Lunenburg County, Virginia Genealogy

United States

Virginia

Lunenburg County

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

Lunenburg County, Virginia
Map
Location in the state of Virginia
Location of Virginia in the U.S.
Facts
Founded	1745
County Seat	Lunenburg
Courthouse

County Information

Description

Lunenburg County is located in the South-Central portion of the Commonwealth of Virginia and was named for the former Duchy of Brunswick-Lünenburg.

Lunenburg County, Virginia Courthouse

Lunenburg County Courthouse
11435 Courthouse Road
Lunenburg, VA 23952
Phone: 804-696-2230

Clerk Circuit Court has marriage, divorce,
probate and land records from 1746

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

Lunenburg County, Virginia History

The county was named after the Duchy of Brunswick-Lunenburg, which is located in modern-day Germany. 

Parent County

1745--Lunenburg County was created 6 May 1745 from Brunswick County. County seat: Lunenburg

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.

Variant Spellings

• Lunenburgh

Record Loss

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

• Lost censuses: 1790, 1800, 1890

Lunenburg County, Virginia Places/Localities

Populated Places

Neighboring Counties

Brunswick Charlotte

Mecklenburg Nottoway

Prince Edward

Resources

African American

Lunenburg County, Virginia Genealogy cohabitation records are available online.

Freedmen's Bureau Letters or Correspondence, 1865-1872

Heinegg, Paul. "Lunenburg County Personal Property Tax List, 1782-1807," Free African Americans.com. [Heinegg abstracted free blacks listed in these records.]

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 Lunenburg County, Virginia Genealogy census records online, see: Virginia Census.

Historical populations
Census	Pop.	%±
1790	8,959	—
1800	10,381	15.9%
1810	12,265	18.1%
1820	10,662	−13.1%
1830	11,957	12.1%
1840	11,055	−7.5%
1850	11,692	5.8%
1860	11,983	2.5%
1870	10,403	−13.2%
1880	11,535	10.9%
1890	11,372	−1.4%
1900	11,705	2.9%
1910	12,780	9.2%
1920	15,260	19.4%
1930	14,058	−7.9%
1940	13,844	−1.5%
1950	14,116	2.0%
1960	12,523	−11.3%
1970	11,687	−6.7%
1980	12,124	3.7%
1990	11,419	−5.8%
2000	13,146	15.1%
Source: “American Factfinder”. United States Census Bureau.

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. Cedar Creek (1779)
2. Flatrock (1805)
3. Meherrin (1771). 1771 list of original members has been published. Marriages 1771-1773 have been published: Southsider, Vol. 2, No. 1 (Winter 1983). A history was published in Virginia Baptist Register, Issue 15 (1976) and a 1774 note in the same publication, Issue 10 (1971).
4. Reedy Creek (1775)
5. Tussekiah (1777)

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.

Lunenburg County fell within the bounds of the Meherrin Association.

Church of England

See also Cornwall Parish
See also Cumberland Parish
See also St. James's Parish

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

Christian

• Bockstruck, Lloyd DeWitt. "Deaths from the Records of Perseverance Christian Church in Lunenburg County," The Virginia Genealogist, Vol. 24, No. 4 (Oct.-Dec. 1980):301-302. Available at FHL; digital version at American Ancestors ($).

Court

Genealogy

More than 225 genealogies have been published about Lunenburg County families. To view a list, visit Lunenburg 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.

• Hudgins. 618 patents dated 1728-1796 in what is now Lunenburg County, Virginia placed on a map. DeedMapper, 2002. [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

• Bell, Landon Covington. The Old Free State: A Contribution to the History of Lunenburg County and Southside Virginia. Richmond, Virginia: W. Byrd Press, 1927. Two volumes available at FHL; digital version at Ancestry ($); and World Vital Records ($) Volume 1 and Volume 2.

Maps

Click a neighboring county
for more resources

Migration

• Clay, Robert Y. "Some Delinquent Taxpayers 1787-1790," The Virginia Genealogist, Vol. 20, No. 3 (Jul.-Sep. 1976):199-208; Vol. 22, No. 1 (Jan.-Mar. 1978):43-50. Available at FHL; digital version at American Ancestors ($). [These records identify migrants who left the county and often their intended destinations. Lunenburg County's 1789 Delinquent List appears on 20:202-204; 1787 Delinquent List appears on 22:46.]
• Elliott, Katherine B. Emigration to Other States from Southside Virginia. 2 vols. South Hill, Virginia: K.B. Elliott, 1966. Vol. 1 of original edition available at FHL; 1983 reprints (both volumes) available at FHL; 1990-1992 reprints (both volumes) also available at FHL. [Includes individuals who migrated out of Lunenburg County to other parts of the country.]

