Isle of Wight County, Virginia Genealogy

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History


The county is named after the Isle of Wight, off the south coast of England.

Parent County
1634--Isle of Wight was created in 1634 as an original shire or county. County seat: Isle of Wight The original shire name of Warrosquyoake (also spelled Warrosquoyacke or Warrascoyak) was given then. The name was changed in 1637 to Isle of Wight County

Populated Places
Isle of Wight

Neighboring Counties
Historically, Isle of Wight County has shared borders with all of the following counties:

African American

 * Heinegg, Paul. "Isle of Wight County Personal Property Tax List, 1782-1833," 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.]

Church
Church of England


 * Barger, Virginia A. Tombstones in St. Luke's Church Cemetery, Isle of Wight County, Virginia. Newport News, Virginia: Mrs. R.V. Barger, 1970. Available at FHL.
 * Hayden, E. Virginia. A Sketch of "The Old Brick Church": Isle of Wight County, Virginia. 1925. 1954 reprint available at FHL. [St. Luke's Parish Church]
 * Hopkins, William Lindsay. Suffolk Parish Vestry Book, 1749-1784, Nansemond County, Virginia, and Newport Parish Vestry Book, 1724-1772, Isle of Wight County, Virginia. Richmond, Virginia: W.L. Hopkins, 1988. Available at FHL.
 * Mason, George Carrington. Colonial Churches of Tidewater Virginia. Richmond, Virginia: Whittet &amp; Shepperson, 1945. Available at FHL; digital version at BYU Family History Archives. [Includes Isle of Wight County.]
 * [Newport News Parish] Vestry Book, 1723-1772 [Isle of Wight County, Virginia]. Photostat at Library of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia. Available at FHL.

Puritans


 * Boddie, John Bennett. Seventeenth Century Isle of Wight County, Virginia: A History of the County of Isle of Wight, Virginia, During the Seventeenth Century, Including Abstracts of the County Records. Chicago: Chicago Law Print. Co., 1938. Available at FHL [3 copies]; digital versions at Ancestry ($) and BYU Family History Archives. [Includes chapters on the early Puritan settlers.]

Quakers


 * Boddie, John Bennett. Seventeenth Century Isle of Wight County, Virginia: A History of the County of Isle of Wight, Virginia, During the Seventeenth Century, Including Abstracts of the County Records. Chicago: Chicago Law Print. Co., 1938. Available at FHL [3 copies]; digital versions at Ancestry ($) and BYU Family History Archives. [Includes a chapter on the Quakers.]
 * Putnam, Martha A. Quaker Records of Southeast Virginia. Westminster, Maryland: Family Line Publications, 1996. Available at FHL. [Includes records about Quakers in Dinwiddie, Isle of Wight, Nansemond, Norfolk, Prince George, Southampton counties and Suffolk City from 1600s and 1700s (Blackwater Montly Meeting, Chuckatuck Monthly Meeting, Pagan Creek Meeting, Western Branch Monthly Meeting, and Somerton Monthly Meeting.)]

Genealogy
More than 50 genealogies have been published about Isle of Wight County families. To view a list, visit Isle of Wight County, Virginia Genealogy.

