Book Review: "Lunenburg County, Virginia Marriages 1750-1853" with Last Name Index N-Z

The following is a summary of the last name index of John Vogt and T. William Kethley, Jr.'s Lunenburg County, Virginia Marriages 1750-1853, 174 pages, appendices, figure, chart and map. Lunenburg County was created in 1746 from a portion of Brunswick County. 2,435 marriage records are reflected in the current volume. They are drawn from a variety of primary sources, including copies of typed bonds in the county court house (the original bonds are missing), scattered ministers' returns in will and deed books, and microfilm records in the Virginia State Library, Archives Division. Two appendices provide a date frequency and a listing of all ministers reporting returns. This is a soft cover reprint of a 1988 original, printed by New Papyrus Co. of Athens, Georgia.

If you would like to purchase a copy of this book, let me know.

Here are two sample entries from the book:

• "Callis Pamelia F & Samuel W Oslin 17 Apr 1843; b - Gary Thompson min - John C Blackwell - 21 Apr 1843"
• "Rainey Francis & Cissly M Gee 8 Jan 1847; date approximate min - Daniel Petty - from return list dated 8 Feb 1847"

The following is a list of names made from the surname frequency index at the front of the book:

Nance Nash Neal Neathery Neblett Neele Nelson Neville Nevils Newbill Newby Niblett Nolley Norment Northington Norvell Nunnally Nunnerly Ogburn Old Oldham Oliver Ombs Oon Orgain Osborne Oslin Overby Overton Overtrhow Owen Page Palmer Palmore Pamplin Pampton Parham Parish Parker Parmer Parrish Parrott Parsons Patterson Patteson Pattillo Paylor Peace Pearcey Pearcy Pearson Pease Peaseley Peebles Pegram Penick Penn Pennington Peoples Perkerson Perkins Peterson Petteford Pettipool Pettus Petty Pettypool Pewett Phebe Philbeard Philips Phillips Pierce Piercy Pike Pilkinton Pillar Pinnel Pitman Poindexter Pointer Pollard Pollock Pool Popham Portwood Potter Poultney Powel Powell Powers Prewit Price Pride Priest Pritchett Procise Pryor Puckett Pugh Puller Pulley Pulliam Pully Pyle Queesberry Radford Ragsdale Rainey Ramsey Rand Randolph Raney Rash Rawlins Read Reams Reaves Redford Redman Redmon Redmond Reese Rhodes Richards Richardson Richie Riggin Riggins Riggons Rigigett Ritchee Rivers Roach Roads Roberts Robertson Robins Robinson Rodgers Roe Rogers Rose Ross Roslett Royall Ruckes Rucks Rudd Rudder Russell Rutherford Rutledge Rux Ryan Ryland Sadler Sale Samford Sammons Sanders Sands Sandys Saterfield Satterfield Satterwhile Saunders Scarbery Scarbrough Scire Scoggin Scot Scott Seamore Seay Sewal Shackelton Sharp Shaw Sheered Sheffield Shelborn Shelborne Shelburn Shelburne Shell Shelor Shelton Sheneberry Ship Shorter Shule Sikes Silts Simmons Sinclair Singleton Sire Skelton Skinner Slaughter Smith Smithson Snead Somerville Sowon Spain Sparks Spencer Stainback Stanback Stanley Staples Steagall Stegar Stembridge Stephenson Sterne Stevenson Steward Stewart Stokes Stone Stout Strange Street Sturdivant Sullivant Summers Swansberry Sweeney Swepstone Sydnor Syme Tabb Talbert Talley Tally Talor Tankersley Tanner Tarpley Tarry Tatom Tatum Taylor Terry Thacker Thackleton Thackston Thaxton Thomas Thompson Thornton Threatt Thrift Throckmorton Tisdale Todd Tomberlinson Tombs Tomlinson Toombs Toone Towers Towler Townsend Traynum Trotter Tubbyville Tucker Tunstall Tunstill Turleyfield Turner Turpin Twitty Ussery Vaden Valentine Vandyke Vaughan Venable Verser Vincent Vuahgan Wade Wagstaff Walker Wall Wallace Waller Walthall Walton Ward Warner Warren Washband Watkins Watson Watts Weakly Weatherford Weaver Webb Wells Welshe Westbrook Westmoreland Whalepool White Whitehead Whitlock Whitten Whittle Whitworth Wiggleworth Wilborn Wilkerson Wilkes Wilkins Wilkinson Wilks Willard Williams Williamson Willis Willmut Wills Willson Wilmoth Wilson Wimbish Winfree Winn Winningham Wionn Wise Witt Womack Wommack Wood Woodward Wooding Woodson Wooton Wootton Worsham Wrenn Wright Wriglesworth Wyatt Wynn Yancey Yarbrough Yates Young Zachary Zackary

