Reading the Magazine of Virginia Genealogy – Cover to Cover

The Magazine of Virginia Genealogy is a quarterly publication of the Virginia Genealogical Society (VGS) and contains transcriptions/abstractions of original unpublished manuscript material and county or state records that are not easily accessible focusing on material created prior to 1850. It also includes articles that demonstrate the use of unusual records, correct previously published genealogies, document migration into or out of Virginia, or present families from burned record counties using a variety of records as well as Bible and tombstone records and references to Virginians in other states.

What’s inside?

Over the years I’ve developed a process for reading the Magazine from cover to cover. I start with the table of contents then move to the inside back cover which often contains interesting tidbits that researchers have stumbled across in various records. For example, the family bible of Peter Taylor (deceased) and his wife Elizabeth was recorded in a Norfolk County minute book on 21 October 1843.¹ Or, Susan Sparks, age 47, labeled a lunatic and languishing in the Washington County jail in 1837.² Sometimes references to Virginia residents are found in records of other states such as the will of Hugh Scott of Wilkes County, North Carolina, who names “Archabold Oston of the State of Virginia [sic] in Buckingham County” in his 1787 will.³

Then, it’s on to the Editor’s notes about the issue where Barbara Vines Little, CG^®, FNGS, FUGA, FVGS, provides words of wisdom for researchers and a brief synopsis of the articles in the issue. Sometimes she also includes information about related records as well as tips for locating and searching those records. If you don’t read this section, you will miss a tremendous amount of valuable information! If you haven’t made it a habit to read this section in the past, I highly recommend pulling your back issues off the shelf and doing so immediately.

Next, I read the introduction to the articles that provide abstracts or transcriptions of records – not just skim them looking for my ancestral surnames. If the records are for a county that you’re not interested in, read the introduction anyway! Those same records may also be available for counties you are interested in, and when you find those records you’ll know something about them. For example, what were the requirements for naturalization in Virginia?⁴ Or, what did the law say about tithables?⁵ Do you know who George Harrison Sanford King was and what’s in his card file?⁶

Publication History

VGS, formed 7 October 1960, published several occasional bulletins between June 1961 and January 1963 when it began serial publication of the Virginia Genealogical Society Quarterly Bulletin issued in January, April, July and October. This title ran for seven volumes. Volume 8 (1970) was renamed the Virginia Genealogical Society Quarterly. A magazine format was adopted in 1971 and ran through Volume XVIII, followed by three volumes issued as The Quarterly of the Virginia Genealogical Society. The title, Magazine of Virginia Genealogy, and publication sequence (February, May, August, November) were adopted in February 1984 with volume 22. Since that date, the magazine has attained a printed page count of approximately 320 pages per volume, not counting its index.

Where can I find copies of the Magazine?

All issues of the Magazine are available in PDF on the VGS website in the members’ only section. The individual PDFs are searchable. The table of contents pages for all issues are available to everyone as a downloadable, searchable PDF located under the Publications tab. A searchable table of contents table is also available and contains links to individual Magazine issues. The individual issues are only available to VGS members, and you must be logged into the website to access them. Click on Publications and then Magazine of Virginia Genealogy.

Volumes 1-40 of the Magazine are available to search on Ancestry under the catalog listing Virginia Genealogical Society Quarterly. This requires an Ancestry subscription.

VGS has a very limited supply of printed back issues (volumes 51, 52, 54, 55, and 57-59). Please contact admin@vgs.org to the determine availability and price of a particular issue. Heritage Books has a limited supply of printed back issues for volumes 21 through 40. VGS members receive a 15% discount on orders placed through the Heritage Books website using the VGS discount code. To obtain the discount code, log into the VGS website, click on Member Login, and then Partner Discounts.

Many libraries subscribe to the Magazine. So, check with the county, state, and university libraries near you.

Information in this blog post is current as of 9 January 2023.

References

1
Sharon Rae Gable, “Bible Records in a County Minute Books: The Taylors of Norfolk County,” Magazine of Virginia Genealogy 59 (February 2021): ibc1.
2
Teresa Kelley, “Washington County Lunatic,” Magazine of Virginia Genealogy 41 (August 2003): ibc2.
3
Marty Hiatt, “A Buckingham County Connection,” Magazine of Virginia Genealogy 53 (November 2015): ibc4.
4
Joicey Haw Lindsay, “Henrico County, Virginia, Naturalizations 1844-1858,” Magazine of Virginia Genealogy 22 (May 1984): 12.
5
Robert Clay Young, “Amelia County, Virginia Tithables, 1737,” Magazine of Virginia Genealogy 34 (Fall 1996): 345.
6
Susan Chiarello, “George Harrison Sanford King’s Card File,” Magazine of Virginia Genealogy 45 (February 2007): 5.