Finding Your Family in Surry County, Virginia

How to Find Your Family in Surry County, Virginia

Looking for your family in Surry County, Virginia?

First you may need to determine that the individuals for whom you are searching actually lived in Surry County, Virginia. (There is also a Surry County in North Carolina.) Here are some publications and links that can be helpful.

Virginia land patent abstracts, with seven volumes published so far, begin with Nell Marion Nugent, Cavaliers and Pioneers Abstracts of Virginia Land Patents and Grants 1623-1666, Vol. 1 (Baltimore, 1969) and continue through Volume Seven:1762-1776, ed. Dennis Ray Hudgins (Richmond, 1999). A serchable Database for Virginia Land Patents and Grants is now on line at the Library of Virginia. From the Database, you can go to an image of the patent book page and read the complete patent.
Clayton Torrence, Virginia Wills and Administrations 1632-1800 (Baltimore, 1972) lists names and counties where their wills or administrations were found. This list is now on line at the Library of Virginia. Index to Wills and Administrations at LVA.
Annie Laurie Wright Smith, The Quit Rents of Virginia, 1704 (Baltimore, 1977) is a list of landowners in Virginia in 1704. A version of this list is on line. Alphabetical List of 1704 Virginia Land Owners who paid quit rents.
Several good census-type lists are on line at Censusfinder.com. Check them out HERE.
Heads of Families at the First Census of the United States Taken in the Year 1790 Records of the State Enumerations: 1782 to 1785 Virginia (Baltimore, 1986)
Augusta B. Fothergill and John Mark Naugle, Virginia Tax Payers 1782-87 Other Than Those Published by the United States Census Bureau (Baltimore, 1986)
Steve & Bunny Binns's WONDERFUL web site with digital images of Virginia County and City Tax Lists for 1790, 1799 and 1800 has returned to the web! Scroll down and click on your County or City of interest.
Elizabeth Petty Bentley, Index to the 1810 Census of Virginia (Baltimore, 1980)
Now on line, from S-K Publications Index to 1810 Census for Surry County, VA
W. Troy Valos, 1810 Surry County, Virginia - US Federal Census Schedule. All the information on the 1810 Federal Census sheets for Surry County, VA with a "Snapshot of 1810 Surry" analysis. For order information, see the Surry County, Virginia, Historical Society web site. Look in the NEW section under BOOKS.
Roger G. Ward, 1815 Directory of Virginia Landowners (and Gazetteer) in four volumes (Athens, GA, 1997-1999)
Jeanne Robey Felldin, Index to the 1820 Census of Virginia (Baltimore, 1981)
Now on line, from S-K Publications Index to 1820 Census for Surry County, VA
June Banks Evans, Census of 1840 Surry County, Virginia (1989) http://bryn.ffyl.home.att.net/bryn.ffyl.html Email bryn.ffyl@worldnet.att.net Excellent transcription!
Some early census entries are on line here. The USGenWeb Archives Census Project VIRGINIA Federal Census Index
The entire 1880 U. S. Census is transcribed and on line at the LDS Family Search web site. You can search it there.

It is important to join the Surry Mailing List and place your queries there and on the Surry Query Board. This is an excellent way to connect with others who are working on Surry projects. They can help you. You may find cousins. Reading the history notes for Surry County will help you figure out what records you want to find. And don't forget to ask for Lookups. All of these links are on the Main page.

Virginia Vital Records

Because Virginia's history stretches back 400 years, under different governments and through several wars, the records you seek may no longer exist. Many still do, however, so you need to understand the different types of records that are still available and which ones can give you the information you want.

During the Colonial period vital records were kept at the Anglican Parishes in Parish Registers. Some of these still exist, but many do not. For Surry and Sussex Counties, there is the Albemarle Parish Register. As other Protestant denominations arose, they kept their own records of baptisms, marriages, and burials. There was no state law requiring the government to keep vital records until 1853. Many records were lost during the Civil War.

For a more thorough explanation of how Virginia Birth, Marriage and Death records were created, and which ones may be available now, please read the excellent explanation at the Library of Virginia, Using Vital Statistics Records in the Archives at the Library of Virginia (Research Notes Number 2).

Surry County's court records begin in 1652. Before that time, the area was part of James City County. If your family was in the Surry area before 1652, you need to search for them in James City County records.

Surry County's court records are well preserved. Microfilm copies of the originals are available at the Library of Virginia . They can be borrowed by interlibrary loan through your local library. If you don't feel confident trying to read early hand written records, there are excellent published transcriptions of the records from 1652 through 1718 and 1741 through 1751 by Weynette Parks Haun. Mrs. Haun can be contacted at 243 Argonne Drive, Durham, N. C., 27704.

For other published sources, see Anne Gwaltney's Surry County Bibliography and the List of References. For more helpful links, visit the Surry County Historical Society web site.

Sussex County was formed in 1753 from the part of Surry County that was south of the Blackwater River.

There are other sources of Surry information at this web site. Don't forget to explore them all before following links to other places. And remember the "Back" button on your browser.

Surry County Historical Society

Surry County VAGenWeb