Genealogy

The Amherst County Museum & Historical Society operates a small genealogy library. It is free and open to the public during regular museum hours. For a description of the resources in the library, click here.

Research Policy

The museum has limited staff primarily for administrative responsibilities. While we can accommodate up to fifteen minutes of free research (whether by phone, letter, or email) we must ask that those who require more than fifteen minutes to please consider purchasing one of the research packages described below.

Services

The museum volunteers offer a genealogy research service for individuals who are not able to visit the museum in person. If you are interested in this service you can print out a genealogy request form to fill out and return to the museum.

Resources Available for Purchase

As a part of our museum gift shop, we make available several books and resources on Amherst County. Some which might be of interest to genealogists and historians are:

• Gravestone Inscriptions in Amherst County -- a detailed recording of gravestones in cemeteries across Amherst County.
• Amherst County Story -- a history of Amherst County written in 1961 by Alfred Percy.
• Amherst County Families and History -- compiled from Hardesty's atlas this contains infomation on Revolutionary and Civil War soldiers from Amherst County.
• From Days Gone By -- a compilation of new and reprinted articles about the Clifford area of Amherst County.
• Amherst Men in Gray -- by Robert Faught, tells the story of the Civil War units from Amherst County.
• Elijah Fletcher: Vermont Schoolmaster to Virginia Planter -- Ann Marshall Whitley reprinted this story of a Northerner's transformation into a Southern planter, originally written by Martha VonBriesen.
• Indiana Fletcher Williams of Sweet Briar -- Ann Marshall Whitley looks at the life of the woman who founded Sweet Briar College.
• Daisy Williams of Sweet Briar -- The series of Sweet Briar books ends with the life of Daisy Williams, for whom Sweet Briar College was founded.
• Ghost Stories and Mysteries of Sweet Briar -- Ann Marshall Whitley relates some of her favorite haunting tales of Sweet Briar.
• 1864 Confederate Engineers' Map of Amherst County -- This map shows many details of Amherst in 1864, including the names and locations of many prominent families. The Museum has created an index to the map

For an order form to purchase any of these resources click here.