site for the WVGenWeb Project, part of the USGenWeb Project, a massive undertaking to provide free resources for genealogists. Jefferson County was formed in 1801 from part of Berkeley County in what was then Virginia and was named for Thomas Jefferson, author of the Declaration of Independence and the third president of the United States. The county seat is Charles Town where 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. Read more about John Brown's raid on the Jefferson County Civil War Page. NOTE: It has been brought to our attention that archive information previously available here has been moved to another server, which has created a number of invalid links on these pages. Please bear with us as changes are being made to those links as well as to surnames and family pages. Thank you — Coordinator/Webmaster UPDATED 14 July 2009 Please pardon our dust! This site is in the process of being updated with new links and information. Hello Jefferson County researchers. My name is Marilyn Gouge and I am the new volunteer coordinator of this site. All of the GenWeb pages are maintained by volunteers who know how important it is to find information when you are not close to the areas of your ancestors. In the coming weeks I will be updating broken links, contacting researchers to ensure the addresses given on the Surnames, Lookups, and Jefferson County webpages within this site are as current as they can be. If you have a website you previously listed and that site has changed locations, please notify me. Also, if you see your name on the Suurnames Page and when you click on it, the incorrect address comes up, please notify me. Please do not email me to do research for you. I don't live in Jefferson County or even close to it (though my paternal ancestors are from Jefferson and Berkeley counties), so I am not able to go to the courthouse or visit the library there or even recommend places to stay. Resources within your own area could include the Family History Centers; most public records are on microfilm from the Family Hisotry Center Salt Lake City Library and can be "borrowed" for a small fee. Look through the pages here. There are already a number of links listed that will take you to the courthouse, libraries, etc. and I will be including additional sites for gathering information, either through the internet or by writing to agencies. Please check back with us; changes will be taking place. Thanks for your patience. Search — Coming Soon! NOTE: This is a FREE genealogy service. Some subscription services may be linking to this site as part of their fee. Unauthorized use of contents of this site for profit or commercial venture is expressly prohibited. Copyright © 2006-2009 by Marilyn Gouge © 2003-2005 by Stacy Moorhead Last Updated 13 July 2009 "