Online Resources: Land Records

The Prince William County Clerk of Circuit Court Land Records Management System (LRMS) is an online database to help the general public locate a recorded document from a computer terminal.  It's a great option for anyone who might not otherwise be able to visit the Courthouse in person.

Searching the index is free, but if the user wants to view or print a document there is a fee of $0.50 per image and an Internet Convenience Fee of $2.00 at the time of purchase.  (If you accidentally view/print the wrong image, you will still be charged the fee.  There is no refund.)

I've found the LRMS to be quite helpful in surname searches or when I don't have the book/page number of a Deed that I'm looking for.

Indexes and Images available on LRMS for Prince William County and the cities of Manassas and Manassas Park include, but are not limited to:

Deeds and Related Land Records - Indexes and images from Jan. 1, 1918 to present.

Fiduciaries (Wills, Probate, List of Heirs) - Indexes and images from Jan. 3, 1981 to present.

Marriage licenses – Indexes only from Jan. 1, 1981 to present.

Website: LDS Research Wiki

In addition to being a marvelous site offering access to free information, Familysearch.org now offers an excellent research wiki.  Their PWCo Wiki includes links to resources organized by categories and subcategories, very similar to the popular (and most excellent) Cyndislist.

Free Civil War Records (for a limited time)

Check it out!  Footnote.com is offering free access to records in their Civil War collection until April 14th.

According to the site:

What is this collection?

Compiled service records of Confederate soldiers labeled with each soldier's name, rank, and unit, with links to revealing documents about each soldier. Collections include records for soldiers from over 50 territories and states.

What can I find?

• Returns, rosters, payrolls, appointment books, hospital registers
• Union prison registers and rolls
• Parole rolls
• Inspection reports
• Originals of any papers relating solely to a particular soldier
• Military unit

Website: Historical Marker Database

A little off the beaten path, the Historical Marker Database can sometimes provide information on a family and their location.  

Take the marker for the CHINN family, for instance, one of "Prince William County’s early African-American families."  The marker names several CHINNs as well as their association with the region.

Incidentally, the CHINN name pops up quite a bit in PWCo.  The Chinn Park Regional Library was named after Mary Jane Chinn, stating on their website that she "was born in 1827 and died in 1907. She is buried in the cemetery of Mt. Olive Baptist Church, still located on Telegraph Road in Woodbridge. Mary Jane and Tom Chinn were slaves who, after emancipation, purchased several hundred acres along what was formerly Davis Ford and Telegraph Roads in Woodbridge. They had eight sons."

The Chinn family is also associated with the Ben Lomond Historical Site, which will be one of the focal points of this year's 150th commemoration of the start of the Civil War.  Ben Lomond (also known as the PRINGLE house) was built in 1832 by Benjamin Tasker Chinn and Edmonia Carter Chinn and was used as a Confederate hospital during and after the Battle of First Manassas in July 1861.

Virginia Historical Society

If you're in Richmond, I highly recommend a visit to the Virginia Historical Society at 428 North Boulevard. 

In addition to special exhibits, the Society's collections "consist of a wide range of objects, including books and bound serials, Confederate imprints, sheet music, broadsides, newspapers, family and personal papers, business and organizational records, genealogical materials, maps, paintings, prints, postcards, weapons, militaria, glass plate negatives, and 19th - 21st century photographs."

You can search the catalog of the Society's collections by keyword(s) here.  Library materials can only be examined in the Society's reading room. An appointment or prior notification is not needed.

Outdated Medical Terminology

How many of us have encountered a confusing "cause of death" in their research? 

What is apoplexy?  In modern terminology, it means "stroke."

Ever heard of jail fever?  Possibly not, but I'm betting you have heard of typhus.

Here's a resource that comes in handy when reading those terms and others in old obituaries and death certificates:  Outdated Medical Terminology.

While you're at it, why not check out the Surgeon General's Family Health History Initiative, a national public health campaign "to encourage all American families to learn more about their family health history."

Website: Find A Grave

There are a number of cemetery transcription resources online, including Ron Turner's PWCVirginia.  One of my absolute favorites is Find A Grave.  Made up of volunteers, this site has been around for a while and has steadily grown in to one of the best sites for finding the final resting place of family, friends, and 'famous' individuals.

Find A Grave memorials can contain rich content including photos, biographies and dates.  Visitors can request a photo of a headstone from a specific cemetery and can leave 'virtual flowers' on the memorials they visit.

Find A Grave's stated purpose is to serve as a graves registration website and memorialization/remembrance site.  Anyone can register to be a Find A Grave volunteer.

For Prince William County specific cemeteries on the site, follow the link:  Findagrave PWCo cemeteries.

ETA:  I should probably add that Find A Grave is a FREE website.  You do not need to be registered to search the site or view the memorials.

Website: PWCo Virginia by Ronald Ray Turner

Anyone who's done research in Prince William County over the past 10+ years will easily recognize the name Ron Turner. It almost seems as if half of the books on the PWCo shelf in RELIC were authored by him.  Ron was transcribing, annotating, and sharing census and vital records with the public long before the Internet genealogy boom.

Ron now makes most of his publications available on his website at PWCVirginia, but there's so much more to explore!  You'll find links to his work documenting and transcribing the county cemeteries as well as businesses, structures, and miscellaneous papers and news articles. 

If you're researching a PWCo family or surname, Ron Turner's website is a great place to start.