Accomack County Probate Records

Accomac Shire was established in 1634 as one of the original eight shires of Virginia. The name comes from the Native American work Accawmack, meaning on the other side. In 1642 the name was changed to Northampton. Northampton was then divided into two counties in 1663. The northern section assumed the original Accomack name, the southern, Northampton. In 1670, the virginia Colony's Royal Governor William Berkeley abolished Accomack county, but the Virginia General Assembly re-created it in 1671. Several of the first will books were restored, however, many of the records remain illegible to the naked eye. For this reason, we omitted those. The indexes are provided in the event that you wish to write the clerk and try and obtain a legible copy.

Tithables : A Tax

The term "tithable" used during colonial days referred to a person who paid one of the taxes imposed by the General Assembly for the support of civil government in the colony. A poll tax or capitation tax was assessed on free white males, African American slaves and Native American servants (both male and female), all age sixteen or older. Owners and masters paid the taxes levied on their slaves and servants. Since Tithable lists do not enumerate anyone under the age of sixteen or any adult white woman (unless she was the head of household), the genealogist may review the laws published in Henings Statutes at Large to better understand who was considered tithable and how tithable lists were taken. In an attempt to stop fraud concerning the "yearly importation of people into the collonie," an act was passed in the House of Burgesses in 1649 requiring that all male servants imported into Virginia ("of what age soever") be placed on the tithable lists. Natives of the colony and those imported free who were under the age of sixteen were exempt. Ref: William W. Hening, ed. The Statutes at Large: Being a Collection of All the Laws of Virginia, from the First Session of the Legislature, in the Year 1619.

1674 | 1678 | 1679 | 1680 | 1681 | 1682 | 1683 | 1684 | 1685 | 1686 | 1687 | 1688 | 1689 | 1690 | 1691 | 1692 | 1693 | 1694 | 1695

Miscellaneous

• 1704 Quit Rents
• Minute Book 1896

Marriages published in The Genealogy Magazine: A Journal of American and British Ancestry.

• Robins, Obedience to Grace Waters 1634
• Waters, Grace to Obedience Robins 1634

Marriage Bonds 1784 to 1785

Marriage Bonds and License 1785-1787

Marriage Bonds and License 1787 to 1788

Marriage Bonds and License 1790 to 1791

Marriage Bonds and License 1792 to 1798

Transcripts

• Curtis, William, LWT (transcript)
• Scarburgh, Mary, Mrs., LWT (1691) (transcript)

Indexes to Probate Records

• Deeds, Wills, Estates, 1678 to 1682
• Deeds, Wills, Estates, 1682 to 1697
• Deeds, Wills, Estates, 1692 to 1715
• Deeds, Wills, Estates, 1715 to 1729
• Deeds, Estates, 1729-1737
• Deeds and Wills 1729-1737