Mercer County, Virginia looking for information on county formations

+8 votes
206 views

Okay...working on documenting a profile where the gentleman died in Mercer County, Virginia in 1861.

Name: Aaron Dehart
Birth Date: abt 1800
Birth Place: Patrick County, Virginia
Death Date: Dec 1861
Death Place: Mercer County, Virginia
Death Age: 61
Occupation: Farmer
Race: White
Marital Status: Married
Gender: Male
Father Name: Elijah Dehart
Mother Name: Mary Dehart
Spouse Name: Tama Dehart
FHL Film Number: 2048578

 

 

I know there were TWO Virginia counties named after General Hugh Mercer of Fredricksburg...one in 1795 which eventually became Mercer Co. Ky and one in 1837 which eventually became Mercer Co, W.Virginia. What I have been unable to locate is in what year each of these counties became NOT Virginia and became the state they now reside in.  Aaron's certificate lists Mercer Co., Virginia as his death location and I would like to be able to clarify more definitively which actual Mercer County, he died in. If one or the other became their respective new state before 1861 then it would clarify location. I've googled without much luck so hoping someone on here is more versed in that particular area and the county changes that happened and when they occurred.

WikiTree profile: Aaron Dehart
in Genealogy Help by Sandra Shannon G2G6 Mach 1 (11.1k points)
retagged by Keith Hathaway
http://www.mapofus.org/virginia/

push play and a little video will happen that shows when the counties formed, there's more good stufff like that in Kitty's Library

http://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Space:Kitty%27s_Library

4 Answers

+2 votes
 
Best answer

I understand your problem; I & 99% of my ancestors post-Revolution are all from what is now WV. To answer your exact question, Kentucky became a separate state in 1792, so anything after that would be labeled Mercer Co. KY. West Virginia officially became a state on June 20, 1863. Every county in what is now WV would be labeled as VA until that date. So your records tell me that this person died in what is now Mercer Co. WV. Since the date is 1861, you should be able to find a death record for this person on the WV Culture & History web site at: wvculture.org/vrr/. WV counties started keeping vital records in 1853; not all of them are online yet, but most are. The initial search page for the VRR lists which records are available by county.

by Kitty Linch G2G6 Mach 4 (43.1k points)
selected by Kitty Linch

Here is the project page for the West Virginia one:

We'll need to make a new project for Kentucky.
+1 vote
These transition periods are such a challenge. Here are a couple links that might be helpful - I didn't actually follow through to find the answer though.  USGenWeb page had links to both Mercers in their defunct section:  http://usgwarchives.net/va/defunct.htm

And this article about KY ancestors has some insight into how dates affect our research  

http://kentuckyancestors.org/researchingkygenealogy/
by Patricia Roche G2G6 Pilot (779k points)
+2 votes

This site is my absolute fav for Virginia counties (which are very, very convoluted!)  http://homepages.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~george/countyformations/virginiaformationmaps.html  Good luck!

by Cynthia B G2G6 Pilot (138k points)
+1 vote
You can find a list of Counties in West Virginia by going to the West Virginia Sate Archives:   http://wvculture.org/vrr

At the very very top in the blue is ‘Archives and History.’  Select that and scroll down to the second title, below the photo, to ‘History Center’ and select that and each county will be listed, showing the dates of their formation and other data.

While you are there, go to the Birth, Marriage and Death databases there and you should find the death record.

Kathryn Spencer
by Kathryn Spencer G2G6 Mach 1 (11.0k points)

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