Isle of Wight County, Virginia Genealogy

United States

Virginia

Isle of Wight County

Guide to Isle of Wight County Virginia ancestry, family history, and genealogy. Birth records, marriage records, death records, census records, family history, immigration records, and military records.

Isle of Wight County, Virginia
Map
Location in the state of Virginia
Location of Virginia in the U.S.
Facts
Founded	1634
County Seat	Isle of Wight
Courthouse

County Information

Description

Isle of Wight County is located in the Eastern portion of the Commonwealth of Virginia and was named after the island in the English channel of the same name.

Isle of Wight County, Virginia Courthouse

Current Isle of Wight County Courthouse
17000 Josiah Parker Circle
Isle of Wight, VA 23397

Old Isle of Wight County Courthouse
17122 Monument Circle
Isle of Wight, VA 23397
Phone: 757-365-6233

Known Beginning Dates for Major County Records
Birth*	Marriage	Death*	Court	Land	Probate	Census
1853	1772	1853	1746	1636	1636	1810
Statewide registration for births and deaths began in 1912. General compliance year is unknown.

Isle of Wight County, Virginia History

The county is named after the Isle of Wight, off the south coast of England. Many colonial residents moved down into North Carolina in the 1600s and 1700s.

Parent County

1634--Isle of Wight was created in 1634 as an original shire or county.
County seat: Isle of Wight The original shire name of Warrosquyoake (also spelled Warrosquoyacke or Warrascoyak) was given then. The name was changed in 1637 to Isle of Wight County

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.

Record Loss

Many pre-Revolutionary War loose papers prior to 1783 are missing, but bound volumes of deeds, orders, and wills still exist.

• Lost censuses: 1790, 1800, 1890

For suggestions about research in places that suffered historic record losses, see:

• Burned Counties. By Michael John Neill. Online at: Family History Circle.
• When the Records are Gone. By Arlene Eakle. Online at: Tennessee Genealogy Blog.
• Burned Counties Research in the FamilySearch Research Wiki.

Isle of Wight County, Virginia Places/Localities

Populated Places

Isle of Wight, Smithfield, Windsor

Resources

African American

• 1782-1833 - Heinegg, Paul. "Isle of Wight County Personal Property Tax List, 1782-1833," Free African Americans.com. [Heinegg abstracted free blacks listed in these records.]

• 1785-1870 - Slaves and Free Negroes 1785-1870 (FamilySearch) - free. When you browse this collection, look under "Voting Records."

• 1813-1838 - Isle of Wight County, Virginia Marriage Bonds of Free African Americans 1813-1838 (VAGenWeb) - free.

• 1859-1862 - Register of Free Negro Certification 1859-1862 (FamilySearch) - free.

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	Billion Graves
VAGenWeb Archives
Tombstone Project
Virginia Gravestones
Billion Graves
See Virginia Cemeteries for more information.

• 1800-1986 - Virginia, Jewish Cemetery Records Index, ca. 1800-1986 at FamilySearch — index

Census

For tips on accessing Isle of Wight County, Virginia Genealogy census records online, see: Virginia Census.

Historical populations
Census	Pop.	%±
1790	9,028	—
1800	9,342	3.5%
1810	9,186	−1.7%
1820	10,139	10.4%
1830	10,517	3.7%
1840	9,972	−5.2%
1850	9,353	−6.2%
1860	9,977	6.7%
1870	8,320	−16.6%
1880	10,572	27.1%
1890	11,313	7.0%
1900	13,102	15.8%
1910	14,929	13.9%
1920	14,433	−3.3%
1930	13,409	−7.1%
1940	13,381	−0.2%
1950	14,906	11.4%
1960	17,164	15.1%
1970	18,285	6.5%
1980	21,603	18.1%
1990	25,503	18.1%
2000	29,728	16.6%
Source: “American Factfinder”. United States Census Bureau.

1782 Enumeration

• Hanover County Heads of Families - 1782 at U.S. Census Bureau - free. County begins on page 29.

