Chesterfield Co. VA Vest Research

Untangling Virginia’s VEST Families

/ J. V. / 1 Comment

We so badly want to connect our VESS family to William Tunwell VEST of Stokes County, North Carolina; mostly, because it seems to be the only thing that makes the most sense!

While researching Willis Vess in Alabama, I took a slight detour back to the VEST family of Virginia, because I discovered a VEST family 2 counties east of Willis Vess taunting me with records as early as 1818. I had to figure out who they were.

Long story short, I searched for every early VEST record I could find in Virginia and started plotting them on a map. Then, with the help of Y-DNA information provided by a fellow researcher, I started the process of elimination. The final results surprisingly revealed another VEST / VESS family!

Why Does William Tunwell Vest Seem Like A Connection?

Despite having BEST, VOSS, and VASS families also in North Carolina to consider, I was hoping there was a connection with William Tunwell VEST; mostly, because he makes the most sense for the time, place, and names.

Peter Vess
Peter Vess of Rutherford County, NC was born between 1791-1794 in North Carolina and most of his records are found under the “VEST” surname; except for the 1830 census (Voss) and his 1831 land record (Vess).

After his death sometime before 1844, the “VEST” surname continued with his wife Catherine and their sons, as shown in Bill’s Creek Baptist Church: Two Hundred Year History, by Helen M. Lu. It wasn’t until 1849, when the “Vess” surname really stuck, in both census and church records. Therefore, it is easy to assume that Peter maybe connected to the VEST family.

We were even 100% confident that we had discovered his connection with the VEST family when we found a Surry County War of 1812-1814 record listing a “Peter VEST.” Not only is Surry County right next to Stokes County in North Carolina, but also the names of the other soldiers listed with Peter VEST seem to have connections with the grandchildren of William Tunwell VEST through his son Isham VEST. Because there doesn’t appear to be any VEST families in Surry County, the VEST family next door (in Stokes County) seems like a good fit.

A possible connection to William Tunwell VEST became even more enticing when records for Peter Vess suggested his father may have been named John Vess (1831 Rutherford Co. land grant record). According to the Last Will and Testament of William Tunwell VEST (1812), he just so happens to have a son named John VEST!

Willis Vess
William Tunwell Vest also seems like a potential ancestor to Willis Vess.

Willis Vess was born in North Carolina (abt) 1810, supposedly to “John Vess and Maragaret Vaughn” who are said to have also been born in North Carolina. Because William Tunwell VEST had a son named John VEST, it appeared there could be a connection; however, John VEST married Eliza RAY (not Margaret Vaughn). Of course, John could have been married twice, but records show us that John VEST (despite who he was married to) appears to have been living in North Carolina (or Indiana-whichever source you pick) during the time that the father of Willis Vess was living in Alabama; therefore they must not be the same person.

Nathan Vess
Interestingly, there haven’t been any plausible ideas between William Tunwell Vest and Nathan Vess. Because Nathan was born in South Carolina, one could possibly conclude he is Peter’s cousin rather than his brother. So, Nathan’s lack of connection to the VEST family in Stokes County, NC never really seemed like such a big deal.

The VEST & VESS Families Are Not Related

According to information from FamilytreeDNA.com, the VEST and VESS families are not related! In fact, they don’t even share the same Haplogroup!

The descendants of John Daniel VEST (VEST family of Virginia) belong to Haplogroup-I, whereas the descendants of Willis Vess and Andrew Logan Vess (our VESS family) belong to Haplogroup- R (R1a). That’s quite a distance from each other on the Y-Haplogroup tree.


So, we can pretty much eliminate any VEST family related to John Daniel Vest as being possible ancestors, including William Tunwell VEST of Stokes County, North Carolina.

I was holding onto William Tunwell VEST for a long time, just in case; however, I eventually discovered that he is the son of John Daniel VEST.

In the Last Will and Testament of John Daniel Vest (1765) of Chesterfield County, Virginia, John names his wife “Ann Vest” (likely Charolette Ann Bakes) as well as his 7 children: “John Vest, Valentine Vest, Elizabeth Vest, James Vest, George Vest, Phillip Vest, and William Tunwell Vest.”
[Transcribed by Sandra Lake Lassen March 1993 – Ancestry.com]

By the way, I discovered the VEST family near Willis Vess in Alabama are descendants of John Daniel Vest through George Washington Vest– so, no relation to Willis Vess.

