from the Stafford County Mailing List


Several Virginia counties, most of them in the  eastern part of the state,
have suffered tremendous loss of their early  records during the intense
military activity that occurred during the  Civil War, and others lost records in
fires. At some point, almost  everyone conducting genealogical or historical
research will face the  problem of finding information from a so-called "Burned
Record county."  Burned record counties might be grouped into three basic
categories:  Hopeless, Almost Hopeless, and Difficult. Included in the Hopeless 
category are James City, New Kent, Buckingham, Nansemond, Dinwiddie  (before 1782), Appomattox, Buchanan, King and Queen, Warwick, and Henrico  (before 1677). Almost Hopeless are Hanover, Prince George, Elizabeth City,  and Gloucester. Difficult counties are Caroline, Charles City, King  William, Mathews, Prince William, Stafford, Rockingham, and  Nottoway.

If you are working with a county that has suffered a loss  of court records,
you must devote all your genealogical energy and  historical knowledge to the
project. First, survey any extant records as  well as all existing indexes;
second, read every surviving record page by  page; third, consult the records of the surrounding counties; finally,  seek out other types of records, such as
church, business, private, and  government documents.

Within the colonial period, the major source  available are the patents that
were recorded in the Secretary's Office  between 1623 and 1774. Determine also if any church records are extant for  the county of your interest. A few more resources are available during the  statehood period.

Title to virgin land issued from the  governor in a record now called a
grant; petitions to the legislature date  from 1775 into the 1850s; tax records,
both land and personal, date from  1782 into the twentieth century; militia
fines date from 1795 to  1860.

Researchers should also consult the federal census  schedules that were taken
every ten years and for Virginia survive from  1810 onward, excepting 1890,
which was almost entirely burned. Realize,  however, that most of these records are simply lists and do not give  family information. The record can locate a particular name within a  specific county. With the exception of the patent and grant books, the  records referenced are not available on-line; further, most are  manuscripts and must be consulted in person at the holding  depository.

As always, when researching county and city court  records, first consult the
_list  of what is available on microfilm_ (http://www.lva.lib.va.us/whatwehave/local/local_rec/index.htm)  at the Library of  Virginia.

_Burned  Record Counties Database_
(http://www.lva.lib.va.us/whatwehave/local/burned/index.htm)  - This database consists of entries for a  wide variety of court records found as part of chancery and other county  record processing projects. The entries are for records that are generally  from counties whose records are no longer extant. The original record is  photocopied. The copies are filed together in an artificial collection -  the Burned Records County Collection - and are readily accessed through  the manuscript room at the Library of Virginia. Please check periodically  as this is an ongoing project.

The Burned Record Counties 
Appomattox: created in 1845, county court records were destroyed  by fire in
1892.

Buchanan: created in 1858, county court  records were destroyed by fire in
1885; records created after that date  suffered extreme damage in a flood in
1977. A few re-recorded deeds  exist.

Buckingham: created in 1761, county court records  were destroyed by fire in
1869. One plat book survived and some wills and  deeds were later recorded.

Dinwiddie: created in 1752,  county court records prior to 1833 were
destroyed in 1865. One plat book,  one order book, and one judgment book survive.

Elizabeth  City: created in 1634 as an original shire, records were damaged 
and/or destroyed during the Revolutionary War, War of 1812, and the Civil 
War. A few early deeds, wills, orders, and guardian's accounts  survive.

Gloucester: created in 1651, all county court  records were destroyed by an
1821 fire, and records created after that  date were destroyed in Richmond on 3 April 1865. Six minute books from the  nineteenth century and two surveyor's record books  survive.

Hanover: created in 1721, most county court records  were destroyed by fire
in Richmond on 3 April 1865. A few isolated record  books that were not sent to Richmond and various scraps of loose papers  survive.

Henrico: created in 1634 as an original shire, all  county court records
prior to 1655 and almost all prior to 1677 are  missing; additionally, many
isolated records were destroyed during the  Revolutionary War, and almost all
Circuit Court records were destroyed by  fire in Richmond on 3 April 1865.

James City: created in  1634 as an original shire, all county court records
were lost in  1865.

King and Queen: created in 1691, county court records  were lost in fires in
1828 and 1865. One plat book and three  mid-nineteenth century Superior Court record books survive.