1890 Union Veterans

• Turner, Ronald Ray. Virginia's Union Veterans: Eleventh Census of the United States 1890. Available online, courtesy: Prince William County Virginia website. [Includes residents of this county.]

Church Records

Baptist

Early Baptist churches (with years constituted):

1. Mill Swamp (1774). Minute books begin in 1774: VAULT Film 833056 Item 1. Birth register (1777-1790) was published in the Virginia Genealogical Society Quarterly Bulletin, Vol. 5, No. 4 (Oct. 1967):88-89, which is available online at Ancestry ($). Minutes (1774-1790) and a membership list (1774) were published in the Genealogical Society of Tidewater Virginia Bulletin, Vol. 2, No. 3 (Jun. 1971): FHL Film 1955382.
   
2. Moore's Swamp (1791). Minute books begin in 1791: FHL Film 833056 Item 2.

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.

Isle of Wight County fell within the bounds of the Portsmouth Association.

Church of England

See also Lower Parish
See also Newport Parish
See also Nottoway Parish
See also Upper Parish
See also Warrosquyoake Parish

Meade's 1861 history of parishes in Isle of Wight County is available online.

• Mason, George Carrington. Colonial Churches of Tidewater Virginia. Richmond, Virginia: Whittet & Shepperson, 1945. Available at FHL; digital version at FamilySearch Digital Library. [Includes Isle of Wight County.]

Puritans

• Boddie, John Bennett. Seventeenth Century Isle of Wight County, Virginia: A History of the County of Isle of Wight, Virginia, During the Seventeenth Century, Including Abstracts of the County Records. Chicago: Chicago Law Print. Co., 1938. FHL [3 copies]; digital versions at Ancestry ($) and FamilySearch Digital Library. [Includes chapters on the early Puritan settlers.]

Quaker

Early monthly meetings (with years of existence):

• Pagan Creek Monthly Meeting, near Smithfield, Va. (1673-1790) aka Levy Neck. Minutes and papers of denial (1738-1763) have been published: FHL Book 975.5 K2qu. Hinshaw also published the early records: FHL Book 973 D2he 1993 v. 6.
• Terrasco Neck Monthly Meeting (1672-1772)
• Western Branch Monthly Meeting (1672-1844) aka Lower Virginia Monthly Meeting. Early records (1673-1756) have been published: FHL Film 850091 Item 9.
  

Friends from Isle of Wight County, Virginia also attended the Chuckatuck Monthly Meeting in Nansemond County, Virginia and the Blackwater Monthly Meeting in Surry County, Virginia.

• Boddie, John Bennett. Seventeenth Century Isle of Wight County, Virginia: A History of the County of Isle of Wight, Virginia, During the Seventeenth Century, Including Abstracts of the County Records. Chicago: Chicago Law Print. Co., 1938. Available at FHL [3 copies]; digital versions at Ancestry ($) and FamilySearch Digital Library. [Includes a chapter on Quakers.]
• White, Miles. "Early Quaker Records in Virginia," Publications of the Southern History Association, Vol. 6, No. 3 (May 1902):220-231; Vol. 6, No. 4 (Jul. 1902):304-313; Vol. 7, No. 1 (May 1903):17-24; Vol. 7, No. 2 (Mar. 1903):96-105; Vol. 7, No. 3 (May 1903):207-213. Digitized by Internet Archive - free. Reprint: FHL Book 975.5 A1 no. 82.
  

Court

Until 1746, the only court order book or loose judgment paper records that exist are one order book dated 1693-1695, which has been transcribed and indexed at least twice. From 1696 until 1745 neither record type is extant. Starting in 1746, several, but not all, order books exist, but no loose papers, until 1783, when there is another void of both. A full run of order books starts in 1795. Loose court papers survive starting in 1799 and run until 1807. Most are available on Family Search; all are on microfilm at the Virginia Library.

