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Stafford County, situated along Virginia's Northern Neck, was formed out of Westmoreland County in 1666. Overwharton Parish was co-extensive with Stafford County, embracing within its territory what are now Prince William, Loudoun, Fairfax, and Alexandria counties as well as part of Fauquier. Since most of the official records of old Stafford County were destroyed during the Civil War, the records preserved in the Overwharton Parish Register are of considerable importance.

Following a brief introduction on the history of Overwharton Parish, which draws attention to the various parish ministers and the Old Aquia Church, the entries in the parish register, consisting of births, marriages, and deaths (as well as a handful of baptisms), are arranged in one continuous alphabetical sequence. The marriage records, comprising nearly half of the register, give the names of the bride and groom and the date of the marriage; the birth records furnish the name of the newborn, date of birth, and the names of parents; and the death records give the decedent by name and date of death. In all, this scarce work preserves the identities of more than 6,000 early inhabitants of Stafford County, Virginia.