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Washington County is the first locality in the United States known to have been named for George Washington. It was formed from Fincastle County in 1776, and a part of Montgomery County was added in 1777. Its area is 563 square miles, and the county seat is Abingdon. The population is 51,103 according to the 2000 census. A minute book for the period 1787-1819 was lost as well as many loose papers in a fire in the clerk's office on 15 December 1864. See Extended History for More information.
PLEASE READ!! Please call the clerk's department to confirm hours, mailing address, fees and other specifics before visiting or requesting information because of sometimes changing contact information.
Washington County Clerk of the Circuit Courthas Marriage Records from 1782 , Land Records from 1778 , Probate Records from 1777 and Court Records from 1777 and is located at the County Courthouse on 189 East Main Street, P.O. Box 289, Abingdon, VA 24212-0289; 276/676-6224, 276/676-6226, Fax: 276/676-6218 .
A minute book for the period 1787-1819 was lost as well as many loose papers in a fire in the clerk's office on 15 December 1864. The Clerk of the Circuit Court is a constitutional official that is elected by the voters of Washington County. The Clerk is charged with responsibilities that include judicial and non-judicial duties.
The Clerk provides administrative support for Circuit Court by preparing, recording, and maintaining court orders, subpoenas, and pleadings. The Clerk's Office also manages juries, disposal of evidence, collection of criminal fines and costs. Inquiries concerning the Court's procedures and policies and the records should be directed to the Clerk's Office, which serves as a repository for the Court's records.
Non-judicial duties include the authority to probate wills, grant administration of estates, appoint guardians, issue marriage licenses.
The Clerk acts as the Register of Deeds by recording all deeds, deeds of trust, real estate liens, releases and powers of attorney.
The Clerk acts as the county archivist by maintaining records of the Court, real estate, probate and numerous other county records.
Records management is an immense and critical responsibility of the Clerk's Office due to the volume and types of records.
Below is a list of online resources for Washington County Court Records. Email us with websites containing Washington County Court Records by clicking the link below:
Virginia Immigration & Emigration Records - Immigration records help the family historian to understand the movements of their ancestry as they relocated to different parts of the world.
Click Here to Search Virginia Birth, Marriage & Death Records! - Birth, marriage, and death records are connected with central life events. They are prime sources for genealogical information. Look also for baptism, christening, and burial records in this collection.
Vital Statistics include the official recordation of marriages, births, and deaths. Bible records, cemetery records, and church records are private sources that may supplement the official records.
A law requiring the systematic statewide recording of births and deaths was passed by the General Assembly on April 11 1853. Every commissioner of revenue registered births and deaths in his district annually and forwarded the information to the clerk of court, who then supplied the information to the state Auditor of Public Accounts. This law continued in effect until 1896. The Auditor turned the lists over to the Bureau of Vital Statistics in 1918 and the registers were later transferred to the state archives. The Library of Virginia has copies of surviving birth and death records for the period 1853 to 1896 and marriage records prior to 1936.
Virginia Department of Health, Office of Vital Records is located at The Shops at Willow Lawn, 1601 Willow Lawn Drive, Suite 275, Richmond, VA 23220; Ph: (804) 662-6200. The mailing address is VDH, Office of Vital Records, and Health Statistics, P.O. Box 1000, Richmond, Virginia, 23218-1000. They have the following records:
Births and Deaths: 1853-1896 and June 1912 to present. Birth cards are no longer available. Only the cities of Hampton, Newport News, Norfolk and Richmond have records between 1896 and June 14, 1912.
Marriage Records: 1853 to the present. If the records are not available from the State office, they should be available from the Clerk of Court in county where the marriage license was issued.
Divorce Records: 1918 to the present. If the records are not available from the State office, they should be available from the Clerk of Court in county where the marriage license was issued.
Order Online: You can also order Order Electronically and get the certificates within 2-5 days by ordering below
Birth records are public information 100 years after the date of the event; death, marriage, and divorce records, 50 years after the event. Due to limited resources they are unable to conduct geneology searches. Contact the Library of Virginia for assistance at http://www.lva.lib.va.us/.