If you would like to purchase a copy of this book, let me know.

Book Review: "Lunenburg County, Virginia Marriages 1750-1853" with Last Name Index A-M

The following is a summary of the last name index of John Vogt and T. William Kethley, Jr.'s Lunenburg County, Virginia Marriages 1750-1853, 174 pages, appendices, figure, chart and map. Lunenburg County was created in 1746 from a portion of Brunswick County. 2,435 marriage records are reflected in the current volume. They are drawn from a variety of primary sources, including copies of typed bonds in the county court house (the original bonds are missing), scattered ministers' returns in will and deed books, and microfilm records in the Virginia State Library, Archives Division. Two appendices provide a date frequency and a listing of all ministers reporting returns. This is a soft cover reprint of a 1988 original, printed by New Papyrus Co. of Athens, Georgia.

If you would like to purchase a copy of this book, let me know.

Here are two sample entries from the book:

• "Callis Pamelia F & Samuel W Oslin 17 Apr 1843; b - Gary Thompson min - John C Blackwell - 21 Apr 1843"
• "Rainey Francis & Cissly M Gee 8 Jan 1847; date approximate min - Daniel Petty - from return list dated 8 Feb 1847"

The following is a list of names made from the surname frequency index at the front of the book:

Abernathy Abrham Adams Addams Adin Aiken Aikins Aikins Akin Alday Alderson Alexander Allen Alling Almond Alston Ambrose Ames Amos Anders Anderson Andrews Apperson Arms Armstrong Arnold Arvin Ashley Ashworth Atkins Atkinson Atwell Averett Averitt Avory Bacon Bagley Bailey Baines Baker Baldwin Ballard Banks Barksdale Barnes Barrow Barry Bartlett Barton Basbeck Bass Bates Batte Baugh Bayne Beach Bearick Bears Beaseley Beasley Bedford Beevers Belcher Bell Bellsher Bennett Bentley Bently Bethel Betts Beverley Beverly Bevis Biasse Bigger Billups Bing Birchett Bird Bishop Black Blackwell Blagrave Blagrove Blake Blankenship Blankinship Blanks Blanton Blunt Bohannon Bolling Booker Booth Boothe Borum Bose Boswell Bouldin Bowen Bowers Boze Brackett Bradley Bradshaw Bragg Brame Brammer Branagin Branch Brasel Breedlove Brent Bride Bridgeforth Brim Brindle Brinkle Brintle Brizentine Broadnax Broadway Brooks Browder Brown Brubb Bruce Brummer Bryant Brydie Buck Buckhannon Buchnall Buckner Buford Bugg Bullard Burge Burke Burke Burks Burnett Burnette Burton Burwell Bush Buster Butler Byars Byasse Byassee Byesee Byng Cabaness Cabaniss Cabiness Cain Calaham Caldwell Calib Callaham Calliham Callihan Callis Cameron Cammel Camp Campbell Cantalou Cardegill Cargill Carlton Carreer Carrington Carrol Carroll Carter Carver Caudil Caudle Cavender Cayce Chambers Chandler Chaney Chapman Chappell Chavens Chavers Chaves Cheaney Cheany Cheatham Chickley Chishom Chitton Christian Christopher Chumley Chumney Clabourn Cladwell Claiborne Clardy Clark Clarke Claughtoin Clay Clayton Clements Cleuverius Cobb Cocke Cockerham Cole Coleman Collier Collins Colly Colter Comer Connell Conner Cook Cooskey Cooper Cordle Cotter Couch Cousins Covington Cowan Cow Crafton Craghead Craig Craighead