• 1746-1903 - Court Papers-Miscellaneous Volumes 1 to 24 (FamilySearch) - free. An index by category of the court records available so far may be found here: Index

• 1773-1847 - Fee Books 1 to 36 (FamilySearch) - free.

Chancery

• 1831-1909 - Chancery Order Books 1 to 6 (FamilySearch) - free.

Genealogy

More than 350 genealogies have been published about Isle of Wight County families. To view a list, visit Isle of Wight County, Virginia Compiled Genealogies.

Immigration

Headright grants identify many Isle of Wight County, Virginia Genealogy immigrants who arrived before 1720. The Virginia Immigration article provides tips about using this source.

Additional resources include:

• Coldham, Peter Wilson. North American Wills Registered in London 1611-1857. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., 2007. [Includes wills of residents of Warwicksquick and Isle of Wight 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 Brunswick County are online at: Immigrant Servants Database.*Ljungstedt, Milnor. "Items from Southern Records" [Showing Family and Trade Connections with Northern Colonies and the Home Countries], The American Genealogist, Vol. 15 (1938):95-104. Digital version at American Ancestors. [Isle of Wight Co., VA: Day.]

• Mahler, Leslie. "American Colonists Mentioned in London Wills," The Genealogist, Vol. 14, No. 2 (Fall 2000):201-204. [Hutchinson family of 'Wacasquoyk' (Warwick Squeak); Wiseman family of 'Warwicksqueake' and Isle of Wight Co., VA.]

Early migration routes to and from Isle of Wight County for European settlers included:

• Atlantic Ocean
• King's Highway about 1704
• Secondary Coast Road late 1730s

Land and Property

Deeds

• Isle of Wight County, Virginia Deeds (FamilySearch) - free. Includes a large assortment of deed papers, records, etc.

• Boddie, John Bennett. Seventeenth Century Isle of Wight County, Virginia: A History of the County of Isle of Wight, Virginia, During the Seventeenth Century, Including Abstracts of the County Records. Chicago: Chicago Law Print. Co., 1938. Available at FHL [3 copies]; digital versions at Ancestry ($) and FamilySearch Digital Library. [Includes chapters on deed books 1662-1686, 1688-1704.]

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.

• Boddie, John Bennett. Seventeenth Century Isle of Wight County, Virginia: A History of the County of Isle of Wight, Virginia, During the Seventeenth Century, Including Abstracts of the County Records. Chicago: Chicago Law Print. Co., 1938. Available at FHL [3 copies]; digital versions at Ancestry ($) and FamilySearch Digital Library. [Includes chapters on land grants 1628-1705.]

• Hudgins. 393 patents dated 1635-1797 in what is now Isle of Wight County, Virginia placed on a map. DeedMapper, 2003. [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.]
• Nugent, Nell Marion. Cavaliers and Pioneers: Abstracts of Virginia Land Patents and Grants 1623-1666. Vol. I (1934; reprint, Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., 1991). Available at FHL; digital version at Ancestry ($). [Includes Isle of Wight County. N.B. If Ancestry's search engine fails, try checking the printed index at the end of the book.]

Local Histories

• Boddie, John Bennett. Seventeenth Century Isle of Wight County, Virginia: A History of the County of Isle of Wight, Virginia, During the Seventeenth Century, Including Abstracts of the County Records. Chicago: Chicago Law Print. Co., 1938. Available at FHL [3 copies]; digital versions at Ancestry ($) and FamilySearch Digital Library.
• Morrison, E. M. Isle of Wight County: 1608-1907. Norfolk, Va.?: unknown, 1907. Available at FHL; digital version at Ancestry ($).

Maps

• Campbell, Albert H, Jeremy Francis Gilmer, Louisa Porter Minis, and Confederate States Of America. Army. Department Of Northern Virginia. Chief Engineer'S Office. Map of Isle of Wight and part of Nansemond. [Virgina: s.n, 1864] Map. Available at Library of Congress.