Immigration

 * Coldham, Peter Wilson. North American Wills Registered in London 1611-1857. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., 2007. [Includes wills of residents of Warwicksquick and Isle of Wight County proved in London. These records often help establish an immigrant's place of origin.]
 * [http://www.immigrantservants.com/search/advancedResults.php?surname=&givenName=&varientSurnameSpellings=&gender=&dateOfBirthDay=&dateOfBirthMonth=&dateOfBirthQuantifier=&dateOfBirthYear=&placeOfBirthParish=&placeOfBirthTown=&placeOfBirthCity=&placeOfBirthCounty=&placeOfBirthColony=&placeOfBirthNation=&occupations=&religions=&orphan=&familyPosition=&immigrationYearQualifier=&immigrationYear=&portOfDepartureTown=&portOfDepartureCity=&portOfDepartureCounty=&portOfDepartureNation=&placeOfArrivalTown=&placeOfArrivalCounty=&placeOfArrivalColony=&shipName=&convict=&yearOfIndentureQualifier=&yearOfIndenture=&lengthOfIndentureYears=&lengthOfIndentureMonths=&yearOfFreedomQualifier=&yearOfFreedom=&placeOfIndentureTown=&placeOfIndentureCity=&placeOfIndentureCounty=Isle+of+Wight&placeOfIndentureColony=Virginia&agentSurname=&agentGivenName=&agentTitle=&masterSurname=&masterGivenName=&masterTitle=&residenceParish=&residenceTown=&residenceCity=&residenceCounty=&residenceColony=&residenceNation=&landowner=&literate=&spouseSurname=&spouseGivenName=&spouseMarriageDateDay=&spouseMarriageDateMonth=&spouseMarriageDateQualifier=&spouseMarriageDateYear=&spouseMarriageLocationParish=&spouseMarriageLocationCounty=&spouseMarriageLocationColony=&spouseMarriageLocationNation=&deathDateDay=&deathDateMonth=&deathDateQualifier=&deathDateYear=&deathLocality=&deathCounty=&deathColony=&deathState=&testate=&proofServantStatus=&proofConvictStatus=&headright=&preServitudeSources=&postServitudeSources=&comments=&family=&sourceCitations=&interestedResearchers= List of imported servants and transported convicts from Europe] who served labor terms in Colonial Isle of Wight County, Virginia (work in progress), courtesy: Immigrant Servants Database.
 * 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. [Isle of Wight Co., VA: Day.]
 * Mahler, Leslie. "American Colonists Mentioned in London Wills," The Genealogist, Vol. 14, No. 2 (Fall 2000):201-204. [Hutchinson family of 'Wacasquoyk' (Warwick Squeak); Wiseman family of 'Warwicksqueake' and Isle of Wight Co., VA.]

Land
Deeds


 * Boddie, John Bennett. Seventeenth Century Isle of Wight County, Virginia: A History of the County of Isle of Wight, Virginia, During the Seventeenth Century, Including Abstracts of the County Records. Chicago: Chicago Law Print. Co., 1938. Available at FHL [3 copies]; digital versions at Ancestry ($) and BYU Family History Archives. [Includes chapters on deed books 1662-1686, 1688-1704.]

Grants and Patents


 * Boddie, John Bennett. Seventeenth Century Isle of Wight County, Virginia: A History of the County of Isle of Wight, Virginia, During the Seventeenth Century, Including Abstracts of the County Records. Chicago: Chicago Law Print. Co., 1938. Available at FHL [3 copies]; digital versions at Ancestry ($) and BYU Family History Archives. [Includes chapters on land grants 1628-1705.]
 * Hudgins. 393 patents dated 1635-1797 in what is now Isle of Wight County, Virginia placed on a map. DeedMapper, 2003. [Names of those who received land patents, dates, land descriptions, and references may be viewed free of charge (click "Index" next to the county listing); however, in order to view the maps, it is necessary to purchase Direct Line Software's DeedMapper product.]
 * Nugent, Nell Marion. Cavaliers and Pioneers: Abstracts of Virginia Land Patents and Grants 1623-1666. Vol. I (1934; reprint, Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., 1991). Available at FHL; digital version at Ancestry ($). [Includes Isle of Wight County. N.B. If Ancestry's search engine fails, try checking the printed index at the end of the book.]

Local Histories

 * Boddie, John Bennett. Seventeenth Century Isle of Wight County, Virginia: A History of the County of Isle of Wight, Virginia, During the Seventeenth Century, Including Abstracts of the County Records. Chicago: Chicago Law Print. Co., 1938. Available at FHL [3 copies]; digital versions at Ancestry ($) and BYU Family History Archives.
 * Morrison, E. M. Isle of Wight County: 1608-1907. Norfolk, Va.?: unknown, 1907. Available at FHL; digital version at Ancestry ($).

Migration

 * Boddie, John Bennett. Seventeenth Century Isle of Wight County, Virginia: A History of the County of Isle of Wight, Virginia, During the Seventeenth Century, Including Abstracts of the County Records. Chicago: Chicago Law Print. Co., 1938. Available at FHL [3 copies]; digital versions at Ancestry ($) and BYU Family History Archives. [Includes a chapter on Isle of Wight and Nansemond settlers who emigrated to North Carolina. Another chapter is titled "Richard Bennett and the Puritan exodus to Nansemond and Maryland."]

