Dickenson County, Virginia Genealogy

Guide to Dickenson County, Virginia ancestry, family history and genealogy birth records, marriage records, death records, census records, family history, immigration records, and military records.

Description
Dickenson County is located in the Southwest portion of the Commonwealth of Virginia and shares a border with Kentucky. The County was named for Delegate William J. Dickenson, who sponsored the bill in the House of Delegates to establish the 100th county.

Dickenson County Virginia Courthouse
Dickenson County Courthouse Box 190 Main Street Clintwood, VA 24228-0190 Phone: 540-926-1616

County Health Department has birth, death, and burial records, Clerk Circuit court has marriage, divorce, court and land records from 1880 and military discharge records

Parent County
1880--Dickenson County was created 3 March 1880 from Buchanan, Russell and Wise Counties. County seat: Clintwood

Boundary Changes
For animated maps illustrating Virginia county boundary changes, "Rotating Formation Virginia County Boundary Maps" (1617-1995) may be viewed for free at the MapofUS.org website. They rely on AniMap 3.0 software.

Record Loss
There is no known history of courthouse disasters in this county.

Census
1890 Union Veterans


 * "Virginia's Union Veterans: Eleventh Census of the United States 1890." Prince William County Virginia, by Ronald Ray Turner.

1900


 * Vanover, Gregory Lynn, Joan Short Vanover, and Barbara Kendrick Vanover. Dickenson County, Virginia, 1900 Federal Census. Pound, Virginia: G.L. Vanover, 1984. Available at.

Baptist

 * Sutherland, Elihu Jasper. Sand Lick Primitive Baptist Church, the First Hundred Years, 1837-1937: A History of the Oldest Religious Organization in Dickenson County, Virginia. 1937; reprint, [Clintwood, Virginia?]: Mullins Printing, 1985. Available at.

Genealogy
More than a dozen genealogies have been published about Dickenson County families. For a list, see Dickenson County, Virginia Compiled Genealogies.

Local Histories

 * Giles, Albert William. The Geology and Coal Resources of Dickenson County, Virginia. University of Virginia, 1921. Digital version at Google Books (full-view).
 * Schwab, W.G. The Forests of Dickenson County, Virginia. Charlottesville, Va., 1917. Digital version at Google Books (full-view).
 * Sutherland, Elihu Jasper. Meet Virginia's Baby: A Brief Pictorial History of Dickenson County, Virginia, from Its Formation in 1880 to 1955, with Stress on Pioneer Background. Clintwood, Va.: E.J. Sutherland, 1955. 1975 reprint available at.
 * Sutherland, Elihu Jasper and Hetty Swindall Sutherland. Pioneer Recollections of Southwest Virginia. Clintwood, Va.: H.S. Sutherland, G.L. Vanover, and J.S. Vanover, 1984. Available at.

Civil War

 * - 2nd Regiment, Virginia State Line (Cavalry) (Confederate). Company B.
 * - 5th Regiment, Virginia State Line (Cavalry, Artillery, and Infantry) (Confederate). Companies C and D.

Records and histories are available, including:


 * 1861-1865 -
 * 1861-1865 -
 * 1861-1865 - U.S., Confederate Soldiers Compiled Service Records, 1861-1865 at Ancestry — index (free)
 * 1861-1865 - U.S., Union Soldiers Compiled Service Records, 1861-1865 at Ancestry — index (free)
 * Gobble, Lillian and Rhonda Robertson. Between Brothers: Civil War Soldiers of Wise and Dickenson County [Virginia]. [Big Stone Gap, Virginia: L. Gobble and R. Robertson, 200-?]..

Miscellaneous Records

 * 1607-2007 - at FamilySearch — index and images

Naturalization

 * Virginia

Private Papers
Dickenson County, Virginia, Family Bible Records, 1934-1935. Clintwood, Virginia: Mullins Printing, 1999. Available at.

Research Guides

 * "A Guide to the Counties of Virginia: Dickenson County," The Virginia Genealogist, Vol. 8, No. 3 (Jul.-Sep. 1964):124-126. Available at ; digital version at American Ancestors ($).

Vital Records

 * Sutherland, Elihu Jasper. E. J. Sutherland Collection, Dickenson County, Virginia, 1650-1965. MSS., available at . [Includes Dickenson County Vital Statistics, 1830-1938.]

Birth

 * 1912-1913 - at FamilySearch — index and images

Marriage

 * 1660-1959 - Virginia, United States Marriages at FindMyPast — index $
 * 1740-1850 - Virginia Marriages 1740-1850 (Ancestry) ($).
 * 1936-1988 - at FamilySearch — index and images

Divorce

 * 1918-1988 - at FamilySearch — index and images

Death

 * 1912-1987 - at FamilySearch — index and images

Dickenson County Virginia Genealogy Websites

 * Dickenson Co., VAGenWeb. Part of the USGenWeb Project. Maps, name indexes, history.
 * Dickenson County, VA History, Records, Facts and Genealogy (Familytree101)
 * RootsWeb Mailing List: SW_VA-L (Topic: Southwest Virginia)
 * Cyndi's List
 * Cyndi's List