Amherst County, Virginia Genealogy

United States

Virginia

Amherst County

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

Amherst County, Virginia
Map
Location in the state of Virginia
Location of Virginia in the U.S.
Facts
Founded	September 14, 1758
County Seat	Amherst
Courthouse

County Information

Description

Amherst County is located in the Piedmont region near the center of the Commonwealth of Virginia and was named in honor of Lord Jeffery Amherst, British Commander-in-Chief.

Amherst County Virginia Courthouse

Amherst County
100 East Court Street
Amherst, Virginia, 24521
Phone: 804-946-9321

Clerk Circuit Court has marriage, divorce, probate court and land records from 1761

Known Beginning Dates for Major County Records
Birth*	Marriage	Death*	Court	Land	Probate	Census
1853	1761	1853	1761	1761	1761	1810
Statewide registration for births and deaths began in 1912. General compliance year is unknown.

Amherst County Virginia History

1st Baron Amherst

The county was named after Field Marshal Jeffery Amherst, 1st Baron Amherst (1717-1797). Amherst conquered what is now Canada for the British during the French and Indian War.

Parent County

1758--Amherst County was created 14 September 1758 from Albemarle County.
County seat: Amherst

Boundary Changes

For animated maps illustrating Virginia county boundary changes, visit "Rotating Formation Virginia County Boundary Maps"

Record Loss

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

Places/Localities

Populated Places

For a complete list of populated places, including small neighborhoods and suburbs, visit HomeTown Locator. The following are the most historically and genealogically relevant populated places in this county:\

Towns
Amherst
Unincorporated communities
Clifford Elon	Sweet Briar Monroe	Riverville Stapleton
Census-designated places
Madison Heights

Amherst County Virginia Genealogy Resources

Research Guides

• A Guide to the Counties of Virginia: Amherst County. The Virginia Genealogist, Vol. 4, No. 1 (Jan.-Mar. 1960):38-40. FHL US/CAN Book 975.5 B2vg, CD available at: American Ancestors ($).

African American

• Amherst County Personal Property Tax List 1782-1822. By Paul Heinegg. Online at: Free African Americans.
• Free African Americans of Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Maryland and Delaware. c2005. By Paul Heinegg. Online at: Free African Americans of North Carolina and Virginia. At various libraries (WorldCat).
• Freedmen's Bureau Letters or Correspondence, 1865-1872
• Strangers in Their Midst the Free Black Population of Amherst County, Virginia. 1993. By Sherrie S. McLeRoy. Bowie, Maryland : Heritage Books. Online at: eBook-Unlimited ($), AncestorStuff ($), FHL 975.5496 F2m; At various libraries (WorldCat). Information was taken from the register of free blacks, census listings, tax records, deeds, wills, marriages and land plats. Time period covers 1761-1865.

Bible Records

Images of the Virginia Historical Society's family Bible collection have been digitized:

• Virginia Historical Society Papers, 1607-2007.

Cemeteries

Tombstone Transcriptions Online	Tombstone Transcriptions in Print	List of Cemeteries in the county
Findagrave.com	Family History Library	Findagrave.com
VAGenWeb	WorldCat	BillionGraves
VAGenWeb Archives
Tombstone Project
BillionGraves
See Virginia Cemeteries for more information.

For a detailed list, including addresses, phone numbers, and external links, see Amherst County, Virginia Cemeteries.

• 1800-1986 - Virginia, Jewish Cemetery Records Index, ca. 1800-1986

The following is a list of cemeteries in Amherst County:

Amherst Cemetery Beard Cemetery Beth Joseph Agudath Sholom Cemetery Burford Cemetery Campbell Cemetery Carpenter Cemetery Cash Cemetery Christian Aid Cemetery Dodd Cemetery Faulconer Cemetery Fletcher Cemetery Fulcher Cemetery

Gatewood Cemetery Grant Cemetery Harris Cemetery Harrison Cemetery Henley Cemetery Hicks Cemetery Higginbotham Cemetery Hudson Cemetery Ivy Hill Cemetery Lone Pine Cemetery Loving Cemetery Mays Cemetery

McIvor Cemetery Mead Cemetery Morriss Cemetery New Hope Cemetery Parr Cemetery Roberts Cemetery Saint Paul’s Cemetery Steele Cemetery Tucker Cemetery Watts Cemetery Williams Cemetery Wilson Cemetery

Census

For tips on accessing Amherst County, Virginia Genealogy census records online, see: Virginia Census.

