Accomack County Death Index

The Accomack County death index covers deaths recorded on the Eastern Shore from the mid-1800s through the present day. You can search the index through state online tools, visit the Circuit Court Clerk in Accomac, or request a certified copy from the Virginia Department of Health. Accomack County sits on Virginia's Eastern Shore peninsula, and its records reflect a distinct geographic and historical identity. Both the state vital records office and the county clerk hold materials that help researchers locate deaths tied to this area, including older registers that predate modern certificate filings.

Accomack County Circuit Court

The Accomack County Circuit Court is located in Accomac, Virginia. The Circuit Court Clerk maintains land records, probate filings, marriage licenses, and court case files. When a person dies in Accomack County and leaves an estate, probate matters move through the Circuit Court. Those records often include references to the deceased and can supplement your search of the Accomack County death index.

Probate filings in Accomack County contain wills, estate inventories, and fiduciary records going back many generations. Researchers looking for deaths in the 18th and 19th centuries will find that probate records and land transfers can fill gaps left by missing death registers. The court handled estates well before formal death registration began in Virginia in 1853, and many of those early probate files are still held in the county. The Virginia Online Case Information System (OCIS) lets you search Accomack Circuit Court cases by name at no cost.

Death certificates are not issued by the Circuit Court Clerk. Those must come from the Virginia Department of Health, Office of Vital Records. The Clerk's office can help with probate searches, land records, and historical court documents, but vital records are a separate agency function.

Virginia Department of Health - Eastern Shore District

The VDH Eastern Shore Health District serves Accomack County and neighboring Northampton County. This local district office provides vital records services for Eastern Shore residents, including certified copies of death certificates. Using a local district office can be more convenient than traveling to Richmond, though the same state eligibility rules apply. You must show a government-issued photo ID and meet the family member requirement for deaths within the past 25 years.

The state Office of Vital Records in Richmond holds all death certificates from June 1912 to the present, regardless of where in Virginia the death occurred. That office is at 8701 Park Central Drive, Suite 100, Richmond, VA 23227. Walk-in hours run Monday through Friday from 7:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. You can also mail requests to P.O. Box 1000, Richmond, VA 23218-1000, or apply online through the VDH website. Each certified copy costs $12, payable by check made out to State Health Department, or by money order, credit card, mobile pay, or cash in person.

Under Virginia Code Title 32.1, Chapter 7, death records become public 25 years after the date of death. Before that point, only the spouse, parent, child, sibling, or grandparent of the deceased may request a copy. The VitalChek service handles online ordering for VDH, with an additional processing fee on top of the $12 state charge.

Accomack County Death Index: Historical Records

Accomack County is one of Virginia's oldest counties, formed in 1663. Its records go back further than most counties in the state. Virginia law required death registration from 1853 to 1896, and the Accomack County death registers from that period are held at the Library of Virginia on microfilm. Those registers contain the name of the deceased, race, sex, date and place of death, cause of death, age, place of birth, occupation, marital status, and names of parents. They represent the earliest systematic death records available for Accomack County.

Between 1897 and 1912, Virginia had no statewide death registration law. Accomack County, like most rural counties, did not keep death records during this period. Researchers working in that gap must rely on church records, cemetery inscriptions, probate files, and newspaper notices. The Virginia Genealogical Society has sponsored indexing work for the 1853-1896 period, and that index is available through the Library of Virginia.

The Library holds a death index through 1954. Use it to find a certificate year and number before ordering from VDH. The Library also holds microfilm copies of death certificates from 1912 to 1939. For deaths before 1853, substitute records like land grants, court orders, church registers, and census mortality schedules are the main options. The Ancestry for Virginians program provides free access to Ancestry's Virginia death databases for state residents using a Virginia library card.

FamilySearch offers free databases for Virginia deaths in the 1853-1912 range. The FamilySearch guide to Virginia death records covers which databases apply to each time period and how to use them for county-level research.

Search Accomack County Death Records Online

The fastest way to start is with the OCIS statewide court search, which covers probate and civil cases in Accomack County Circuit Court. For death certificates from 1912 forward, the Ancestry for Virginians program gives Virginia residents free image access to records older than 25 years, plus index-only access to more recent ones.

FamilySearch holds free indexes to Virginia Deaths and Burials 1853-1912, which includes Accomack County records from the registration period. These databases are searchable by name, date range, and county. Some entries link to digitized images of the original registers. The Library of Virginia also offers a death index covering 1853-1896 that is specific to Virginia and free to search. Records in that range are not tied to the privacy restrictions that apply to post-1912 certificates.

Note: The Virginia DMV can issue certified death certificates at full-service locations for a $12 fee plus a $2 processing charge. This is an alternative to visiting the VDH office if a DMV location is more convenient for Accomack County residents.

Cities Near Accomack County

Accomack County has no independent cities within its borders. The nearest Virginia independent cities are across the Chesapeake Bay to the west.

Nearby Counties

Northampton County sits directly south of Accomack on the Eastern Shore peninsula. These two counties share the same local VDH health district and similar records access systems.