Page Patrick Petersburg Pittsylvania Portsmouth Powhatan Prince Edward Prince George Prince William Pulaski Radford Rappahannock Richmond Roanoke Rockbridge Rockingham Russell Salem Scott Shenandoah Smyth South Boston Southampton Spotsylvania Stafford Staunton Suffolk Surry Sussex Tazewell Virginia Beach Warren Washington Waynesboro Westmoreland Williamsburg Winchester Wise Wythe York

Surname

The following are surnames of persons, found within our databases,

as having been either born, married or died in this U.S. State.

McVicker; Moreland; Pinnell; Scruggs and allied families

Bagly

Bailey

Bates

Bennett

Bibie

Bobo

Brooks

Brown

Brumwell

Burford

Campbell

Carlock

Carpenter

Carter

Caudill

Chandler

Chapman

Childress

Clements

Coleman

Cummings

Davis

Demoss

Douglass

Dovel

Downing

Eades

Edwards

Garthright

Givens

Goode

Haden

Hamilton

Hardy

Harrell

Hitt

Howell

Humphrey

Johnson

Jopling

Kerr

Langston

Lanier

Leslie

Lineberry

Martin

Mason

McMillian

McMillin

McVicker

Miller

Mills

Moree

Moreland

Morrow

Napper

Nowlin

Oaks

Ogden

Pannell

Pasque

Phillips

Pickens

Pinnell

Price

Rankin

Robertson

Rose

Ross

Roysden

Royston

Rucker

Salisbury

Scruggs

Sewell

Sheperd

Smith

Starke

Sterne

Stone

Stringer

Suddarth

Thomas

Trout

Turner

Venable

Wade

Walker

Webb

Wheeler

White

Williams

Williamson

Wolverton

Wood

Yarborough

Bozarth; Peiffer; Quigley; Rhubart and allied families

Dellinger; Knecht; Pfeffer; Silar and allied families

Creager;   Ellis;   Hauer;   Silar

To find out more about each surname listed above click on the corresponding LINK.

Additional information regarding these surnames may also be found at:

  Surname Locator Resources

Free Genealogy Surname

Search Help from Google

Use this free genealogy site to help you get the best genealogy searches from Google™ by using your family tree, for your research. It will create a series of different searches using tips or   "tricks"  

that    will   likely   improve your results. The different searches will give you many different ways of using Google and the Internet to find ancestry information about this or any other Surname.

research location

Our Ancestral Counties

Gazetteer of Places

County Research (Genealogical)

County Research

 (General Info.)

Colonial Parishes

Where in the World

 are My Ancestors?

Our Ancestral Counties

The following named counties are associated with the history of our DIRECT ancestors.   To select a specific ancestral county, go to our Ancestral Locations home page. Here you will find additional links to our county pages where you can obtain information about our family gen-sites, images of localities, and surnames of persons, in our database, who have lived in the selected county.

Click on this thumbnail map for a full-sized version.

Albemarle;   Amelia;   Amherst;   Augusta;   Bedford;   Campbell;   Charles City;   Cumberland; Elizabeth City;      Fluvanna;   Goochland;  Halifax:   Henrico;   James City;   King & Queen;   Lancaster;   Loudoun;   Middlesex;   Montgomery;   Nelson;   New Kent;   Pittsylvania;   Richmond;   Russell;   Washington;   York

Gazetteer of Places

The following Links will take you to gazetteers that identify places within this U.S. State.  These resources feature profiles of cities, towns, neighborhoods and subdivisions.  In addition this site contains maps, data and directions for a wide variety of physical, cultural and historic features.

Political subdivisions of Virginia;   Cities in Virginia;   Towns in Virginia

Virginia Cities - profiles of 8,681 Virginia cities, towns & neighborhoods

Virginia Physical Features such as lakes, islands & steams

Virginia Cultural Features such as schools, parks, hospitals & airports

Virginia Civil Features such as Native Areas and Political Subdivisions

Search by Name, County, ZIP Code or Area Code

County Research Genealogical

Clicking on a Link (below) will take you to the County’s website.  Here you will find additional links to more information specific to that location.    The USGenWeb Project also sponsors important Special Projects, at the national level, that were created to collect and disseminate data that goes beyond county and state lines.