Historical populations
Census	Pop.	%±
1790	13,703	—
1800	16,801	22.6%
1810	10,548	−37.2%
1820	10,423	−1.2%
1830	12,071	15.8%
1840	12,576	4.2%
1850	12,699	1.0%
1860	13,742	8.2%
1870	14,900	8.4%
1880	18,709	25.6%
1890	17,551	−6.2%
1900	17,864	1.8%
1910	18,932	6.0%
1920	19,771	4.4%
1930	19,020	−3.8%
1940	20,273	6.6%
1950	20,332	0.3%
1960	22,953	12.9%
1970	26,072	13.6%
1980	29,122	11.7%
1990	28,578	−1.9%
2000	31,894	11.6%
Source: "American FactFinder". United States Census Bureau.

1783 Enumeration

• Amherst County Heads of Families - 1783 at U.S. Census Bureau. County begins on page 47.

1785 Enumeration

• Amherst County Heads of Families - 1785 at U.S. Census Bureau. County begins on page 83.

1890 Union Veterans

• Virginia's Union Veterans: Eleventh Census of the United States 1890. By Ronald Ray Turner. c1994. Prince William County Virginia, FHL Collection. At various libraries (WorldCat).

Church Records

Baptist

Early Baptist churches (with years constituted):

1. Buffaloe River (by 1771). Edwards published a membership list dated 1771 in Materials Towards a History of the Baptists... (1772), 66.
2. Ebenezer (1773)

The 10,000 name petition (dated 16 October 1776) has been digitized at the Library of Congress website. It was signed by people from all over Virginia who wanted an end to persecution of Baptists by the Established Church. Baptists and Baptist sympathizers alike signed the petition. To find your ancestor in this record, first check Hall's transcription in the Magazine of Virginia Genealogy (Vols. 35-38, with annotations in Vol. 39), which is available online at Ancestry ($). It is also available in book form at the Family History Library: FHL Book 975.5 B2vs v. 35-39. Then proceed to the Library of Congress website to see the original images.

Amherst County fell within the bounds of the Albemarle Association.

Church of England

See also Amherst Parish
See also Lexington Parish

Meade's 1861 history of parishes in Amherst County is online at: Internet Archive

Court

Chancery Court

• Amherst County Chancery Suits. By Lenora Higginbotham Sweeny. The William and Mary Quarterly, Second Series, Vol. 19, No. 3 (Jul., 1939), pp. 318-324. Online at: JSTOR ($). Loose chancery papers, also discusses Sweeny's discovery of Amherst's Revolutionary-era court order book.
• Indexed images of Amherst County, Virginia Chancery Records 1773-1879 are available online through Virginia Memory: Chancery Records Index. Additional records are also available at the Amherst County Courthouse. These records, often concerned inheritance disputes and contain a wealth of genealogical information.

County Court

• Amherst County Chancery Suits. By Lenora Higginbotham Sweeny. The William and Mary Quarterly, Second Series, Vol. 19, No. 3 (Jul., 1939), pp. 318-324. Online at: JSTOR ($). Loose chancery papers, also discusses Sweeny's discovery of Amherst's Revolutionary-era court order book.

Genealogy

More than 225 genealogies have been published about Amherst County families. To view a list, visit Amherst County, Virginia Compiled Genealogies.

Immigration

• List of imported servants and transported convicts from Europe who served labor terms in Colonial Brunswick County are online at: Immigrant Servants Database.

Land and Property

Grants and Patents

Land patents (pre-1779), land grants (after 1779) and surveys are available online at the Library of Virginia website. For step-by-step instructions on retrieving these records, read the Virginia Land and Property article.