Nansemond: created in 1652, county court records  were destroyed in three
separate fires, the earliest of which consumed the  house of the court clerk in
April 1734 (where the records were kept at  that time), and the last on 7
February 1866. A few fee books have been  found in the records of Sussex County.

New Kent: created in  1654, county court records were destroyed when John
Posey burned the  courthouse on 15 July 1787, and records created after that date were lost to fire in 1865.

Prince George: created in 1703, most county  court records were burned during the Civil War. A few record books  survived and, proving that there is always hope, the volume in which deeds  and wills were recorded between 1710 and 1713 was found within the last  decade.

Warwick: created in 1643, county court records  were destroyed at several
times with most destruction occurring during the  Civil War. A seventeenth
century livestock registry, one order book, and  one minute book from the eighteenth century survive.

Twenty-five other Virginia counties have suffered some loss of county  court
records, some to a greater degree than  others:

Albemarle: created in 1744, all order books except  the first and all loose
papers were destroyed in Tarleton's raid on  Charlottesville in 1781.

Bland: created in 1861, all but a  few record books and some chancery papers
were destroyed by fire in  1888.

Brunswick: created in 1732, the first pages of a  number of early record
books damaged by time.

Caroline:  created in 1728, most records prior to 1836 were destroyed during
the  Civil War. Some deeds and wills are recorded in extant Chancery Papers, 
and a considerable number of order books and loose papers  survive.

Charles City: created in 1634 as an original shire,  records have been
destroyed at various times. The most damage occurred  during the Civil War when the records were strewn through woods in a  rainstorm. Many fragments of records exist, so many, in fact, that there  is something for almost every year.

Chesterfield: created in  1749, lost one marriage register and some loose
court papers during the  Civil War.

Clarke: created in 1836, had pages cut from  several record books during the
Civil War.

Craig: created in  1851, lost the first deed book and most of the loose
papers during the  Civil War.

Fairfax: created in 1742, original wills and  deeds as well as many other
loose papers were destroyed during the Civil  War; deed books for twenty-six of the fifty-six years between 1763 and  1819 are missing.

Greene: created in 1838, lost the first  deed book during the Civil War when
it was removed from the courthouse; no  records were lost, but some suffered
extreme water damage in efforts to  put out a fire in the 1970s.

King George: created in 1721,  had one will book, an early marriage register,
and an order book "carried  away during the Civil War." A few years ago the
will book was deposited in  the Virginia Historical Society.

King William: created in  1702, all county court records prior to 1885
(except for seventeen will  books) were destroyed in a fire in that year.

Lee: created  in 1793, lost the oldest marriage register in an 1863  fire.

Louisa: created in 1742, lost one order book in  Richmond in 1865.

Mathews: created in 1791, all county court  records were burned in Richmond
on 3 April 1865. At least two bond books,  one plat book, and a number of fee
books  survive.

Northumberland: created in 1645, suffered some loss  in a fire in the clerk's
office on 25 October  1710.

Nottoway: created in 1789, many county court records  were destroyed or
heavily mutilated in 1865.

Prince William:  created in 1731, many county court records have been lost,
destroyed, or  stolen at various times. Scattered years of deeds, wills, and
orders, as  well as various bond books and a plat book, survive.

Richmond:  created in 1692, has some record books damaged and mutilated due to  unknown causes; additionally, the will books prior to 1699 were missing as  early as 1793, and order books for the period 1794-1816 are also  missing.

Rockingham: created in 1778, many pre-Civil War  records were lost during the
Valley Campaign of 1864. In an effort to  safeguard the records, they were
loaded onto a wagon that was subsequently  set afire by Union troops. Records that were saved include:  administrators, executors, and guardians bonds.

Russell:  created in 1786, the first marriage register and all loose files
were  lost in a fire in the clerk's office in 1872.

Stafford:  created in 1664, many pre-Civil War county court records were lost
to  vandalism during the war. Scattered years of deeds, wills, and orders
have  survived as has an old General Index.

Surry: created in  1652, has lost deeds for 1835-1838 and order books for
1718-1741 and  various other early record books are fragmentary. Court house fires in  1906 and 1922 did not result in loss of records which were then housed in  a separate clerk's office.

Washington: created in 1777, lost  a minute book for the period 1787-1819 and
many loose papers in a fire in  the clerk's office on 15 December 1864.

Westmoreland:  created in 1653, lost an order book for the period 1764-1776
to theft, and  many loose papers were damaged during both the Revolutionary War and the  Civil War.


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