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Hampshire County History and Information

Hampshire County Facts

See D.O.T. Maps for a Detailed County Map

Hampshire County was created by the Virginia General Assembly on December 13, 1753 from parts of Augusta and Frederick Counties (Virginia) and is the oldest county in the state.

Although its creation was authorized in 1753, it was not actually organized until 1757 because the area was not considered safe due to the outbreak of the French and Indian War (1754-1763). According to Samuel Kercheval's A History of the Valley of Virginia (Strasburg, VA: Shenandoah Publishing House, 1925), the county was named in honor of several prize hogs. The story goes that Lord Fairfax, who owned the Royal Grant to the area, came upon some very large hogs in Winchester and asked where they had been raised. He was told that they were from the South Branch of the Potomac Valley (now Hampshire County). He remarked that when a county was formed west of Frederick that he would name it in honor of Hampshire County, England, famous for its very fat hogs.

County Seat - The first Hampshire County court meeting took place on June 11, 1755 in a private home located about five miles north of present-day Romney. Thomas Byran Martin, a nephew of Lord Fairfax, presided at the meeting. There are no records of the court's meetings from 1755 and 1757, presumably because most of the county's residents fled the county during the French and Indian War.

In 1762, Lord Fairfax sent a survey party to Romney to formally lay out a new town, then known as Pearsall's Flats, into 100, half-acre lots. He then renamed the town Romney, in honor of a port city on the English Channel. The Virginia General Assembly formally recognized the town's formation on December 23, 1762. Some confusion ensued for several decades concerning the ownership of land within the town as counterclaims were made by the original settlers and those who purchased lots laid out by Lord Fairfax's surveyors.

Apparently, the town did not have a formal town government until December 4, 1789. At that time, the General Assembly passed an act providing Romney a board of trustees comprised of: Isaac Parsons, Isaac Millar, Andrew Woodrow, Stephen Colven, Jonathan Purcell, Nicholas Casey, William McGuire, Purez Drew, and James Murphy. The 1810 federal Census indicated that Romney had 295 residents. The 1850 federal Census revealed that the town's population had gown slowly over the years, reaching 456 people.

The county's first courthouse was constructed in Romney in 1833, and replaced in 1922.

Romney claims to be the oldest town in West Virginia. Both Shepherdstown (in Jefferson County, and then known as Mecklenburg) and Romney were chartered by the Virginia General Assembly on December 23, 1762. However, Romney claims that it is the oldest town in the state because its incorporation was listed before Shepherdstown's in the Virginia Statutes at Large and its earliest settlers arrived in 1725 while Shepherdstown's earliest settlers did not arrive until 1727. However, given the paucity of written records in the era, it is difficult to substantiate the claim that Romney's earliest settlers arrived before Shepherdstown's earliest settlers, and both towns continue to claim the title of oldest town in the state.

See also Extended History for more historical details.

Areas adjacent to Hampshire County are Allegany County, Maryland (north), Morgan County (northeast), Frederick County, Virginia (east), Hardy County (south), Mineral County (west). Hampshire County Cities and Towns Include Augusta, Bloomery, Capon Bridge, Capon Springs, Delray, Green Spring, High View, Junction, Kirby, Lehew, Levels, Points, Purgitsville, Rio, Romney, Shanks, Slanesville, Springfield, Three Churches, Yellow Spring

Official County Government/ Community Website
Hampshire County, West Virginia History Books at Amazon.com
Family History Library - The largest collection of free family history, family tree and genealogy records in the world.

Hampshire County Court Records

See Also West Virginia Land Records, Marriage Records, Court & Probate Records

PLEASE READ!! Please call the clerk's department to confirm hours, mailing address, fees and other specifics before visiting or requesting information because of sometimes changing contact information.

Hampshire County Clerk has Land Records from 1757, Marriage Records from 1824, Probate Records from 1756 and Birth & Death Records from 1865 -Present and is located at the Courthouse, 66 N. High Street, P. O. Box 806, Romney, WV 26757; 304-822-5112, Fax: 304-822-4039 .
The County Clerk's many duties include some of the following: the issuance of marriage licenses, birth and death certificates, record births, marriages and deaths in the county, serve as the recorder of all documents, prepare and send to all heirs a Notice to Redeem and take care of publications, redemptions or recording deeds with regard to delinquent property, issue military service discharge records and probate wills and assist in administration of estates.