Links to VAGenWeb Counties

Accomack

Albemarle

Alleghany

Amelia

Amherst

Appomattox

Arlington

Augusta

Bath

Bedford

Bland

Botetourt

Brunswick

Buchanan

Buckingham

Campbell

Caroline

Carroll

Charles City

Charlotte

Chesterfield

Clarke

Craig

Culpeper

Cumberland

Dickenson

Dinwiddie

Elizabeth City

Essex

Fairfax

Fauquier

Floyd

Fluvanna

Franklin

Frederick

Giles

Gloucester

Goochland

Grayson

Greene

Greensville

Halifax

Hanover

Henrico

Henry

Highland

Isle Of Wight

James City

King And Queen

King George 

King William

Lancaster

Lee

Loudoun

Louisa

Lunenburg

Madison

Mathews

Mecklenburg

Middlesex

Montgomery

Nansemond

Nelson

New Kent

Norfolk

Northampton

Northumberland

Nottoway

Orange

Page

Patrick

Pittsylvania

Powhatan

Prince Edward

Prince George

Prince William

Princess Anne

Pulaski

Rappahannock

Richmond

Roanoke

Rockbridge

Rockingham

Russell

Scott

Shenandoah

Smyth

Southampton

Spotsylvania

Stafford

Surry

Sussex

Tazewell

Warren

Warwick

Washington

Westmoreland

Wise

Wythe

York

Links to Independent Cities

Most Ind. Cities don't have their own website and the link is to the parent county

Alexandria

Bedford

Bristol

Buena Vista

Charlottesville

Chesapeake

Clifton Forge

Colonial Heights

Covington

Danville

Emporia

Fairfax

Falls Church

Franklin

Fredericksburg

Galax

Hampton

Harrisonburg

Hopewell

Lexington

Lynchburg

Manassas

Manassas Park

Martinsville

Newport News

Norfolk

Norton

Petersburg

Poquoson

Portsmouth

Radford

Richmond

Roanoke

Salem

South Boston

Staunton

Suffolk

Virginia Beach

Waynesboro

Williamsburg

Winchester

County Research General

Wikipedia is a multilingual, Web-based, free-content encyclopedia project based mostly on anonymous contributions. Clicking on a Link (below) will take you to the Wikipedia article about the county.  Here you will find additional links to guide the user to related pages with additional information.

COUNTIES

Accomack | Albemarle | Alleghany | Amelia | Amherst | Appomattox | Arlington | Augusta | Bath | Bedford | Bland | Botetourt | Brunswick | Buchanan | Buckingham | Campbell | Caroline | Carroll | Charles City | Charlotte | Chesterfield | Clarke | Craig | Culpeper | Cumberland | Dickenson | Dinwiddie | Essex | Fairfax | Fauquier | Floyd | Fluvanna | Franklin | Frederick | Giles | Gloucester | Goochland | Grayson | Greene | Greensville | Halifax | Hanover | Henrico | Henry | Highland | Isle of Wight | James City | King and Queen | King George | King William | Lancaster | Lee | Loudoun | Louisa | Lunenburg | Madison | Mathews | Mecklenburg | Middlesex | Montgomery | Nelson | New Kent | Northampton | Northumberland | Nottoway | Orange | Page | Patrick | Pittsylvania | Powhatan | Prince Edward | Prince George | Prince William | Pulaski | Rappahannock | Richmond | Roanoke | Rockbridge | Rockingham | Russell | Scott | Shenandoah | Smyth | Southampton | Spotsylvania | Stafford | Surry | Sussex | Tazewell | Warren | Washington | Westmoreland | Wise | Wythe | York

INDEPENDENT CITIES

Alexandria | Bedford | Bristol | Buena Vista | Charlottesville | Chesapeake | Colonial Heights | Covington | Danville | Emporia | Fairfax | Falls Church | Franklin | Fredericksburg | Galax | Hampton | Harrisonburg | Hopewell | Lexington | Lynchburg | Manassas | Manassas Park | Martinsville | Newport News | Norfolk | Norton | Petersburg | Poquoson | Portsmouth | Radford | Richmond | Roanoke | Salem | Staunton | Suffolk | Virginia Beach | Waynesboro | Williamsburg | Winchester

Colonial Parishes

     Some early parish registers are incomplete or missing. Many of those still existing are available at the Library of Virginia and many copies are at the Family History Library. Rivah Research charts the survival of Virginia's CoE records in Virginia Parish Registers Information & Location. Many have been published. Baptisms and marriages from most colonial Virginia parishes are indexed in the International Genealogical Index, see: Hugh Wallis's IGI Batch Numbers for Virginia, USA for a breakdown.

    Freddie Spradlin has analyzed references to the formations and boundary changes of Church of England parishes found in Hening's Statutes at Large. His notes are available online at Parishes of Virginia (part of VAGenWeb Project).

