Orange

Orange County Genealogy, Wills, Estates, Marriages, Maps, Virginia Probate Records

Orange County was created in 1738 from Augusta County, Virginia. It was named in honor of William, the Prince of Orange, who in that year married Anne, Princess Royal of England. Orange County is known as having been the largest Virginia county ever formed. Orange covered a vast territory extending from its present eastern boundary west to the Mississippi River and north to the Great Lakes. The states of Ohio, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, and West Virginia were once part of Orange County.

The 17th Century Flintlock Provided Food for the Table

Virginians thought of themselves and living more splendidly than their families in England. For example, bacon was considered by impartial foreign judges to be equal to the taste of bacon in the most celebrated city in the world for that age, Westphalia. While animals such as cows and sheep were allowed to run loose in the woods until slaughter, the countryside supplied fowl, ducks, turkeys, fish, and other natural resources. To keep his family fed, the planter hunted. The flintlock was used to hunt the game. One of the wealthiest planters in the colony, Ralph Wormeley, owned 21 guns, five of which were fowling pieces. The gun was a necessary commodity in colonial days, whether it be for food or protection against the marauding Indian tribes which plagued colonists. Sources: Clayton’s Virginia, p. 36, Middlesex County, vol. 1698-1713, p. 128.
Marriages
  • Marriages 1747-1810 (Watson to Waugh)
  • Original Marriage Bonds 1775 to 1786 (no index)
  • Original Marriage Bonds 1787 to 1791 (no index)
Maps

1736 Beverley Patent (map of names)

Miscellaneous Records
  • Births 1751 to 1766
  • Deed Books 1, 2 (1735-8), 2 misc. pages
  • Deed Book 3, (3 misc. pages)
  • Deed Book 20, 1 misc. page
Indexes to Probate Records
  • Index to Wills and Inventories 1735 to 1744
  • Index to Wills and Inventories 1744 to 1778
Digital Images of Wills 1735 to 1744

Names of Testators: Calvert, John | Curtiss, Mary | Griffin, John | Hanslee, Samuel | Jennings, John | Kanady, John | Lightfoot, John | Mallory, Roger | Naylor, Ann | Nicholas, John | Perkins, Elisha | Rhodes, William | Rucker, John | Rucker, Peter | Smith, Augustus | Smith, Elizabeth | Smith, William | Spotswood, Alexander | Stanton, Thomas | Strother, Jeremiah | Watts, Robert

Digital Images of Wills 1744 to 1748

Testators: Banks, Girard | Barnett, John | Beale, Elizabeth | Beale, Richard | Beale, Taverner | Beasley, Bennett | Bell, Roger | Bohannon, Duncan | Boston, John | Bradburn, Sarah | Bradbourne, William | Bramham, John | Brockman, John | Brockman, Samuel | Brown, Daniel | Bryson, John | Burk, Philip | Bush, John | Campbell, Thomas | Campbell, William | Carpenter, William W. C. | Catlett, John | Cave, Benjamin | Cave, David | Cavenaugh, Philemon | Chiles, Anna | Chiles, Malachi | Coleman, James | Collins, John | Cox, William | Coyne, Edward | Coyne, Elizabeth | Crosthwart, Timothy | Davis, Berreman | Dawson, Robert | Deering, Richard | Duglass, Robert | Earley, John | Easlin, Philip | Embry, William | Eve, Joseph | Faulker, William | Finleson, John | Fleet, Weedom | Frazier, Alexander | George, Samuel | Goodall, Charles | Gore, John | Green, Robert | Hansford, Charles | Harper, Samuel | Harris, Esther | Hawkins, Moses | Hawkins, William | Hughes, Thomas Sr. | Jackson, Thomas | James, Samuel | Johnson, William | Jones, John | Ker, Jacob | Kindel, William | Lathom, John | Lindon, Benjamin | Lucas, John | Lucas, William | Mallory, John | Managham, Daniel | Martain, Henry | McHenry, John | Merry, Thomas | Monroe, William | Moore, Bernard | Morton, William | Pettey, John | Plunkett, John | Pollard, William | Porter, Benjamin | Powell, James | Powell, Simon | Pratt, William | Price, Ayalon | Rhodes, Hezekiah | Riddel, William | Roach, James | Rolen, Edward | Shillern, William | Sisson, Bryan | Smith, Ambrose | Smith, Edward | Sneidor, Henry | Spicer, Ranaser | Stephens, William | Strothers, Sarah | Taylor, Hancock | Taylor, Martha | Thomas, Joseph | Turbervile, Sarah | Walker, Thomas | Walls, Esther | Webb, Milley | Willheit, Michael | Williams, Francis | Wisdom, John | Woolfolk, Joseph | Zimmerman, Christopher

Online Images of Wills, Inventories, Accounts, Deeds (names not listed due to space)
  • 1744-1778, Bk 2
  • 1778-1801
  • 1801-1814
Traced genealogies and family histories of Orange County are available to Members!
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