King George, Virginia

United States > Virginia > King George County

Location of King George County, Virginia

King George County Boundary Map

A county in the Northern Neck region of Virginia. Established 1720.

County Courthouse

King George County Courthouse, King George, Va.

History

King George I of Great Britain (1660-1727)

The county is named after King George I of Great Britain (1660-1727).

Parent County

1720--King George County was created 2 November 1720 from Richmond and Westmoreland Counties.
County seat: King George

Places/Localities

Part of the Northern Neck region

Neighboring Counties

Caroline Charles County, Maryland

Essex Stafford

Westmoreland

Resources

African American

• Heinegg, Paul. "King George County Personal Property Tax List, 1782-1815," Free African Americans.com. Heinegg abstracted free blacks listed in these records.
• Heinegg, Paul. "King George County Register of Free Negroes, 1785-1799," Free African Americans.com. Heinegg abstracted free blacks listed in these records.

Cemeteries

• Klein, Margaret C. Tombstone Inscriptions of King George County, Virginia. Baltimore, MD, USA: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1994. Available at FS Library US/CAN Book 975.525 V3k; online at Ancestry ($).

Census

1890 Union Veterans

• Virginia's Union Veterans: Eleventh Census of the United States 1890. FS Library Collection. Online at: Ancestry ($). Includes residents of King George County.

Church

Church of England

• Nicklin, John Bailey Calvert. St. Paul's Parish Register: (Stafford-King George Counties, Virginia) 1715 - 1798. Baltimore, MC: Genealogical Book Co., 1962. Available at FS Library US/CAN Book 975.52 K28n; FS Library US/CAN Film 1036122 Item 5; online at MyHeritage ($); At various libraries (WorldCat).

Court

District Court of Fredericksburg

The District Court of Fredericksburg and later the Superior Court of Chancery had jurisdiction over certain King George County court cases. An index has been compiled:

• Indexes of Court Records in the Clerk's Office, Fredericksburg, Virginia, 1782-1904. Original records, Fredericksburg City Courthouse, Fredericksburg, Va., microfilmed reproduction available at FS Library. Indexes the following records: District Court law book v. 8, 1782-1792; District Court law books 1790-1793, v. A-F 1789-1811; Superior Court of Law law order books v. G-H 1812-1831; Superior Court of Chancery chancery order books 1814-1831; Hustings Court orders v. A-O 1782-1871; Circuit Superior Court of Law and Chancery law order books v. A-E 1831-1875; Circuit Superior Court of Law and Chancery chancery order books v. A-D 1831-1872; Circuit Court chancery order books v. A2, B-C 1875-1904; Fredericksburg District Court (1789-1808) had jurisdiction over the following counties: Spotsylvania (including Fredericksburg), Caroline, King George, Stafford, Orange, and Culpeper; Superior Court of Chancery (1802-1831) had jurisdiction over the following localities: city of Fredericksburg and the counties of Caroline, Culpeper, Fauquier, Fairfax, Lancaster, Northumberland, Madison, King George, Orange, Prince William, Richmond, Spotsylvania, Stafford, Essex, and Westmoreland.

Superior Court of Chancery

See District Court of Fredericksburg

Family Histories

It is anticipated that this bibliography will eventually identify all known family histories published about residents of this county. Use this list to:

• Locate publications about direct ancestors
• Find the most updated accounts of an ancestor's family
• Identify publications about an ancestor's "FAN Club" (Friends, Associates, and Neighbors)

Bibliography

• [Berry] King, George Harrison Sanford. "Copies of Extant Wills from Counties Whose Records Have Been Destroyed: Will of William Berry of King George County," [and Berry Family Notes] The Virginia Genealogist, Vol. 1, No. 1 (Jan-Mar 1957):5-17. Available at American Ancestors by NEHGS ($).
• [Dinwiddie] King, George Harrison Sanford. "Copies of Extant Wills from Counties Whose Records Have Been Destroyed: Will of Major John Dinwiddie of King George County, Virginia," [and Dinwiddie Family Notes] The Virginia Genealogist, Vol. 3, No. 2 (Apr.-Jun. 1959):51-64. Available at American Ancestors by NEHGS ($).
• [Roane] Ryland, Elizabeth Hawes. "The Roanes of King and Queen and King William Counties," The William and Mary Quarterly, Second Series, Vol. 18, No. 3 (Jul. 1938):286-290. Available at JSTOR ($).
• [Rose] Rose, Christine. Abstracts of Early Virginia Rose Estates: Wills, Inventories, Accounts and Administrator's Bonds before 1850. San Jose, Calif.: Rose Family Bulletin, 1972. FS Library US/CAN Book 975.5 A1 no. 56; digital version at Heritage Quest Online ($).

Immigration

• Coldham, Peter Wilson. North American Wills Registered in London 1611-1857. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., 2007. Includes will of a resident of King George County proved in London. These records often help establish an immigrant's place of origin.
• List of imported servants and transported convicts from Europe who served labor terms in Colonial Virginia are online at: Immigrant Servants Database.
  (also includes King George; King and Queen counties)

Land

Grants and Patents

• Gray, Gertrude E. Virginia Northern Neck Land Grants 1694-1742. Vol. I. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., 1987. Available at [1]. [Includes King George County.]

Local Histories

• Harris, Nancy E. King George County, Virginia 1720-1990. Baltimore, MD, USA: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1994. Available at FS Library; online at Ancestry ($).

