Genealogy

Genealogy

Whether you’re just beginning to explore your roots or are far along in your search to find your ancestors, there’s something for you at Augusta County Library.


Special Collections

A portion of the nonfiction collection on the main floor of the Fishersville Library hosts the library’s special collection related to local history and families. These titles are listed in our catalog with an SC designation.  Holdings include: 

  • Obituaries
  • Out of Print and Rare Books 
  • Maps
  • City Directories
  • Local and Regional History Books
    Family Records
  • Microfilm of Local Newspapers (historic and current)

Ancestry.com

Library visitors have free access to our subscription to Ancestry.com when they visit any ACL location. Discover long-lost relatives, look at original documents, and find out more about your family. Please note, Ancestry is only available for free when you are in the library.

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HeritageHub

Explore your family history with the premier collection of U.S. obituaries and death notices for in-depth genealogical research from 1704 – today. HeritageHub helps you easily identify relatives, and uncover new information and potentially unknown family members. Includes deep coverage from all 50 states, hard-to-find content from the mid-1900s, and original obituary images. Access is available 24/7.


Genealogy Roundtable

The Fishersville Library’s Genealogy Roundtable meets quarterly on Saturdays to discuss specific research topics. See our program schedule for the next meeting date and topic.


Augusta County Genealogical Society

The Augusta County Genealogical Society’s Library is located in the mezzanine level of the Fishersville Library and is open to the public for free from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Tuesdays, Thursdays, & Saturdays or by appointment.

(Due to COVID, the Genealogical Society may not be available during their normal hours. Please call to verify that their office is open before coming in.)

Call them directly at (540) 885-1991. During scheduled hours, one of their volunteers will answer; when the library is closed, leave a message and they will return your call at their earliest convenience.Augusta County Genealogical Society logo

Since its founding, the ACGS has maintained a library of various literature that is useful in doing research. Included in this collection are periodicals, pamphlets, manuscripts, individual family records, and more:

  • Obituary books for selected years from 1935-2006 
  • Augusta County church histories
  • Cemetery listings
  • Augusta County marriage licenses starting in 1851
  • Family histories
  • Research files of Rev. Elswick

Learn more at the ACGS website.


More Genealogy and History Resources:

American Memory Project

A project of the Library of Congress, the American Memory site is a digital archive of “written and spoken words, sound recordings, still and moving images, prints, maps, and sheet music that document the American experience.”

Chronicles of the Scotch-Irish Settlement in Virginia

An online version of the 3 volume book by Lyman Chalkey which is extracted from the Original Court Records of Augusta County, Virginia from 1745 to 1800.

Census Online

Images of census records from 1790 through 1930, along with Confederate soldier records. This is a quick link to records for Augusta County, Virginia, but other records are available as well.

Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers

This is a site produced by the National Digital Newspaper Program that provides free access to select digitized newspaper pages and a wealth of information about historic American newspapers held in libraries across the country.

Cyndi’s List of Genealogy Sites Online

A trusted genealogy research site for more than 18 years, Cyndi’s List is meant to be your starting point when researching online.

DAR Ancestor Search

This collection provides access to the many materials amassed by the Daughters of the American Revolution since its founding in 1890.

Document Bank of Virginia (DBVa)

A collection of digitized historical documents spanning the beginning of the Americas to the present day. You can search by time period or subject, such as the Great Depression, WWII, African American or Native American History, and more.

Family Search

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints provides an online search of the millions of names in its International Genealogical Index and of genealogical records and family histories.

Find a Grave

Find A Grave is a free resource for finding the final resting places of famous folks, friends, and family members.

History by Era

The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History has developed this gateway to source materials, essays, lesson plans, and presentations organized by era. Augusta County Library is a Public Library Affiliate of The Gilder Lehrman Institute.

How to Research Your Historic Property

This publication from the Virginia Department of Historic Resources provides information about online and physical resources that will help reveal the history of your historic property.

Local History Pinterest Board

Our librarians share maps, articles, and photographs relating to the history of Augusta County and the surrounding area.

National Archives

The Nation’s Record Keeper has many online collections that include written and photographic documents that illustrate our country’s history as well as land, census, and immigration records that are very useful for genealogy work.

One-Step Webpages by Steve Morse

This site contains tools for finding immigration records, census records, and vital records, and for dealing with calendars, maps, foreign alphabets, and numerous other applications. Some of these tools fetch data from other websites but do so in more versatile ways than the search tools provided on those websites.

Peyton’s History of Augusta County, Virginia

An online version of this book from 1882.

Rootsweb: Augusta County Resources

Maps, cemetery listings, family histories, and more.

Soldiers & Sailors Database

This National Park Service site lets you view military records of both individuals and units, and provides information on national cemeteries.

The Statue of Liberty & Ellis Island Foundation

Search their database of more than 51 million immigrant records and read passenger stories.

Valley of the Shadow

Created by the University of Virginia Library and the Virginia Center for Digital History, this site lets you explore thousands of letters, diaries, and newspapers chronicling people living in Augusta County, Virginia, and Franklin County, Pennsylvania, from John Brown’s Raid through Reconstruction.

Virginia Memory

Virginia Memory is part of the online presence of the Library of Virginia, the state archives and reference library at the seat of government for the Commonwealth of Virginia. Established in 1823, the Library maintains vast and varied collections of print materials, manuscripts, archival records, newspapers, photographs and ephemera, maps and atlases, rare books, and fine art that tell the history of the commonwealth and its people. Since the mid-1990s, the Library has digitized parts of the collections in an effort to make its materials more widely available.

Waddell’s Annals of Augusta County, Virginia, 1726 to 1871

A digitized version of this classic book, originally published in 1902.

 

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