• Bannister, 971 patents dated 1738-1844 in what is now Amherst and Nelson Counties, Virginia placed on a map. DeedMapper, 2005. [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

Maps

Click a neighboring county
for more resources

Military

French and Indian War

• Gleanings of Virginia History: An Historical and Genealogical Collection, Largely from Original Sources. By William F. Boogher. 2007. Baltimore : Genealogical Pub. Co. Online at: Google Books; At various libraries (WorldCat). Includes a chapter titled "Legislative Enactments connecting the preceding historic sketch [French and Indian War, Lord Dunmore's War] with the adjudication of the resulting accounts that follow; with the list of officers, soldiers and civilians entitled to compensation for military and other services rendered." For Amherst County, see p. 104.
• Virginia's Colonial Soldiers. By Lloyd DeWitt Bockstruck. 1988. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co. Available at FHL US/CAN Book 975.5 M2bL. Identifies some Amherst County veterans; see place name.

Revolutionary War

Regiments. Service men in Accomack County served in various regiments. Men often joined a company (within a regiment) that originated in their county. Accomack County supplied soldiers for the:

- 6th Virginia Regiment

- 10th Virginia Regiment

Additional resources:

The following Amherst County Revolutionary War records are online at: Southern Campaigns of the American Revolution:

1. "Petition by the Men of the Amherst County, Virginia Militia who fought at the Battle of Camden," transcribed by James Lynch.
2. "Payroll of Capt. Azariah Martin's Company of Militia from Amherst County VA," transcribed by C. Leon Harris.

Additional Revolutionary War records for Amherst County include:

• 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. Washington : Blair and Rives. Online at: Internet Archive. Google Books; At various libraries (WorldCat). See Virginia, Eastern District, Amherst County on page 128.
• Amherst County. By Lenora Higginbotham Sweeny. The William and Mary Quarterly, Second Series, Vol. 9, No. 4 (Oct., 1929), p. 324. Online at: JSTOR ($). List, found in private papers, which appears to identify payments made to Amherst County residents for Revolutionary War provisions.
• Index to Revolutionary Pension and Bounty-Land Documents at the Library of Virginia. 2012. Compiled by C. Leon Harris. Online at: Library of Virginia.
• Rejected or Suspended Applications for Revolutionary War Pensions. 1852. Washington, D.C. : Clearfield. Reprinted by Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., 1969, and 1991. Reprints include "an Added Index to States." Collection with index and images at Ancestry ($); At various libraries (WorldCat).
• Virginia Militia in the Revolutionary War: McAllister's Data. By J. T. McAllister. c1913. Hot Springs, Virginia : McAllister Pub. Co. Online at: Hathitrust, Internet Archive, Google Books; At various libraries (WorldCat).

War of 1812

Amherst County men served in the 90th Regiments.

• List of Pensioners on the Roll, January 1, 1883; Giving the Name of Each Pensioner, the Cause for Why Pensioned, the Post-Office Address, the Rate of Pension Per Month, and the Date of Original Allowance... 1883. Washington, D.C : Government Printing Office. Online at: Internet Archive, Google Books. See Vol. 5, Virginia, Amherst County, p. 61.
• Roster of War of 1812, Southside, Virginia. By James L. Douthat. 2007. Signal Mountain, Tenn : Mountain Press. Free online surname index and purchase details at Mountain Press ($); At various libraries (WorldCat).

Civil War

Regiments. Service men in Amherst County, Virginia Genealogy served in various regiments. Men often joined a company (within a regiment) that originated in their county. Listed below are companies that were specifically formed in Amherst County, Virginia Genealogy:

- 2nd Regiment, Virginia Cavalry (Confederate). Company E (Amherst Mounted Rangers)

- 19th Regiment, Virginia Infantry (Confederate). Company H (The Southern Rights Guard) and Company I (The Amherst Rifles).

- 20th Battalion, Virginia Heavy Artillery (Confederate). Company D.

- 49th Regiment, Virginia Infantry (Confederate). Company B (Amherst Rough and Readys) were presumably from Amherst County.

- 50th Regiment, Virginia Infantry (Confederate). Company F (Pedlar Mills Guard).

