Excerpt from A History of Orange County, Virginia: From Its Formation in 1734 (O. S.) To the End of Reconstruction in 1870; Compiled Mainly From Original Records; With a Brief Sketch of the Beginnings of Virginia, a Summary of Local Evets to 1907, and a Map I have undertaken to write this book because I thought that the history of Orange was notable enough to deserve preservation. It is much to be regretted that some competent person did not do this work long ago; for in the lapse of time and the neglect of opportunity many things that ought to have been preserved can not now be narrated with confidence as history, hardly as tradition. Though much has perished, much remains. I have read with diligence the minute books of the county court from its organization in 1734 down to 1870; and can assert with complete candor that no known resource which I thought might afford information as to the past has been neglected. Name after name of places and people once locally historic has passed into oblivion and beyond the reach of the investigator. Regret is vain, and can not restore what is lost; my effort has been to save what is left, and to perpetuate it for posterity. Fortunately the county records are in excellent preservation, and the order books of the county court contain the history of the county, in the main, so far as it may now be written. I have been advised by judicious and well meaning friends to omit some of the more shocking details, such as the burning of Eve at the stake, the beheading of Peter, the cutting off. Of ears, burning in the hands, etc. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

St. ThomasΓ Parish in Virginia was formed from St. MarkΓ s Parish in 1740. The new parish encompassed present-day Orange, Greene, and a strip of southern Madison counties. Based on an extensive examination of primary sources, the work at hand is the first accurate description of the formation of St. ThomasΓ Parish, its member churches, its ministers, and others who played a significant part in its colonial history. In the absence of surviving vestry books for St. ThomasΓ Parish, or even an accurate map of the parish, the author was able to extract valuable information pertaining to St. ThomasΓ Parish from the surviving vestry books of the neighboring parishes of St. MarkΓ s and St. GeorgeΓ s. However, as Mrs. Papageorgiou explains in her Preface, Spotsylvania and Orange County road orders comprise the backbone of her study. The road orders for the construction and maintenance of roads, as recorded in county court order books, provide evidence to the existence of churches and chapels throughout the parish. The road ordersΓ value to the genealogist is that they identify the overseers and work crews assigned to maintain the road and any bridges along it. So, for example, the road orders tell us that, between November 1, 1726, and April 2, 1734, John Rucker, Thomas Jackson, Joseph Hawkins, Abraham Bledsoe, Henry Downes, John Davis, and George Eastham all served as overseers of roads near Southwest Mountain Chapel in St. ThomasΓ Parish. This work is an excellent example of historical reconstruction. The Introduction explains how, when, and why St. ThomasΓ was established from its parent and grandparent parishes, St. MarkΓ s and St. GeorgeΓ s. Next, the author uses the road orders and other sources to pinpoint the timing and location of each of the following places of worship: Germana Church, Southwest Mountain Chapel, Southwest Mountain Church, Upper Chapel, St. ThomasΓ Parish, Upper Church, Middle (Brick) Church, Pine Stake Church, and New (Orange) Church. (Mrs. Papageorgiou has also appended a number of important court orders at the back of the volume.) The third chapter gives the tenure of every parish minister and his family members. The final chapter recounts how previous writers--notably Bishop William Meade and Philip Slaughter--have recorded the history of St. ThomasΓ Parish and where, more often than not, they went astray. Students of Virginia church history will welcome the comprehensive bibliography that follows the appendices.

This extraordinary compilation, first published to commemorate the 200th anniversary of Hopewell [Friends] Monthly Meeting in 1934, is divided into two parts. The historical section is a broad survey of Hopewell Meeting from its origins nine years before the creation of Frederick County. Of far greater importance to genealogists, the documentary section encompasses 200 years of Quaker records: births, marriages, deaths, removals, disownments, and reinstatements, a good many of which cannot be found in public record offices. (For example, Virginia counties were not required to report to the state until 1825.) The vital records themselves have been supplemented by rare documents, letters, diaries, and other private records. Many thousands of individuals are identified in these records, the index to which runs 225 pages and contains thousands of entries.

Reprint of the 2d, augm. ed., 1969, published by Shenandoah Pub. House, Strasburg, Va.

Wingfield's "Caroline County" is the definitive genealogical sourcebook on its subject, containing numerous lists of names as well as genealogies and biographical sketches of the county's prominent citizens and early inhabitants.

The book rings with the names of early inhabitants and prominent citizens. For the genealogist there is the important and wholly fortuitous list of tithables of Pittsylvania County for the year 1767, which enumerates the names of nearly 1,000 landowners and property holders, amounting in sum to a rough census of the county in its infancy. Additional lists include the names, some with inclusive dates of service, of sheriffs, justices of the peace, members of the House of Delegates, 1776-1928, members of the Senate of Virginia, 1776-1928, clerks of the court, and judges.

The book offers guidance to aspiring historians at every stage and in every walk of life, from practical advice on tackling and organizing projects to recommendations for finding and using resources of all kinds, whether at the local library or historical society or on the world wide web. It is intended to be a serious guide to the best practices for researchers as well as a good read as a collection of research stories. The author includes useful bibliographies, vetted websites, and practical advice on doing research well.