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Public Records
The West Virginia and Regional History Center has early Virginia county records,
the Historical Records Survey, West Virginia County Court Records, and federal
census records from 1810-1930 available on microfilm and/or soundex. Although the
1790 and 1800 census records for Virginia have not survived, a substitute was constructed
from the 1782-1785 state tax enumerations of the following counties that are now
part of West Virginia: Greenbrier, Hampshire, Harrison, and Monongalia.
West Virginia County Court Records
Eighteenth, nineteenth, and early twentieth century West Virginia county court records from thirty West Virginia counties have been preserved in their original form, on microfilm, or as transcriptions. Records from the offices of the county clerk and the circuit clerk provide documentation of deeds, surveys, property taxes, voter registration, election returns, school reports, naturalizations, road maintenance, births and deaths, marriages, wills, estate settlements, criminal trials, etc. Finding aids for each county are linked on individual county pages. Detailed indexes are available for court case papers from the counties of Brooke, Fayette, Hampshire, Jefferson, Kanawha, Lewis, Mason, Monongalia, Ohio, Tucker, and Wood.
County records are essential resources for genealogical research. Records of births and deaths in what is now West Virginia were not created and/or kept until an act of the 1853 Virginia legislature required the recording of vital statistics by the county courts. Prior to 1853, Bible records and church registers will occasionally provide documentation for births and deaths. Early marriages can be found in county court records as well as in ministers' lists and church registers. County marriage records seldom provide more information than the names of the bride and groom, the name of the security, and the date of the bond. The ages of the couple, the names of their parents, and the exact date of the marriage are rarely recorded. Researchers will also want to investigate the Early Virginia Court Records and Historical Records Survey microfilm for additional vital statistics information.
Early Virginia Court Records
Early Virginia county records for the years 1623-1933 are available on 733 reels of microfilm at the West Virginia and Regional History Center. These are almost exclusively Virginia, not West Virginia records. The microfilm includes the following types of records: deeds, wills, estate settlements, marriages; land records, surveys, grants, warrants, and patents; tax lists for land and personal property; Revolutionary War service and pension records; War of 1812 musters and payrolls; Confederate soldiers' service records; Bible records, genealogical notes, family histories, and church records. A general guide to the microfilm is available at the WVRHC's reference desk.
Historical Records Survey
The Historical Records Survey was compiled by the Works Project Administration program of the late 1930s and early 1940s. This microfilm includes transcriptions of births, marriages, deaths, and wills available in each county, cemetery readings for many counties, and inventories of available county, municipal, and church records. 1899 or 1900 is the latest date for the Historical Records Survey transcriptions of virtually all West Virginia counties. Records of births and deaths before 1853 are virtually nonexistent, because no law required them to be officially recorded. However, before 1853, Bible records and church registers will occasionally provide documentation for births and deaths. After 1917 copies of all birth and death records were kept in Charleston by the Vital Registration Section of the West Virginia Department of Health; digitized copies of some vital records are available through the Vital Research Records Project.
Census Records
The WVRHC has federal census records from 1810-1930 available on microfilm and/or soundex. Although the 1790 and 1800 census records for Virginia have not survived, a substitute was constructed from the 1782-1785 state tax enumerations of the following counties that are now part of West Virginia: Greenbrier, Hampshire, Harrison, and Monongalia. Census records are also available online through Ancestry Library Edition and HeritageQuest. These databases are available to all users in the WVRHC Reading Room, and to members of the WVU community.