BOONE COUNTY, WV HISTORY AND LOOKUP

County History Books

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Boone County, West Virginia: A Genealogical Overview

Nestled within the rugged Appalachian mountains of the southern West Virginia coalfields, Boone County’s identity is inextricably linked to the industry that carved communities into its narrow valleys. Its history is not one of sprawling plantations or major commercial centers, but of hardy pioneers, isolated “hollers,” and the explosive growth of company coal towns that drew thousands of new families to the region. For genealogists, research in Boone County is a journey into the heart of Appalachian culture and the powerful economic forces that shaped it.

I. County Formation and Evolution

Boone County was carved from three large, established Virginia counties, making research into its parent counties essential for tracing early pioneers.

  • 1847: County Formed: Boone County was officially created on March 11, 1847, by an act of the Virginia General Assembly, sixteen years before West Virginia achieved statehood.
  • Parent Counties: The county was formed from territory taken from Kanawha, Cabell, and Logan counties. Any research for ancestors living within the modern boundaries of Boone County prior to 1847 must be conducted in the records of these three parent counties.
  • Subsequent Formations: A portion of Boone County’s western territory was used to help form Lincoln County in 1867.
  • Name Origin: The county was named for Daniel Boone, the legendary frontiersman who lived in the nearby Kanawha Valley from 1788 to 1795.
  • County Seat History: The county seat was established at the time of the county’s formation and was originally known simply as Boone Court House. It was later incorporated as the town of Madison, named for James Madison, the fourth President of the United States. Madison has remained the county seat throughout its history.

II. Settlement and Early History

  • Early Inhabitants: The steep, heavily forested terrain was primarily used as a hunting ground by the Shawnee and Cherokee peoples. Permanent Native American settlements within the county’s boundaries were not common.
  • Pioneer Settlement: The first Anglo-American settlers, mostly of Scots-Irish, English, and German descent, began arriving in the late 1700s and early 1800s. They practiced subsistence farming on small plots of land in the narrow bottoms along the Big and Little Coal Rivers and their tributaries, living in relative isolation for decades.
  • The Coal and Railroad Boom: The county’s destiny was completely reshaped in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The extension of the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway (C&O) up the Coal River valleys opened the county’s rich coal seams to industrial mining. This sparked a massive population boom as thousands of workers—including native West Virginians, African Americans from the South, and immigrants from Southern and Eastern Europe—poured into the region.
  • Key Historical Events:
    • The Company Town: Life for the majority of Boone County residents revolved around the coal company town, where the company owned the houses, stores, schools, and churches, creating a unique and often restrictive social and economic system.
    • The Civil War: Loyalties in the mountainous county were divided between the Union and the Confederacy. The Battle of Turtle Creek, a notable local skirmish, was fought here in 1861.
    • West Virginia Mine Wars: While major events like the Battle of Blair Mountain took place in neighboring Logan County, Boone County was an active participant in the period of intense and often violent labor strife between miners and coal operators in the early 1920s.

III. Genealogical Records and Resources

Records are highly centralized in the county seat of Madison, with statewide resources available in nearby Charleston.

  • County Courthouse: The Boone County Courthouse, 200 State Street, Madison, WV 25130, is the primary repository for historical records.
    • County Clerk’s Office: This is the most important office for genealogists. It holds land records (deeds) from 1847, probate records (wills, inventories, and estate settlements), marriage records from 1847, and the county’s birth and death registers.
    • Circuit Court Clerk’s Office: This office maintains court case files, including law, chancery (equity), and criminal cases, as well as all divorce records.
  • Vital Records:
    • Birth and Death Records: West Virginia law required counties to begin keeping birth and death registers in 1853. While early compliance was inconsistent, records from this period forward are available at the County Clerk’s office. Statewide registration and the issuance of standardized certificates began in 1917.
    • Marriage Records: Marriage records from 1847 to the present are held by the County Clerk. Any marriages taking place before 1847 would have been recorded in the parent counties of Kanawha, Cabell, or Logan.
  • Libraries and Archives:
    • Boone-Madison Public Library: The library in Madison houses a local history and genealogy collection with resources on Boone County families.
    • Boone County Genealogical Society: An essential resource for anyone researching in the county, the society has published numerous cemetery transcriptions and other materials.
    • West Virginia Archives and History: Located in the Culture Center in Charleston (Kanawha County), this is the state’s premier research facility. It holds microfilm copies of nearly all surviving county records, state-level vital records, an extensive photograph and map collection, and comprehensive records on the state’s coal mining history.
  • Bordering Jurisdictions:
    • Kanawha County (north)
    • Raleigh County (east)
    • Wyoming County (south)
    • Logan County (southwest)
    • Lincoln County (west)

Please share any resources you have and will do lookups or links to resources you are aware of. Thanks