Bacon's Rebellion

 * Boddie, John Bennett. Seventeenth Century Isle of Wight County, Virginia: A History of the County of Isle of Wight, Virginia, During the Seventeenth Century, Including Abstracts of the County Records. Chicago: Chicago Law Print. Co., 1938. Available at FHL [3 copies]; digital versions at Ancestry ($) and BYU Family History Archives. [Includes chapter on Bacon's Rebellion.]

Colonial Militia

 * Bockstruck, Lloyd DeWitt. Virginia's Colonial Soldiers. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1988. Available at FHL. [Identifies some Isle of Wight County militia officers and/or soldiers; see place name index.]
 * Crozier, William Armstrong. Virginia Colonial Militia 1651-1776. Baltimore: Southern Book Co., 1954. Available at FHL; digital book at Ancestry ($). [Identifies some Isle of Wight County militia officers; see place name index.]

French and Indian War

 * Bockstruck, Lloyd DeWitt. Virginia's Colonial Soldiers. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1988. Available at FHL. [Identifies some Isle of Wight County militia officers, soldier enlistments, and veterans; see place name index.]

Revolutionary War

 * McIlwaine, H.R. Proceedings of the Committees of Safety of Cumberland and Isle of Wight Counties, Virginia, 1775-1776. Richmond: D. Bottom, Superintendent of Public Printing, 1919. Available at FHL; digital versions at Ancestry ($), BYU Family History Archives, and Google Books (full-view).
 * A Census of Pensioners for Revolutionary or Military Services: With their Names, Ages, and Places of Residence, as Returned by the Marshalls of the Several Judicial Districts, Under the Act for Taking the Sixth Census]. 1841. Digital versions at U.S. Census Bureau and Google Books et. al. 1967 reprint: 973 X2pc 1840. [See Virginia, Eastern District, Isle of Wight County on page 131.]
 * Rejected or Suspended Applications for Revolutionary War Pensions. Washington, D.C., 1852. Reprinted by Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., 1969, and 1991. Reprints include "an Added Index to States." 973 M24ur; digital version at Ancestry ($). [Includes veterans from this county; Virginia section begins on page 238.]

World War II

 * United States. Selective Service System. Draft Registrations, 1942-1946, from Local Draft Board No. 1 of Isle of Wight County, Virginia. Original manuscripts at the Smithfield Branch of the Isle of Wight Library in Smithfield, Virginia; also available at FHL.

Native Americans

 * Boddie, John Bennett. Seventeenth Century Isle of Wight County, Virginia: A History of the County of Isle of Wight, Virginia, During the Seventeenth Century, Including Abstracts of the County Records. Chicago: Chicago Law Print. Co., 1938. Available at FHL [3 copies]; digital versions at Ancestry ($) and BYU Family History Archives. [Includes a chapter on local Native Americans.]

Newspapers
Indexed images of the Virginia Gazette(1736-1780) are available online through the Colonial Williamsburgwebsite. In addition, 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 this source and other Virginia newspapers (1736-1803), see: The Geography of Slavery in Virginia. These newspapers are valuable resources for all regions of Virginia.

Officials

 * Boddie, John Bennett. Seventeenth Century Isle of Wight County, Virginia: A History of the County of Isle of Wight, Virginia, During the Seventeenth Century, Including Abstracts of the County Records. Chicago: Chicago Law Print. Co., 1938. Available at FHL [3 copies]; digital versions at Ancestry ($) and BYU Family History Archives. [Includes a chapter on county officers.]

Private Papers

 * Family Bible of the Scott, Brock, and Dornin Family of Isle of Wight County, Virginia. MSS. Available at FHL.

