Virginia Genealogy is being developed as a genealogical and historical resource for your personal use. It contains information and records for Virginia ancestry, family history, and genealogy. Specifically, it provides sources for birth records, death records, marriage records, census records, tax records, court records, and military records. It also provides some historical details about different times and people in Virginia history.
Virginia County Names
Virginia County Names: Two hundred and seventy years of Virginia History
This book aims to tell how the Virginia counties got their names, and in telling the story it endeavors to show that the thoughts and feelings of the Virginians are reflected in the names the counties bear.
In the unfolding of this story I have been impressed, first, by the amount of history suggested by the names; and, second, by the fact that the naming of the Virginia counties furnishes more material for colonial history than the county-naming of any other State in the Union. Of course the history suggested in this way falls far short of being a history of Virginia, but it is not too much to claim that these county-namings are interesting and helpful in presenting some parts of the history of the Old Dominion from a new point of view. The names are the magnet; the facts of Virginia history are the iron filings: it has been my part to put the magnet among the filings.
I have been at much pains in my efforts to verify the facts herein presented, and when in doubt I have endeavored to attach to my statements the exact measure of doubt that I myself entertained.
To include all the facts that have a bearing on Virginia county names I have gone back in Scotch history to 1370; and have brought my work up to date by showing that among the exhibits of the Jamestown Exposition of 1907 were many honoring men after whom Virginia counties had been named.
The second part of the title of the book, “Two hundred and seventy years of Virginia History,” is given because of the fact that, with reference to Virginia history, I begin with 1607 and end, as far as the naming of the counties is concerned, with 1880, when the youngest county of the State was organized.
Recent Virginia Genealogy
Frank Armstrong, Jr., born December 24, 1900, in Clarksburg, West Virginia, has been with the National Fruit Product Company, Inc. since 1926, serving as treasurer since 1945 and president since 1950. He graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in 1922 and began his career with the Chesapeake and Potomac Telephone Company. Armstrong is a director of the Shenandoah Valley National Bank and has been actively involved in various business and community organizations in Winchester, including the Chamber of Commerce and Rotary Club. He married Margaret Tweltridge in 1927, and they have four children. The family resides in Winchester.
Judge Rose MacDonald Skoggs of Berryville has had a distinguished career spanning authorship, librarianship, and public service. Born Rose Mortimer Ellzey MacDonald in Lexington, Virginia, she pursued education at Norwood Institute, Shepherd College, the University of Virginia, and William and Mary College. She served as the first female member of the Virginia State Board of Education and judge of Clarke County’s juvenile and domestic relations court. An accomplished author, her works include “Mrs. Robert E. Lee” and “History of Virginia for Boys and Girls.” She is a member of the Society of Colonial Dames and the Garden Club of Virginia….
Whitwell W. Coxe, General Solicitor of the Norfolk and Western Railway, was born in Roanoke on April 24, 1884. Son of Joseph W. Coxe and Mary Keahlofer Syester, he earned his law degree from the University of Virginia in 1907. Coxe began his legal career with the firm Robertson, Hall and Woods, later partnering with prominent Roanoke lawyers. He became General Solicitor in 1936. Active in law and politics, Coxe served as president of the Roanoke and Virginia State Bar Associations and held various public offices. He was married twice and had six children.
Hollie Brockenborough McCormac, Jr., born December 19, 1916, in Winchester, Virginia, is a key figure in the Shenandoah Valley’s textile industry. He is president of both The Virginia Woolen Company in Winchester and Varel Mills, Inc. in Middleway, West Virginia. After graduating from Lehigh University, McCormac joined the family business, following in his father’s footsteps. He also serves as a director of the Shenandoah Valley National Bank and is active in several civic and fraternal organizations, including the Rotary Club and Delta Phi fraternity. McCormac married Evelyn Montgomery in 1941, and they have a daughter, Gertrude Montgomery, born in 1949.
H. B. McCormac, Sr., born in 1875 in Frederick County, Virginia, was a prominent figure in industry, banking, agriculture, and politics in the Shenandoah Valley. He served as president of The Virginia Woolen Company, the Berkeley Woolen Company, and the Union Bank of Winchester. McCormac was instrumental in founding the Winchester Chamber of Commerce and held leadership roles in various organizations, including the National Manufacturers Association and the Virginia Manufacturers Association. A dedicated civic leader, he chaired the executive committee of Winchester Memorial Hospital and the Liberty Loan and War Chest Committees during WWI. He passed away on December 11,…
Colonel Morgan H. Hudgins, born December 4, 1878, in Portsmouth, Virginia, has been a pivotal figure in Virginia education, notably as superintendent of Fishburne Military School in Waynesboro since 1913. A Virginia Military Institute graduate, Hudgins joined Fishburne in 1901 as commandant of cadets, later becoming associate principal and then superintendent. He also served as mayor of Waynesboro for eight years and held roles during both World Wars. Under his leadership, Fishburne expanded significantly, becoming a top military school in the South. Hudgins married Elizabeth Milnes Austin in 1913.
Neighboring States