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Migration

• Boddie, John Bennett. Seventeenth Century Isle of Wight County, Virginia: A History of the County of Isle of Wight, Virginia, During the Seventeenth Century, Including Abstracts of the County Records. Chicago: Chicago Law Print. Co., 1938. Available at FHL [3 copies]; digital versions at Ancestry ($) and FamilySearch Digital Library. [Includes a chapter on Isle of Wight and Nansemond settlers who emigrated to North Carolina. Another chapter is titled "Richard Bennett and the Puritan exodus to Nansemond and Maryland."]

Military

Bacon's Rebellion

• Boddie, John Bennett. Seventeenth Century Isle of Wight County, Virginia: A History of the County of Isle of Wight, Virginia, During the Seventeenth Century, Including Abstracts of the County Records. Chicago: Chicago Law Print. Co., 1938. Available at FHL [3 copies]; digital versions at Ancestry ($) and FamilySearch Digital Library. [Includes chapter on Bacon's Rebellion.]

• Tyler, Lyon G. "Isle of Wight County: Papers Relating to Bacon's Rebellion," The William and Mary Quarterly, Vol. 4, No. 2 (Oct. 1895):111-115. Digital version at JSTOR - free.

Colonial Militia

• Bockstruck, Lloyd DeWitt. Virginia's Colonial Soldiers. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1988. Available at FHL. [Identifies some Isle of Wight County militia officers and/or soldiers; see place name index.]
• Crozier, William Armstrong. Virginia Colonial Militia 1651-1776. Baltimore: Southern Book Co., 1954. Available at FHL; digital book at Crozier, William Armstrong. Virginia Colonial Militia 1651-1776. Baltimore: Southern Book Co., 1954. Available at FHL US/CAN Book 975.5 M2c; Ancestry ($). [Identifies some Isle of Wight County militia officers; see place name index.]

French and Indian War

• Bockstruck, Lloyd DeWitt. Virginia's Colonial Soldiers. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1988. Available at FHL. [Identifies some Isle of Wight County militia officers, soldier enlistments, and veterans; see place name index.]

Revolutionary War

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

- 4th Virginia Regiment

- 15th Virginia Regiment

Additional resources:

• McIlwaine, H.R. Proceedings of the Committees of Safety of Cumberland and Isle of Wight Counties, Virginia, 1775-1776. Richmond: D. Bottom, Superintendent of Public Printing, 1919. Available at FHL; digital versions at Ancestry ($), FamilySearch Digital Library, and Google Books.
• A Census of Pensioners for Revolutionary or Military Services: With their Names, Ages, and Places of Residence, as Returned by the Marshalls of the Several Judicial Districts, Under the Act for Taking the Sixth Census]. 1841. Digital versions at U.S. Census Bureau and Google Books et. al. 1967 reprint: FHL Collection 973 X2pc 1840. [See Virginia, Eastern District, Isle of Wight County on page 131.]
• Rejected or Suspended Applications for Revolutionary War Pensions. Washington, D.C., 1852. Reprinted by Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., 1969, and 1991. Reprints include "an Added Index to States." FHL Collection 973 M24ur; digital version at Ancestry ($). [Includes veterans from this county; Virginia section begins on page 238.]

War of 1812

Isle of Wight County men served in the 29th Regiment.

• 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... Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1883. FHL Collection 973 M2Lp v. 5; digital versions at Google Books and Internet Archive. [See Vol. 5, Virginia, Isle of Wight County, p. 86. Identifies War of 1812 veterans living in this county in 1883.]

Civil War

Regiments. Service men in Isle of Wight 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 Isle of Wight County, Virginia Genealogy:

- 3rd Regiment, Virginia Infantry (Confederate). Company K (James River Artillery).

- 19th Battalion, Virginia Heavy Artillery (Atkinson's) (Confederate). Company A (Smithfield Light Artillery Blues or Old Dominion Artillery).