Mapping VEST Families

Instead of trying to untangle the many different branches of the VEST family, I decided it would be better to us their records to plot them all on a map. During this process, I came to discover that a lot of VEST families do seem to be descendants of John Daniel Vest and Charolette Ann Bakes. The family appears to have originated from Chesterfield and Powhatan County, VA and then migrated westward into Bedford County, then down into Franklin and Floyd Counties, before conquering the rest of the United States.

After finishing my map, two VESS/VEST families who do not seem to have any connection with the John Daniel Vest family stood out!

The Map
The counties [below] highlighted in red contain VEST records.
The counties marked with an X have records that strongly suggest a relationship with John Daniel Vest. And, the counties left, with no X, have records with both the VESS and VEST surname.

This map is not 100% accurate. It is very likely that there are areas and families I missed; especially, since documentation of these VESS-VEST families is scarce and require deep digging into Virginia archives. The purpose of this map is to see if we could identify any “separate” families, such as those using the VESS surname.

Exploring VESS/VEST Families

Rockbridge County and Patrick County, Virginia are the only two counties where I have found records with the VESS name and families whose records seem to use the VESS and VEST surname interchangeably, and interestingly, neither of them seem to have any records that suggest (at this time) they are connected to the John Daniel Vest family! So, who are they and do they have any connection to our VESS family?

VESS/VEST family of Rockbridge, Virginia

According to my ancestral DNA, I have distant DNA-relatives who are descendants of Addison Vess of Rockbridge County, Virginia through my VESS line. My project, of course, could be flawed as the connection could be distant, possibly connected between different families related to Addison Vess.

However, I used the same search method again for the VEST name and more DNA-relatives came up; all related to Vess families in Rockbridge, VA.   I did not get any DNA-relatives descending from the John Daniel Vest family.

The Vest/Vess family living in Rockbridge are found near Colliers Creek and Kerrs Creek.  Library of Congress  Looking at this map [below], there are family surnames that I recognize from bits and pieces of my research on the Vess family: Hostetter, Ailstock, Noel, Morris, and Tolly, and Armstrong.



William, Peter, & Samuel VESS/VEST of Patrick County

As mentioned in a previous post, “What We Know So Far,” we recently discovered a Vess/Vest family in Patrick County, Virginia who we have no idea (like the Rockbridge family) as to whether they are related to the VESS or VEST family (perhaps neither).

I was provided a list of land deeds for Patrick County, Virginia (1791-1801) to compare to the residents in Tryon County, North Carolina (1769-1779) to see if there was any kind of connection. Unfortunately, I did not find anything significant, for that Tryon County records are much older than the Patrick County records and it just wouldn’t make sense that families would travel so far south just to end back up North. I guess they could have, but probably unlikely during a time when families were migrating out west and down south.

The records we find in Patrick County, Virginia include a William, Peter, and a Samuel Vess (VEST/VOSS) who lived on the border of Patrick County and Henry County (as shown on the map below) in Bull Mountain, North Mayo River, and Koger Creek, just below Franklin County, Virginia. 

These records also show family surnames that I recognize from bits and pieces of my research on the Vess family: Duncan, Dodson, Willis, Watson, Reynolds, Sharp, Hooker, and Randal.



HAIRSTON & PENN Families: A Little Local History
While researching some of the families on this deed list, I discovered that the HAIRSTON and PENN families (both on the deed list) have a bit of history in the area.

George HAIRSTON built Beaver Creek Plantation which was a tobacco plantation and a very large slave-trading post in Martinsville, VA (east of Koger Creek in Henry Co.).  He served under Col. Abraham PENN who was the original owner of the land that George Hairston built his plantation on (using a royal grant).  The PENN family built “Poplar Grove” plantation in Patrick County, VA near Patrick Springs (west of North Mayo River).  And both HAIRSTON and PENN families married into the STOVALL family- all connected.  

There appears to be several plantations in the area, all of which utilized slaves and indentured servants. Indentured servants generally had a 7 year contract and in return for their service, their masters often granted them land. Looking at records on Patrick County, VA Genweb, we find deed records referred to an “Indenture,” where land was transferred to the “apprentice” after all debts and terms of their contract have been satisfied.

