Henry County Project

Henry County / City of Martinsville Surnames

Check here to see if the surname(s) you're researching
have a Website listed at Rootsweb

Henry County Migration Project

Henry County News of Yesteryear

About Henry County

Henry County, created in 1777, was named in honor of the great orator of the Revolution, Patrick Henry, who did so much to overthrow the royal establishment in Virginia. Before the creation of Henry County, counties were generally named in honor of some one connected with the royal family of England or the royal government of the colonies. Formed from Pittsylvania County, the area of the county is 385 square miles and the county seat is Martinsville.

About City of Martinsville

Martinsville was named for Joseph Martin, an early settler and Revolutionary War soldier who represented Henry County in the General Assembly in 1791, when the town was established. Martinsville was incorporated as a town in 1873 and became a city by court order in 1928. Its area is 11.2 square miles.

Parishes of the Established Church 1607 - 1785

When the first English settlers came to Virginia in 1607, they followed the familiar patterns of the Church of England and established parishes that served as local units of ecclesiastical and community organization. The General Assembly established parishes and fixed their boundaries, often at the same time that it created or altered county lines. On January 16, 1786, the General Assembly passed Thomas Jefferson's Bill for Establishing Religious Freedom, ending state-enforced support for the formerly established church and its parishes.

• Camden, 1776 - 1778
• Patrick, 1778 - 1785

Henry County Resources

• County Statistical Profile
• Locate every nook, cranny and holler in Henry County or Martinsville ~ (via GNIS Online Database)
  So GNIS has wised up and no longer allows a direct link to the data. But here's how to make it work!
  After you click on the link above...
  • enter Virginia in the State box, pick Martinsville(city) [[OR]] Henry from the county drop down box and click on "Send Query"
  • at the bottom left of the new screen, click on "View & Print all"
  • in the Feature Name column, click on the place you're looking for
  • on the next screen there is a box on the right. Click on the 2nd item "GNIS in Google Map"
  • really nice map, even if you can't save it!
  • there is a way to do it, but you will have to contact me with the name of the place you're looking for.
• Google Maps ~ looking for an address?  Print, email or save a map!
• City of Martinsville Homepage
• Henry County Homepage ~ Fixed 8/2007
• 1909 Confederate Pension List
• Cyndi's List of Genealogy Sites on the Internet
  • Over 250,000 links, categorized & cross-referenced, in over 180 categories
• Henry County Courthouse
  • 3150 Kings Mountain Road
  • Martinsville, VA 24112
  • (276) 634-4880 (Clerk's Office)
  • Clerk of Circuit Court has marriage and land records from 1777, divorce records from 1909, also probate records
• Martinsville City Courthouse
  • City Hall
  • Martinsville, VA 24112
  • (276) 656-5106 (Clerk's Office)
  • (276) 656-5108 (Deed Room)
• Bassett Branch Historical Center ~ If you're planning a trip to Henry County, check this out!
• Henry County USGenWeb Archives never know what you might find here!
• Microfilm available for Henry County at The Library of Virginia ~ New 8/2007
• Henry County and Martinsville related Bible Records on-line at the Library of Virginia ~ Fixed 8/2007
  The LVA has wised up and no longer allows a direct link to the data. But here's how to make it work!
  After you click on the link above...
  • enter Bible Records--Virginia--Henry [[OR]] Bible Records--Virginia--Martinsville in the second search box
  • from the drop-down box beneath it, choose "Subject begins with..."
  • click on GO
  • on the next screen, click on the 1st item in the list
  • you can also scroll backwards and forwards to check other localities!
• VA-NC Piedmont Genealogical Society
• Virginia Genealogical Society ~ New 8/2007
• Virginia Historical Society ~ New 8/2007
• SSDI at RootsWeb ~ Search the Social Security Death Index
• Personal Property and Land Tax Records at the Library of Virginia ~ explanations ~ Fixed 8/2007
• 1790 & 1800 Henry County Tax Records ~ images on-line NOW!
• Virginia Vital Records Information ~ how to obtain
• Census 2000 information for Martinsville and Henry County ~ NEW 8/2007
• Partial Index of Death, Obituary and Funeral Notices published in the Martinsville Bulletin
• Afro-American Historical and Genealogical Society, Inc.
• Obituary Daily Times ~ A searchable index of 12.6 MILLION published obituaries
  • What you'll see....
  • Last name, First Middle (Maiden) [Other married] "Nickname"; Age at death; Birthplace > Place of death; Newspaper; Publication date; Contributor's tagname
• RootsWeb's Guide to Tracing Family Trees ~ A self-study course with helpful lessons for the beginner, intermediate and or even the advanced genealogist.

