Locating where a Virginian might be from, part 2

Still having trouble finding where that Virginian was from in Virginia after they moved. If you have a Virginia Revolutionary War ancestor then it might be easier to locate them than you think. Knowing the name of the company captain will go a long way in helping you. If the service was in the Continental Line and you know the name of the captain then consult E. M. Sanchez-Saavedra's A Guide to Virginia Military Organizations in the American Revolution, 1774 - 1787. In many instances the entry might look something like this:

3rd Virginia Regiment of Foot
3rd Company
Captain Charles West
Raised in Loudoun.

Loudoun at the time of the Revolution was the most populous county, they even had a draft riot.

Of course, if you are interested in the 3rd Virginia, Joan Peters has just authored a two volume set on the unit. The Third Virginia Regiment of the Foot, 1776 - 1778, With Flags Flying and Drums Beating. The first volume is a history of the unit and the second volume are the biographies of the soldiers.

If your soldier was in the militia and you know one of the officers then J. T. McAllister's Virginia Militia in the Revolutionary War is the best way to determine what county that officer was from, through his militia appointment.

A typical entry might look like this:

Section 261 - Fauquier
Atwell, Francis, gent., Cp., Sept. 28, 1778

If it turns out you have an interest in Fauquier then T. Triplett Russell and John K. Gott's Fauquier County in the Revolution contains a listing of soldiers from the county along with the history of the county's participation in the war.

So it is possible if you know an officer in the company that your ancestor served in you can find the county that the soldier lived in.

Locating where a Virginian might be from

Lots of people are from Virginia. Lots of people are proud to be from Virginia. Ancestors coming out of Virginia did not always provide us with direct evidence of where they were from. I have used two books with success in getting a Virginian back into their county of origin. Netti Schreiner-Yantis and Florene Speakman Love published in three volumes The 1787 census of Virginia in 1987. Whenever I am doing Virginia research in this time period I consult these lists to see where the surname is found in the state. I will also take the names of the current neighbors of the person in question and look for those surnames. Families travel together from one place to another and clusters of surnames in one place may have resulted from clusters of surnames in another. My understanding is that this series, although available in individual booklets for the counties of Virginia, Kentucky and West Virginia extant in 1787 (all in Virginia at that time, of course), is almost out of print. No Virginian researcher should be without it. If it is still available it is only available new from the author.

Mission of Stump Craig

I spend a lot of my time helping people solve their genealogical problems. Either through lecturing or one on ones. Solving genealogical problems is my favorite activity and in looking for a way to be helpful as possible to as many people as possible I created this blog. This is a place for guidance and direction, not a place to learn the date of an event. I look forward to your questions.