Jonathan William Vess of Texas: Koger Creek
According to the deed list, William Vess/Vest is shown near a Herron/ Heron family and as previously known, marriage records show Elizabeth Herron having married Johnathan William Vess in 1791 in Patrick County, Virginia. Johnathan William Vess and Elizabeth Heron traveled with Stephen F. Austin from Missouri to Texas (Republic of Texas) during the 1820’s. This William Vess/Vest on the Patrick County deed list may either be Jonathan himself or perhaps his father.

Peter Vess and William Vess/Voss: North Mayo River
According to the deed list, west of Koger Creek are residents of the North Mayo River which includes Peter Vess, William Vess/Voss, Samuel Vess, William Willis, and William Sharp.

This Vess/Voss family is most interesting for that we see them with the Willis, Dodson, and Sharp families (family surnames that are also found in Franklin County, Alabama with Willis Vess).

To make things even more interesting, we found a 1785 marriage record for Peter Vess and Pugnance Vaughn in Henry County. (Henry County is next to Patrick County, and there was a time when both counties were one, called Patrick-Henry County)

Also discovered, is a 1793 Patrick County, Virginia deed record (via John DUNCAN) referencing, Peter Vess and his wife Margaret.

What is interesting about this, is that according to Anna Popejoy, the parents of Willis Vess were John Vess and Margaret Vaughn. To this day, we do not know where she got this information; however, we are now wondering, if this is them.

Perhaps their full names were John Peter Vess and Pugnance Margaret Vaughn??? Also note, that the brother of Willis Vess is supposedly “John Peter Vess,” perhaps he was a John Peter Vess Jr.?

In addition, records also show land transactions between Peter Vess and Samuel Vess via John Duncan. At the bottom of this particular deed list (with Peter and Samuel), you will also find a Whitlock family.

Are These VESS/VEST Families Related

It is plausible that the Rockbridge VESS/VEST family and the Patrick County VESS/VEST families are related to each other, for that records of the Patrick County family (earliest record 1785) come before the records of the Rockbridge family (earliest record 1818); suggesting one of the Vess members may have migrated to Rockbridge, Virginia from Patrick County, Virginia.

It has also been observed that Samuel Vess of Patrick County, Virginia disappeared before Peter and William Vess; which makes us wonder if he is (or is related to) Samuel Harvey Vess of Rockbridge, Virginia (1830 records).

We do not know if they are genetically related to the our Vess family; however, genealogical records seem to support some kind of connection.

Full Recap

  • The Vest family of Virginia and our Vess family are not related (two separate Haplogroups).
  • There is no genetic relationship between our Vess family and William Tunwell Vest in Stokes County, North Carolina.
  • Maps reveal a separate VESS/VEST family residing in Rockbridge and Patrick County, Virginia. It is not yet know if these two VESS/VEST families are related, but it is plausible considering the record dates.
  • We have likely discovered the families of Jonathan William Vess and Elizabeth Heron (of Republic of Texas) in Patrick County, Virginia on Koger Creek.
  • We have discovered that there is a Peter, Samuel, and William VESS/VOSS on the North Mayo River with a Willis, Sharp, and possibly a Whitlock family.
  • The area in which we find these families in Patrick County, has a history of plantations and records that suggest some of the land owners were once indentured servants.
  • Many family surnames found in both Rockbridge and Patrick County, Virginia are familiar names seen elsewhere in Vess family research; especially, regarding Peter and Willis Vess.

No definite conclusions can be made at this time; however, these new discoveries seem promising!
It appears that a new chapter in Vess Genealogy has just begun!

If you are or know someone who is a male descendant with the VESS or VEST surname, please consider participating in Y-DNA testing through FamilytreeDNA.com to help us unravel the mysteries of the VESS family!

Again, a HUGE THANK YOU to everyone who has shared their findings with me on the Vess name in effort to piece together VESS family history!
















What We Know So Far – Vess Genealogy

/ J. V. / 3 Comments

Happy New Year!

Let’s start the New Year by reviewing what we know so far about the so-called three brothers from Ireland.

But first, a huge THANK YOU to everyone who has provided me information about their family history, lineage, and research!

The Three Brothers

According to our VESS family story, we descend from three brothers from Ireland: Jonathan, Peter, and Nathan (Nathaniel) Vess. However, records seem to tell a different story…

Records tell us that Jonathan, Peter, and Nathan Vess did in fact exist and that they all existed during the same time period (1790-1880); however, we have not yet found any records confirming their exact relationship to one another. Possibly, because they may have not been brothers at all, but perhaps a mix of relatives: 2 brothers and a father, cousins and 1 uncle, or 2 brothers and a grandfather.