Records and histories are available, including:

• 1861-1865 - Virginia, Civil War Service Records of Confederate Soldiers, 1861-1865 at FamilySearch — index
• 1861-1865 - Virginia, Civil War Service Records of Union Soldiers, 1861-1865 at FamilySearch — index
• 1861-1865 - U.S., Confederate Soldiers Compiled Service Records, 1861-1865 at Ancestry — index ($)
• 1861-1865 - U.S., Union Soldiers Compiled Service Records, 1861-1865 at [1] — index ($)
• Civil War Veterans Lists Vols. 1-2 (FamilySearch) - free.
• United Daughters of the Confederacy Applications 1905-1927, view under Lineage Society Papers. (FamilySearch) - free.

World War II

• United States. Selective Service System. Draft Registrations, 1942-1946, from Local Draft Board No. 1 of Isle of Wight County, Virginia. Original manuscripts at the Smithfield Branch of the Isle of Wight Library in Smithfield, Virginia; also available at FHL.

Miscellaneous Records

• 1607-2007 - Virginia, Historical Society Papers, 1607-2007 at FamilySearch — index and images

Naturalization

Virginia Naturalization Petitions, 1906-1929

Native Americans

• Boddie, John Bennett. Seventeenth Century Isle of Wight County, Virginia: A History of the County of Isle of Wight, Virginia, During the Seventeenth Century, Including Abstracts of the County Records. Chicago: Chicago Law Print. Co., 1938. Available at FHL [3 copies]; digital versions at Ancestry ($) and FamilySearch Digital Library. [Includes a chapter on local Native Americans.]

Newspapers

The Virginia Newspapers Project identifies local Isle of Wight 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

• Boddie, John Bennett. Seventeenth Century Isle of Wight County, Virginia: A History of the County of Isle of Wight, Virginia, During the Seventeenth Century, Including Abstracts of the County Records. Chicago: Chicago Law Print. Co., 1938. Available at FHL [3 copies]; digital versions at Ancestry ($) and FamilySearch Digital Library. [Includes a chapter on county officers.]

Private Papers

• Virginia, Historical Society Papers, 1607-2007 at FamilySearch — index and images

• Family Bible of the Scott, Brock, and Dornin Family of Isle of Wight County, Virginia. MSS. Available at FHL.

Probate Records

A free index to Isle of Wight County, Virginia Genealogy wills and administrations (1628-1800) is available at the Library of Virginia.

• 1647-1800 - Wills and Administrations Volumes 1 to 3, 1647-1800 (FamilySearch) - free.
• 1647-1800 - Chapman, Blanche Adams. Wills and Administrations of Isle of Wight County, Virginia, 1647-1800. 1938; reprint, Baltimore, MD, USA: Genealogical Publishing Co., 2003. Original edition at FHL US/CAN Fiche 6101844; 1995 reprint at FHL US/CAN Book 975.554 P28c 1995; digital version at Ancestry ($); and World Vital Records ($). ["The original records on file in Isle of Wight County and abstracted in this work are: Wills and Administrations Book A (1641-1650); Will and Deed Books 1 and 2 (1658-1659, 1666-1719); Will Books 3-11 (1726-1800); Deed Book I (1691-1695); Administrations and Probates (1666-1701); and The Great Book (1719-1729). In addition to the names of the testators and legatees, the entries provide the names of executors, securities, and witnesses and frequently include assignments of property."]
• 1662-1686 - Boddie, John Bennett. Seventeenth Century Isle of Wight County, Virginia: A History of the County of Isle of Wight, Virginia, During the Seventeenth Century, Including Abstracts of the County Records. Chicago: Chicago Law Print. Co., 1938. Available at FHL [3 copies]; digital versions at Ancestry ($) and FamilySearch Digital Library. [Includes chapter on wills 1662-1686.]
• 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 FHL. [Includes Isle of Wight County.]
• 1766-1879 - Guardian Records Vols. 1-5, A-E (FamilySearch) - free.

