Genealogical Research in West Virginia

When the first Europeans arrived during the 1640s, older inhabitants had been driven out by the Cherokee and Iroquois, and only a few Delaware, Shawnee and Tuscarora, Indian villages remained. The area was still very active as a hunting and warring ground however, and attempts by Europeans to claim land were violently opposed.

Exploration was stimulated by the fur trade, and England claimed the Ohio Valley area, a claim opposed by France, but brought to an end by the French and Indian War. The first settlers arrived in the Berkeley County area around 1735, and by 1750 there were several thousand people settled in the eastern panhandle. Treaties were signed with the Cherokee and Iroquois, and in 1769 settlement spread into the Monongahela, Greenbrier, and upper Ohio valleys.

Settlement expanded in to other areas right up until the time of the Revolutionary War, and West Virginia was actually part of Virginia when that state entered the Union in 1788. After the War of 1812 serious differences developed between the western and eastern parts of Virginia, the majority of the eastern part being aristocratic slave-owners, the west populated by small industries and farming.

Because the easterners dominated the Virginia Legislature due to property qualifications, westerners suffered inadequate representation, poor transportation, inequitable taxes, inadequate schools, economic retardation, and undemocratic county governments. The westerners were left embittered when a constitutional convention in 1829-1830 brought no changes, and a further convention in 1850-1851, although meeting the political demands of the west, left them even more economically alienated.

When Virginia seceded from the Union in 1861, western counties loyal to the Union established the Reorganized Government and agreed to the separation of present-day West Virginia from Virginia. Congress and President Lincoln approved the move, and West Virginia became the Union’s 35th State on June 20, 1863.

After the Civil War government sought to foster immigration, improve transportation, and to design a tax structure that would be attractive to businesses. Industry thrived, and much mones was made from oil, coal, railroads, and timber.

Famous Battles Fought in West Virginia

West Virginia was the site of many Civil War Battles. The battle accounts that exist can be very effective in uncovering the military records of your ancestor. They can tell you what regiments fought in which battles, and often include the names and ranks of many officers and enlisted men.

Boundary Changes: Boundary changes are a common obstacle when researching West Virginia ancestors. You could be searching for an ancestor’s record in one county when in fact it is stored in a different one due to historical county boundary changes. The Atlas of Historical County Boundaries can help you to overcome that problem. It provides a chronological listing of every boundary change that has occurred in the history of West Virginia.

Name Changes: Surname changes, variations, and misspellings can complicate genealogical research. It is important to check all spelling variations. Soundex, a program that indexes names by sound, is a useful first step, but you can't rely on it completely as some name variations result in different Soundex codes. The surnames could be different, but the first name may be different too. You can also find records filed under initials, middle names, and nicknames as well, so you will need to get creative with surname variations and spellings in order to cover all the possibilities. For help with surname variations read our instructional article on How to Use Soundex.

Genealogical resources include not only records, but the organizations that house them, or can direct you to them. These institutions include: Archives, Libraries, Genealogical Societies, Family History Centers, Universities, Churches, and Museums.

West Virginia Archives

West Virginia Mailing Lists

Mailing lists are internet based facilities that use email to distribute a single message to all who subscribe to it. When information on a particular surname, new records, or any other important genealogy information related to the mailing list topic becomes available, the subscribers are alerted to it. Joining a mailing list is an excellent way to stay up to date on West Virginia genealogy research topics. Rootsweb have an extensive listing of West Virginia Mailing Lists on a variety of topics.

West Virginia Message Boards

A message board is another internet based facility where people can post questions about a specific genealogy topic and have it answered by other genealogists. If you have questions about a surname, record type, or research topic, you can post your question and other researchers and genealogists will help you with the answer. Be sure to check back regularly, as the answers are not emailed to you. The message boards at the West Virginia Genealogy Forum are completely free to use.

West Virginia Newspapers and Periodicals

Many genealogy periodicals and historical newspapers contain reprinted copies of family genealogies, transcripts of family Bible records, information about local records and archives, census indexes, church records, queries, land records, obituaries, court records, cemetery records, and wills.

Historical West Virginia Maps and Gazetteers

Maps are an integral part of genealogical research. They help us to locate landmarks, towns, cities, parishes, states, provinces, waterways and roads and streets. They also help us to determine when and where boundary changes might have taken place, and give us a visualization of the area we’re researching in.

For locating place names, a gazetteer is the best possible resource for any genealogist. Gazetteers are also sometimes called “place name dictionaries”, and can help you to locate the area in which you need to conduct research.

West Virginia City Directories

City directories are similar to telephone directories in that they list the residents of a particular area. The difference though is what is important to genealogists, and that is they pre-date telephone directories. You can find an ancestor’s information such as their street address, place of employment, occupation, or the name of their spouse. A one-stop-shop for finding city directories in West Virginia is the West Virginia Online Historical Directories which contains a listing of every available historical directory related to West Virginia.

Birth, Death, Marriage and Divorce Records – Also known as vital records, birth, death, and marriage certificates are the most basic, yet most important records attached to your ancestor. The reason for their importance is that they not only place your ancestor in a specific place at a definite time, but potentially connect the individual to other relatives. Below is a list of repositories and websites where you can find West Virginia vital records

West Virginia began recording official records of births and deaths in 1911. Marriage licenses were required starting in 1867, but not filed at state level until 1913.

Marriage and Divorce Records

Marriages prior to May 1913 were recorded in the district county courts where the marriage took place. West Virginia marriage licenses did not include the names of the parents unless the bride or groom was underage. Records can be found at:

Divorce records from 1861 until July 1951 were recorded in the West Virginia District Courts.

