In a message dated 8/17/00 12:13:34 AM Eastern Daylight Time, Ginnypin@aol.com writes: << Would someone please tell me which counties today were originally in Va.? My ancestors (The Janney's) were from Floyd and Franklin Co.,Va. and I wonder if some of my lost ancestors became West Virginian's? Ginnypin@aol.com >> WV became a state in 1863. FIFTY counties of VA became the new state of WV. There are now 55 counties, five being created from other WV counties after WV became a state (Summers, Mingo, Mineral, Lincoln, Grant). So if you look at a WV map all the counties you see were once part of VA with the exception of the above five (which were technically a part of a county which was once VA). I live in VA and know where Franklin and Floyd counties are. It might be a possibility your ancestors went south to NC rather than north to WV. You should get a good map/atlast/whatever and check out the NC counties which are in close proximity to Franklin and Floyd. Neva