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New Kent County, Virginia, was created from York and a portion of James City County in 1654, and it was itself the parent county of King & Queen and King William counties. Dr. Malcolm Harris' two-volume history and genealogy of "Old" New Kent County (the three present-day counties in the aggregate) is one of the great achievements of Virginia local history of the last century. Clearfield Company is honored to have been selected by the Harris family to reprint a hardcover edition of Old New Kent County at this time. Privately published and out of print for many years, this work takes on even greater importance in light of the loss of county records in New Kent and in King & Queen counties and the survival of mere fragments for King William County prior to 1865.

The scope and arrangement of Old New Kent County are both entertaining and extraordinarily informative. Because the author's objective was to aid researchers in locating the sites and the inhabitants of the region during the colonial period, a pleasing narrative-supported by numerous photographs-links New Kent's plantations, ancestral homes, landmarks, and artifacts with its ancestors and their descendants. The work is arranged by county and thereunder according to the Episcopal parishes that comprised each county, namely Blisland and St. Peter's in New Kent; Stratton Major, St. Stephen's, and Drysdale in King & Queen; and St. John's and St. David's in King William. Besides the local and family histories, the publication boasts of an inventory of extant records at each county clerk's office, a number of lists of landowners (including a comprehensive list of King William County land tax assessments for 1782), marriage or other source records, and a comprehensive name index.

Of greatest interest to genealogists, of course, are the genealogies and sketches of Old New Kent families. Following is a list of most of the main families covered in this extraordinary work. (Researchers should bear in mind that many more surnames will be found in the index to the work.)

New Kent: Adams, Allen, Apperson, Armistead, Bacon, Bassett, Bathurst, Boyd, Burnet, Butts, Chamberlayne, Christian, Clayton, Clopton, Cousic, Crump, Dancie, Dandridge, Daingerfield, Davies, Ellyson, Foster, Goddin, Graves, Jones, Lacy, Lafayette, Lewis, Littlepage, Lyddall, Macon, Massie, Meaux, Mossom, Otey, Parke, Parkinson, Poindexter, Pollard, Scott, Semple, Stewart, Tarleton, Terrell, Tunstall, Vaiden, Martha Washington, Webb, Wilks, Williams, Winslow, Woodward, and Wyatt-Field-Jefferson.

King & Queen: Bagby, Bates, Baylor, Beverley, Bird, Boyd, Brooke, Camm, Campbell, Coleman, Corbin, Dame, Dew, Didlake, Dillard, Dixon, Dunlap, Field, Fleet, Gaines, Gardner, Gatewood, Govan, Gregory, Gresham, Gwathmey, Hill, Hockley, Holmes, Hoomes, Hoskins, Howell-Fielding-Dixon, Hubbard, Leigh, Lewis, Livingston, Lumpkin, Lyne, Madison, Meredith, Milby, Pendleton, Pollard, Richards, Roane, Robinson, Rootes, Ryland, Sears, Semple, Shackleford, Smith, Soanes, Spencer, Strachey-Metcalfe, Taliaferro, Taylor, Todd, Tunstall, Walker, Ware, Wyatt, and Young.

King William: Arnold, Aylett, Banks, Boothe, Braxton, Buckner, Burwell, Butler, Campbell, Carr, Catlett, Chamberlayne, Chiles, Claiborne, Cocke, Cownes, Dabney, Dandridge, Ellett, Fontaine, Fox, Frazer, Garlick, Harris, Hickman, Hill, Hoomes, Huntington, Johnson, Jones, King, Langbourne, Lipscomb, Littlepage, McGeorge, McGhee, Marshall, Martin, Maury, Mill, Moore, Nelson, Palmer, Perrin, Pollard, Power, Quarles, Ragsdale, Richeson, Ruffin, Seaton, Skyren, Southerland, Spencer, Starke, Taliaferro, Temple, Toler, Tompkins, Valentine, Waller, Webber, West, Wormley, and Winston.