For all birth records, please allow 10 business days. All marriage records, death records, divorce records, non-automated birth records and documents requiring amendments, please allow a delivery time of 4 to 6 weeks. Marriage and divorce records are available at the Circuit Court in which the event took place. Recent death records are available at the local health department where the death certificate was filed. You can also order Order Electronically and get the certificates within 2-5 days by ordering HERE
The fee to search for a birth, Marriage or Death certificate is $12.00, which includes one certified copy of the certificate or a "Certificate of Failure to Find." Make checks and money orders should be made payable to "State Health Department ". Please do not send cash. Credit Cards may be uses by using VitalChek services. Fees are non refundable. Additional fees are required for expedited service. Mail all Applications to:Vital Records,
VDH, Office of Vital Records, and Health Statistics, P.O. Box 1000, Richmond, Virginia, 23218-1000 . You can download an application online for Birth, Death, Marriage or Divorce Certificates. You can also order Order Electronically and get the certificates within 2-5 days by ordering HERE
Below is a list of online resources for Washington County Vital Records. Email us with websites containing Washington County Vital Records by clicking the link below:
Search the Social Security Death Index for FREE - Search over 82 million death records and get genealogical information crucial to your family research. New content added weekly! Most comprehensive SSDI site online!
Research Death records In The World's Largest Newspaper Archive at NewpaperArchive.com! - Find thousands of historical Virginia newspaper articles about deaths. Search for local articles about an old family friend that died many years ago or a celebrity that committed suicide. Historical newspapers contain a wealth of information about the deceased.
Death Records Indexing Project - partially completed cooperative project with the Virginia Genealogical Society; goal is to create a statewide index to the 1853-1896 locality death registers.
Click Here to Search Virginia Voter Lists & Census Records! - Few, if any, records reveal as many details about individuals and families as do government census records. Substitute records can be used when the official census is unavailable.
Countywide Records: Federal Population Schedules that exist for Washington County, Virginia are 1810, 1820, 1830, 1840, 1850, 1860, 1870, 1880, 1890 (fragment, see below), 1900, 1910, 1920 and 1930. Other Federal Schedules to look at when researching your family tree in Washington County, Virginia are Industry and Agriculture Schedules availible for the years 1850, 1860, 1870 and 1880. Slave Schedules exist for 1850 & 1860. The Mortality Schedules for the years 1850, 1860, 1870 and 1880.
Below is a list of online resources for Washington County Census Records. Email us with websites containing Washington County Census Records by clicking the link below:
Virginia Antique Maps & Atlases has images of old American atlases during the years 1795, 1814, 1822, 1823, 1836, 1838, 1845, 1856, 1866, 1879 and 1897 for Virginia and other states.
You can view rotating animated maps for Virginia showing all the county boundaries for each census year overlayed with past and present maps so you can see the changes in county boundaries. You can view a list of maps for other states at Census Maps
You can view rotating animated maps for Virginia showing all the county boundary changes for each year overlayed with past and present maps so you can see the changes in county boundaries . You can view a list of maps for other states and State Department of Transportation Maps at County Maps.
Below is a list of online resources for Washington County Maps. Email us with websites containing Washington County Maps by clicking the link below:
Click Here to Search Virginia Military Records! - Military and civil service records provide unique facts and insights into the lives of men and women who have served their country at home and abroad.
The uses and value of military records in genealogical research for ancestors who were veterans are obvious, but military records can also be important to re-searchers whose direct ancestors were not soldiers in any war. The fathers, grandfathers, brothers, and other close relatives of an ancestor may have served in a war, and their service or pension records could contain information that will assist in further identifying the family of primary interest. Due to the amount of genealogical information contained in some military pension files, they should never be overlooked during the research process. Those records not containing specific genealogical information are of historic value and should be included in any overall research design. A list of Wars fought on American. Read more detailed information on Virginia Military Records and the various wars.
Below is a list of online resources for Washington County Military Records. Email us with websites containing Washington County Military Records by clicking the link below:
Revolutionary War Rolls, 1775-1783 from the State of Virginia (The National Archives): View, Print Copy & Save Original Documents in NARA publication M246 include muster rolls, payrolls, strength returns, and other miscellaneous personnel, pay, and supply records of American Army units, 1775-83.
Southern Claims Commission from the State of Virginia (The National Archives): View, Print Copy & Save Original Documents In the 1870s, southerners claimed compensation from the U.S. government for items used by the Union Army, ranging from corn and horses, to trees and church buildings.
Virginia's tax records are a rich—and largely untapped—resource. During the Colonial period, there were three basic forms of taxation: the quitrent, the parish levy, and the poll tax.
The quitrent was a land tax that had its roots in English manorial society where “the land obligations due the manor, such as plowing and haying the lord's land, were computed to an annual money payment. Upon payment, the obligations were `quit' for the year.” Those living south of the Rappahannock River paid a quitrent to the Crown. An original, incomplete list of land owners for the region in 1704 is in the Public Record Office in London and has been published several times, not always reliably.