If you know of any others, please let me know!

Henry County Family Websites

• EDWARDS Genealogy & Edwards Family History - Virginia
• HANKINS Family Homepage by Jim Hankins, US Army (Ret)
• MINTERS of Henry County Homepage by Don Chamberlayne
  an annotated genealogical account of some of the descendants of John and Susannah Williams Minter, who settled on the branches of Leatherwood Creek in the 1770s
  
• SEXTON Family Homepage by Jim Sexton
• STULTZ Family Homepage by Jim Williams
• WATKINS Family Homepage by Jennifer Hudson Taylor

Books of Interest

• "ROSELAWN" BURIALS, HENRY COUNTY-MARTINSVILLE, VIRGINIA compiled by Margaret W. Myers and Patricia Johnson (Fredericksburg, VA, Sheridan Books, 2001)
  • First published record of burials at Roselawn Burial Park
  • Covers 10,378 burials from the cemetery's opening in November, 1930, through February, 2001.
  • Complete alphabetical listing gives name, cemetery section and lot, date of birth and date of death
  • Also includes listing of 446 burials in Roselawn Abbey, listing of 2043 known veterans and services and a listing of 210 reburials and removals.
  • Seventeen months in the making, these ladies used the cemetery records, visited every grave site, then spent months researching obituary notices on microfilm to get as many complete dates as possible. As a result, less than 300 of the entries have partial dates!
  • Hard cover, with cloth binding, 381 pages, 35 entries per page, very easy to read
  • $45.00 plus shipping
  • For ordering information, send your name and mailing address by e-mail to Margaret Myers. ~ New email 8/2007
• Virginia Publick Claims; Henry County by Janice L. Abercrombie and Richard Slatten (Athens, GA: Iberian, 1991)
• Complete Index and Abstract of Henry County Order Books #1 and #2 by Charles P. Blunt (Richmond, VA: auther, 1978)
• Henry County Marriage Bonds, 1778-1849 by Virginia Anderson Dodd (org. pub. 1953, reprint, Baltimore, MD: Clearfield Publishing Company, 1989)
• A History of Henry County, Virginia with Biographical Sketches of Its Most Prominent Citizens and Genealogical Histories of Half a Hundred of Its Oldest Families by Judith Parks America Hill (Baltimore, MD: Regional Publishing Company, 1983)
• History of Patrick and Henry Counties, VA by Virginia G. Pedigo and Lewis G. Pedigo (Roanoke, VA: Stone Printing, 1933, reprint Baltimore, MD: Genealogical Publishing Company, 1990)
• Henry County, Virginia, Census of 1820 by Don Simmons (no pub. data)
• Henry County, Virginia, Census of 1830 by Don Simmons (no pub. data)
• An (alphabetical) Index to HENRY COUNTY, VIRGINIA OBITUARIES AND DEATH NOTICES which appeared in the Martinsville Bulletin newspaper ( and it's predecessors, the Daily Bulletin and the Henry Bulletin) of Henry County, Virginia from May 1924 to December 1960 by Paul Martin, 1997
  • For each deceased, shows date(s) obituary, death or reburial notice appeared and its location in the paper (page number and column)
  • Transcribed from handwritten manuscript (in sequence by order of appearance in the newspaper) created in mid-1970's
  • Soft cover, with staple and heat binding, 157 pages, 84 entries per page in 2 columns
  • $20.00 by 1st class mail or $21.50 by Priority Mail from Paul Martin at 1342 E. First Street, Tustin, CA 72780-4524
• An (alphabetical) Index to HENRY COUNTY, VIRGINIA OBITUARIES AND DEATH NOTICES which appeared in the Martinsville Bulletin newspaper ( and it's predecessors, the Daily Bulletin and the Henry Bulletin) of Henry County, Virginia from January 1961 to Mid-June 1975 by Paul Martin, 1998
  • For each deceased, shows date(s) obituary, death or reburial notice appeared and its location in the paper (page number and column)
  • Transcribed from handwritten manuscript (in sequence by order of appearance in the newspaper) created in mid-1970's
  • Soft cover, with staple and heat binding, 140 pages, 84 entries per page in 2 columns
  • $20.00 by 1st class mail or $21.50 by Priority Mail from Paul Martin at 1342 E. First Street, Tustin, CA 72780-4524
  • NOTE: Order set of both books for only $40.00 by Priority Mail. The excellent printing job and Mr. Martin's format makes these books very easy to read.
• ~ Click here for more information on the following books:
  • 1850 Federal Census of Henry County, Virginia by Anne Vestal-Miller, 1991
  • Six Decade Index of Henry County, Virginia Censuses by Anne Vestal-Miller, 1991
  • Death Records of Henry County, Virginia Volume I, 1853-1874 by Anne Vestal-Miller, 1992
  • Death Records of Henry County, Virginia Volume II, 1875-1896 by Anne Vestal-Miller, 1993
  • The Marriage Register of Henry County, Virginia, Volume I, 1853-1878 by Anne Vestal-Miller, 1998
  • The Marriage Register of Henry County, Virginia, Volume II, 1879-1893 by Anne Vestal-Miller, 1998
  • Marriage Records of Pittsylvania County, Virginia 1767 - 1819 by Anne Vestal-Miller, 1996