Hampshire County Clerk of Circuit Court has Court Records from 1736 and is located at the Courthouse, P.O. Box 343, Romney, WV 26757-1696; 304-822-5022, Fax: 304-822-8257.
The County Clerk of the Circuit Court's many duties include some of the following: Serve as the Clerk to the Circuit and Family Court, Issue mesne (during the progress of a case) process, Issue final process to enforce and execute judgements, Appoint guardian ad litem where required, Responsible for all papers filed in the office; serve as registrar, recorder and custodian for all pleadings, documents and funds pertaining to cases filed in circuit court and family court, Responsible for the administration and management of the petit and grand jury systems in the county.

Since West Virginia was part of Virginia prior to 1863, see Virginia Databases for all records before that date.

Click Here to Search West Virginia Court, Land, Wills & Financial Records! - Researchers often overlook the importance of court records, probate records, and land records as a source of family history information.

Below is a list of online resources for Hampshire County Court Records. Email us with websites containing Hampshire County Court Records by clicking the link below:

West Virginia Marriage Records, 1863-1900
Hampshire County, West Virginia Court Books at Amazon.com
West Virginia Immigration & Emigration Records - Immigration records help the family historian to understand the movements of their ancestry as they relocated to different parts of the world.

Hampshire County Vital Records

See Also Research In Tax Records

While people were taxed in Virginia prior to 1782, not many tax lists for that early period have survived, and the originals that have survived are at the Virginia State Library. Colonial period taxes were imposed on the personal property of males who were twenty-one and older, and called "tithables." While there is no comprehensive list or collection of early tax lists, many fragments are printed throughout Virginia genealogical literature

West Virginia has one of the most complete sets of old tax records in existence. Land tax records dating from 1782 to 1936 for all counties, with some through 1959, are available at the Archives and History Library in Charleston. Most county clerks have duplicate copies in their offices. As noted in the section on Virginia, the Virginia State Library has the original unindexed personal property tax records from 1782 to 1863.

Below is a list of online resources for Hampshire County Tax Records. Email us with websites containing Hampshire County Tax Records by clicking the link below:

Hampshire County, West Virginia Tax Books at Amazon.com

Hampshire County Genealogical Addresses

The Repositories in this section are Archives, Libraries, Museums, Genealogical and Historical Societies. Many County Historical and Genealogical Societies publish magazines and/or news letters on a monthly, quarterly, bi-annual or annual basis. Contacting the local societies should not be over looked. State Archives and Societies are usually much larger and better organized with much larger archived materials than their smaller county cousins but they can be more generalized and over look the smaller details that local societies tend to have. Libraries can also be a good place to look for local information. Some libraries have a genealogy section and may have some resources that are not located at archives or societies. Also, take a special look at any museums in the area. They sometimes have photos and items from years gone by as well as information of a genealogical interest. All these places are vitally important to the family genealogist and must not be passed over.

Below is a list of online resources for Hampshire County Genealogical Addresses. Email us with websites containing Hampshire County Genealogical Addresses by clicking the link below:

Hampshire County Historical Society, P.O. Box 549, Augusta, WV 26704
Hampshire County Public Library, 153 West Main Street, Romney, WV 26757; Phone: (304) 822-3185, Fax: (304) 822-3955
Local West Virginia Researchers, Find a local researcher or become a local researcher.
West Virginia Archives and History, The Cultural Center; 1900 Kanawha Boulevard, E.; Charleston, WV 25305-0300. Read here before requesting research
Publication: West Virginia History. This facility consists of the library, archives, and a museum containing materials from 1760 to present.
West Virginia Genealogical Society, Post Office Box 249, Elkview, West Virginia 25071
West Virginia Historical Society, PO Box 5220, Charleston, WV 25361
West Virginia Newspapers & Periodicals Records - Newspapers and periodicals are the diaries of local communities. They are excellent sources of family history details - often recorded nowhere else. Look for obituaries, marriages, legal notices, and more found in our Historical Newspaper Archives.
West Virginia Genealogical Society Books at Amazon.com

Hampshire County Church & Cemeteries

Click Here to Search West Virginia Obituary Records! - This database is a compilation of obituaries published in U.S. newspapers, collected from various online sources. Obituaries can vary in the amount of information they contain, but many of them are genealogical goldmines, including information such as names, dates, places of birth and death, marriage information, and family relationships.

There are many churches and cemeteries in Hampshire County. Some transcriptions are online. A great site is the Hampshire County Tombstone Transcription Project.

Many religious groups have deposited their records at the West Virginia and Regional History Collection. Church record inventories compiled as part of the Historical Records Survey are available there and at the FHL. For a complete discussion of early church records, see Virginia-Church Records.

The most extensive collection of West Virginia tombstone inscriptions was compiled by the Historical Records Survey. Available at the West Virginia and Regional History Collection and on microfilm at the FHL, the collection includes inscriptions through 1939-40. The DAR and others have published volumes of cemetery records.

