Franklin County Court House
Clerk of the Circuit Court's Office
Alice Hall, Clerk of the Circuit Court
275 Main Street
Rocky Mount, Virginia 24088
Records in this Court House begin in 1786, when Franklin County was formed.
I can say from personal experience this is one of the most researcher-friendly
Court Houses in the country. Copies are 50 cents per page {except for oversize records like surveys and Land Books, which are $1} and on an honor system,
pay before you leave.
If you park in the parking lot in the back of the Court House you can go in the back door, down the hall and turn left at the end of the hall. That elevator will take you to the 2nd Floor. Turn right as you get off the elevator and the first door on the right is the Clerk's Office.
If you park on the street and go in on the street level, do not take an elevator, you are on the right level, the 2nd floor.
If you enter from the parking lot and use the elevator, as you enter the office you will find the Clerks working behind a counter on your right. To the left, you will find an open area that contains the Will Books, Order Books, Marriage Records and other odds and ends. Deeds will be found in the main room, along with surveys, plats, etc.
The water fountains, a public telephone and bathrooms will be found by going straight through the main room to the far end of the hall. The pictures by the elevator in this hall show Confederate Veteran's Reunions, dates and other information is not known.
There are no birth or death records for any county in Virginia prior to 1853. There are no birth or death records available between 1896 and 1912. Only the cities of Hampton, Newport News, Norfolk and Richmond have birth and death records between 1896 and 1912.
In 1904 the Virginia Constitution was changed and the Circuit and County Courts were consolidated.
Court Order Books, Minute Books and Supervisor's Books
There are several different sets of books and some have an index in each book. There is a separate set of Indexes in black binders for the early Order Books.
Binder #1 actually contains the records for 1786 thru 1789 but it is not indexed.
Court Order Books
The Court Order Books contain sketchy information at the best. They will give some details of a case but not as much as anyone would like to have. Surviving papers from these cases can be ordered from the Archives in Richmond, where they are filed under "Determined Papers". You need to know the date of the final decree,
that is how they are filed. These papers are on microfilm and can be obtained by interlibrary loan.
Chancery, Court Order and Minute Books
Chancery Order Books, A-Z and 27 thru 54 - 1831 thru December 1985
Common Law Order Book, No. 8 - October 1831 thru September 1842
Common Law Order Book, Nos. 9 thru 70 - October 1842 thru December 1985
Order Book No. 1 Superior Court - 1810-1823
Order Book No. 2 Superior Court - 1824-1831
Minute Book, No #, District Court - 1801-1807
Order Book, No. 5, {no other name} - 1806-1811
Order Book No. #, {no other name} - 1824-1828
Order Book Nos. 1 through 5, District Court - 1789 thru 1809
Order Book Nos. 6 & 7 {no other name} - 1811-1822
Order Book No. 8 Minute Book - 1822-1824
Order Book No. 9, {no other name} -1824-1828
Order Books No. 10 thru 24 {no other name} June 1830 thru January 1904
Order Book No.1 {no other name} - 1788-1789
Order Book No. 2 {no other name} - 1789-1793
Even though all the Court Order Books appear to be on the shelf in numerical order, there is a "gap" in time for these records. The books for the years 1836-1856 have been lost and replaced by "Minute Books". There are 4 of these Minute Books and they are found in another area, near the copy machine. There is a counter there and these books are on the left side, closest to the copy machine.
Supervisor's Order Books
These books number 1 through 22 and contain the minutes of the meetings of the Supervisors, however book #2 appears to be missing.
Land Books
The term "Land Books" is deceptive, it actually refers to property tax records for the years 1851 thru 1878. These records are on microfilm, found in the back of the small area, on the wall to the right of the Order Books. This microfilm can be viewed and printed on the machine that is close by there, it cannot be viewed or printed on the other machines, due to the size of the pages. Copies from this machine are $1 per page.
These records are sorted by year, district, then alphabetically by surname.
