Old Rappahannock County, originally embracing lands lying on both sides of the Rappahannock River, was organized in 1656 and was formerly a part of Lancaster County. In 1692 Old Rappahannock was abolished. The portion lying south of the river was taken to form Essex County, and the area north of the river formed the county of Richmond. Records of Old Rappahannock and Essex counties, on which this work is founded, date from 1655 and are on file at the courthouse in Tappahannock, Essex County. Some marriage bonds of the period 1804 to 1853 were previously copied into the marriage register, instituted as the official catalogue of marriages. In compiling this work, Mrs. Wilkerson used not only the marriage bonds found in the register and the marriage register itself, but also inferential marriage proofs derived from wills, deeds, and court order books. The result is a work of astonishing magnitude; the period covered runs to nearly 250 years and the number of persons namedΓ including brides, grooms, parents, and guardiansΓ touches 10,000. The text is arranged alphabetically throughout and includes the date of the marriage record and the source.

The information was abstracted from records of deeds, wills, court orders, land trials, marriage register, and marriage bonds.

Covers the period of colonial history from the beginning of European colonization in the Western Hemisphere up to the time of the American Revolution.

This is the fourth volume of Dr. Justin Glenn’s comprehensive history that traces the “Presidential line” of the Washingtons. Volume One began with the immigrant John Washington, who settled in Westmoreland Co., Va., in 1657, married Anne Pope, and became the great-grandfather of President George Washington. It continued the record of their descendants for a total of seven generations. Volume Two highlighted notable members of the next eight generations of John and Anne Washington’s descendants, including General George S. Patton, author Shelby Foote, and actor Lee Marvin. Volume Three traced the ancestry of the early Virginia members of this “Presidential Branch” back in time to the aristocracy and nobility of England and continental Europe. Volume Four resumes the family history where Volume One ended. It presents Generation Eight of the immigrant John Washington’s descendants, containing nearly 7,000 descendants. Future volumes will trace generations nine through fifteen, making a total of over 63,000 descendants. Although structured in a genealogical format for the sake of clarity, this is no bare bones genealogy but a true family history with over 1,200 detailed biographical narratives. These in turn strive to convey the greatness of the family that produced not only The Father of His Country but many others, great and humble, who struggled to build that country. Volume Four, Part One covers the descendants of the immigrant John Washington’s child Lawrence Washington. Volume Four, Part Two covers the descendants of the Immigrant’s children John Washington, Jr., and Anne (Washington) Wright.

This first-of-its-kind biography tells the story of Rev. James Page, who rose from slavery in the nineteenth century to become a religious and political leader among African Americans as well as an international spokesperson for the cause of racial equality. Winner of the Rembert Patrick Award by The Florida Historical Society, Florida Non-Fiction Book Award by the Florida Book Awards, Harry T. and Harrietter V. Moore Award by the Florida Historical Society James Page spent the majority of his life enslaved—during which time he experienced the death of his free father, witnessed his mother and brother being sold on the auction block, and was forcibly moved 700 miles south from Richmond, VA, to Tallahassee, FL, by his enslaver, John Parkhill. Page would go on to become Parkhill's chief aide on his plantation and, unusually, a religious leader who was widely respected by enslaved men and women as well as by white clergy, educators, and politicians. Rare for enslaved people at the time, Page was literate—and left behind ten letters that focused on his philosophy as an enslaved preacher and, later, as a free minister, educator, politician, and social justice advocate. In Father James Page, Larry Eugene Rivers presents Page as a complex, conflicted man: neither a nonthreatening, accommodationist mouthpiece for white supremacy nor a calculating schemer fomenting rebellion. Rivers emphasizes Page's agency in pursuing a religious vocation, in seeking to exhibit "manliness" in the face of chattel slavery, and in pushing back against the overwhelming power of his enslaver. Post-emancipation, Page continued to preach and to advocate for black self-determination and independence through black land ownership, political participation, and business ownership. The church he founded—Bethel Missionary Baptist Church in Tallahassee—would go on to be a major political force not only during Reconstruction but through today. Based upon numerous archival sources and personal papers, as well as an in-depth interview of James Page and a reflection on his life by a contemporary, this deeply researched book brings to light a fascinating life filled with contradictions concerning gender, education, and the social interaction between the races. Rivers' biography of Page is an important addition, and corrective, to our understanding of black spirituality and religion, political organizing, and civic engagement.