Shenandoah County was first called Dunmore County, and it was formed from the southern portion of Frederick County in 1772. As was the custom for many new counties, it was named for the sitting governor of the colony, John Murray, Earl of Dunmore. However, during the Revolution, the Governor's Loyalist stance caused the name to be changed to Shenandoah, probably for the early Indian name of the Great River which flowed through the valley. In 1831 a portion of Shenandoah was cut off to form part of Page County. In 1836 another portion was taken to form part of Warren County.
Like most other valley counties, settlement began early, during the 1730s, consisting of both German elements and a few Scotch-Irish. But the Germanic element predominated in this region, and German was the native language until well into the nineteenth century. No better evidence of this is available than Reverend Peter Muhlenberg, the rector of the Established church's Beckford Parish. Muhlenberg had been brought from Pennsylvania by the parish vestry specifically because of his ability to preach both in English and German to the Anglican churches in the region.
Shenandoah's fertile vallies provided grain to the commercial markets of Fredericksburg and Alexandria for decades, but during the Civil War, it attracted the attention of the Federal forces. General Philip Sheridan was sent raiding through the Valley in what has come to be called by local residents as "The Burning", and many of the old German farms were razed. However, the fertility of the soil could not be destroyed, and the county recovered quickly from the ravages of war.
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DESCENDANTS OF A SHENANDOAH COUNTY GERMAN IMMIGRANT: JOHANN GEORGE WIEN (WINE)
compiled by Thomas M. Spratt. 1993, v, 355 pages,
index. The author has completed a painstaking and thorough examination of the descendants of Johan George
Wine, who was one of the early eighteenth century immigrants to the Shenandoah family. Each descendant
is researched as to children, spouse and their parents, dates of births, marriages, and deaths, for each, and a
plethora of other valuable information. This is a masterful and definitive work on this important Shenandoah
family.
A SHENANDOAH COUNTY PIONEER & DESCENDANTS: MATTHIAS SHEETZ (SCHUTZ)
compiled by Thomas M. Spratt. 1993, v, ca. 166 pages, index. Matthias Sheetz and his family arrived in America
in 1732 at Philadelphia, and later migrated to Shenandoah County after 1754, settling west of Woodstock on
Narrow Passage Creek. The author traces the descendants of this couple (Matthias married Barbara
Nunnemacher (1748) to the present. He includes, whenever possible adjunct information on the family
members, including military service records from the War Between the States. Like the title above, this is a
thoroughly-researched, definitive work.
SHENANDOAH COUNTY, VIRGINIA MEN IN GRAY
compiled by Thomas M. Spratt. 2 volumes, 1992, xix, 902 pages, index. This massive
undertaking not only reproduces the service record of the Confederate soldiers from Shenandoah
County who served in all the theaters of combat, but it also gives extremely valuable information
regarding the soldier's family. whenever possible, the author has searched out birth and death
dates, as well as places when known; the wife's name and her vital statistics; parents' names;
children, and their spouses, and a wealth of other miscellaneous information. Several appendices
contain the soldiers' names with their unit designations for quick reference; soldiers buried in the
county; a listing of county cemeteries with finding directions; and an extensive bibliography.
For more records pertaining to SHENANDOAH COUNTY, VIRGINIA see also:
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SHENANDOAH CO., VA 1810 CENSUS transcribed, with an index by John Vogt. 10 1/2 x 8 1/2, iv, 56 pages. This is the first surviving census for Shenandoah, since both the 1790 and 1800 censuses have been lost. A complete index is included for easy access, since the names were recorded as the enumerator traveled through the county. Shenandoah was an important county that sat astride the Great Valley Road and witnessed thousands of migrant settlers passing through on their westward trek.
It also was a most populous county, with a total of 2166 heads of households, and a total enumerated population of 13,646 in 1810.
[SH10] $10.00
FORERUNNERS: A HISTORY OR GENEALOGY OF THE STRICKLER FAMILIES, THEIR KITH AND KIN Strickler, Harry M., 1925. Reprinted by New Papyrus Publishing Co., 1998.
Harry Strickler's classic work on the Stricklers of the Shenandoah Valley is back in print. Included in this early work is material on not only
the Stricklers, but also collaterial lines among the following families. Kauffmans, Stovers, Burners, Ruffners, Beavers, Shavers, Brumbachs, Zirkles,
Blossers, Groves, Brubakers, Neffs, Rothgebs, and many other early families of Shenandoah, Rockingham, Frederick, Augusta and Page Counties, Virginia.
[Fore] $30.00
[Wine] $29.95
[Schz] $19.95
[Scmg] $49.95
Shenandoah Co. 1815 Directory of Landowners
by Roger G. Ward. 2005. 44 pages, map, 5 1/2X8 1/2.
For a full description of the 1815 LAND DIRECTORY Records and a listing of available counties, see:
Individual County Booklets, 1815 Directory of Virginia Landowners
[Vd93] $8.00
Shenandoah Co. Revolutionary Public Claims
transcribed by Janice L. Abercrombie and Richard Slatten.. 2005. 26 pages, 5 1/2X8 1/2.
For a full description of the Virginia Revolutionary Public Claims and a listing of available counties, see:
Revolutionary "Publick" Claims series
[Pc61] $5.00
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