Abingdon · Accomac · Accomack · Albemarle · Amherst · Antrim · Appomattox · Argall's Gift · Augusta · Bath · Beckford · Berkeley · Blisland · Blount Point · Botetourt · Boutracy · Bristol · Bromfield · Brunswick · Bruton · Camden · Cameron · Charles City · Charles · Charles River · Chickacoan · Chickahominy · Chippokes · Chiskiack · Chotank · Christ Church (Lancaster Co.) · Christ Church (Middlesex Co.) · Chuckatuck · Cople · Cornwall · Cumberland · Dale · Denbigh · Dettingen · Drysdale · East · Elizabeth City · Elizabeth River · Fairfax · Fairfield · Farnham · Flowerdew Hundred · Fluvanna · Frederick · Fredericksville · Hamilton · Hampton · Hanover · Harrop · Henrico · Hog Island · Hungars · James City · Jordan's Journey · Kecoughtan · Kingston · King William · Lancaster · Lawnes Creek · Lee · Leeds · Lexington · Littleton · Lower (Elizabeth City Co.) · Lower (Isle of Wight Co.)  · Lower (Lancaster Co.)  · Lower (Nansemond Co.) · Lower (Northampton Co.) · Lower (Stafford Co.) · Lower (Upper Norfolk Co.) · Lower Suffolk · Lunenburg · Lynnhaven · Machodick · Manchester · Marston · Martin's Brandon · Martin's Hundred · Meherrin · Middle Plantation · Middletowne · Montgomery · Mulberry Island · New Poquoson · Newport · Nomini · Norborne · Northampton · North Farnham · Nottoway (Prince Edward Co.) · Nottoway (Southampton Co.) · Nutmeg Quarter · Occohannock · Overwharton · Patrick · Petsworth · Piankatank · Piscataway · Poropotank · Portsmouth · Potomac · Raleigh · Richmond · Rockbridge · Rockingham · Russell · St. Andrew's · St. Anne's (Albemarle Co.) · St. Anne's (Essex and Caroline Cos.) · St. Asaph's · St. Brides · St. David's · St. George's (Accomack Co.)  · St. George's (Spotsylvania Co.) · St. James Northam · St. James Southam · St. James's (Goochland Co.) · St. James's (Mecklenburg Co.) · St. John's · St. Luke's · St. Margaret's · St. Mark's · St. Martin's · St. Mary's · St. Mary's Whitechapel · St. Patrick's · St. Paul's (Hanover Co.) · St. Paul's (King George Co.) · St. Peter's · St. Stephen's (King and Queen Co.) · St. Stephen's (Northumberland Co.) · St. Thomas · Shelburne · Sittenburne · Smith's Hundred · South · Southampton · South Farnham · Southwark · Stafford · Stanley Hundred · Stratton Major · Suffolk · Tillotson · Trinity (Lancaster Co.) · Trinity (Louisa Co.) · Truro · Upper (Elizabeth City Co.) · Upper (Isle of Wight Co.) · Upper (Lancaster Co.) · Upper (Nansemond Co.) · Upper (Northampton Co.) · Upper (Stafford Co.) Upper Suffolk · Varina · Wallingford · Ware · Warrosquyoake · Warwick · Washington (Westmoreland Co.) · Washington (Washington Co.) · Waters Creek · West · West and Shirley · Westbury · Westover · Weyanoke · Wicomico · Wilmington · York · Yorkhampton

In the FamilySearch Research Wiki, you can learn about how to

do genealogical research or share your knowledge with others.

Where in the World are My Ancestors?

Resources which enhance our knowledge of the places inhabited by our ancestors are almost as important as their names. The LINK

to the right will take you to Maps, Gazetteers,   and other helpful  resources  that will assist you in discovering Ancestral Locations. 

The Google search engine

 button  and following web

sites    may     provide    you

with additional information

to assist with your research

about   this   U. S.   State. 

GENERAL RESOURCES

·           Website & Webpages We Like

·           Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

·           Free Genealogy Search Help For Google

·           Linkpendium > Genealogy > USA

·           Genealogy Gateway

·            Ancestry.com (Reference Materials & Finding Aids)

·           Ancestry.com - Maps, Atlases & Gazetteers

·           GenealogyLinks.net

·        Cyndi's List - United States Index

·        IGI Batch Numbers - British Isles & North America

·        Libweb - Libraries on the Web

·        50states.com - States and Capitals

·        RootsWeb Town Search 1.0

·        USA Resources at RootsWeb

·        StateGenSites - U.S. Genealogy Sites by State

·        The USGenWeb Project

LOCATION SPECIFIC RESOURCES

·            Virginia - Wikipedia

·            Virginia State Facts and Information

·            Virginia Information (50 States.com)

·            Linkpendium – Virginia

·            Cyndi’s List (Virginia)

·            Virginia (historical societies)

·            Virginia Resources at RootsWeb

·            Family Search (IGI Records for Virginia)

OUR GENEALOGY REFERENCE LIBRARY

The following Link will take you to our library of genealogy reference books that pertain to this U.S. State.   Here you will find books about the history and records of this State, as well as its counties and other localities such as towns and churches.   The collection also contains research works about State military units and personnel during America’s wars.  In addition, there are resource texts about the ethnic and religious groups who settled in this State.

U.S.A. Locations Library - States, Counties, & Localities

Contact Information

Email

Snail Mail:

Fred
889 Dante Ct.
Mantua, NJ 08051

USA

Email

Pony Express:

Tom
27 Christopher Dr.
Burton, NB E2V3H4
Canada