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.
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.
Foote records two distinct Virginia families whose surnames are easily confused. The Read family was established at Bushy Forest in present-day Charlotte County and became prominent in county government, Revolutionary service, education, and the ministry. The Reid family entered Rockbridge County through several migrations and became connected by marriage with the Alexander and McDowell families. Foote does not establish a relationship between the Read and Reid lines.
Foote records the Logan surname in three prominent but unconnected settings: John Logan among the first settlers and ruling elders of New Providence, Benjamin Logan among the Presbyterian householders of the Holston Valley before his removal to Kentucky, and Rev. Robert Logan in the Bethel and Fincastle communities. Foote does not establish a family relationship among these men.
The Pearisburg Public Library Collection of Yearbooks provides access to 44 school yearbooks from Giles County, Virginia, documenting several generations of students, teachers, school activities, organizations, athletics, and community life. For genealogists and local historians, yearbooks can help place an individual in a particular school and year while also providing photographs, class affiliations, friendships, and other details rarely found in traditional records.
The McPheeters family traced its origins from Scotland through Ireland and Pennsylvania before establishing a substantial household in the Bethel settlement of Augusta County. Its best-documented descendant was Rev. William McPheeters, D.D., whose career connected Virginia’s Presbyterian churches and schools with Kentucky and North Carolina.
Foote records two distinct Scott family groups in Virginia. The better-developed household was that of Rev. Archibald Scott, pastor of the associated Bethel and Hebron congregations in Augusta County. A separate line centered upon Colonel Thomas Scott of Charlotte County and his work with Hampden-Sydney College. Foote does not establish a relationship between these families.
The Carrington family established itself first along Willis Creek in what became Cumberland County and later formed an influential branch in Charlotte County. Through marriages with the Mayo, Read, Cabell, Venable, Bernard, Sims, and Watkins families, its descendants became prominent in Virginia’s legal, political, military, and educational life. The following account brings together the Carrington family references scattered throughout William Henry Foote’s Sketches of Virginia: Historical and Biographical, Second Series, arranging them by generation and family relationship. Paul Carrington and the Barbados Family Foote begins the family line with Paul Carrington and his wife, whom he describes as belonging to…
The Morton family was closely associated with the growth of Presbyterianism in Charlotte and Cumberland counties. Foote’s references connect its members with the beginnings of the Briery congregation, the Cumberland and Cub Creek churches, Revolutionary service, Hampden-Sydney College, and the family of Rev. John Holt Rice.
The Virginia Waddell family references preserved by William Henry Foote center upon Rev. James Waddell, D.D., the celebrated Presbyterian teacher and orator remembered as the Blind Preacher of Virginia. His ministry connected the Northern Neck with the Shenandoah Valley and central Virginia, while the marriages of his daughters linked the family with the Presbyterian ministers Archibald Alexander and William Calhoon.
Whitwell Wentworth Coxe, born in Roanoke in 1884, was a Virginia lawyer and public official who became general solicitor for the Norfolk and Western Railway. A University of Virginia graduate, he practiced law in Roanoke, led bar associations, served on the Roanoke Board of Aldermen, and helped with Virginia’s 1933 repeal convention.
Colonel Morgan H. Hudgins was a Virginia educator, military-school commandant, and longtime superintendent of Fishburne Military School in Waynesboro. Born in Portsmouth in 1878 and a Virginia Military Institute graduate, he also served eight years as Waynesboro’s mayor and led wartime civic efforts. He married Elizabeth Milnes Austin in 1913.
Judge Rose MacDonald Skoggs of Berryville, Virginia, built a distinguished career as a librarian, educator, author, welfare worker, and juvenile and domestic relations court judge. A native of Lexington, she studied at several colleges, served in public education and Red Cross leadership, wrote several books, and married J. Lewis Skoggs in 1947.
Hollie Brockenborough McCormac Jr. was a Winchester, Virginia textile executive who led The Virginia Woolen Company and Varel Mills, Inc. A Lehigh University graduate, he also served as a director of Shenandoah Valley National Bank and took part in civic and fraternal organizations. He married Evelyn Montgomery and had one daughter.
Hollie Brockenborough McCormac Sr. was a leading Shenandoah Valley industrialist, banker, farmer, and civic leader. Born in Frederick County in 1875, he rose from farm management to president of Virginia Woolen Company, served in numerous business and civic roles in Winchester, and died at his home in 1937.
William Mahone, born near Courtland, Virginia, in 1826, rose from civil engineer to railroad builder, Confederate general, and U.S. senator. He helped develop the Norfolk and Petersburg Railroad through the Dismal Swamp, fought at major Civil War battles, and later led efforts to rebuild Virginia’s rail systems during Reconstruction.
Major General Richard Jaquelin Marshall (1895–1946) was a Virginia-born U.S. Army officer who served in World War I and rose to chief of staff of U.S. Army forces in the Pacific during World War II. After retiring, he became superintendent of Virginia Military Institute. The article also outlines his family, marriage to Isabel Crum, and children.