Probate
Local Court


 * Boddie, John Bennett. Seventeenth Century Isle of Wight County, Virginia: A History of the County of Isle of Wight, Virginia, During the Seventeenth Century, Including Abstracts of the County Records. Chicago: Chicago Law Print. Co., 1938. Available at FHL [3 copies]; digital versions at Ancestry ($) and BYU Family History Archives. [Includes chapter on wills 1662-1686.]
 * Chapman, Blanche Adams. Wills and Administrations of Isle of Wight County, Virginia, 1647-1800. 1938; reprint, Baltimore, MD, USA: Genealogical Publishing Co., 2003. Original edition at FHL US/CAN Fiche 6101844; 1995 reprint at FHL US/CAN Book 975.554 P28c 1995; digital version at Ancestry ($); and World Vital Records ($). ["The original records on file in Isle of Wight County and abstracted in this work are: Wills and Administrations Book A (1641-1650); Will and Deed Books 1 and 2 (1658-1659, 1666-1719); Will Books 3-11 (1726-1800); Deed Book I (1691-1695); Administrations and Probates (1666-1701); and The Great Book (1719-1729). In addition to the names of the testators and legatees, the entries provide the names of executors, securities, and witnesses and frequently include assignments of property."]
 * Hopkins, William Lindsay. Some Wills from the Burned Counties of Virginia and Other Wills Not Listed in Virginia Wills and Administrations 1632-1800. Richmond, Virginia: W.L. Hopkins, 1987. Available at FHL. [Includes Isle of Wight County.]

London Courts


 * Coldham, Peter Wilson. North American Wills Registered in London 1611-1857. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., 2007. [Includes wills of residents of Warwicksquick and Isle of Wight County proved in London. These records often help establish an immigrant's place of origin.]

Taxation
How can Virginia tax lists help me?


 * [1704] "Virginia Quit Rent Rolls, 1704," Virginia Magazine of History and Biography, Vol. 28 (1920):207-218, 328-339; Vol. 29 (1921):18-28, 337-343, 402-412; Vol. 30 (1922):21-30, 280-285, 341-347; Vol. 31 (1923):70-75, 153-163, 215-231, 314-318; Vol. 32 (1924):69-75, 144-158, 281-287, 338-343; Vol. 33 (1925):47-50, 359-370; Vol. 34 (1926):113-119, 252-258, 313, 321. Available at FHL; reprinted in Virginia Tax Records. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., 1983, which is also available at FHL; digital version of VMHB at JSTOR ($). [Isle of Wight County appears in 29:337-343.]
 * [1704] Boddie, John Bennett. Seventeenth Century Isle of Wight County, Virginia: A History of the County of Isle of Wight, Virginia, During the Seventeenth Century, Including Abstracts of the County Records. Chicago: Chicago Law Print. Co., 1938. Available at FHL [3 copies]; digital versions at Ancestry ($) and BYU Family History Archives. [Includes 1704 quit rents.]
 * [1714] Quit Rent Roll, 1714, Virginia Magazine of History and Biography, Vol. 87, No. 2 (Apr. 1979). Digital version at JSTOR ($).
 * [1778] Assessors Book, 1778, William and Mary Quarterly Historical Magazine, Vol. 25, No. 3 (Jan. 1917). Digital version at JSTOR ($).
 * [1782-1833] Heinegg, Paul. "Isle of Wight County Personal Property Tax List, 1782-1833," 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. Isle of Wight County is included in Vol. 2.]
 * [1790, 1799] Indexed images of the 1790 and 1799 Personal Property Tax Lists of Isle of Wight County, Virginia are available online, courtesy: Binns Genealogy.
 * [1800] Tax List, 1800, Virginia Genealogist, Vol. 32, No. 4 (Oct. 1988); Vol. 33, No. 1 (Jan. 1989); Vol. 33, No. 2 (Apr. 1989). 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. Isle of Wight County is included in Vol. 3.]

Vital Records
Birth


 * Fridley, Beth, comp. Isle of Wight County Virginia Birth Records, 1867-96 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: The Generations Network, Inc., 2001. Available at Ancestry ($).

Marriage


 * Chapman, Blanche Adams and Anita Comtois. Marriages of Isle of Wight County, Virginia, 1628-1800. Originally published in 1933. Reprint: Baltimore, MD: Genealogical Pub. Co., 1976. Reprint available at FHL; digital version at World Vital Records ($).

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