Cralle Craven Crawley Creath Creathe Crenshaw Crews Crittenden Cross Crow Crowder Crowe Crymes Cully Cumby Cunningham Cureton Cuttaloe Dabbs Dacux Dagnal Dagnall Dailey Dalton Daly Dance Daniel Dardin Davidson Davies Davis Day Dayley Degraffenreid Degraffenreidt Dedman Degraffenreid Deminan Denkens Denton Depriest Deshazor Dickes Dicks Dickson Dillingham Dixon Dizmang Dobbin Dobbins Dobbyns Dodd Dodson Doggett Doke Dowdy Dowsing Dozer Dozier Drake Dreskill Dudley Dunevant Duniman Dunman Dunn Dunnavant Dupree Eagles Earl Early East Eastham Echols Eckles Eddings Edmonds Edmondson Edmund Edmunds Edmundson Edwards Eggleston Egleton Elam Elder Eldor Eldridge Ellet Ellington Elliott Ellis Elmore Embry Epes Epperson Eppes Epps Erambert Erskine Esters Estes Eubank Evans Evens Falcon Fallin Farguson Farler Farley Farmer Farrar Farriss Fears Featherston Ferrell Figg Filbert Filbird Filboid Finch Fisher Fitzwilson Flinn Flipping Flournoy Floyd Ford Foster Fowles Franklin Freeman Frost Fulilove Fuqua Gafford Gaines Gallion Gandy Garland Garner Garratt Garrett Garrott Gary Gasquet Gaulding Gayle Gee Geers George Gill Gillet Gilliam Gillium Glascock Glasson Glen Glenn Gober Goin Gooch Goode Goodwin Goodwyn Goodwyne Gordon Gosee Gossee Graham Granger Grant Grear Green Gregg Gregory Griffin Grimes Grisham Guantney Gunn Gurney Gwatney Gwin Hailey Haines Haley Haly Hamblin Hamlet Hamlett Hamlin Hammock Hammonds Hammonds Hammons Hampton Haney Hankin Hankins Hanks Hann Hansbrough Hardie Harding Hardrick Hardwick Hardwicke Hardwood Hardy Harper Harris Harrison Harvey Harvy Harwood Haskins Hastin Hastings Hatchet Hatchett Hatchitt Hawkes Hawkins Hawthorn Hawthorne Hayes Haymore Haynes Hays Hazelwood Hazlewood Heath Hendrick Henry Herring Hicks Hight Hightower Hill Hilton Hines Hitchens Hitchings Hitchins Hite Hix Hobson Holmes Holt Hood Hoomes Hooper Hopkins Howard Hubbard Huddlestone Hudgin Hudgins Hudson Hughes Huling Hull Hundley Hunnicut Hurt Hutcherson Hutchinson Inge Ingram Innes Insco Irby Irvine Isbell Jackson Jameson Jarrett Jarrott Jefferson Jeffress Jenkins Jennings Jeter Johns Johnson Johnston Jones Jordan Jusco Justice Justis Kearsey Keats Keeling Keesee Keeth Keeton Kelly Key King Kirk Kirkland Knight Knott Lacey Ladd Laffoon Lamb Lambert Lamkin Lampkin Landrom Landrum Lanier Lawrence Lay Legrand Lee Lefoe Lemay Leonard Lertie Lester Lett Lewis Ligon Lipscomb Lock Locke Lockhead Logan Loury Love Lowery Lowry Lucas Lynch MacCaden MacKan Macan Maddox Maddux Mallery Mallory Malone Maloney Manley Manly Manson Marable Marr Marron Marrow Marshall Martin Mason Mathes Mathews Matthew Matthews Matthis Maury Maxey May Mayes Mayton McAlister McCargo McClaughlin McConico McConnico McCraw McCutcheon McCutcheson McFarland McIntire McKee McKenney McKie McKinney McLaughlin McMachen McQuaid McQuie Meadows Meanley Meanly Middleton Miller Mills Minor Mitchell Mize Mohorn Monday Monroe Moody Moon Moor Moore More Moreton Morgain Morgan Moring Moriset Morris Morrison Mosby Moseley Moses Moss Mount Mourning Mullins Munday Murrell Murrill

If you would like to purchase a copy of this book, let me know.

