Missing Documents
Due to the historic context of the colony, and later state, of Virginia, there are a large number of Virginia counties that are missing some or all documents from entire decades or even centuries of their records. This could have been due to a number of causes. Regardless, the reality of missing documents in Virginia is an unfortunate fact facing researchers. There are examples of a secondary source that indicates a manumission occurred, but the corresponding document has been lost to war, fire, flood, or some other negative externality. Knowing which counties are missing documents can help explain why some counties in our database have only a small number of documents available or appear to be missing documents, or why certain counties will sadly not have any manumission documents available.
The list below is taken from the Library of Virginia outlining the counties that have missing courthouse documents. Some counties represent a total loss, while others may be missing specific years. For more in depth information on specific counties see this link: http://vacountyseats.com/burnedrecordcounties.html or this one: https://lva-virginia.libguides.com/lost-records
Here is a simple list of counties known to be missing records:
Accomack, Albemarle, Appomattox, Bland, Botetourt, Brunswick, Buchanan, Buckingham, Caroline, Charles City, Craig, Culpeper, Dinwiddie, Elizabeth City, Fairfax, Gloucester, Greene, Hanover, Henrico, Isle of Wight, James City County, Williamsburg, King and Queen, King George, King William, Lee, Mathews, Mecklenburg, Middlesex, Nansemond, New Kent, Northumberland, Nottoway, Prince George, Prince William, Richmond County, Rockingham, Russell, Spottsylvania, Stafford, Surry, Warwick, Washington, Westmoreland, York