Orange County was formed on 1 Jan. 1734/35 from the western part of Spotsylvania County. It was named for William IV, Prince of Orange-Nassau, who married Anne, daughter of George II in 1734--the same year the county was created. At the time of its establishment, Orange County's jurisdiction included all Virginia lands west of the Blue Ridge as far as the Mississippi River, and some early records of settlers in the Shenandoah Valley can be found in the court records in Orange. In 1738 Orange's western and northern portions were taken to create Augusta and Frederick counties, respectively. However, lack of sufficient population to support the county tithe resulted in neither of these new counties being able to function as political units until the mid-1740s. Culpeper County was cut off from Orange in 1749. The final subdivision of Orange came in 1838 with the creation of Greene County. Since that time Orange has preserved its current boundaries.
The first permanent settlement of the region occurred in 1714, while Orange was still part of Spotsylvania. Governor Alexander Spotswood imported thirteen German families of iron workers from Westphalia to work his iron ore mines at Germanna. Subsequent groups of German workers brought over in 1717 and 1726 swelled this group, and many of these families later moved to nearby counties and eventually spread throughout the state and country.
Orange's records are complete and most records are available on microfilm. However, early marriage records (pre-1750), early church records, and few birth and death records exist. Almost all of the county's records are available at the Historical Society (see below) and the Library of Virginia. the Historical Society possesses large vertical file holdings which are invaluable to genealogical researchers.
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ORANGE CO., VA ORDER BOOK ONE, 1734-1739: PART ONE, 1734-1736
Barbara Vines Little. 1990, iv, 114 pages. Orange County was an early parent county for many of the western
counties in Virginia, including Augusta and its eighty later subdivisions. This transcription of the first part of
Orange's first order book was made from the original manuscript housed in the Orange County Circuit Court
Clerk's Office. A full index is provided.
For more records pertaining to ORANGE COUNTY, VIRGINIA see also:
To order by phone, call 1-706-546-6740 M-F 8a-6p EST.
Copyright © 2006 New Papyrus Publishing Company
[Org1] $15.00
Orange Co. 1815 Directory of Landowners
by Roger G. Ward. 2005. 28 pages, map, 5 1/2X8 1/2.
For a full description of the 1815 LAND DIRECTORY Records and a listing of available counties, see:
Individual County Booklets, 1815 Directory of Virginia Landowners
[Vd78] $7.00
Orange Co. Revolutionary Public Claims
transcribed by Janice L. Abercrombie and Richard Slatten.. 2005. 68 pages, 5 1/2X8 1/2.
For a full description of the Virginia Revolutionary Public Claims and a listing of available counties, see:
Revolutionary "Publick" Claims series
[Pc52] $8.25
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