John Semple of Scotland and Virginia, d. c. 1770

John came to King and Queen County, Virginia from Scotland in 1752.

The Virginia Gazette, October 11, 1770:
"To be SOLD, for ready money, on Wednesday, the 21st November, if fair, if not the next fair day, at the dwelling house of John Semple, deceased, in the county of King & Queen, ALL the estate of the said John Semple, consisting of 1200 acres of land, more or less, subject to the dower of Elizabeth Semple, his widow, in the whole, to the dower of Joanne Prince, widow of Francis Prince, deceased, in 150 acres, part thereof; and for the life of Sarah Roberts, widow, in 50 acres, another part thereof. There is on the said land a convenient dwelling house and all other convenient outhouses built since the year 1764; a large apple and peach orchard [cannot read an entire line] Isabel Thomas, at the rent of 10[cannot read] per annum, seven years of her lease yet unexpired; the other two in the possession and tenure of [cannot read first name] Walden [cannot read one word] and James Walden his son, tenants at will. Also 13 Negroes, variety of good household and kitchen furniture of all sorts, too tedious here to mention; flocks of horses, cattle, sheep and hogs; taken in execution by virtue of a decree of the Honourable General Court, against the said John Semple, for and on account of his the said Semple becoming security for Philip Rootes, late sheriff of the said county, for non-payment of the taxes due to his Majesty in the years 1765 and 1766. The sale will be continued till all are sold, by the SHERIFF. WILLIAMSBURG, October 4, 1770."

There is a manuscript at the Library of Virginia entitled, "History of the Semple Family of Scotland and America." It was written/compiled by Elizabeth Hawes Ryland of Richmond in 1950. The first half of the document contains portions of an interview from the summer of 1900 with Mrs. Adeline Semple Bradford of Springfield, Illinois, daughter of John Walker Semple and Lucy Robertson. There is also a copy of a manuscript made be a hired researcher from that time period about the Semple family in Scotland. This document takes the family back hundreds of years with no source citation. There is also a portion of Ryland's manuscript produced from her own research. Finally there are transcripts of a few letters, including one from "Eliza Pettus."

According to Ryland's manuscript, the graveyard at the Semple home in question,"Rose Mount," was plowed under and destroyed before 1900. No stones or their fragments remained at that time.

Library of Virginia Bible Collection

I received an e-mail from a reader that I wanted to pass along and comment on further:

"...You might mention to your readers that you don't have to be a Lee, Houston or Jefferson to have your family Bible on record at the Library of Virginia. They don't make it clear on their website, but they will be happy to photograph or photocopy an individuals family Bible record entries to include in their archives. These are then available for genealogical research. It also makes a safe back up in case of damage to the original. I recently went through this process with my Johnson Ivey ancestors' Bible dating back to 1799 in Petersburg and Richmond, Virginia. Continued good luck with your project, Ed Miller"

Well, what Mr. Miller states is very true. The Library of Virginia does have a large collection of Bible copies for patrons to search. This collection can be found online and is totally free. I will put a link to it below.

If you want to submit a Bible, I think they prefer that you bring it in but you can probably submit copies through the mail. However, I think there are some authenticity and quality issues if you do not bring in the actual Bible.

If you take your Bible to the Library, you will probably have to leave it for a few days as there is always a backlog in the scanning department. I know that they will not accept donations of entire Bibles (meaning the actual, physical book), they just do not have the space. They will refer you to the Virginia Historical Society for such a donation.

If you go to the following website it should look like a search box for the archives and manuscript collection. The Library categorizes Bible records in this thread so search here for them. I would recommend that you search by last name, maybe county. Just searching the word Bible brings up too many, unrelated entries.

Check out the Library of Virginia Bible Collection Here!

Library of Virginia Chancery Records Scanned, More Coming

I found something hot yesterday that I did not know existed. I was almost ashamed when I found it, for the fact that I did not realize it was there all of this time. I consider myself an expert on the holdings of the Library of Virginia, I even volunteered there for almost a year. I just could not believe that I missed their project for scanning chancery court records. These are free, online records for anyone to use. Be warned that the records can be very long, some more than 1,000 pages, and they can get very addictive!