Bell published records of Lunenburg County residents who migrated to South Carolina:

• Bell, Mary McCampbell. "Some Migrations from Virginia to South Carolina," The South Carolina Magazine of Ancestral Research, Vol. 9, No. 3 (Summer 1981):143-144; Vol. 10, No. 2 (Spring 1982):70-77; Vol. 11, No. 2 (Spring 1983):97-102; Vol. 12, No. 1 (Winter 1984):19-21. FHL Book 975.7 B2sc v. 10-12

Military

French and Indian War

• Bockstruck, Lloyd DeWitt. Virginia's Colonial Soldiers. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1988. Available at FHL. [Identifies some Lunenburg 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 FHL; digital version at Google Books. [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 Lunenburg County, see pp. 89-95, 112.]
• 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 Lunenburg County militia officers and soldiers; see place name index.]

Revolutionary War

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

- 6th Virginia Regiment

- 14th Virginia Regiment (3rd Company)

Additional resources:

Lunenburg residents' participation in the Revolutionary War.

• 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, Lunenburg 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

Lunenburg County men served in the 73rd Regiment.

• Douthat, James L. Roster of War of 1812, Southside, Virginia. Signal Mountain, Tenn.: Mountain Press, 2007. Free online surname index and purchase details at Mountain Press website. FHL Collection 975.5 M2djL. [Includes Lunenburg County.]
• War of 1812 the  6th Virginia Militia was Lunenburg County, Virginia
• 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, Lunenburgh County [sic], p. 89. Identifies War of 1812 veterans living in this county in 1883.]

Civil War

Regiments. Service men in Lunenburg 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 Lunenburg County, Virginia Genealogy:

- 9th Regiment, Virginia Infantry (Confederate). Company G (Lunenburg Light Dragoons).

- 20th Regiment, Virginia Infantry (Confederate). Company B (The Pryor Rifle Company) and Company C (The Flat Rock Riflemen or Loch Leven Rangers).

- 59th Regiment, Virginia Infantry (Confederate). Company H2 (Lunenburg Heavy 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 (free)
• 1861-1865 - U.S., Union Soldiers Compiled Service Records, 1861-1865 at Ancestry — index (free)

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 at FamilySearch — index and images

Naturalization

• Virginia Naturalization Petitions, 1906-1929

Newspapers

The Virginia Newspapers Project identifies local Lunenburg 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.

Private Papers

• Virginia, Historical Society Papers, 1607-2007

Probate Records

• Elliott, Katherine B. Early Wills, 1746-1765, Lunenburg County, Virginia. South Hill, Virginia: K.B. Elliott, 1967. Available at FHL. Reviewed in The Virginia Genealogist, Vol. 11, No. 3 (Jul.-Sep. 1967):137. Review available at FHL; digital version at American Ancestors ($).
• Digital Images of Lunenburg County Wills 1810-1818; 1818-1826. See names of Testators. Virginia Pioneers 

'Online Probate Links

• 1639 – 1850 Virginia Land, Marriage and Probate Records 1639-1850 at Ancestry.com — index to transcribed records, incomplete, $
• 1810-1818;1818-1826 Images of Wills at Virginia Pioneers ($).
• Images of Wills, Inventories, Accounts 1745-1762, No 1; 1762-1778, No 2; 1778-1791, No 3; 1791-1799, No 4; 1800-1802, No 5; 1802-1809, No 6 Virginia Pioneers.net($)
• Guardian Accounts 1791-1798; 1798-1810; 1828-1851 Virginia Pioneers.net($)

Research Guides

• "A Guide to the Counties of Virginia: Lunenburg County," The Virginia Genealogist, Vol. 16, No. 3 (Jul.-Sep. 1972):219-221. Available at FHL; digital version at American Ancestors ($).

Taxation

How can Virginia tax lists help me? 