The term brothers was often used to refer to any close male relationship: siblings, father, uncle, cousin, close family friend, or church member.


Interestingly, records tell us that Peter and Nathan were born in America (North and South Carolina). According to Nathan’s records, his parents were born in South Carolina. His family possibly lived in Glassy Mountain, Greenville, South Carolina with the Gosnell and Bellew families (who are related to Nathan’s wife, Clarinda Bellew). We have also discovered a new VESS line closely related to Peter, through a Willis Vess, whose records also state his parents were born in North Carolina.

Links to each of their BIO’s: Peter Vess, Jonathan Vess, and Nathan Vess.

If our VESS family does come from Ireland, research greatly suggests that our family arrived in America sometime prior to the Revolutionary War (1775-1783). And perhaps our family story is true, but we are looking at the wrong generation of men whose names were Jonathan, Peter, and Nathan; as it was once common practice that each generation be named after their forefathers.

VESS family in Patrick County, Virginia

We have recently discovered a “VESS” family in Patrick County, Virginia. As to-date, we have not been able to connect them to the prominent “VEST” family of Virginia; giving us hope that this pocket of Vess family is related to our VESS line.

The earliest records with the name “Vess” can be found in Virginia for a Samuel, Peter, Jonathan, and William Vess:

  • Jonathan Vess married Elizabeth Heron in 1792, Patrick County, VA.
    In 1820, Jonathan Vess and his wife Elizabeth migrated to the Republic of Texas [before Texas was a state]. He is written in the Texas history books, not only because he was one of the first families to travel with Stephen F. Austin (state capital is named after), but also the town of Morales, TX was established on his land and his daughter, Mary Lorena Vess, married Sam McCulloch, Jr., who was a Texas war hero and a man of color.
  • We have found Revolutionary War records under the “Vess” name, for a Samuel, Peter, and William Vess. Peter being distinguished as a Corporal.
  • In addition, Patrick County, VA tax records 1790-1799 lists Samuel and Peter “Vess.”
  • Lastly, there is a War of 1812 record for a “Peter Vest” in Surry County, North Carolina. Thus far, we have not been able to connect him to any of the VESS or VEST families in the area; including the nearby VEST family of Stokes County, NC. However, it should be noted that Patrick County, VA is located directly above Surry County, North Carolina. We also cannot confirm that this Peter “Vest” is the same person as our Peter Vess of Rutherford County, North Carolina.


The Discovery of Willis VESS – DNA Connection

I believe the most significant find of last year, for me at least, was discovering another Vess line closely related to Peter and Nathan: Willis Vess of Franklin County, Alabama.

Familytreedna.com


DNA has confirmed Peter, Nathan, and Willis Vess to be closely related; however, we do not know exactly how they are related to one another.

Y-Chromosome DNA on FamilytreeDNA.com has connected Willis and Peter’s line together and it is AncestryDNA.com, that confirms a “close” relationship between the two lines through shared DNA-relatives.

However, I suspect the relationship to be distant, for that I share more DNA-relatives with Nathan’s line than I do with those on Willis’s line. This may suggest that Nathan is likely more closely related to Peter than Willis; with Nathan and Peter as siblings/half-siblings and Willis a possible cousin. However, this could be inaccurate, largely depending on how many descendants on each line have tested through AncestryDNA.com.

Nonetheless, Willis lived during the same time period as Jonathan, Peter, and Nathan, so we can confidently suggest the connection is either through a parent or grandparent. Which brings me to Willis’s father, John Vess, who was supposedly born in North Carolina (1770) and married Margaret Vaughn.

The Vest Family of Virginia and North Carolina

Virginia
South Carolina

Many researchers suggest John Vess (father of Willis VESS) to be the son of William Tunwell Vest of Stokes County, North Carolina; however, I do not believe this to be true. I have researched the Vest family of Virginia and North Carolina extensively and have not found any records connecting the Vess and Vest families together.

William Tunwell Vess had 5 sons, Samuel, William, Charles, Isham, and John. According to my research (which could be wrong, of course), Samuel and William married “Cannifax” sisters, Charles married a “Doty,” Isham married a “Briggs” and a “Page,” and John married a “Ray.” I have not found any DNA relationships with any of their descendants.

If the Vest and Vess lines are related, they must be related distantly.