Here is the deal, the Library has scanned several counties and are working on the rest. If you do not know, a chancery cause is basically a court case where there is no clear cut law to decide who is right or wrong in a civil case. All of the evidence is gathered and presented to a judge who rules on that evidence. This can include old wills, deeds, Bible records, letters, anything to help win your case. I will give an example of a chancery cause that I found in my family...

Ann's husband died and she sold twenty acres of their farm to one of their freed slaves. Twenty years later, after Ann's death, one of her children decided that they wanted the twenty acres back but the freed slave had sold the land to a white family ten years ago. They all go to chancery court and the judge rules that Ann had no right to sell the property because 2/3 of it belonged to the heirs of her husband. Furthermore the freed slaves had no right to purchase property so the sale was doubly invalid. The white family had to give the land back to Ann's estate and had no recourse since the original sale was not valid. That is a true chancery cause as no clear-cut law applied to the situation. It took a judge's understanding of the laws to come to a conclusion.

Anyway, the Library of Virginia has already scanned the causes for the following areas:

• Alexandria City
• Caroline County
• Fauquier County
• Hanover County
• King & Queen County
• Lancaster County
• Middlesex County
• New Kent County
• Northampton County
• Prince William County
• Rockbridge County (some)
• Shenandoah County
• Staunton City

These areas are in the process of being scanned at this time:

• Amelia County
• Cumberland County
• Page County
• Rockbridge County (some)

You can check out the records at this link: Library of Virginia Chancery Causes

Searchable Oakwood Cemetery Database is Live!

Tonight I have launched a searchable database for our transcribed burial records of Oakwood Cemetery in Richmond, Virginia. It is located all the way at the bottom of this page, below the final blog entry. There are only around 100 names in the database at the moment, all of them happen to be of the Allen surname. I have around 800 more I plan on adding in the next few days.

For right now you can only search by last name. I will try to expand the search sooner or later but for now I will keep it simple. I am not exactly a database guru so you will have to settle for what my abilities will manage at this point.

I think there will be a minor change to the project in the next few days. I think I could run into some trouble with Oakwood Cemetery if I publish all of their records without their explicit permission. The city owns the cemetery so I doubt there would be any trouble but you never know. I am going to play it safe and change the project from Oakwood burials to simply Virginia burials or Richmond burials, something like that. This could also open up the database to more cemeteries, instead of just Oakwood.

I basically need to add a column to the database for cemetery name and maybe one for location. That will allow me to specify different cemeteries in different locations. We will have to wait and see when and if I find time to make this change. I feel like it is going to mess up my current database and search/query structure so I am afraid to make the change just yet. I will probably drag my feet until I get the courage up.

If anyone out there has access to the Library of Virginia and would like to help transcribe some of the records, I could always use the help. All you need is a laptop and I can tell you how to add records to the database online. Just let me know if you are interested.

John Philip Brock of Germany & Hanover County, Virginia

Many records of Hanover County, Virginia were destroyed by fire during the Civil War. Therefore wills are difficult to locate for the time period before 1865. I did find a copy of John P. Brock's will amongst the papers of his grandson, Robert Alonzo Brock. Robert was Secretary of the Virginia Historical Society and amassed the largest personal collection of Virginia-related documents know to exist. After Robert's death, the papers were auctioned off and purchased by the Huntington Library in California. I found a photocopy of John P. Brock's will on file at the Library of Virginia. However, further reproductions were restricted since Huntington owns the rights.

