Resources include Virginia regimental histories; War of the Rebellion Official Record, which reproduces government documents dealing with the war; and information about Alexandria during the war. Photograph collections depict life in and around Alexandria from the time of the Civil War to the present. The collections cover Alexandria people, events, houses and other well-known places. Microfilm collections include census records, the Alexandria Gazette , other local newspapers; deed books, will books and other local land records; maps of the local area; and copies of several manuscript collections.
Manuscript collections include the personal and business papers of many Alexandria individuals and institutions, including the records of some local private schools, businesses, and people. Official City records from the late 19th century to the present are housed at the Archives and Records Center. A partial listing of the collection includes City Council Minutes, City financial and budget records, papers of some former Mayors, Annual Reports, minutes of the Planning Commission, BAR and BZA, construction permits, architectural plans, site plans, City directories, and scrapbooks.
Deeds, wills, deeds of trust, land records and other papers are filed with the Clerk of the Circuit Court. Deed searches can be conducted on land records dating back to the s.
Wills also date back to the s. Marriage records date back to Birth and death certificates are not held in this office, but at the Office of Vital Records in Richmond. Recent birth and death certificates are available through the City of Alexandria Health Department, located at King Street, The research library at the GWMM is open by appointment only, to those members of the public working on specific projects related to George Washington and Freemasonry.
Beyond these two main topics, the library's holdings can be useful for those doing genealogy on an ancestor who was a Freemason, or for research on Grand Lodges across the country. Contact the Director of Collections for more information or to make an appointment. The following museums have libraries and research files open to the public, usually by appointment only. The Alexandria Archaeology Museum Research files include site reports and records pertaining to archaeological finds in the City.
Final site reports are also available at the Alexandria Library, Special Collections, and many are available online. The museum also has an extensive library of books on archaeology and on 18th and 19th century ceramics and glass. The library is available by appointment only. Please call for an appointment.
Please call the museum prior to your visit.
Friendship Firehouse Museum A variety of research files dealing with the building, collection and history of other local fire companies in Alexandria are maintained at the Lyceum and can be viewed by appointment. Gadsby's Tavern Museum The library consists of over 1, volumes including decorative arts, furnishings, clothing, social life and customs, Alexandria and Virginia history, museum studies, conservation, building preservation, and more.
The library also includes information on the preservation and history of the tavern buildings. It is likely that the official reporting and recording of births, deaths, and marriages was mandated from the creation of the state in , as it was the law in Virginia from which West Virginia was created beginning around However, due to the extreme rural nature of the population and the lack of coherent collection mechanisms, reporting was probably very "hit and miss" except around major cities.
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Although in modern times it is extremely rare for a birth or death to go unreported, many births and deaths went unreported, although required by law, due to the lack of coherent collection mechanisms and what must have been a perceived lack of legal "utility". Many reports may have been more a matter of posterity than legal obligation. For example, there was no need for a birth certificate to prove age for Social Security purposes, because there was no Social Security.
Most people did not have life insurance, so there was little need for a death certificate for that purpose. The biggest "push" for full reporting of births and deaths was due to the institution of sanitary reforms for the prevention of disease and the use of birth and death reporting in the census of the nation. The reporting of the health conditions surrounding birth and death played an important role in monitoring disease and the impact of the interventions.
It was not until that as many births occurred in hospitals as occurred at home.
What Records Does Vital Registration Have
The rise and proliferation of medical facilities, the increase in the number of trained physicians and other medical personnel, the professional training and licensing of funeral directors and embalmers and the need for legal proofs from birth certificates name, age, citizenship, parentage , death certificates, and marriage certificates all contributed to nearly complete reporting of vital events nationwide. Access to West Virginia's vital records, both those held by the Vital Registration Office and those held by county clerks offices, is restricted by West Virginia Code and accompanying Rules.
Slaves are not named in personal property tax records after Identifying slaveowners is very difficult. Sometimes collateral research whole families including spouses and in-laws can lead to the name of the slaveowning family. If you are able to identify the owner of your ancestor, you might be able to find records pertaining to the slaveowners as well as to the slaves such as plantation records, wills naming slaves, etc. Searching for slave ancestors always requires a thorough investigation of the white slaveowning family in all records. You should also investigate the slaveowner's extended family including their spouse's family.
At the time of emancipation, slaves adopted surnames. They did not usually take the surname of their most recent owner but sometimes took the given name of their father or the surname of an earlier owner, a prominent local citizen, or a prominent American such as Washington or Lincoln. For this reason, it is usually not profitable to try to match black surnames with those of plantation masters.
One should try instead to trace a freed slave to his or her mother. The slave mothers' owner usually has a different surname than the freedman. Records to use in order to find a slave mother are census records for , birth records after , and marriage records after Marriage records of black couples following the Civil War usually provide the names of their parents. The VMHC has only the census records. If a slave was born after , his or her name, birth date, and mother's name might be recorded in the register of births, which is available on microfilm at the Library of Virginia.
Not all slave births after were reported. Many were reported but do not name the child or mother.
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The first listing of all African Americans by name in a federal census was in In l and l slaves were counted in separate slave schedules, but the census schedules did not list slaves by name; they were listed, usually unnamed, in age and sex categories under the name of the owner. If the slaveowner is known, these schedules are useful, however, as evidence that a slave of a certain age and sex was the property of a particular owner in Mss no. Free blacks who were heads of households were listed by name from to and the names of all free household members were included in the l and l census schedules.
Slaves are often mentioned in wills because slaveowners frequently made wills specifying the distribution of their property, including slaves, among their heirs.
- West Virginia Health Statistics Center Genealogy Page.
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If the owner died without a will, the court appointed an administrator to compile an inventory of the estate and arrange for the sale or distribution of property. These estate records often listed the slaves. Most wills and inventories are at the Library of Virginia. The VMHC has many collections of family papers that contain plantation records.
Genealogy & History
Often these include references to slaves, such as registers or lists of slaves, family Bible records of slave births and deaths, and deeds of slave sales. Although the number of these collections is very small when compared with the large numbers of slaveholders in Virginia, they are useful if the name of the slaveowner is known. They are more fully described in the manuscript catalog.
The library has an extensive collection of state and county histories, genealogies, and published records.
Virginia Public Records
Until recently, these sources only occasionally included the names of African Americans. These sources may include information on slaveowning families and plantations. W Our collections consist of a wide-range of objects. Use our online catalog to search the Virginia Historical Society collections. Skip to main content. Genealogical resources located at the Library of Virginia include: County records including wills, deeds, and marriage bonds Military service records Church records Land Office records patents and grants Tax records Census records Genealogical notes and charts Nevertheless, the VMHC does have numerous materials helpful to genealogists.
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They include: Ancestry. Ask a question about our collections Order photocopies or digital reproductions Make an appointment to view museum objects Search our library catalog. Are you interested in viewing additional Civil War resources? You might also be interested in Search our collections.