Books and resources to help in a Womack hunt!
The Edward Pleasants Valentine Papers (4Volume Set) Abstracts of 17th and 18th Century VA Records relating to 34 families by Clayton Torrence ISBN 0806308427 published October 1998, reprinted from about 1930. This book contains information on the Pucketts and the Womacks and related families. As far as I can remember, the index is in volume 4, and the Womacks are in either Vol. 3 or 4. It is available in many large libraries, for instance the NGS library will let members check out copies. This set is still occasionally available, usually as a special order, the price ranges from $60 to $85. The original version is also sometimes available used, but usually at a higher price than the reprint, it runs $100-150 for the set. Unfortunately, the Valentine museum store doesn't have any copies available, but the Valentine Museum does have a large library, including one of the few collections of complete Richmond city directories. If you are in Richmond, and researching the area, it's worth your while to gain access and visit. They have a website, with not a whole lot of information try www.valentinemuseum.com and that will probably get you the times they are open and contact numbers.
GOOD NEWS! Ancestry.com now has the Edward Pleasants Valentine Paper on-line. They have all 4 volumes. So, if you have a subscription to Ancestry, you can read and search on-line. There are lots of other useful databases there, like on-line census versions.
The letters of John Warburton Womack, in the General Marcus Wright collection, #1044 in the Southern Historical Collection, University of North Carolina Library, Chapel Hill, NC. Most of these letters are from John W. Womack to his brother Jacob L. Womack, with a few others tossed in for good measure. Some other letters from John W. are extant in other places, including some other important family information, but these are the most easily available. They are very informative on the Mansel Womack family, with some few tidbits thrown in on the Sherwood Womack family. Gen. Wright was John W.'s son-in-law. The letters date from 1831 to 1860. Copies can be obtained from the Library, they can be used for reference only, not reprinted, published or uploaded.
The Civil War Diary of Capt. J.J. Womack, published 1961, out of print. An interesting book it's available in some libraries and used. On the used market it runs about $40-$75 or so.
Cherry Grove; a brief account of the life and family of John Watson Womack (1787-1844) of Cherry Grove and his family's ancestral background by Egbert Hudson Womack, about 30 pages. Printed around 1959, out of print, available in some large libraries, occasionally available used.
The University of Virginia has several pamphlets or sermons by Bishop Laurence Womack (listed in their catalog as Laurence Womock) and a reply to Bishop Womack dated in the 1680s or so. These are in the special collections there, and should one want to go look at them, you need permission to get access. Now, this is only noted here for a) the fact that UVA has them and b) someone might be interested in them. Bishop Laurence Womack is pretty clearly not the ancestor of the VA Womacks, but hey, you want to have some fun with some 17th century political stuff, go ahead. Try http://lib.virginia.edu , and follow the menus and I think that will get you there if they haven't moved again!
The Library of Virginia in Richmond is a gold mine of information. Not only the land grants on this site are from them, but they also have some copies of bible pages from the Womack family (not early ones, sadly) and a will index and some marriage indexes available on-line. If you go there in person, you can see the originals they have, as well as some published Womack genealogies. If you want to look at the bible or land records they have, you'll need a TIF viewer. From that site you can also access the VA Colonial Records project, which is an index to early VA folks in British records. Sadly, not a Womack is in sight. However, if you want a Puckett or two or just want to see what kind of stuff is there, you can take a gander at the index - they don't have the original documents available for that index. Try http://www.lva.lib.va.us/ and I think that should get you there.
More to be added as I come across them - with emphasis, of course, on the earliest records. You can use the Amazon search to look for books. I don't get a thing out of it, so search for the best prices! Try www.bestbookbuys.com to compare prices on new books. I hope to add Alibris (used books) and a couple of library search things in a while. Happy Hunting!
This page was last updated on: December 28, 2003
