"Pittsylvania County was created in 1767 from Halifax County, VA. Many of her early settlers were from Pennsylvania, including Germans, Quakers, Welch and Scot-Irish. Also many families through out Virginia relocated here from such counties as: Brunswick, Charlotte, Amelia, Prince Edward, and other Tidewater counties."--Publisher website (January 2009)

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

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.

During the period from 1730 to 1800, not one town was developed in Southside Virginia, despite tremendous economic development and population growth. Charles Farmer asserts that the characteristics of the tobacco production and trade and the use of slave labor were the primary reasons for the lack of development in the region. In this text, Farmer examines these issues as well as the importance and persistence of country store trade.

Charles Collie was born in 1756, the son of James Collie, an immigrant from Scotland to Virginia, and Ann Cornwell Collie. Charles' siblings were William, Mary and James. Charles married Mary and their children included Lydia, Phillip, William, Thomas, Banister, Anney, Joseph or Joel and Polly. A descendant, James II, married Nancy Jennings. Two of James and Nancy's daughters married Elizah and Samuel Richardson. Descendants settled in North Carolina, Illinois, Indiana and Kentucky.

Tracing the Wallen lineage back to 17th century England, this chronicle—compiled after the author spent more than 15 years, traveled many miles, and visited numerous courthouses and cemeteries—presents the monumental lineage of Walden(s), Waldin, Walding, Waldon, Waldron, Walen, Wallen, Wallin, Walling(s), Walwin, and Walwyn, and more than 1,100 other surnames.