Residents of the Northern Neck, between the Rappahannock and Potomac Rivers, paid quitrents to the agents of Lord Fairfax. Many original rent rolls of the Fairfax proprietary are housed at the Huntington Library in San Marino, California. Extant original rent rolls and facsimiles for Virginia are available at The Library of Virginia.
The parish levy was an annual tax paid by all tithables for support of their ministers, maintenance of the parishes' glebe lands (the parsonage and lands producing income for the parish), and support of the poor of the parish.
The poll tax, except for a brief period from 1645 to 1648, was the main source of revenue for the colony of Virginia. The annual poll tax was computed by dividing the total expenses of the colony and individual counties by the total number of tithables. The result was levied on each tithable.
Tithables were variously defined during the colonial period. The first definition, in 1624, was “every male head above sixteen years of age.” All agricultural workers were added in 1629. In 1643 all males and black females aged sixteen or over were tithables. Imported male servants of any age were added in 1649.
The definition of “tithable” was rewritten in 1658. Tithables included free males aged sixteen or over, imported blacks of either sex, imported white male servants, and Indian servants of either sex; white women employed in agriculture were added in 1662. Complaints from planters with increasing numbers of indentured servants and slaves led to a revision in 1680 that declared Virginia-born male slaves taxable at age twelve and imported male servants taxable at age fourteen; nonwhite women and free males remained taxable at age sixteen.
The laws of Virginia were revised in 1705. From then until 1782, all males and nonwhite females aged sixteen or over were tithables. Wives of free nonwhite males were added in 1723.
Virginia's tax system changed after the Revolutionary War to include taxing land and personal property in 1782, with further revision in 1787. The bulk of those tax lists prior to 1850 survive and are available on microfilm at The Library of Virginia.
Below is a list of online resources for Washington County Tax Records. Email us with websites containing Washington County Tax Records by clicking the link below:
The Repositories in this section are Archives, Libraries, Museums, Genealogical and Historical Societies. Many County Historical and Genealogical Societies publish magazines and/or news letters on a monthly, quarterly, bi-annual or annual basis. Contacting the local societies should not be over looked. State Archives and Societies are usually much larger and better organized with much larger archived materials than their smaller county cousins but they can be more generalized and over look the smaller details that local societies tend to have. Libraries can also be a good place to look for local information. Some libraries have a genealogy section and may have some resources that are not located at archives or societies. Also, take a special look at any museums in the area. They sometimes have photos and items from years gone by as well as information of a genealogical interest. All these places are vitally important to the family genealogist and must not be passed over.
Below is a list of online resources for Washington County Genealogical Addresses. Email us with websites containing Washington County Genealogical Addresses by clicking the link below:
Virginia Genealogical Society, 5001 West Broad Street, Suite 115, Richmond, Virginia 23230-3023; Telephone (804) 285-8954 Please note that because of our close proximity to the Library of Virginia and the Virginia Historical Society, the Virginia Genealogical Society does not maintain a research facility or surname material.
Virginia Historical Society, 428 North Boulevard, Richmond, Virginia 23220, Phone: 804.358.4901 Mail: P.O.Box 7311, 23221-0311;Hours: Monday-Saturday 10-5 / Sunday 1-5 (galleries only)
Virginia Newspapers & Periodicals Records - Newspapers and periodicals are the diaries of local communities. They are excellent sources of family history details - often recorded nowhere else. Look for obituaries, marriages, legal notices, and more found in our Historical Newspaper Archives.
Click Here to Search Virginia Obituary Records! - This database is a compilation of obituaries published in U.S. newspapers, collected from various online sources. Obituaries can vary in the amount of information they contain, but many of them are genealogical goldmines, including information such as names, dates, places of birth and death, marriage information, and family relationships.
Unlike New England, colonial Virginia left few early church records. The first Virginians were members of the Church of England, or Anglican church, which became the Episcopal Church in 1786. Early parish registers are incomplete and challenging to use. Parish boundaries changed rapidly and are hard to pinpoint.
Since colonial times, many religious groups have established congregations in Virginia, including Baptist, Catholic, Jewish, Lutheran, Presbyterian, and Quaker or Friends, to name a few. Except for the Quakers, few of these groups kept records containing such genealogical information as birth, marriage, and death dates. A number of church vestry books and registers have been published and are available at The Library of Virginia and the FHL.
The list of published tombstone inscriptions for Virginia, if a comprehensive list existed, would be lengthy. The DAR has compiled an extensive collection of Virginia tombstone inscriptions. The collection, along with other cemetery record publications, can be found at the DAR Library in Washington, D.C., The Library of Virginia, the Virginia Historical Society, and the FHL.