Below is a list of online resources for Hampshire County Cemetery & Church Records. Email us with websites containing Hampshire County Cemetery & Church Records by clicking the link below:

Find Obituaries in The World's Largest Newspaper Archive at NewpaperArchive.com! - Find thousands of West Virginia obituaries to help you research your family history. Search for a West Virginia newspaper obituary about your ancestor or a celebrity. Begin your search today and find death notices and funeral announcements printed in newspapers from West Virginia.
West Virginia Cemetery Readings, 1941
Hampshire County, West Virginia Cemetery Books at Amazon.com
Hampshire County, West Virginia Church Books at Amazon.com

Family Trees & Genealogy Tidbits

Click Here to Search West Virginia Family Tree Records! - The use of published genealogies, electronic files containing genealogical lineage, and other compiled sources can be of tremendous value to a researcher.

When view family trees online or not, be sure to only take the info at face value and always follow up with your own sources or verify the ones they provide. Below is a list of online resources for Hampshire County Family Trees, web forums and other family type information. Email us with websites containing Hampshire County Family Trees, web forums and other family type information by clicking the link below:

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Sites on USGenweb: [ Hampshire County ] [ West Virginia ] [ Main Page ]
[GenForum Message Boards] [Rootsweb Message Boards]
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Nichols and Related Families of Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Florida, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Virgina.
West Virginia Family & Local History Records - The Family & Local Histories Collection lets you read journals, memoirs, and other first-hand historical narratives right on your computer. Gathered from some of the world's finest libraries, these materials may provide hard-to-find town, county, and state information; tax records and wills; military, church, and court records; as well as photographs, stories, and maps.
Genealogical Document Search and Retrieval Service
Hampshire County, West Virginia Family Books at Amazon.com

County History

The First Settlers

The first native settlers in West Virginia's Potomac Highlands (Grant, Hampshire, Hardy, Mineral, Pendleton, Pocahontas, Randolph, and Tucker counties) were the Mound Builders, also known as the Adena people. Remnants of the Mound Builder's civilization have been found throughout West Virginia, with many artifacts found in the Northern Panhandle, especially in Marshall County.

The following is a brief history overview:

Several thousand Hurons occupied present-day West Virginia during the late 1500s and early 1600s.
During the 1600s, the Iroquois Confederacy (then consisting of the Mohawk, Onondaga, Cayuga, Oneida, and Seneca tribes) drove the Hurons from the state and used it primarily as a hunting ground.
During the early 1700s, the Shawnee, Mingo, Delaware, and other Indian tribes also used present-day West Virginia as a hunting ground. West Virginia's Potomac Highlands was inhabited by the Tuscarora. They eventually migrated northward to New York and, in 1712, became the sixth nation to formally be admitted to the Iroquois Confederacy. The Cherokee Nation claimed southern West Virginia.
In 1744, Virginia officials purchased the Iroquois title of ownership to West Virginia in the Treaty of Lancaster.
The Delaware, Mingo, and Shawnee sided with the French during the French and Indian War (1755-1763). The Iroquois Confederacy officially remained neutral, but many in the Iroquois Confederacy allied with the French.
When the French and Indian War was over, England's King George III feared that more tension between Native Americans and settlers was inevitable. In an attempt to avert further bloodshed, he issued the Proclamation of 1763, prohibiting settlement west of the Allegheny Mountains. The Proclamation was, for the most part, ignored.
During the summer of 1763, Ottawa Chief Pontiac led raids on key British forts in the Great Lakes region. Shawnee Chief Keigh-tugh-qua, also known as Cornstalk, led similar raids on western Virginia settlements. The uprisings ended on August 6, 1763 when British forces, under the command of Colonel Henry Bouquet, defeated Delaware and Shawnee forces at Bushy Run in western Pennsylvania.
In 1768, the Iroquois Confederacy (often called the Six Nations) and the Cherokee signed the Treaty of Hard Labour and the Treaty of Fort Stanwix, relinquishing their claims on the territory between the Ohio River and the Alleghenies to the British.
In April 1774, the Yellow Creek Massacre took place near Wheeling. Among the dead were Mingo Chief Logan's brother and pregnant sister. Violence then escalated intoLord Dunmore's War.
On October 10, 1774, Colonel Andrew Lewis and approximately 800 men defeated 1,200 Indian warriors led by Shawnee Chief Cornstalk at the Battle of Point Pleasant, ending Lord Dunmore's War.
The Mingo and Shawnee allied with the British during the American Revolutionary War (1776-1783). One of the more notable battles occurred in 1777 when a war party of 350 Wyandot, Shawnee, and Mingo warriors, armed by the British, attacked Fort Henry, near present-day Wheeling. Nearly half of the Americans manning the fort were killed in the three-day assault. Following the war, the Mingo and Shawnee, once again allied with the losing side, returned to their homes in Ohio. As the number of settlers in the region grew, both the Mingo and the Shawnee move further inland, leaving western Virginia to the white settlers.