Copies of official divorce records after July 1951 can be ordered from the West Virginia Office of Vital Statistics.

Census Reports

Census records are among the most important genealogical documents for placing your ancestor in a particular place at a specific time. Like BDM records, they can also lead you to other ancestors, particularly those who were living under the authority of the head of household.

West Virginia Church Records

Church and synagogue records are a valuable resource, especially for baptisms, marriages, and burials that took place before 1900. You will need to at least have an idea of your ancestor’s religious denomination, and in most cases you will have to visit a brick and mortar establishment to view them.

Most church records are kept by the individual church, although in some denominations, records are placed in a regional archive or maintained at the diocesan level. Local Historical Societies are sometimes the repository for the state’s older church records.

Central Repositories for Denominational Records

Most of the records of individual denominations are kept in central repositories.

West Virginia Military Records

More than 40 million Americans have participated in some time of war service since America was colonized. The chance of finding your ancestor amongst those records is exceptionally high. Military records can even reveal individuals who never actually served, such as those who registered for the two World Wars but were never called to duty.

West Virginia Cemetery Records

As convenient as it is to search cemetery records online, keep in mind that there are a few disadvantages over visiting a cemetery in person. They are:

• Tombstone information is not always accurately transcribed
• The arrangement of the graves in a cemetery can be crucial as family members are often buried next to each other or in the same grave. This arrangement is not always preserved in the alphabetical indexes that are found online.

West Virginia Obituaries

Obituaries can reveal a wealth about our ancestor and other relatives. You can search our West Virginia Newspaper Obituaries Listings from hundreds of West Virginia newspapers online for free.

West Virginia Wills and Probate Records

The documents found in a probate packet may include a complete inventory of a person’s estate, newspaper entries, witness testimony, a copy of a will, list of debtors and creditors, names of executors or trustees, names of heirs. They can not only tell you about the ancestor you’re currently researching, but lead to other ancestors.

Most of these records must be accessed at a county court or clerk’s office, but some can be found online as well. You can obtain copies of the original probate records by writing to the county clerk.

West Virginia probate records have been recorded by the probate division clerks of the West Virginia District Courts and include dockets, wills, oaths, inventories, letters, bonds, appraisements, accounts, court orders, claims, and final settlements.

West Virginia Immigration and Naturalization Records

The naturalization process generated many types of records, including petitions, declarations of intention, and oaths of allegiance. These records can provide family historians with information such as a person's birth date and place of birth, immigration year, marital status, spouse information, occupation, witnesses' names and addresses, and more.

Most overseas immigrants came to West Virginia through east coast ports such as New, and then traveled by railway to West Virginia. Earlier immigrants landed at New Orleans and then traveled by steamboats upriver to West Virginia. The U.S. National Archives has passenger lists or indexes of American ports for 1820 to 1940, as well as immigration and naturalization records for the entire United States. These records can also be accessed at the National Archives Regional Branch in West Virginia City

West Virginia Native American Records

Bibliographies

• Appalachian Women: An Annotated Bibliography, Sidney S. Farr (University of Kentucky Press, 1981)
• Coal Miner’s Wives: Portraits of Endurance, Carol A. Giesen (University Press of Kentucky 1995)
• Missing Chapters II: West Virginia Women in History, Frances S. Hensley (West Virginia Women’s Commission, 1986)

Selected Resources for West Virginia Women’s History

Women’s History Museum
Box 209
108 Walnut St.
West Liberty, WV 26074

Women’s Studies Program
West Virginia University
200 Clark Hall
Morgantown, WV 26506

West Virginia Women's Commission
1900 Kanawha Blvd E
Charleston, WV 25305

Common West Virginia Surnames

The following surnames are among the most common in West Virginia and are also being currently researched by other genealogists. If you find your surname here, there is a chance that some research has already been performed on your ancestor.

Agnes, Amy, Arlinda, Artis, Austin, Avent, Bailey, Barbara, Battle, Bessie, Betty, Birchett, Blackwell, Bland, Blizzard, Boney, Brooks, Brown, Butler, Butts, Carey, Chandler, Charlotte, Cherry, Christian, Christina, Claiborne, Clark, Claudetta, Clyter, Cobb, Cogdell, Coles, Coley, Collier, Cook, Cooper, Cora, Crawley, Crockett, Crumpton, Curry, Curtis, Davenport, Delia, Dice, Dorothy, Dubby, Elnora, Elsie, Evans, Fannie, Fanny, Field, Flynn, Fox, Garrett, Gaskins, Geddie, Georgia, Giles, Gillespie, Gordon, Grant, Graves, Gray, Gwaltney, Hawkins, Hayes, Henderson, Henton, Hildred, Hughes, Hunter, Jackson, Jane, Jiles, Johnson, Jones, Joyner, Keesee, King, Kiture, Laura, Lawson, Layola, Lee, Lewis, Louisa, Lucy, Lyons, Mae, Maggie, Mariah, Marie, Mary, Mason, Matil, McCadden, McKenley, Melinda, Moore, Mormon, Moton, Nannie, Narsis, Neal, Nettie, Neverson, Palmer, Pam, Parker, Peggie, Pickard, Pope, Powell, Price, R, Ralph, Redd, Robin, Rochelle, Rosa, Ross, Russell, Sandy, Sarah, Sewell, Siddle, Slade, Smith, Sophie, Spratley, Stith, Sutton, Sydnee, Tabron, Taylor, Thornton, Threatt, Tobias, Totten, Turner, Urguhart, Walker, Wallace, Waller, Waltington, Ward, Washington, Weatherford, Wehner, Welch, Wheeler, Whiting, Wiliams, Williams, Williamson, Willie, Willis, Winfield, Winnie, Young