Cemetery interment registers and gravestone inscriptions may often be sources of useful information for Virginia researchers. The state government does not have a long, uninterrupted, centralized file of birth and death records that are readily accessible to researchers. Wars, floods, and fires have destroyed the vital record of many of Virginia's counties. Oftentimes, information found in cemetery records and on gravestones cannot be found anywhere else. When looking for a specific cemetery in Virginia, you may wish to start with the following comprehensive resource.
Below is a list of online resources for Washington County Cemetery & Church Records. Email us with websites containing Washington County Cemetery & Church Records by clicking the link below:
Find Obituaries in The World's Largest Newspaper Archive at NewpaperArchive.com! - Find thousands of Virginia obituaries to help you research your family history. Search for a Virginia newspaper obituary about your ancestor or a celebrity. Begin your search today and find death notices and funeral announcements printed in newspapers from Virginia.
J. Henry Brown Monuments Inc., Order Book - a searchable database indexing tombstone inscriptions covering the period 1899-1907. Many of the individuals listed were born before Virginia began keeping vital statistics in 1853.
Click Here to Search Virginia Family Tree Records! - The use of published genealogies, electronic files containing genealogical lineage, and other compiled sources can be of tremendous value to a researcher.
When view family trees online or not, be sure to only take the info at face value and always follow up with your own sources or verify the ones they provide. Below is a list of online resources for Washington County Family Trees, web forums and other family type information . Email us with websites containing Washington County Family Trees, web forums and other family type information by clicking the link below:
Genealogy Encyclopedia: General Abbreviations, Early Illnesses, Nickname Meanings, Worldwide Epidemics, Early Occupations, Common Terms, Censuses Explained, Free Genealogical Forms
Nichols and Related Families of Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Florida, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Virgina.
Virginia Family & Local History Records - The Family & Local Histories Collection lets you read journals, memoirs, and other first-hand historical narratives right on your computer. Gathered from some of the world's finest libraries, these materials may provide hard-to-find town, county, and state information; tax records and wills; military, church, and court records; as well as photographs, stories, and maps.
Washington County was named for General George Washington before he was elected President. A history of Washington County, Virginia might include all the territory originally encompassed in Augusta County, formed by the Virginia House of Burgesses in 1738; Botetourt County in 1770; Fincastle County in 1772; and Washington County established on December 7, 1776. Each of the subsequent counties split from the Washington County of 1776: Russell County in 1786, Lee County in 1793, Tazewell County in 1800, Scott County in 1814, Smyth County in 1832, Wise County in 1836, Buchanan County in 1858, Dickenson County in 1880. Each has a history of its own. With a few exceptions, this article will be concerned with the current boundaries of Washington County, Virginia.
The Great Valley of Virginia was a 'superhighway' for various tribes of original inhabitants of what is now known as the United States of America. Relics, such as arrowheads and tomahawk stones that attest to the presence of American Indians and continue to be found in local plowed fields. Scotch-Irish and German Settlers who traveled from Pennsylvania down what was called the Great Indian Trail encounter those people and the buffalo, which grazed along the way.
In the fall of 1780, four hundred men from Washington County were mustered to travel under the command of Colonel William Campbell to overcome the British troops under the command of Patrick Ferguson. North Carolina and Tennessee militia from various counties joined with the Virginians to pursue the British and engage them at King's Mountain, South Carolina. The "Overmountain Men" were ordered to yell like Indians during this attack. The confusion that resulted from the yelling and exceptional marksmanship as well as other tactics helped cause the death of Ferguson and the defeat of his troops October 7, 1780.
Starting in the mid-1800's railroads carried passengers and materials through and from Washington County. Communities along the main route from Washington Springs to Goodson (now Bristol) included Glade Spring, Emory, Meadowview, Wolf Hills (now Abingdon), Fractionsville, Wyndale and Wallace. One line went from Glade Spring to Saltville by way of Litz, Keywood and Clinchburg; another line extended from Bristol to Mendota; another headed southeast from Abingdon to West Jefferson, North Carolina by way of Watauga, Barron (now Alvarado), Delmar, Drowning Ford Station, Hellena, Damascus, Laureldale, Taylors Valley, Creek Junction, Cant Work and Green Cove. For a period of time passengers arriving on a Virginia line at Bristol, Virginia had to disembark and walk a short distance to climb aboard a Tennessee train on a Tennessee line if they wanted to continue south. Roads suitable for automobiles have replaced the lines from Damascus to Laurel Bloomery, Tennessee and from Damascus to Shady Valley, Tennessee. The Virginia Creeper Trail is a linear park that has replaced the Norfolk & Western rails and crosses from Abingdon to the North Carolina line.