However, it may be worth looking into a James Harvey Vest, who is said to be born in Patrick County, VA in 1838. He married Rachel Jane Harper and Mary Calhoun. The reason I mention him, is because FamilytreeDNA has a VESS-VEST DNA Project Group, which states they have found a DNA connection with 2 members related to “VESS.”

We do know for a fact that some VESS lines do descend from the VEST family; however, none of those Vess lines seem to connect with our VESS line.

The VOSS Name

I am often told that our name used to be pronounced, “VOSS.”

Interestingly, there is a VOSS family in North Carolina with Greenbury Voss in Casewell County, North Carolina. He was supposedly born in Maryland and died in Pittsylvania, Virginia, having raised his family in Casewell, North Carolina. I truly have not done much research on the Voss family; however, records for this family include the surnames: VOSS, VASS, VESS, and VAUSE.


Greenbruy Vess may be worth looking further into for several reasons:
1) Records can be found with the Vess name.
2) His sons married into the Cook family that is related to the Cook family who attended Bills Creek Baptist Church (late 1800’s).
3) They are supposedly related to the Vause family in Georgia, who were in Georgia when Peter’s son, Alfred Vess, migrated there.
4) There is a Voss related to Greenbury Voss in Alabama (or Tennessee, if I remember correctly) near Willis’s Vess family!
5) Pittsylvania, Virginia is next to Patrick and Henry County, Virginia.
6) The Gonsell family (connected to Nathan) is from Maryland.

Conclusion

In short, there is no final conclusion as there is still more to explore and discover! The information we discovered and collected last year will certainly help us with our genealogy journey.

Any information you would like to share with us to help us with our research, please feel free to post in the comment sections or join our Facebook Group! I absolutely look forward to sharing new genealogy adventures with you!

















The Vess & Vest Families of Virginia

/ J. V. / 1 Comment

Anyone who has researched Peter Vess, has likely come across a “Peter Vest” on a War of 1812-1814 military service record for Surry County, North Carolina. Unfortunately, there are no other records to support a connection with our Peter Vess.

I can honestly tell you, the Surry County, NC War of 1812 record, meant very little to me a month ago; but now, after extensively researching different families in North Carolina, a few names on this record stand out in which require further investigation…

Earlier Research: William Tunwell Vest

My earlier research on the VEST family largely focused around a William Tunwell Vest of Stokes County, North Carolina.

According to an 1812 probate record, he had a wife named Lucy (ALFORD) and they had 9 children: Samuel, Charles, William Jr., Isham, John, Elizabeth, Polly, Jenny (Jane) and Mary.

The only interesting thing I found in regards to William Tunwell Vest is a neat account regarding his son Charles Erwin Vest:

Summary:
In 1792, the Board of Commissioners came together in search of a person who would manage a building project for the “Statehouse.”

Later documents suggest it was the rebuilding of the Guilford Courthouse.

Charles Vest [whose occupation, on census records, states manufacture] “made an offer;” however, “never reported his estimate.” The project was then appointed to Rhodham Atkins.

North Carolina Digital Collection

Unfortunately, there are no records connecting the VEST and VESS families together.

I think many VESS researchers are attracted to William Tunwell VEST, because at first glance, he truly makes a great lead in Vess Genealogy:

1) VESS and VEST are similar surnames and we do find many records for our Peter under the surname VEST.

2) He lives in North Carolina. According to census records, our Peter was supposedly born in North Carolina.

3) He is from Virginia. According to our family story, our VESS family traveled from Virginia to the Carolinas.

4) His sons are old enough to be Peter’s father and one of them was named “John.”

“Charles” Peter Vess May Not Exist

Sometimes, you might see the name “Charles Peter VESS” as Peter Vess of Rutherford County, North Carolina.

In my opinion, I do not think there is a “Charles” Peter Vess and that the name originated from researchers trying to connect Peter Vess to the William Tunwell VEST line.

See, Charles Erwin VEST (son of William Tunwell VEST) had a son named Charles VEST Jr., who married a woman named Catherine. [*Correction: Catharina] I strongly believe that many quickly assumed that had to be Peter [Vess] and Catharine “Katy” [Cook] and therefore, “Charles” must be Peter’s first name.

Unfortunately, when new records began to reveal more about Charles Vest Jr. and his wife Catharina VOGLER (who married in 1809), the idea that Peter Vess is “Charles Peter Vess” was already stuck in circulation on the Internet.

But of course, I could be wrong.

The Vest Family: What I Do Know

The VEST family is just as complicated and fascinating as our VESS family.

