Information was transcribed or abstracted from many counties in Virginia. Some information is included for North Carolina, Mississippi, Tennessee, Georgia, and Alabama.

"From the earliest records relating to Virginia, we learn the basics about many of these original colonists: their origins, the names of the ships they sailed on, the names of the "hundreds" and "plantations" they inhabited, the names of their spouses and children, their occupations and their position in the colony, their relationships with fellow colonists and Indian neighbors, their living conditions as far as can be ascertained from documentary sources, their ownership of land, the dates and circumstances of their death, and a host of fascinating, sometimes incidental details about their personal lives, all gathered together in the handy format of a biographical dictionary" -- publisher website (January 2008).

"The foundation for this work is the Muster of Jan 1624/25 which had never before been printed in full."--Page xiii, volume 1.

"A list of all the individuals who can be documented as having lived on [Jamestown] Island between 1607 and 1699, either as land owners or as members of the House of Burgesses or as other officials is presented here"--Pref.