Greensville County, Virginia Genealogy

United States &gt; Virginia &gt; Greensville County





History


The county is believed to have been named after English explorer Sir Richard Grenville (1542-1591).

Parent County
1780--Greensville County was created 16 October 1780 from Brunswick and Sussex Counties. County seat: Emporia

African American

 * Heinegg, Paul. "Greensville County Personal Property Tax List, 1782-1830," Free African Americans.com. [Heinegg abstracted free blacks listed in these records.]

Census
1890 Union Veterans


 * Turner, Ronald Ray. Virginia's Union Veterans: Eleventh Census of the United States 1890. Available online, courtesy: Prince William County Virginia website. [Includes residents of this county.]

Court
County Court


 * Goodwyn, Dora Hedges. "Notes from the Records of Greensville County," The William and Mary Quarterly, Vol. 22, No. 1 (Jul., 1913):31-38. Available at FHL; digital version at JSTOR ($). [Partial abstracts of Greensville County Court Order Book 1.]
 * Goodwyn, W. Samuel. "Officers Recommended and Qualified for the Militia of Greensville County, Virginia, 1782-1815," The William and Mary Quarterly, Vol. 27, No. 2 (Oct., 1918):96-103; Vol. 27, No. 3 (Jan., 1919):176-184 . Available at FHL; digital version at JSTOR ($). [Abstracted from Greensville County Court Order Books.]

Family Histories
It is anticipated that this bibliography will eventually identify all known family histories published about residents of this county. Use this list to:


 * Locate publications about direct ancestors
 * Find the most updated accounts of an ancestor's family
 * Identify publications, to quote Elizabeth Shown Mills, about an ancestor's "FAN Club" [Friends, Associates, and Neighbors]

General


 * Pritchett, John W. Southside Virginia Genealogies. CD-ROM. Baltimore, Md.: Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., 2007. Free online index, courtesy: Virginians - The Family History of John W. Pritchett. [Includes a great deal of information about residents of Greensville County, see discussion of cited sources.] FHL US/CAN CD-ROM no. 3887. Purchase at Virginians.com.

Bibliography


 * [Woodruff] Woodruff, Howard W.The Woodroof-Woodrough-Woodruff Family: of Surry, Brunswick, Greensville counties, Virginia, 1700-1825, and Some Branches Who Migrated to Tennessee, Alabama, Missouri, Texas, 1820-1985. Independence, Mo.: A.L. Woodruff, 1985. Digital version at Internet Archive. [Revised and updated version of Tall Trees in the Forest (1966).]

Immigration

 * Ljungstedt, Milnor. "Items from Southern Records" [Showing Family and Trade Connections with Northern Colonies and the Home Countries], The American Genealogist, Vol. 15 (1938):95-104. Available at New England Ancestors. [Greensville Co., VA surname: Harris.]

Land
Grants and Patents


 * Hudgins. 694 patents dated 1715-1800 in what is now Greensville County, Virginia placed on a map. DeedMapper, 2000. [Names of those who received land patents, dates, land descriptions, and references may be viewed free of charge (click "Index" next to the county listing); however, in order to view the maps, it is necessary to purchase Direct Line Software's DeedMapper product.]

Local Histories

 * Brown, Douglas Summers, Virginia Lee Baker, Eleanor Little Eanes, and L. Ralph Slagle eds. Historical and Biographical Sketches of Greensville County, Virginia, 1650-1967. Emporia, Virginia: The Riparian Woman's Club, 1968. Free Lookups Available! Reviewed by Herbert C. Bradsham in The Virginia Magazine of History and Biography, Vol. 77, No. 4 (Oct., 1969):506-507. Review available at FHL; digital version at JSTOR ($).
 * Sketches of Greensville County, Virginia, Second Edition, 1968-2000. Free Lookups Available!