Migration

• Clay, Robert Y. "Some Delinquent Taxpayers 1787-1790," The Virginia Genealogist, Vol. 20, No. 3 (Jul.-Sep. 1976):199-208; Vol. 21, No. 4 (Oct.-Dec. 1977):287-292. Available at FS Library; digital version at American Ancestors by NEHGS ($). These records identify migrants who left the county and often their intended destinations. King George County's 1786, 1789, and 1790 Delinquent Lists appear on 20:199-201; another 1789 Delinquent List appears on 21:292.

Military

French and Indian War

• Bockstruck, Lloyd DeWitt. Virginia's Colonial Soldiers. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1988. Available at FS Library. Online at: Ancestry ($). Identifies some Westmoreland County militia officers, soldier enlistments, and veterans; see place name index.
• Boogher, William F. Gleanings of Virginia History: An Historical and Genealogical Collection, Largely from Original Sources. Washington: n.p., 1903. Available at FS Library; online at Internet Archive. Includes a chapter titled "Legislative Enactments connecting the preceding historic sketch (French and Indian War, Lord Dunmore's War) with the adjudication of the resulting accounts that follow; with the list of officers, soldiers and civilians entitled to compensation for military and other services rendered." For King George County, see pp. 88, 111.
• Crozier, William Armstrong. Virginia Colonial Militia 1651-1776. Baltimore: Southern Book Co., 1954. Available at FS Library; digital book at Ancestry ($). Identifies some Accomack County militia officers; see place name index.

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

• Fisher, Therese. Skeletons in the Closet: 200 Years of Murders in Old Virginia; a Genealogical and Historical Resource. Bowie, Maryland: Heritage Books, 2001. Available at FS Library. Identifies King George County's sheriffs 1776-1781.

Probate

Local Court

• 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 FS Library. Includes King George County.
• King, George Harrison Sanford. "Copies of Extant Wills from Counties Whose Records Have Been Destroyed: Will of Major John Dinwiddie of King George County, Virginia," [and Dinwiddie Family Notes] The Virginia Genealogist, Vol. 3, No. 2 (Apr.-Jun. 1959):51-64. Available at American Ancestors by NEHGS ($).
• King, George Harrison Sanford. "Copies of Extant Wills from Counties Whose Records Have Been Destroyed: Will of William Berry of King George County," [and Berry Family Notes] The Virginia Genealogist, Vol. 1, No. 1 (Jan-Mar 1957):5-17. Available at American Ancestors by NEHGS ($).

London Courts

• Coldham, Peter Wilson. North American Wills Registered in London 1611-1857. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., 2007. Includes will of a resident of King George County proved in London. These records often help establish an immigrant's place of origin.

Research Guides

• "A Guide to the Counties of Virginia: King George County," The Virginia Genealogist, Vol. 15, No. 3 (Jul.-Sep. 1971):193-195. Available at American Ancestors by NEHGS ($).

• King, George Harrison Sanford. "Copies of Extant Wills from Counties Whose Records Have Been Destroyed: Will of Major John Dinwiddie of King George County, Virginia," [and Dinwiddie Family Notes] The Virginia Genealogist, Vol. 3, No. 2 (Apr.-Jun. 1959):51-64.

Available at American Ancestors by NEHGS ($).

Taxation

How can Virginia tax lists help me?

• [1782] Fothergill, Augusta B. and John Mark Naugle. Virginia Tax Payers, 1782-87, Other Than Those Published by the United States Census Bureau. 1940; reprint, Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., 1978. FS Catalog book 975.5 R4f 1978. Online at FamilySearch Digital Library, FS Library film 874197, item 4 - images. 1782 personal property tax list of King George County.
• [1782] Stewart, Robert Armistead. "Land Tax List of King George County, 1782," The Researcher: A Magazine of History and Genealogical Exchange, Vol. 1, No. 4 (Jul. 1927):238-239. Available at FS Library.
• [1782-1815] Heinegg, Paul. "King George County Personal Property Tax List, 1782-1815," 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 & 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. 3 vols. Springfield, Va.: Genealogical Books in Print, 1987. Available at FS Library. The source of this publication is the 1787 personal property tax list. King George County is included in Vol. 1.
• [1787] Land Tax Records, 1787, Tidewater Virginia Families, Vol. 7, No. 3 (Nov. 1998). Available at FS Library.
• [1786, 1789, 1790] Clay, Robert Y. "Some Delinquent Taxpayers 1787-1790," The Virginia Genealogist, Vol. 20, No. 3 (Jul.-Sep. 1976):199-208; Vol. 21, No. 4 (Oct.-Dec. 1977):287-292. Available at FS Library; digital version at American Ancestors by NEHGS ($). These records identify migrants who left the county and often their intended destinations. King George County's 1786, 1789, and 1790 Delinquent Lists appear on 20:199-201; another 1789 Delinquent List appears on 21:292.
• [1800] Tax List, 1800, Virginia Genealogist, Vol. 34, No. 2 (Apr. 1990). Available at FS Library.
• [1815] Ward, Roger D. 1815 Directory of Virginia Landowners (and Gazetteer). 6 vols. Athens, Georgia: Iberian Pub. Co., 1997-2000. Available at FS Library. The source for this publication is the 1815 land tax. King George County is included in Vol. 3.

Vital Records

One of my favorite sources for this county is the book King George County, Virginia, Death Records 1853-1896, written by Elizabeth Nuckols Lee. It's in book form on the shelf at the Family History Library. Lee copied the county records and they are neatly typed and indexed. Very helpful.

Societies and Libraries

• Mary Ball Washington Museum and Library
• The Northern Neck of Virginia Historical Society

Websites

• USGenWeb project. May have maps, name indexes, history or other information for this county. Select the state, then the county.
• FamilySearch Catalog

This website requires a paid subscription for full access. Some subscription websites are available for free at your local FamilySearch Center or Affiliate Library.