Historic Local Resources & More
Can't make it to the Virginiana Room in person? Check out these online local historical resources, from full-text resources to Library of Virginia resources.
Fredericksburg Research Resources
Digitized primary documents from Virginia and Fredericksburg history, provided by the UMW Department of Historic Preservation and other sources.
Contents include:
- Fredericksburg city directories
- Lists of local inhabitants, taken from census data
- Merchant license lists
- Tax records
- Indexes to legal transferals of property (e.g. deeds, trusts, wills)
- Indexes to Fredericksburg newspapers
- Indexes to insurance policies
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Full Text Resources
These classics of Virginia history are now in the public domain and have been made freely accessible by various organizations, including GenGateway, the Internet Archive, Harvard, and the University of Virginia. Resources suitable for genealogy research are marked with an asterisk (*).
- 1885 Business Directory from The Free Lance newspaper (Fredericksburg)
- Barons of the Potomack and the Rappahannock by Moncure Daniel Conway (1892)
- The Colonial Virginia Register: A List of Governors, Councillors and Other Higher Officials, and also Members of the House of
Burgesses, and the Revolutionary Conventions of the Colony of Virginia compiled by William Glover and Mary Newton Standard (1902) - The Conquest of Illinois by George Rogers Clark
- Documentary History of the Struggle for Religious Liberty in Virginia (1899)
- Economic History of Virginia in the Seventeenth Century by Philip Bruce Alexander
- Encyclopedia of Virginia Biography (1915)
- Fifty Years in Chains, or, The Life of an American Slave by Charles Ball (1859)
- Fredericksburg and Its Many Points of Interest by R.A. Kishpaugh (1912)
- Fredericksburg: Past, Present and Future by Robert Reid Howison (1898)
- A Gazetteer of Virginia by Henry Gannett (1904)*
- Genealogies of the Lewis and Kindred Families edited by John Meriwether McAllister, Mrs. Lura May Boulton Tandy
- Hening's Statutes at Large: Being a Collection of all the Laws of Virginia from the first session of the Legislature, in the Year 1619Â by William Waller Hening
- Historic Periods of Fredericksburg, 1608-1861Â by Mrs. Vivian Minor Fleming (1921)
- An Historical Account Of The Settlements Of Scotch Highlanders In America Prior To The Peace Of 1783 Together With Notices Of Highland Regiments And Biographical Sketches by J. A. P. MacLean, Ph. D.
- Historical Collections of Virginia... by Henry Howe (1845)
- A History of Education in Virginia by Cornelius J. Heatwole (1916)
- The History of Fredericksburg, Virginia by Silvanus J. Quinn (1908)
- A History of Slavery in Virginia by James Curtis Ballagh (1902)
- The History of Suffrage in Virginia by Julian A. C. Chandler (1901)
- History of the Early Settlement and Indian Wars of Western Virginia; Embracing an Account of the Various Expeditions in the West, Previous to 1795... by Wills de Hass (1851)
- History of the German Element in Virginia by Herrmann Schuricht (1898-1900)
- A History of the Valley of Virginia by Samuel Kercheval (1833)
- History of the Virginia Company of London by Edward D. Neill (1869)
- The History of Virginia, in Four Parts by Robert Beverly (1722)
- Journal of a Young Lady of Virginia. 1782. by Lucinda (Lee) Orr
- The Life of General Hugh Mercer: with Brief Sketches of General George Washington, John Paul Jones, General George Weedon, James Monroe and Mrs. Mary Ball Washington, who Were Friends and Associates of General Mercer at Fredericksburg: also a Sketch of Lodge no. 4, A.F. and A.M., of which Generals Washington and Mercer Were Members: and a Genealogical Table of the Mercer Family (1906)
- List of Revolutionary Soldiers of Virginia. (1912)*
- A Narrative of the Life of Rev. Noah Davis, a Colored Man Written by Himself, at the Age of Fifty-four (1859)
- Old Churches, Ministers and Families of Virginia: in Two Volumes (Volume 1)Â by Bishop William Meade
Volume 2 is here.* - One of Jackson's Foot Cavalry: His Experience and what He Saw During the War 1861-1865, Including a History of "F Company," Richmond, Va., 21st Regiment Virginia Infantry, Second Brigade, Jackson's Division, Second Corps, A. N. Va. by John H. Worsham
- Overwharton Parish Registry, 1720 to 1760Â (Old Stafford)*
- The Political History of Virginia During the Reconstruction by Hamilton James Eckenrode (1904)
- Reception of General La Fayette in Fredericksburg, November 27, 1824
- The Revolution in Virginia by Hamilton James Eckenrode (1916)
- Roster of Confederate Dead in the Fredericksburg Confederate Cemetery by Robert K. Krick, 1974*
- Slave Life in Virginia and Kentucky; or, Fifty Years of Slavery in the Southern States of America by Francis Fedric. 1863
- Statistical Gazetteer of the State of Virginia by Richard Edwards (1855)*
- Travels and Works of Captain John Smith, President of Virginia and Admiral of New England, 1580-1631Â edited by Edward Arber
- Virginia and Virginians by Dr. R.A. Brock and Professor Virgil A. Lewis (1888)
- The Virginia Campaign and the Blockade and Siege of Yorktown, 1781Â by Colonel H.L. Landers, F.A. Historical Section, Army War College
- Virginia Colonial Decisions: The Reports by Sir John Randolph and by Edward Barradall of Decisions of the General Court of Virginia, 1728-1741Â ed., with historical introduction, by R. T. Barton.
- Virginia Cookery-Book compiled by Mary Stuart Smith (1885)
- Virginia under the Stuarts, 1607-1688Â by Thomas Jefferson Wertenbaker (1914)
- Word-Book of Virginia Folk Speech by B.W. Green (1899)
The Free Lance-Star: Color Version
The Free Lance-Star: Text Only Version
MasterFILE Complete (EBSCO)
JSTOR
The Free Lance-Star: Color Version
The Free Lance-Star: Text Only Version
MasterFILE Complete (EBSCO)
JSTOR
Local Yearbooks
Central Rappahannock Regional Library holds a number of yearbooks in print form, and some have been digitized by the Library of Virginia.
As part of the Library of Virginia's digitization project, a portion of our local yearbook collection has been put online:
Fredericksburg
- Fredericksburg College (1902)
- Fredericksburg High School (1921, 1922, 1924, 1925)
- James Monroe High School (1947-1950, 1952-1953, 1958, 1961, 1965, 1967- 1969, 1971, 1973-1975)
- Maury Elementary School (1972, 1977)
- Walker-Grant Middle School (1970-1973)
Stafford County
- Falmouth High School (1943, 1948)
- Stafford Senior High School (1975)
Westmoreland County
- Cople High School (1949-1954, 1956-1959)
Courthouse Cases
Westmoreland County Chancery Cases, 1753-1913, opens a new window
Chancery Causes are cases of equity. According to Black's Law Dictionary, they are "administered according to fairness as contrasted with the strictly formulated rules of common law." A judge, not a jury, determines the outcome of the case. The above link gives background information. Search cases here., opens a new window
Library of Virginia
In addition, the Library of Virginia's digital collections have photos, maps, Confederate disability applications/receipts and pension rolls, public service claims from Lord Dunmore's War, early Virginia religious petitions, Revolutionary War bounty warrants and rejected claims, Virginia Land Office patents and grants, and the WPA Life Histories Collection, including more than 50 interviews with former slaves.
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