Migration

 * Clay, Robert Y. "Some Delinquent Taxpayers 1787-1790," The Virginia Genealogist, Vol. 20, No. 2 (Apr.-Jun. 1976):199-208. Available at FHL; digital version at New England Ancestors ($). [These records identify migrants who left the county and often their intended destinations. Greensville County's 1788 Delinquent List appears on pp. 127-128.]
 * Elliott, Katherine B. Emigration to Other States from Southside Virginia. 2 vols. South Hill, Virginia: K.B. Elliott, 1966. Vol. 1 of original edition available at FHL; 1983 reprints (both volumes) available at FHL; 1990-1992 reprints (both volumes) also available at FHL. [Includes individuals who migrated out of Greensville County to other parts of the country.]

Military
Militia


 * Douthat, James L. 1782 Greensville County, Virginia Property Valuation Impressed During Revolutionary War. Signal Mountain, Tenn.: Mountain Press, 2010. Free online surname index and purchase details at Mountain Press website.
 * Goodwyn, W. Samuel. "Officers Recommended and Qualified for the Militia of Greensville County, Virginia, 1782-1815," The William and Mary Quarterly, Vol. 27, No. 2 (Oct., 1918):96-103; Vol. 27, No. 3 (Jan., 1919):176-184 . Available at FHL; digital version at JSTOR ($). [Abstracted from Greensville County Court Order Books.]

War of 1812


 * Douthat, James L. Roster of War of 1812, Southside, Virginia. Signal Mountain, Tennessee: Mountain Press, 2007. Available at FHL. [Includes Greensville County.]

Newspapers
Professor Tom Costa and The Rector and Visitors of the University of Virginia have created a database of all runaway advertisements for slaves, indentured servants, transported convicts, and ship deserters listed in the Virginia Gazette and other Virginia newspapers (1736-1803), see: The Geography of Slavery in Virginia.

Research Guides

 * "A Guide to the Counties of Virginia: Greensville County," The Virginia Genealogist, Vol. 12, No. 3 (Jul.-Sep. 1968):107-108. Available at FHL; digital version at New England Ancestors($).

Taxation
How can Virginia tax lists help me?


 * [1782-1830] Heinegg, Paul. "Greensville County Personal Property Tax List, 1782-1830," Free African Americans.com. [Heinegg abstracted free blacks listed in these records.]
 * [1787] Schreiner-Yantis, Netti and Florene Speakman Love. The 1787 Census of Virginia: An Accounting of the Name of Every White Male Tithable Over 21 Years, the Number of White Males Between 16 &amp; 21 Years, the Number of Slaves over 16 &amp; Those Under 16 Years, Together with a Listing of Their Horses, Cattle &amp; Carriages, and Also the Names of All Persons to Whom Ordinary Licenses and Physician's Licenses Were Issued. 3 vols. Springfield, Va.: Genealogical Books in Print, 1987. Available at FHL. [The source of this publication is the 1787 personal property tax list. Greensville County is included in Vol. 1.]
 * [1788] Clay, Robert Y. "Some Delinquent Taxpayers 1787-1790," The Virginia Genealogist, Vol. 20, No. 2 (Apr.-Jun. 1976):199-208. Available at FHL; digital version at New England Ancestors ($). [These records identify migrants who left the county and often their intended destinations. Greensville County's 1788 Delinquent List appears on pp. 127-128.]
 * [1789, 1798] Indexed images of the 1789 and 1798 Personal Property Tax Lists of Greensville County, Virginia are available online, courtesy: Binns Genealogy.
 * [1800] Tax List, 1800, The Virginia Genealogist, Vol. 26, No. 2 (Apr. 1982); Vol. 26, No. 3 (Jul. 1982). Available at FHL.
 * [1815] Ward, Roger D. 1815 Directory of Virginia Landowners (and Gazetteer). 6 vols. Athens, Georgia: Iberian Pub. Co., 1997-2000. Available at FHL. [The source for this publication is the 1815 land tax. Greensville County is included in Vol. 2.]

Websites

 * USGenWeb project. May have maps, name indexes, history or other information for this county. Select the state, then the county.
 * Family History Library Catalog