Marriage Records
The Marriage Bond Book contains the names of persons married between 1787-1853. A marriage bond was required, similar to a license, but does not contain information other than the names of the parties to the marriage and the person who put up surety for the marriage. Some may have a signature of a witness. If a person was not of age to be married they were required to have permission from their parents, often referred to as a "permission slip". If there was one it can be found on the microfilm, following the marriage bond. There are instances of women signing their own agreement to being married.
The Marriage Bond Book does not contain any information on relationships, it only gives the names of the persons married, dates and ministers. The front index lists the Males alphabetically by surname, not sorted and shows the page number.
The Females are listed the same way, showing the page where their name will appear under the listing for the Males. However, if you know the name of the Male you can go directly to the body of the book and the names there are in easier order to follow.
For the time from 1853 to June 1987 there are General Index to Marriages books, separate ones for Males and Females. These names were entered as they were reported and listed by the surname, alphabetically.
Marriage Register Book No. 1 was divided into 3 separate books, but in the Index it is referred to only as No. 1:
Book 1 contains pages 1-106
Book 2, pages 107 - 206
Book 3, pages 207-318.
Marriage Register Book No. 2 covers 1898-1915 and so on through book No. 6.
I could not find Book No. 7, Book No. 8 begins the row of books that are on the top of the shelf.
Once you determine the date of the marriage you can find a copy of the bond or license on microfilm. The microfilm contains copies of all the bonds and licenses until the last few years when everything has been put on the computer. There are missing licenses for some of the years between 1853-1856, they are said to have been lost in a fire.
Caution: the new microfilm readers do not produce a good copy of these old records. You may have to try to print the document several times, adjusting the settings. You only have to pay for the copy you keep, not the ones that do not turn out.
Wills
The Will Book Index will be found in the counter standing in the small, open area, on your right as you face the counter. The wills and other pertinent papers are listed by surname, but the names are not sorted alphabetically. Some names are grouped together, and most entries were made in the order in which the will was filed. However, some will appear to be out of order. Some entries were made for a will
and then farther down the list you might find entries for other related documents.
The Will Books will begin on the opposite side of the counter and wrapping back around to the Index. Current wills, as with other records, will be found on the computers. Will Book 2ct is a book that contains information that was not included in other books when the Will Books were bound.
Many people did not make a will but had property and heirs and all that can be found now are settlement papers. A person who made a will appointed an Executor, a person without a will had an Administrator appointed by the Court.
Some Guardianship records will be found in the Will Books, showing what money
the Guardian paid on behalf of their Ward. There were never any separate Guardianhship books.
Deeds
Deeds and the Indexes to Deeds are found in the main room of the Clerk's Office.
As you face the far wall, with the Clerk's counter on your right the Indexes will be found on the left wall.
The deeds are cross-indexed by Grantee {buyer} and Grantor {seller}.
It is a good idea to check both sets for surnames.
The surnames are listed alphabetically, but not sorted. Some of the pages are continued on other pages in the back of the book, this will be noted by the page number at the very bottom of the page.
Records can be found where property was purchased prior to the formation of Franklin County and sold later, only the deed for the sale will be found here,
not the purchase. The purchase deed will be found in whatever county that parcel was considered a part of prior to 1786.
When dealing with the older deeds we found that sometimes a parcel could pass through several generations before a new deed was made. This is unlike today when a new deed has to be made when a person dies or the property changes hands.
Other interesting things can be found in the Deed Books, as in Deed Book 125.
A list of men who served from Franklin County in the Civil War was created by
Miss Essie Wade Smith, a Librarian, and brought to the Court House to be recorded. The Clerk did not know exactly what to do with this information and recorded it in that Deed Book. This list was made many years after the war and although it is a wonderful resource, it does not contain every name and some of the men named served under a different county's unit.
Plat Books
Plat Books 1 and 2 will be found on the far wall, at the end of the Deed Books.
The other Plat Books will be found on the large table in the middle of the room.
Current year Plat Books are on the table just past the copy machine, with one set
of indexes listed by surname and alphabetically sorted and the other set sorted numerically by tax ID number.