John's will states that he was a resident of Hanover County and was "at present in my usual health and [of] perfect mind and memory." He asked that his body be decently buried and that all of his just debts be paid. John then made a provision for his three under-age sons named Philip Stafford, William and Ro. King Brock, at his own death or at the time they turned twenty-one, should each be paid $20 to be equal with his other children. If John died before any of his children were twenty-one, he order that all livestock, household and kitchen furniture be sold for their upkeep and all of the slaves [should be rented out]. After all of the children reached twenty-one, all of the land and slaves were to be sold and the money split amongst his children, namely his sons Jno. C., Henry, Philip Stafford, William and Ro. King Brock and his daughters Nancy Gilman and Catharine Willis. Jno. C. and Henry Brock were left in charge of their sister's inheritances. They were instructed that if a daughter died without heir, the money reverted to the other children. Their husbands, M. Gilman and Jessee Willis, were to have no control or access to the Brock girl's inheritances. As a special bequest, Catharine Willis was to receive a slave girl named Eliza as part of her inheritance. John named his sons Jno. C. and Henry Brock as his executors. The will was signed and dated January 23, 1817 and bore the signature of "John P. Brock." Susannah, Susannah S. and Peter W. Littlepage were John's witnesses. The will was probated on November 26, 1823 in Hanover County. Jno C. and Henry Brock were named executors with Susannah Littlepage and Susannah S. Durham (nee Littlepage) giving their oaths.

John's estate in Hanover County was known as "Brock Spring" and still exists to date on Old Telegraph Road. There is a family cemetery, with rights retained by the family. I have not been to the site but it supposedly has graves for Rose Arlington Brock Tomlinson, Asbury Watson Brock, Martha Ann Carter Brock, Edward Watson Brock, William Synton Brock, John Christian Brock, Lucy G. Wingfield Brock, Wesley M. Brock, Jane Eliza Tinsley Brock, John P. Brock, John Philip Brock and Elizabeth King Brock. Most of the graves are unmarked.

Virginia and West Virginia Record Availability

Many people want to know what types of records are available for Virginia genealogical research. Most Virginia counties and cities kept birth, marriage and death records from 1853 until 1896 and from 1912 until the present. Many records before 1853 exist but no law actually required that they be kept. Wills, deeds, directories, newspapers, marriage bonds, order books and many additional records may be available, dating well into the 1600s. You need to contact the Library of Virginia or local government for more information. Also note that due to privacy laws, public access is limited to state birth records between 1853 and 1896, marriage records from 1853 until 1956 and death records from 1853 until 1956.

Another frequent question involves West Virginia and its records. During the Civil War, West Virginia broke off from the Commonwealth of Virginia and became an official state in 1863. Local county governments maintained possession of their records. Therefore, West Virginia records are maintained in modern-day West Virginia. The Virginia state archives has copies of many pre-1863 West Virginia records in both microfilm and book format. However, most records after 1863 have to be obtained from the actual state of West Virginia.

Welcome to Virginia Family Tree

To tell a little about myself, I am a graduate of the College of William & Mary in Williamsburg with a degree in History and minor degree in Art & Art History. I have conducted genealogy research for 15 years; I am a county coordinator for the USGenWeb Project and spent time with the Library of Virginia's "Dictionary of Virginia Biography." I am the former editor of "The Lett Gazette" and current webmaster for the Lett/Lott family's DNA project. I have also compiled a book on the 1850 census of York County, Virginia.

My wife, Crystal Lett, has two degrees from J. Sergeant Reynolds Community College in Richmond, Virginia and is the manager of a professional photography studio. By the way, I am also an ordained minister and perform marriage ceremonies for family and friends. I have held memberships in the Association of Professional Genealogists, the Virginia Historical Society and the Sons of Confederate Veterans.

I consider myself to be semi-retired but I do offer free genealogy research consultations where I review your information, provide comments and propose a layout for a research project, if I can help with your situation. If you would like to begin a project, and we both agree on the terms, I require an initial deposit before beginning any research. Projects generally require six to eight weeks and culminate with a final report, including suggestions on how to proceed with your own research.

Most Virginia counties and cities kept birth, marriage and death records from 1853 until 1896 and from 1912 until the present. Many records before 1853 exist but no law actually required that they be kept. Wills, deeds, directories, newspapers, marriage bonds, order books and many additional records may be available, dating well into the 1600s. Also note that due to privacy laws, my access is limited to birth records between 1853 and 1896, marriage records from 1853 until 1935 and death records from 1853 until 1939.

If you have questions, or would like a consultation, please feel free to contact us at any time.

Take care,
Kevin Lett
Virginia Family Tree