A major part of Washington County is in the Great Valley region of Virginia, where Abingdon, the County Seat, was established. To the north are the North Fork of the Holston River and the Clinch mountain range; to the south and east are River Knobs, the junction of the Middle Fork and the South Fork of the Holston River, and the mountain ranges known as the Holston and the Virginia Iron. The combination of springs and elevation provided waterpower, harnessed behind small dams for milling grains and for sawing lumber from the abundant stands of trees. Water powered electrification with direct current brought light and heat to some homes early in the 20th Century. Grayson, Smyth, and Washington Counties join at the top of the second highest mountain (5,520 feet) in Virginia formerly known as "Meadow", because of its prominent bald field. Winter snows in that open field have caused the change of its name to White Top Mountain.
The southern boundary line of Virginia was assigned to parallel 36&#deg;30'. In 1749 when Peter Jefferson, father of Thomas Jefferson, surveyed from about where Patrick County is today, he kept moving farther north away from the assigned parallel till he discontinued his survey east of Damascus. In 1800, the northeast tip of the new state of Tennessee joined Virginia and North Carolina on Pond Mountain. Tennessee continues on that northern parallel in Washington County, until it jogs south but not to 36o30'. Three stories are told about the Notch: (1) the surveyor was inebriated (2) iron deposits in the Iron Mountains interfered with readings of the compass and (3) the strong will of Tennesseans prevailed.
Abingdon
In the County Seat, history can be found within the record books of the Washington County Courthouse, in the cemeteries dating before the Revolution, in the homes throughout the historic district, and dedicated markers. One historic house constructed in 1832 was the home of Brigadier General Francis Preston. After General Preston's death the Holston Conference of the Methodist Church acquired the property. On March 15, 1860 classes began in Martha Washington College for women, the first such recognition of Martha Custis, the wife of George Washington. The "War Between the States" interrupted classes while a hospital temporarily occupied the College. After that war classes resumed and continued until 1931. The enlarged campus of four buildings was purchased to change function once more to become Martha Washington Inn.
Bristol, Virginia
Even though the General Assembly granted a charter and named the city Bristol on February 12, 1890, the area has a history dating back to 1749, when it was called Sapling Grove. At an elevation of 1672 feet, the northern half of State Street lies in Virginia; the southern half lies in Bristol, Tennessee.
Damascus
Recipients of Revolutionary Land Grants were some of the earliest settlers in the southeastern part of Washington County. Even though Daniel Boone was born in Pennsylvania and moved with his father's family to the Yadkin River in North Carolina, he played an important part in future migrations by other Mocksville, North Carolina residents, who followed the Daniel Boone Trail to Kentucky and beyond. Some were so pleased by the conditions in the valley carved out by the Beaver Dam Creek and the Laurel Creek that they stayed in what would later be named Damascus.
Emory
The village of Emory developed around the perimeter of Emory & Henry College for men, founded in 1836. Named for Bishop John Emory of the Methodist Church and Patrick Henry, the famed Virginia patriot and political leader, the college was planned by the Rev. Mr. Creed Fulton and Tobias Smyth, whose log cabin was moved from its original location to the campus, where it can be seen today. In 1861, all the students withdrew to join the army; and the main building became a hospital. In 1922, women were admitted to the college, which continues to be co-educational.
Konnarock
In the far southeast corner of Washington County lies part of the community known as Konnarock. Logging of the virgin timber in the valley and up the sides of White Top Mountain by the Hassinger Lumber Company from 1906 to Christmas Eve, 1928 provided a boom economy in the form of new homes, company buildings and sawmills, and a railroad spur to an existing line. After all the large timber was gone, the town reverted to being a remote village of people who love to live at the north base of White Top Mountain.
Mendota
The community in the northwest corner of Washington County took the name given the area by native people, because the name means "bend in the river." For the five eastern tribes who fished the river and hunted the woods, Mendota was an excellent place to meet. High on the cliffs, there are overlooks for viewing the river in both directions. When settlers moved in they found that the soil in this valley was rich for farming.
Saltville
Part of a sea was captured in the valley near the northeast corner where Washington County borders Smyth County. This salty lake attracted birds and animals, then hunters of various tribes, then a surveyor Charles Campbell who was granted 330 acres including the remaining lake and swamp by King George II in 1748. Settlers and soldiers traveled to "The Lick" to purchase salt, the product of crystallization during boiling of the salty water. When spring rains and melting snows raised the level of the North Fork of the Holston River, flat bottom boats were used to carry salt to Chattanooga and beyond. From 1893 chemical factories provided jobs, while sadly polluting the rivers. Discovery of Wooly Mammoth remains has led to further paleontological digs and the Museum of the Middle Appalachians.
