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West Virginia Research Outline |
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Table of Contents
Records Of The Family History Library
Family History Library Catalog
Archives And Libraries
Bible Records
Biography
Cemeteries
Census
Church Records
Court Records
Directories
Emigration And Immigration
Gazetteers
Genealogy
History
Land And Property
Maps
Military Records
Naturalization And Citizenship
Newspapers
Periodicals
Probate Records
Taxation
Vital Records
For Further Reading
Comments And Suggestions
BIOGRAPHY You can usually find biographical information in state, regional, and county histories. An excellent source of biographical information on past and present West Virginians is Jim Comstock, West Virginia Heritage Encyclopedia and the supplemental series (see the “History” section of this outline).
An index to biographical sketches in several hundred local histories and genealogies is P. G. Wardell, Timesaving Aid to Virginia-West Virginia Ancestors: A Genealogical Index of Surnames from Published Sources, 4 vols. (Athens, Ga.: Iberian Publishing Co., 1990; FHL book 975 D22w).
Representative biographical sources at the Family History Library are:
Atkinson, George Wesley. Prominent Men of West Virginia. Wheeling, W. Va.: W. L. Callin, 1890. (FHL film 1000648 item 3).
Callaham, James Morton. History of West Virginia, Old and New. 3 vols. Chicago: American Historical Society, 1923. (FHL book 975.4 H2c; vol. 1 on film 1425634 item 4 and vols. 2-3 on film 1698201 items 1-2.) Volumes two and three are biographical.
Men of West Virginia. 2 vols. Chicago: Biographical Publishing Co., 1903. (FHL book 975.4 D3; film 874390 items 1-2.)
Miller, Thomas Condit, and Hu Maxwell. West Virginia and Its People. 3 vols. New York: Lewis Historical Publishing Co., 1913. (FHL book 975.4 H2mw; film 1000646.) Volumes two and three include family and personal histories.
The Family History Library has a good collection of cemetery records from West Virginia. These are listed in the Family History Library Catalog under each specific county.
The West Virginia Historical Records Survey compiled the Cemetery Readings in West Virginia in 1939 and 1940 (FHL films 250207-10). This is a large collection of cemetery descriptions, locations, and tombstone inscriptions. These records are described in the Family History Library Catalog under each county. The original documents are at the West Virginia University Library.
An important collection of cemetery records for Harrison County and some adjacent localities is also at the Family History Library (FHL films 163926-31). The original records are part of the Guy W. Tetrick collection (described in the “Genealogy” section of this outline).
The West Virginia State Archives has a partial card index to tombstone inscriptions. The Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) collection
Many federal census records are found at the Family History Library, the National Archives, and other federal and state archives. The United States Research Outline provides more detailed information about these records.
The Family History Library has the U.S. federal censuses of West Virginia from 1810, 1820, 1830, 1840, 1850, 1860, 1870, 1880, 1900, 1910, and 1920. West Virginia was part of Virginia in the pre-1870 censuses. The 1790, 1800, half of the 1810, and the 1890 censuses have been lost or destroyed. The 1890 Union veterans schedule For the missing 1790 census use the two substitutes listed below. These are based on state censuses and tax lists. Each covers different counties. Most of present-day West Virginia is included in the second item, but both must be used for a complete search of West Virginia.
Fothergill, Augusta B., and John Mark Naugle. Virginia Tax Payers, 1782-87, Other than Those Published by the United States Census Bureau. 1940. Reprint. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1966. (FHL book 975.5 R4f 1966; film 874197 item 4.) This includes areas of Augusta, Berkley, Hardy, and Montgomery counties in Virginia that later became part of West Virginia.
Heads of Families . . . Records of the State Enumerations: 1782 to 1785, Virginia. 1908. Reprint. Baltimore: Southern Book Co., 1952. (FHL book 975.5 X2us 1790; film 874193 item 4.)
Also see the “Taxation” section of this outline for information about other tax lists which may be used as substitutes for the 1790 and 1800 censuses.
For the missing portions of the 1810 census use Netti Schreiner-Yantis, A Supplement to the 1810 Census of Virginia: Tax Lists of the Counties for Which the Census is Missing (Springfield, Va: Genealogical Books in Print, 1971; FHL book 975.5 R4s). This includes information from Cabell, Greenbrier, Hardy, and Tazewell counties (and 15 Virginia counties) that are missing from the 1810 census.
Published indexes are available for the 1810, 1820, 1830, 1840, 1850, 1860, and 1870 censuses. There are published indexes of all counties for 1880 plus a combined index. There are soundex The Family History Library and the Archives and History Library have mortality schedules There are no state censuses for West Virginia except the 1782 to 1785 state censuses noted above.
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CEMETERIES
(described in the “Genealogy” section) also contains numerous cemetery records.
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CENSUS
(FHL films 338268-69) and a published index are available at the Family History Library and at the National Archives.
(phonetic) indexes on microfilm for part of the 1880 and all of the 1900, 1910, and 1920 censuses.
on microfilm for 1850, 1860, 1870, and 1880. The schedules for 1860 and 1870 are indexed.
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