Records and histories are available, including:

• 1861-1865 - Virginia, Civil War Service Records of Confederate Soldiers 1861-1865
• 1861-1865 - Virginia, Civil War Service Records of Union Soldiers 1861-1865
• 1861-1865 - U.S., Confederate Soldiers Compiled Service Records, 1861-1865 Ancestry ($)
• 1861-1865 - U.S., Union Soldiers Compiled Service Records, 1861-1865 Ancestry ($)
• Amherst County Families and History. Compiled from Henry Hardesty's Historical and Geographical Encyclopaedia. Inc. Includes the reigments that served, campaigns and unit rosters on pages 5-19. FHL book 975.5496 D2h

World War II

• 1940-1945 - Virginia, World War II Draft Registration Cards,1940-1945 at FamilySearch — index and images

Miscellaneous Records

• 1607-2007 - Virginia, Historical Society Papers, 1607-2007

Naturalization

Virginia Naturalization Petitions, 1906-1929

Newspapers

The Virginia Newspapers Project identifies local Amherst County, Virginia Genealogy newspapers.

Indexed images of the Virginia Gazette (1736-1780) are available online through the Colonial Williamsburg website. 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

• Amherst County Magistrates, 1779-1798. By Aubrey H. Starke. The Virginia Genealogist, Vol. 4, No. 3 (Jul.-Sep. 1960):125-126. Available at FHL US/CAN Book 975.5 B2vg. CD available at: New England Ancestors ($).

Petitions

• A Calendar of Legislative Petitions Arranged by Counties Accomac - Bedford (Virginia State Library). By H.J. Eckenrode. 1908. Richmond, Virginia : Davis Bottom, Superintendent of Public Printing. Online at: Google Books. Amherst County petitions (1775-1856) are described on pp. 107-132.

Probate Records

A free index to Amherst County, Virginia Genealogy wills and administrations (1761-1800) is available at the Library of Virginia.

• Digital Images of Amherst County Wills 1810-1831; 1832-1897. See names of Testators. Virginia Pioneers ($)
• Virginia Wills Before 1799: A Complete Abstract Register of All Names Mentioned in Over Six Hundred Recorded Wills, ... Copied from the Court House Records of Amherst, Bedford, Campbell, Loudoun, Prince William and Rockbridge Counties. 1924. By William M. Clemens. Pompton Lakes, NJ : Biblio Co. Online at: Access Genealogy, Ancestry ($), Heritage Quest Online ($). Free online surname index and 2004 reprint purchase details at Mountain Press ($).

Online Probate Records

• 1639 – 1850 Virginia Land, Marriage and Probate Records 1639-1850 Ancestry ($)

Taxation

Online Amherst County, Virginia Tax Lists
Type	Index			Images
	Free	FHC	Fee	Free	FHC	Fee
Personal Property	1782	-	-	-	1782	1782
Personal Property	1783	-	-	-	1783	1783
Personal Property	-	-	-	-	1784	1784
Personal Property	-	-	-	-	1785	1785
Personal Property	-	-	-	-	1786	1786
Personal Property	-	-	-	-	1787	1787
Personal Property	-	-	-	-	1788	1788
Personal Property	-	-	-	-	1789	1789
Personal Property	1790	-	-	1790	1790	1790
Personal Property	-	-	-	-	1791	1791
Personal Property	-	-	-	-	1792	1792
Personal Property	-	-	-	-	1793	1793
Personal Property	-	-	-	-	1794	1794
Personal Property	-	-	-	-	1795	1795
Personal Property	-	-	-	-	1796	1796
Personal Property	-	-	-	-	1797	1797
Personal Property	-	-	-	-	1798	1798
Personal Property	1799	-	-	1799	1799	1799
Personal Property	-	-	1800 [ 1]|[ 2]|[ 3]|[ 4]	-	1800	1800
Personal Property	1801	-	-	1801	1801	1801
Personal Property	-	-	-	-	1802	1802
Personal Property	-	-	-	-	1803	1803
Personal Property	-	-	-	-	1804-1851	-

How can Virginia tax lists help me?

