Virginia genealogy records

Births and deaths, 1853 to 1896

On April 11, 1853, the General Assembly passed a law requiring statewide recording of births, marriages, and deaths. From then until 1896, each county and city kept registers, and once a year a copy went to the Auditor of Public Accounts. Before 1853 there was no systematic statewide recording, and birth and death records from that earlier period are rare.

The birth registers list the child, the date and place of birth, the father's or enslaver's name, the father's residence, the mother's name, and the informant's relationship to the child. Information is often missing. An unnamed baby may appear only as Smith, infant, and in most cases only a given name was recorded for enslaved people. Some enslaved and free Black people are listed with no name at all. Death registers give age at death in years, months, and days, the name of the enslaver if the person was enslaved, and who reported the death.

A microfilmed birth index arranged by surname helps when you do not know the county. A separate index lists births of enslaved people from 1853 to 1865, arranged by the name of the enslaver, overseer, employer, or informant. There is no statewide index to deaths for 1853 to 1896, although some county clerks made their own.

The gap, 1897 to 1911, and records from 1912

By an Act of Assembly of March 4, 1898, the state halted the recording of births and deaths. The Virginia Department of Health puts it simply: there was no law for registering births and deaths between 1896 and June 14, 1912. Most counties and cities recorded nothing in those years, but a few cities kept going on their own, including Lynchburg, Newport News, Norfolk, Petersburg, Portsmouth, Richmond, Roanoke, and Elizabeth City County, now Hampton. The Library of Virginia holds some of the Norfolk, Portsmouth, and Richmond records; for the others, ask the local health department or the Office of Vital Records.

People born in the gap years sometimes filed a delayed birth certificate later in life. The Library has an index to delayed birth certificates issued from 1912 to 1950, though not the certificates themselves. It also has a death index built from transportation permits, which can help date deaths before 1912.

Statewide recording resumed in 1912. The Library holds death certificates from 1912 to 1939 on microfilm, with an index covering 1912 to 1954. For later years, go to the Office of Vital Records.

Marriages and divorces

The Library of Virginia says the state's recording of marriages was never interrupted, but the Office of Vital Records gives copies of marriages only for 1853 to 1896 and from 1912 on. The Library of Virginia holds marriage records from before 1936 on microfilm, so look there for 1897 to 1911. Many marriage records from before 1853 also survive, and the Department of Health notes that surviving marriage bonds from before 1853 would be at the state library and archives, as would deeds, wills, and other court records.

The Office of Vital Records holds divorce records from 1918 on. Marriage, divorce, and death information becomes public 25 years after the event, and births become public after 100 years, under section 32.1-271 of the Code of Virginia.

Census records

No federal census schedules survive for Virginia for 1790 or 1800. To fill part of the 1790 gap, the Census Bureau published a volume in 1908 built from Virginia state enumerations of 1782 to 1785 and Greenbrier County tax lists of 1783 to 1786. For later years, the federal census is your main tool for placing a family in a county, which you will need before ordering any county record.

Lost records localities

Many Virginia counties and cities lost early records to the Revolutionary War and the Civil War, to courthouse fires, and to water damage. The Library of Virginia sorts them into two groups. In a catastrophic loss locality, most loose papers and bound volumes are gone. In a considerable loss locality, many loose papers were lost but most deed, will, and order books survive.

Some examples from the Library's list: Gloucester County lost all its records in an 1820 fire, and most later ones burned in Richmond on April 3, 1865, where they had been sent for safekeeping. Buckingham County records burned in 1869, and Appomattox lost everything except land tax books in a fire on February 1, 1892. If your county is on the list, search the Lost Records Localities Digital Collection, which gathers surviving records from these counties and cities, and then search the records of neighboring counties.

Land patents and grants

Virginia land records start early and are free to search online at the Library of Virginia. The collection covers land patents from 1623 to 1774 and land grants from 1779 onward, plus grants in the Northern Neck Proprietary from 1690 to 1874. Until the early 1700s, land was given mainly to people who brought settlers into the colony, with a headright of fifty acres for each immigrant. Because patents name the people imported, they are a key source for early Virginia immigration, but the online index does not include headright names, so check the published abstracts called Cavaliers and Pioneers.

Virginia also gave military bounty land for service in the French and Indian War, Dunmore's War, and the American Revolution. Note that the index uses names as spelled in the original, so try abbreviations such as Jno. for John and Wm. for William.