Hampshire County's European Pioneers and Settlers

During the early 1700s, several fur traders and explorers were known to have traveled through Hampshire County, but their names were not recorded. By 1735, six families had settled in the Springfield area, including the families of James Howard, John and James Walker, Jonathan Coburn, James Rutledge and a Mr. Forman (possibly William).

In 1738, John Pearsall (or Pearsoll) and his brother Job built cabins near present-day Romney. It was reported that Job paid Lord Fairfax five shillings for his 323-acre homestead. Initially, their settlement was known as Pearsall's Flats. Within a few years, they were joined by the following seven families: Blue, Good, Hunter, Johnson, Kuykendall, Parker, and Rodgers. By 1748, nearly 200 people lived near Pearsall's Flats.

At that time, Lord Fairfax realized that he had an opportunity to earn income by laying off his land in the area into lots and requiring those residing there to pay him for the land or to pay rent. In 1748, Lord Fairfax sent a surveying party, led by James Genn and including 16 year-old George Washington, to survey his lands along the Potomac and South Branch Rivers. Washington spent three summers and falls surveying Lord Fairfax's estate, including present-day Hampshire County. Washington's diary indicated that he was in present-day Romney on October 19, 1749. Oral traditions claimed that Washington laid present-day Romney out into lots at that time, but written records credit James Genn for surveying and laying out the town.

Important Events in Hampshire County during the 1700s and 1800s

Because he was a British citizen, all of Lord Fairfax's land holdings were confiscated by the state of Virginia at the close of the American Revolutionary War (1776-1783). The state then auctioned off the land. Between 1788 and 1810, a total of 1,986 land entries were recorded in Hampshire County. As settlers continued to enter the county, the state decided to build a state road from Winchester to Romney, passing by Capon Bridge and Hanging Rocks. The road's construction was a boom to local economic development as several stage lines began operations, providing settlers more ready access to eastern markets. In 1796, a post office, headed by John Jack, opened in Romney.

The opening of the Northwestern Turnpike, a toll road connecting Winchester, Romney, Moorefield, Beverly, Kingwood, Pruntytown, Clarksburg, and Parkersburg, was a major event in Hampshire County. The Turnpike reached Romney in 1830, and Parkersburg in 1838. It assisted in the promoting the area's economy, and significantly reduced the area's isolation from the eastern seaboard. By 1845, daily stage and mail service was established between Winchester and Parkersburg. Romney was a popular rest stop along the Turnpike, and a number of inns and taverns were built in the town to accommodate the many travels passing through the area.

Hampshire County's residents generally sided with the South during the Civil War. On May 18, 1861, the Hampshire Guards and Frontier Riflemen left Romney to join other Virginia regiments forming at Harpers Ferry. During the course of the war, Hampshire County raised thirteen Confederate companies and only one for the Union. Following the war's conclusion, on Sept. 26, 1867, Hampshire County dedicated what is perhaps the first Confederate Memorial in the United States. It still stands in Romney's Indian Mound Cemetery.

Although there were no major battles fought in Hampshire County, Romney changed hands at least 56 times during the war. This places Romney second behind only Winchester, Virginia as the town that changed hands the most during the Civil War. On June 11, 1861, Romney changed hands twice in the same day. Some historians speculate that Romney actually changed hands more than Winchester, Virginia, but there are no surviving records to support the claim.

In the late 1860s and early 1870s, Professor Howard H. Johnson of Franklin, Virginia (later Pendleton County, West Virginia), a blind teacher, was instrumental in bringing a school for the deaf and blind to Romney. Johnson had attended a school for the deaf and blind at Staunton, Virginia and recognized the need for a school in West Virginia. Beginning in the late 1860s, he lobbied the state legislature to provide funding for the project. On March 3, 1870, Johnson's dreams became reality when the West Virginia State Legislature appropriated $8,000 for the creation of a school for the deaf and blind in the state. Several towns, including Romney, Clarksburg, and Parkersburg, lobbied to have the school located there, but Romney was chosen when it offered the buildings and grounds of the Romney Literary Society. The school opened on September 29, 1870 with thirty students, twenty-five of them deaf and five of them blind. Currently, the main campus consists of 16 major buildings on 79 acres of land.