If you know of any others, please let me know!

Online Bookstores
Check out this site if you're having trouble finding that particular book.
Some of these BookSellers have searchable databases online.

Lookup Volunteers

If you have reference materials pertaining to Henry County and its people, I invite you to visit the Henry County Message Board often and help others by posting a response to their queries. By posting a RESPONSE, you could possibly be helping more than one person. If you send an email to the query poster, you're only helping that one person. I've received requests from many of you wanting to be listed as lookup volunteers and I feel this may be the best solution. You won't be bombarded with requests and you can better control the amount of time you spend helping others. Won't you lend a helping hand?
Guidelines for Lookup Volunteers Please Read This!

Researchers For Hire

These links are included for your convenience only. There is NO warranty, written or implied, as to their usefullness or reliability, and as far as I know, their services have NOT been endorsed by the VAGenWeb Project, the USGenWeb Project or the WorldGenWeb Project. Please contact the individual sites for information concerning their services and fees. You might also contact the county Historical / Genealogical Society or Court House for recommendations of other researchers.

• Sam Eanes has been doing genealogical research in Henry County for 15+ years. Send him an e-mail and explain EXACTLY what it is you're looking for. ~ New email 8/2007
• Association of Professional Genealogists, National Capital Area Chapter
  A List of Professional Genealogists.
• Board for Certification of Genealogists
  Another List of Professional Genealogists.

If you would like to be listed here, write to jimw@mindless.com for my requirements.

Links to Surrounding Counties

Confederate Units Enlisted Here

• Co. H, 24th VA Inf., Henry Guards
• Co. A, 42nd VA Inf., Henry Volunteers
• Co. F, 42nd VA Inf., Leatherwood Fencibles
• Co. G, 42nd VA Inf., Capt. William W. Morris' Co.
• Co. F, 57th VA Inf., Henry and Pittsylvania Rifles
• 42nd Virginia Infantry Regiment - roster

  Check out The Virginia Regimental Histories Series for more information on these units and the men who fought for the cause.

On A Lighter Note

Genealogy Taglines - The Collection - They're all here!

My thanks to the unknown author of this little bit of humor!

Found a YANKEE in my family tree...will trade for horse thief or other black sheep!

VAGenWeb Project USGenWeb Project WORLDGenWeb Project

Your comments or suggestions about this site are always welcome

You are my 154386 visitor since I moved to Rootsweb.

Last Updated Saturday, 03-May-2008 22:19:37 MDT
jimw@mindless.com
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