You can find many public family trees related to the VEST family on Ancestry.com, MyHertiage.com, Familysearch.org, Wikitree.com, etc.; however, none seem to be consistent and very few offer solid records to support their findings.

I do not know where the VEST family comes from; however, some public VEST family trees date their lineage back to Germany through a MOSES VEST, born in 1650 Basel, Warendorf, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany. I have not come across any trees with attached documentation though; so I cannot confirm this is true.

VEST Family Tree: DRAFT (not entirely accurate)


I DO KNOW the VEST family originated in Powhatan and Chesterfield County, Virginia (1700’s) and migrated down to Bedford and Franklin County, before migrating west out of Virginia into Kentucky, Missouri, and Indiana; with the exception of William Tunwell Vest who migrated down into Stokes County, North Carolina.

Unfortunately, there are no records (as of yet) connecting the VEST and VESS families together, but there are still a few early VEST and VESS records lingering around without a connection to either family.

A “VESS” Family In Virginia

I cannot tell you how exciting it is to see the VESS name on early Virginia records!

Revolutionary War Records
If you dig deep enough, you can find the “VESS” name on documents dating back as early as the Revolutionary War!

So far, I’ve uncovered a Peter and Samuel “VESS” on Revolutionary War records. I remember I found 3 of them, but I cannot remember the 3rd name (sorry).

Samuel Vess 1779 Revolutionary War record – Ancestry.com
Corporal Peter Vess 1777 Revolutionary War record – Ancestry.com

Before dismissing them as VEST family though, I have found a pocket of VESS’s hanging out in Patrick County, Virginia in which I have yet to figure out whose tree they belong on (VESS or VEST).

Patrick County, Virginia
Perhaps, Peter and Samuel Vess on the Revolutionary War records (above) are the same Peter and Samuel Vess listed on the 1790’s Patrick County Land Tax record.

The Samuel listed on the 1790 tax record could be Samuel Harvey VEST (b. 1757 VA), son of William Tunwell Vest. He would have been old enough to serve during the Revolutionary War and Patrick County, VA is just above Stokes County, North Carolina; however, there is no documentation to support it. I DO KNOW, the Peter listed above is too old to be our Peter Vess.

Interestingly, that’s not even the only VESS record for Patrick County, NC!
There is also a marriage record for Jonathan VESS and Elizabeth HERON dated 1792.

This is supposedly, Jonathan Vess who traveled to the Republic of Texas in 1825 and helped establish Morales, Texas. I have no idea who his parents are and whether or not he is a VEST or a VESS.

And lastly, I have discovered a William VESS of (Koger Creek) Patrick County, Virginia on a Deed record located on RootsWeb.com.

Interestingly, other names listed beside him include JOHN DUNCAN (like John Duncan shown above with Peter and Samuel Vess) and a JAMES HERON, as in Elizabeth HERON who married Jonathan VESS. I am not sure if this William VESS is Jonathan “William” VESS, which is a name that is often associated with Jonathan VESS of Texas (married to Elizabeth Heron).

So, just a quick recap:
There is a Peter, Samuel, Jonathan, and William (Jonathan and William might be the same) VESS in Patrick County, VA in the 1790’s that do not have any records connecting them to either the VEST or VESS family.

Unfortunately, early census records for Patrick County, VA have been lost. 😦
BUT, Patrick County, VA was created from Henry County in 1790, which was created from Pittslyvania County in 1776; in which, leads me back to the Peter VEST on the War of 1812-1814 military service record…

Many surnames on that record are connected to families who originated from Pittsylvania County, Virginia and some have connections to the VEST family (William Tunwell VEST) as well as the BELLEW family (Nathan’s wife’s family)!

Next Stop In Research: Virginia

I feel as if I am getting closer!!

I have not explored Virginia yet and I don’t think I would have been very successful at researching records in Virginia (in the beginning) without knowing what I know now.

Virginia is a tough state to research, for that early records are super scarce. If your family didn’t do anything significant, their record is likely not available yet, especially, digitally.

Digital records for Virginia are broadly Indexed and requires hours upon hours of scrolling through digitalized slides of records. Simply, you can’t just type in a specific name and it will take you directly to the record pertaining to that name…you have to know a time, place, and event and then search from there, deciphering scribbles from deteriorated records. Super fun!

But, I am motivated, excited, and ready for a new challenge!

I will be sure to post an update on my research soon!