Bibliography

• 1782 - Personal Property Tax List. Online at Genealogy Trails.
• 1782-1803 - Amherst County Personal Property Tax Lists 1782-1803 (images). CD available at: Binns Genealogy ($).
• 1782-1822 - Amherst County Personal Property Tax List 1782-1822. By Paul Heinegg. Online at: Amherst County Personal Property Tax List 1782-1822.
• 1783 - Personal Property (or Land) Tax List, 1783. Online at: Revolutionary War Service.
• 1787 - The 1787 Census of Virginia: An Accounting of the Name of Every White Male Tithable Over 21 Years, the Number of White Males Between 16 & 21 Years, the Number of Slaves over 16 & Those Under 16 Years, Together with a Listing of Their Horses, Cattle & Carriages, and Also the Names of All Persons to Whom Ordinary Licenses and Physician's Licenses Were Issued. By Netti Schreiner-Yantis and Florene Speakman Love. c1987. Springfield, Virginia : Genealogical Books in Print. At various libraries (WorldCat). Amherst County is included in Vol. 1.
• 1790, 1799 - Personal Property Tax Lists of Amherst County, Virginia. Online at: Binns Genealogy.
• 1800 - Amherst County, Virginia, 1800 Tax List. The Virginia Genealogist, Vol. 5, No. 2 (Apr.-Jun. 1961):80-84; Vol. 5, No. 3 (Jul.-Sep. 1961):125-130; Vol. 5, No. 4 (Oct.-Dec. 1961):155-160; Vol. 6, No. 1 (Jan.-Mar. 1962):18-22. FHL 975.5 B2vg. CD available at: New England Ancestors ($).
• 1800 - Tax List, 1800. Bedford Genealogical Society Newsletter, Vol. 9, No. 2 (May 1998); Vol. 9, No. 3 (Aug. 1998); Vol. 9, No. 4 (Nov. 1998).
• 1815 - 1815 Directory of Virginia Landowners (and Gazetteer). By Roger D. Ward. c1997. Athens, Georgia: Iberian Pub. Co. FHL 975 E4w. At various libraries (WorldCat).

Vital Records

Indexes to Amherst County, Virginia Genealogy births, marriages, and deaths are available online. These collections are incomplete, but are easy to search. Most records can also be ordered electronically online as well. Courtesy: FamilySearch. See also How to order Virginia Vital Records

Birth

• 1853-1866 - Virginia, Slave Birth Index, 1853-1866 at FamilySearch — index and images
• 1912-1913 - Virginia, Birth Certificates, 1912-1913

Marriage

• 1660-1959 - Virginia, United States Marriages - FindMyPast ($).
• 1660-1800 - Virginia Marriages 1660-1800 Ancestry ($).
• 1740-1850 - Virginia Marriages 1740-1850 Ancestry ($).
• 1753-1783, 1763-1852 - Amherst County Marriages 1753-1783, 1763-1852 Virginia Pioneers ($)
• 1763-1852 - Amherst County Marriage Index 1763-1852. Batch M868470 at FamilySearch.
• 1785-1940 - Virginia Marriages, 1785-1940. Batch M868471 at FamilySearch - index
• 1815-1821 - Marriage Records of Amherst County, 1815-1821. 1961. By Lenora Higginbotham Sweeny. Lynchburg, VA : n.p. At various libraries (WorldCat).
• 1936-1988 - Virginia, Marriage Certificates, 1936-1988

Divorce

• 1918-1988 - Virginia, Divorce Records, 1918-1988

Death

Amherst County, Virginia Genealogy deaths are online in the Library of Virginia's Death Index of Virginia, 1853-1896, sponsored by The Virginia Genealogical Society.

• 1912-1987 - Virginia, Death Certificates, 1912-1987

Vital Record Substitutes

The Virginia Historical Society's Marriage and Obituary Index, 1736-1820 (newspaper abstracts) is available at FamilySearch. Images of the original index cards are browseable, arranged alphabetically by surname.

Amherst County Virginia Genealogy Societies and Libraries

• Central Virginia Genealogical Association

Family History Centers

Family History Centers provide one-on-one assistance and free access to premium genealogical websites. In addition, many centers have free how-to genealogy classes.

• For current information about a center near you, go to the Family History Center Map

Amherst County Virginia Genealogy Websites

• Amherst County, Virginia USGENWEB
• Amherst County, VA History, Records, Facts and Genealogy (Familytree101)
  • Amherst County, VAGenWeb. Part of the USGenWeb Project. Cemetery, census, family, land, marriage, military, newspaper, and will records. Queries, mailing lists.
    
• FamilySearch Catalog
• Cyndi's List

Amherst County Virginia Genealogy References