• [1748-1783] Bell, Landon C. Sunlight on the Southside: Lists of Tithes, Lunenburg County, Virginia, 1748-1783. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: George S. Ferguson, 1931. Available at FHL; digital version available under "Tax Lists" at Lunenburg County, VA USGenWeb Archives census genealogy.
• [1749] Morton, W.S. "Lunenburg County Tithable List Taken by William Caldwell in 1749," William and Mary College Quarterly, 2nd Series, Vol. 11 (1931):55-58. Available at FHL; reprinted in Virginia Tax Records. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., 1983, which is also available at FHL; digital version at JSTOR ($).
• [1782-1835] Lunenburg County Personal Property Tax Lists 1782-1835 (images); digital version in Tax List Club at Binns Genealogy ($).
• [1782, 1785] T.L.C. Genealogy. Lunenburg County, Virginia Personal Property Tax Lists 1782 & 1785. Miami Beach, Florida: TLC Genealogy, 1992. Available at FHL.
• [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. Online at FamilySearch - free; FHL. [1782 personal property tax list of Lunenburg County.]
• [1782-1807] Heinegg, Paul. "Lunenburg County Personal Property Tax List, 1782-1807," 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.
• [1783-1784] Lunenburg County 1783-1784 Tax List. Purchase at Binns Genealogy.
• [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. Lunenburg County is included in Vol. 2.]
• [1787, 1789] Clay, Robert Y. "Some Delinquent Taxpayers 1787-1790," The Virginia Genealogist, Vol. 20, No. 3 (Jul.-Sep. 1976):199-208; Vol. 22, No. 1 (Jan.-Mar. 1978):43-50. Available at FHL; digital version at American Ancestors ($). [These records identify migrants who left the county and often their intended destinations. Lunenburg County's 1789 Delinquent List appears on 20:202-204; 1787 Delinquent List appears on 22:46.]
• [1789] Indexed images of the 1789 Personal Property Tax List of Lunenburg County, Virginia are available online, courtesy: Binns Genealogy.
• [1800] Tax List, 1800, Virginia Genealogist, Vol. 38, No. 3 (Jul. 1994); Vol. 38, No. 4 (Oct. 1994); Vol. 39, No. 1 (Jan. 1995). Available at FHL.
• [1803] Images of the 1803 Personal Property Tax List of Lunenburg County, Virginia are available online, courtesy: Binns Genealogy.
• [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. Lunenburg County is included in Vol. 2.]

Vital Records

Indexes to Lunenburg 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

• 1853-1868 - Lunenburg County Birth Index 1853-1889. Batch C868778 at FamilySearch - free.
• 1853-1866 - Virginia, Slave Birth Index, 1853-1866 at FamilySearch — index and images
• 1912-1913 - Virginia, Birth Certificates, 1912-1913 at FamilySearch — index and images

Marriage

• 1660-1800 - Virginia Marriages 1660-1800 (Ancestry) ($).
• 1660-1959 - Virginia, United States Marriages at FindMyPast — index $
• 1740-1850 - Virginia Marriages 1740-1850 (Ancestry) ($).
• 1746-1929 - Lunenburg County Marriage Index 1746-1929. Batch M868777 at FamilySearch - free.
• 1746-1853 - Matheny, Emma R. and Helen K. Yates. Marriages of Lunenburg County, Virginia, 1746-1853. 1967; reprint, Baltimore, MD, USA: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1979. Available at FHL; digital version at Ancestry ($).
• 1760s-1790s - Crozier, William Armstrong. Early Virginia Marriages. Baltimore: Southern Book Co., 1953. Digital version at FamilySearch Digital Library - free. Includes Lunenburg County marriages 1760s-1790s.
• 1763-1821 - Ellsberry, Elizabeth Prather. Marriage Bonds for Lunenburg County, Virginia 1763-1821. Chillicothe, MO, USA: Elizabeth Prather Ellsberry, 1965. Digital version at Ancestry ($).
• 1819-1825 - Marriages (in Will Book 1818-26) Virginia Pioneers ($).
• 1936-1988 - Virginia, Marriage Certificates, 1936-1988 at FamilySearch — index and images
• Bell, Landon Covington. The Old Free State: A Contribution to the History of Lunenburg County and Southside Virginia. 2 vols. Richmond, Va.: W. Byrd Press, 1927. Available at FHL; digital version at Ancestry ($); digital version of marriage abstracts from this publication (pp. 385-431) at USGenWeb.

Divorce

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

Death

• 1853-1870 - Lunenburg County Death Index 1853-1870. Batch B868778 at 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.

Lunenburg 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

Lunenburg County, Virginia Genealogy Websites

• Lunenburg Co., VAGenWeb. Part of the USGenWeb Project. Maps, name indexes, history.
• FamilySearch Catalog
• Lunenburg County, VA History, Records, Facts and Genealogy (Familytree101)
• Virginia Pioneers ($)
  

References