Hi All, I know some on this List have been trying to do research on ancestors in Virginia - mostly with frustrating results. Below is an article that pertains to you and might be of some help. It comes from "RootsWeb Review, Vol. 1, No. 24". Happy Hunting! and best wishes for the holidays. Dick Dutton Researching my family tree! Trunk: DUTTON Major branches: ALLEN, BARTLETT, CUTLER, DOGGETT, DUNTEN, DUNTON, JENSON, LAKE, METCALF, PARTRIDGE, REYNOLDS, RICHARDS, SAWYER, SMITH, TRACY, TURNER, WEDGWOOD. Minor branches: ADAMS, ALDEN, BALL, BLACK, BLANCHARD, BREWSTER, BRIMHALL, CARY, COLBURN, HATCH, HOPKINS, HYDE, KIDDER, PERKINS, WARNER, WILLIAMS. Smaller Limbs: ALGER, ANDERSON, CLARK, DAVIS, FRENCH, FULLER, HALL, HARRIS, JOHNSON, KNAPP, McMILLAN, MERRICK, MILLER, MOORE, NELSON PARKER, TUTTLE - And many more. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- VIRGINIA RECORDS (Part One of Two) by Brian Mavrogeorge, Director of Genealogy Initiatives Palladium Interactive <bmavrogeorge@palladium.net> Ultimate Family Tree <http://www.uftree.com> When someone says "the records were burned" I immediately think they must be researching in Virginia. The original capital, Jamestown, was destroyed three times, Richmond was burned in 1865 and many courthouses were destroyed during the Civil War. Virginia research is a challenging quest. The Library of Virginia site <http://www.vsla.edu/lva/lva.html> states: "early official records of births and deaths in Virginia are almost nonexistent." Records for births and deaths were kept in the local parish; there are few marriage records prior to 1730. However, Virginia was one of the early states, after the New England states, to have vital record registration (1853) and to begin recording births and deaths at the county level. But that stopped in 1896 and it was not until 1912 that vital records were again kept statewide. So it is important to establish the parish or the county where an event took place in order to continue your search in church records, cemetery records, and newspapers. For that you need some kind of a statewide index. A good place to start is the "Virginia Historical Index" (1934-36; reprint, Gloucester, Mass.: Peter Smith, 1965). This multi-volume index, often referred to as "Swem's Index," has entries for several historical and biographical publications through the 1930s and 1940s. Don't overlook the Ultimate Family Data Library's Master Index to its collection of Virginia data. The Ultimate Family Data Library's online index <http://www.familyinfo.com> includes abstracts of Virginia records from the mid-1700s to 1800s. You can subscribe to the data online or order it on CD-ROM. * * * * *