Welcome to Jefferson County WV History and Genealogy Volunteers Dedicated to Free Genealogy This Site is Available for Adoption Our goal is to help you track your ancestors through time by transcribing genealogical and historical data for the free use of all researchers. We're looking for folks who share our dedication to putting data online and are interested in helping this project be as successful as it can be. If you are interested in joining Genealogy Trails, view our Volunteer Page for further information and then contact Kim. (Enough knowledge to make a basic webpage and a desire to transcribe data is required) We regret that we are unable to perform personal research for you. All data we come across will be added to this site. We thank you for visiting and hope you'll come back again to view the updates we make to this site. If you would like to be kept informed of our state and county website updates, subscribe to any or all of our mailing lists West Virginia is covered under our "Northeastern States" mailing list. Jefferson County was formed from Berkeley County in 1801 and named for Thomas Jefferson, author of the Declaration of Independence and third President of the United States. The county's courthouse was the site of the trial for the abolitionist John Brown after his 1859 raid on the federal armory in Harpers Ferry. Berkeley and Jefferson counties, both lying on the Potomac River east of the mountains, and with the consent of the Reorganized government of Virginia, voted in favor of annexation to West Virginia in 1863. Virginia tried to nullify this decision after the American Civil War, but the counties remained part of West Virginia. In October 1896, Jefferson became the first county in the United States to begin Rural Free Delivery service. The county seat is Charles Town View from Jefferson's Rock Picture by Jan Kronsell, 2004 Incorporated Towns & Cities * Corporation of Bolivar * City of Charles Town * Corporation of Harpers Ferry * Corporation of Ranson * Corporation of Shepherdstown Unincorporated Communities * Bakerton * Bardane * Blair * Bloomery * Blue Ridge Acres * Browns Corner * Clips Mill * Duffields * Egypt * Engle * Franklintown * Halltown * Jamestown * Johnsontown * Kabletown * Kearneysville * Keyes Ferry Acres * Leetown * Mannings * Mechanicstown * Mechlenberg Heights * Meyerstown * Middleway * Millville * Moler Crossroads * Mountain Mission * Reedson * Rippon * Riverside * Shannondale * Shenandoah Junction * Silver Grove * Skeetersville * Summit Point * Uvilla * Wheatland Jefferson County Online Data Online Data Biographies Births Cemeteries Census Church Histories/Records County Records Court Records Deaths Family Bibles History Marriages Military Newspapers Obituaries Schools Wills/Legal Records  Website Updates: Jan 2010: 1840 Census of Pensioners; Rev. War Data: Shepherdstown In The Olden Time ; The War In The West; The Expedition To Kentucky; Bios of all Officers And Privates Connected With Shepherdstown ; Muster Rolls: -- Capt. A. Shepherd's Company of Riflemen who volunteered in 1776; List of Men Raised by Henry Bedinger in 1776 ; Register of Recruits raised by Capt. Henry Bedinger in 1782-3; A little history of Shepherdstown; 1774-1781 Rent Rolls Aug 2009: Col. Moses Shepherd biography; DOUGLASS-RUTHERFORD marriage announcement May 2009: Harpers Ferry Raid; List of Cemeteries; Obituaries for ALLIBONE, AMES, AUGUR, BROWN, BURTON, CHAMBERS, DECK, FORDAY, GARDNER, HINKLE, JOLLY, LAVAL, LEESON, LEMMON, MARMION, MATER, MCGUIRE, MERRIAM, MILLS, MOUNTFORT, NEWCOMER, PIPER, RILEY, RUSSELL, SARBAUGH, SEAMAND, WALSH, WRIGHT; Civil War News Item Harper's Ferry Fire Surrounding Counties Washington County, Maryland (north) Loudoun County, Virginia (east) Berkeley County (northwest) Clarke County, Virginia (southwest) Back to WV Genealogy Trails Back to Genealogy Trails Copyright © Genealogy Trails All data on this website is Copyright by Genealogy Trails with full rights reserved for original submitters.