Online Probate Records

• Wills and Estates 1636-1767; 1661-1719 (also deeds, estates, inventories); 1726-1734; 1733-1745; 1745-1752. Virginia Pioneers ($)
• Images of Wills, Inventories, Estates - 1636-1767; 1661-1719 (also includes deeds); 1715-1726; 1726-1734; 1733-1745; 1745-1752; 1794-1803; 1804-1808 Virginia Pioneers ($)

London Courts

• Coldham, Peter Wilson. North American Wills Registered in London 1611-1857. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., 2007. [Includes wills of residents of Warwicksquick and Isle of Wight County proved in London. These records often help establish an immigrant's place of origin.]

'Online Probate Links

• 1636-1767;1661-1719 - Virginia Pioneers ($) Images of Wills & Estates
• 1639 – 1850 Virginia Land, Marriage and Probate Records 1639-1850 at Ancestry.com — index to transcribed records, incomplete, $
• 1726-1734; 1733-1745; 1745-1752; 1794-1803; 1804-1808 - Virginia Pioneers ($) Images of Wills & Estates (also deeds)

Taxation

Online Isle of Wight County, Virginia Tax Lists
Type	Index			Images
	Free	FHC	Fee	Free	FHC	Fee
Rent Roll	1704, 1704	-	1704, 1704	-	-	-
Assessors Book	1778, 1778	-	-	-	-	-
Personal Property	-	-	-	-	1782	-
Personal Property	1783	-	-	-	1783	-
Personal Property	-	-	-	-	1784	-
Personal Property	-	-	-	-	1785	-
Personal Property	-	-	-	-	1786	-
Personal Property	-	-	-	-	1787	-
Personal Property	-	-	-	-	1788	-
Personal Property	-	-	-	-	1789	-
Personal Property	1790	-	-	1790	1790	-
Personal Property	-	-	-	-	1791	-
Personal Property	-	-	-	-	1792	-
Personal Property	-	-	-	-	1793	-
Personal Property	-	-	-	-	1794	-
Personal Property	-	-	-	-	1795	-
Personal Property	-	-	-	-	1796	-
Personal Property	-	-	-	-	1797	-
Personal Property	-	-	-	-	1798	-
Personal Property	1799	-	-	1799	1799	-
Personal Property	-	-	1800 1|2|3	-	1800	-
Personal Property	-	-	-	-	1801-1850	-
Land	-	-	-	1824-1901	-	-

How can Virginia tax lists help me?

Bibliography

• [1704] "Virginia Quit Rent Rolls, 1704," Virginia Magazine of History and Biography, Vol. 28 (1920):207-218, 328-339; Vol. 29 (1921):18-28, 337-343, 402-412; Vol. 30 (1922):21-30, 280-285, 341-347; Vol. 31 (1923):70-75, 153-163, 215-231, 314-318; Vol. 32 (1924):69-75, 144-158, 281-287, 338-343; Vol. 33 (1925):47-50, 359-370; Vol. 34 (1926):113-119, 252-258, 313, 321. Available at FHL; reprinted in Virginia Tax Records. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., 1983, which is also available at FHL; digital version of VMHB at JSTOR ($). [Isle of Wight County appears in 29:337-343.]
• [1704] Boddie, John Bennett. Seventeenth Century Isle of Wight County, Virginia: A History of the County of Isle of Wight, Virginia, During the Seventeenth Century, Including Abstracts of the County Records. Chicago: Chicago Law Print. Co., 1938. Available at FHL [3 copies]; digital versions at Ancestry ($) and FamilySearch Digital Library. [Includes 1704 quit rents.]
• [1714] Quit Rent Roll, 1714, Virginia Magazine of History and Biography, Vol. 87, No. 2 (Apr. 1979). Digital version at JSTOR ($).
• [1778] Assessors Book, 1778, William and Mary Quarterly Historical Magazine, Vol. 25, No. 3 (Jan. 1917). Digital version at JSTOR - free.
• [1782-1833] Heinegg, Paul. "Isle of Wight County Personal Property Tax List, 1782-1833," Free African Americans.com. [Heinegg abstracted free blacks listed in these records.]
• [1783] - Personal Property (or Land) Tax List, 1783; index online at Revolutionary War Service website - free.
• [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 FHL. [The source of this publication is the 1787 personal property tax list. Isle of Wight County is included in Vol. 2.]
• [1790, 1799] Indexed images of the 1790 and 1799 Personal Property Tax Lists of Isle of Wight County, Virginia are available online, courtesy: Binns Genealogy.
• [1800] Tax List, 1800, Virginia Genealogist, Vol. 32, No. 4 (Oct. 1988); Vol. 33, No. 1 (Jan. 1989); Vol. 33, No. 2 (Apr. 1989). Available at FHL.
• [1815] Ward, Roger D. 1815 Directory of Virginia Landowners (and Gazetteer). 6 vols. Athens, Georgia: Iberian Pub. Co., 1997-2000. Available at FHL. [The source for this publication is the 1815 land tax. Isle of Wight County is included in Vol. 3.]
• [1824-1899] Isle of Wight County, Virginia Land Tax Books 1824-1899 (FamilySearch) - free.

