Unfortunately, over the years many of our courthouses here in Virginia have burned, destroying not only the buildings, but also the valuable records they contained. Other counties suffered lost of records not because of a fire in the courthouse, but due to other reasons. For example, during the Civil War many of Stafford County's records were destroyed or looted by Union troops. Fortunately not all records were lost when these fires occurred. In some cases, duplicate copies of records were made and forwarded to Richmond each year. These included: 1. Personal property tax records starting in 1782 2. Real estate (land) tax records starting in 1782 3. Marriage registers starting in 1853 4. Birth registers starting in 1853 and ending with 1896 5. Death registers starting in 1853 and ending with 1896 Most of these have survived and microfilm copies are available at the Library of Virginia. They may also be available for inter library loan; however, I am not sure. I do not know whether a fire occurred or not at the courthouse in Fauquier County; however, if it did, there is a chance that copies of some of the records that were destroyed survived in Richmond. Jim Messersmith Rockville, VA