Giles County Genealogy Records

Giles County genealogy records begin in 1806, the year the county was formed from Montgomery, Monroe, and Tazewell counties. The Circuit Court Clerk in Pearisburg holds marriage licenses, land records, probate files, and court documents going back to that founding year. Researchers can also access the New River Notes website for digitized tax lists, deed abstracts, and the Register of Free Negroes from 1816 to 1864. For records that predate 1806, the three parent counties are the right place to look.

Giles County Circuit Court Clerk

The Circuit Court Clerk in Pearisburg holds all official genealogy records for Giles County. Marriage records begin in 1806. Birth and death records from 1853 to 1896 are available at the courthouse. Land records go back to 1806, as do probate records and court files. Divorce records are also held here. This is the primary location for Giles County family history research.

Staff at the clerk's office can direct you to the correct index and record books. Researchers are expected to do their own work in the public records room. Copies are available at standard fees. If you need a certified copy for legal purposes, the clerk's office can provide one. Hours are generally Monday through Friday during business hours, but it is a good idea to call ahead before making a trip.

For records before 1806, the three parent counties are your best options. Montgomery County has records going back to 1773. Tazewell County has records from 1800. Monroe County, which later became part of West Virginia, has its own record set. Which county to search depends on where in the Giles County area your ancestor lived before 1806, since boundaries shifted when the new county was formed.

New River Notes and Online Resources

The New River Notes website is a key resource for Giles County genealogy. The site provides historical and genealogical resources for the New River Valley, including Giles County materials that are available at no cost. The 1806 Giles County Personal Property Tax List is posted on the site and is one of the earliest documentary records for the county. The 1815 Tax List is also available.

Beyond the tax lists, New River Notes has abstracts of 300 deeds and surveys from 1806 to 1830. These abstracts summarize the key information in each document, including names of grantor, grantee, adjoining landowners, and acreage. Deed abstracts can save hours of courthouse research when you know generally what you are looking for. The site also holds Giles County chancery records and other court records that are useful for family history work.

The Giles County Register of Free Negroes, covering 1816 to 1864, is available through the Free African Americans website. This register documented free Black residents and is an important source for African American genealogy in the county during the antebellum period. Names, ages, physical descriptions, and family connections appear in many of these entries. It is one of the more detailed records of its type for a Virginia county of this size.

Note: Tax lists from 1806 and 1815 on New River Notes are free to access and provide some of the earliest data on Giles County residents, making them essential for research in the county's founding decades.

Giles County Genealogy Record Types

Marriage licenses from 1806 are among the most searched records in Giles County. They give names of both parties, the date, and often the names of bondsmen or witnesses who can help identify family connections. Land records from the same year document property transactions and are a strong source for tracking families across generations. Deed books in Giles County go back to the county's founding and are held at the courthouse in Pearisburg.

Probate records are another core source. Estate files typically include a will or administration bond, an inventory of personal property, and a settlement listing heirs. When vital records are missing or incomplete, probate files can fill in birth, marriage, and death information. Court records from 1806 cover civil and criminal cases and sometimes include depositions and witness statements that contain biographical details not found elsewhere.

The Library of Virginia holds microfilm copies of many Giles County records and has digitized portions of its collection for online access. The Virginia Memory digital archive includes materials from the New River Valley region. For vital records after 1912, contact the Virginia Department of Health.

Giles County Image Resources

New River Notes at newrivernotes.com provides free historical and genealogical resources for Giles County, including digitized tax lists and deed abstracts.

The site holds the 1806 Personal Property Tax List, the 1815 Tax List, 300 deed abstracts from 1806 to 1830, and the Register of Free Negroes, all of which are valuable for Giles County family history research.

Using Census and Military Records

Federal census records for Giles County begin in 1810, four years after the county was formed. Earlier population counts and militia musters can extend coverage back into the late 1700s for families who lived in the parent counties. Virginia personal property tax lists from the 1780s and 1790s are available at the Library of Virginia and through FamilySearch, and they function as census substitutes for that period.

Military records are useful for Giles County genealogy because pension applications and service records often contain birth dates, marriage information, and names of children. The county sent soldiers to the War of 1812 and the Civil War, and service records from those conflicts are held at the National Archives and indexed on Fold3 and Ancestry. The Virginia Genealogical Society also has published guides for military research in Virginia.

Cemetery records on Find A Grave include many Giles County burials. Rural mountain cemeteries in this part of Virginia have been documented by local volunteers, and the entries often include photographs of headstones and notes on family relationships. Cross-referencing burial records with land and probate records can help confirm family connections that are not explicit in any single source.

Nearby Counties

These counties border Giles County. Each keeps genealogy records at the Circuit Court Clerk's office.