Westmoreland County, Virginia Genealogy

United States &gt; Virginia &gt; Westmoreland County

Parent County
1653--Westmoreland County was created 5 July 1653 from Northumberland County. County seat: Montross

Boundary Changes
In 1662, Westmoreland County and Northumberland County were temporarily joined into a single county, see: Mrs. Milnor Ljungstedt, "Westmoreland and Northumberland Joined," The William and Mary Quarterly, Second Series, Vol. 4, No. 1 (Jan. 1924):46-47. Available at JSTOR.

Neighboring Counties

 * Charles County, Maryland
 * Essex
 * King George
 * Northumberland
 * Richmond
 * St. Mary's County, Maryland

Cemeteries

 * "Old Tombstones in Westmoreland County," The William and Mary Quarterly, Vol. 7, No. 2 (Oct. 1898):93-98. Available at JSTOR.
 * "Inscriptions on Old Tombstones in Westmoreland and Northumberland Counties," The William and Mary Quarterly, Vol. 9, No. 1 (Jul. 1900):25-31. Available at JSTOR.
 * Beale, G.W. "Early Tombs in Westmoreland, Richmond, and Northumberland Counties," The William and Mary Quarterly, Vol. 11, No. 2 (Oct. 1902):123-130. Available at JSTOR.
 * "Early Tombs in Westmoreland, Richmond, and Northumberland Counties," The William and Mary Quarterly, Vol. 11, No. 3 (Jan. 1903):191-195. Available at JSTOR.

Church
Church of England


 * Ljungstedt, Mrs. Milnor. "Westmoreland Parishes," The William and Mary Quarterly, Second Series, Vol. 6, No. 3 (Jul. 1926):258. Available at JSTOR.
 * Mason, George Carrington. "The Colonial Churches of Westmoreland and King George Counties, Virginia, Part I," The Virginia Magazine of History and Biography, Vol. 56, No. 2 (Apr. 1948):154-172. Available at JSTOR.
 * Mason, George Carrington. "The Colonial Churches of Westmoreland and King George Counties, Virginia, Part II," The Virginia Magazine of History and Biography, Vol. 56, No. 3 (Jul. 1948):280-293. Available at JSTOR.

Court
Indexes and images to Westmoreland County, Virginia Chancery Records 1753-1902 (incomplete) are available online through Virginia Memory: Chancery Records Index. These records, which were often concerned with inheritance disputes, contain a wealth of genealogical information.

Family Histories
Bibliography


 * [Ashton] Fitzhugh, Norman S. "Captain John Ashton of Westmoreland County, Virginia, and Some of His Descendants," The William and Mary Quarterly, Second Series, Vol. 14, No. 2 (Apr. 1934):151-155. Available at JSTOR.
 * [Kelly] Kelly, J.Y. "Kelly of Westmoreland Co.," The William and Mary Quarterly, Vol. 15, No. 2 (Oct. 1906):129-131. Available at JSTOR.
 * [Newton] Cochran, Charles F. "Early Generations of the Newton Family of Westmoreland County, Virginia," The Virginia Magazine of History and Biography, Vol. 36, No. 3 (Jul. 1928):293-302; Vol. 37, No. 1 (Jan. 1929):87-91; Vol. 37, No. 2 (Apr. 1929):179-184; Vol. 37, No. 3 (Jul. 1929):283-288.
 * [Washington] Tyler, Lyon G. "Col. John Washington: Further Details of His Life from the Records of Westmoreland Co., Virginia," The William and Mary Quarterly, Vol. 2, No. 1 (Jul. 1893):38-49. Available at JSTOR.

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.

Slavery

 * "Slave Owners, Westmoreland County, Va., 1782," The Virginia Magazine of History and Biography, Vol. 10, No. 3 (Jan. 1902):229-235. Available at JSTOR.

Taxation
1791 and 1800 Personal Property Tax Lists of Westmoreland County, Virginia are indexed online at Binns Genealogy.

Voting

 * "Polls in Westmoreland County for Election of Burgesses [1744-1761]," The William and Mary Quarterly, Vol. 8, No. 1 (Jul. 1899):32. Available at JSTOR. Identifies candidates by name, but not voters.

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