Vital Records

Indexes to Isle of Wight 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

• 1853-1876 - Isle of Wight County Birth Index 1853-1876. Batch C868772 at FamilySearch - free.
• 1853-1866 - Virginia, Slave Birth Index, 1853-1866 at FamilySearch — index and images
• 1867-1896 - Register of Births 1867-1893 (FamilySearch) - free.
• 1867-1896 - Fridley, Beth, comp. Isle of Wight County Virginia Birth Records, 1867-96 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: The Generations Network, Inc., 2001. Available at Ancestry ($).
• 1912-1913 - Virginia, Birth Certificates, 1912-1913 at FamilySearch — index and images

Marriage

• 1628-1800 - Chapman, Blanche Adams and Anita Comtois. Marriages of Isle of Wight County, Virginia, 1628-1800. Originally published in 1933. Reprint: Baltimore, MD: Genealogical Pub. Co., 1976. Reprint available at FHL; digital version at World Vital Records ($).
• 1660-1800 - Virginia Marriages 1660-1800 (Ancestry) ($).
• 1660-1959 - Virginia, United States Marriages at FindMyPast — index $
• 1740-1850 - Virginia Marriages 1740-1850 (Ancestry) ($).
• 1772-1852 - Isle of Wight County Marriage Index 1772-1852. Batch M868771 at FamilySearch - free.</ref>
• 1774;1793-1794;1800 - Marriages Virginia Pioneers ($)
• 1799-1824 - Ministers' Returns Isle of Wight County, Virginia (VAGenWeb) - free.
• 1813-1838 - Isle of Wight County, Virginia Marriage Bonds 1813-1838 (VAGenWeb) - free.
• 1813-1838 - Isle of Wight County, Virginia Marriage Bonds of Free African Americans 1813-1838 (VAGenWeb) - free.
• 1854-1900 - Isle of Wight County Marriage Index 1854-1900. Batch M868772 at FamilySearch - free.
• 1936-1988 - Virginia, Marriage Certificates, 1936-1988 at FamilySearch — index and images

Divorce

• 1918-1988 - Virginia, Divorce Records, 1918-1988 at FamilySearch — index and images

Death

• 1853-1874 - Isle of Wight County Death Index 1853-1874. Batch B868772 at FamilySearch - free.</ref>
• 1925-1944 - Coroner's Inquisitions Volume 1, 1925-1944 (FamilySearch) - free.
• 1912-1987 - Virginia, Death Certificates, 1912-1987 at FamilySearch — index and images

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.

Isle of Wight County, Virginia Genealogy Societies and Libraries

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

Isle of Wight County, Virginia Genealogy Websites

• Isle of Wight Co., VAGenWeb. Part of the USGenWeb Project. Maps, name indexes, history.
• FamilySearch Catalog
• Isle of Wight County, VA History, Records, Facts and Genealogy (Familytree101)
• Cyndi's List

References