• Kegley's Virginia Frontier - (Database Online - World Vital Records) : The Beginning of the Southwest. The Roanoke of Colonial Days, 1740 - 1783. Searchable online edition of this book by F. B. Kegley published by The Southwest Virginia Historical Society in 1938. Subscription required. -

• The Three Charters of the Virginia Company of London With Seven Related Documents: 1606-1621 - (Book - Genealogical.com) : The Virginia Company of London governed the affairs of Jamestown for 18 years. This work, a verbatim transcription of the three successful charters defining the scope and authority of the Company and listing its stockholders in England and Virginia, sheds light on the budding libertarian and entrepreneurial thinking which helped to sire the first British colony in North America. -

• The Virginia Housewife: Or Methodical Cook: A Facsimile of an Authentic Early American Cookbook -

  (Book - Amazon.com) : Charming guide, published in 1824, offers directions for making rabbit soup, beef steak pie, fried calf's feet, shoulder of mutton with celery sauce, leg of pork with pease pudding, pickled oysters, tansey pudding, plum cakes and other culinary treats. Also, household hints for cleaning silver, drying herbs, more. This book is also available from Amazon.co.uk (United Kingdom) and Amazon.ca (Canada). Click on links for details.

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• Virginia Under Charles I and Cromwell, 1625-1660 - (Book - Genealogical.com) : Upon the ascent of the Stuart king Charles I in 1625, the Crown revoked the charter of the Virginia Company and instituted a royal charter for the Virginia Colony. This work follows the history of Virginia from that point until 1660--one of the most turbulent times in English history. -

• Ye Kingdome of Accawmacke or the Eastern Shore of Virginia in the 17th Century - (Book - Genealogical.com) : Wise's Eastern Shore of Virginia is a history of the counties of Accomack and Northampton; however, genealogists will be drawn to the book's numerous references to families prominent on the Eastern Shore and to the extensive lists of early settlers and patentees of land. -

• A History of Orange County, Virginia - (Book - Genealogical.com) : This is the standard history of Orange County, Virginia, most of whose records have perished. While there are chapters on county courthouses, churches, people and houses, the Germanna Colony, and Orange County's participation in the French and Indian Wars, the Revolution and the Civil War, the genealogical strength of the book lies in its copious appendices. These include a list of persons who imported themselves or were imported into the county between 1736 and 1756, the Orange County census of 1782, and rosters of Orange County men in the Revolution, the War of 1812, and the Civil War. -

• A History of Shenandoah County, Virginia - (Book - Genealogical.com) : The author traces the origin and development of the county, describing its formation and settlement (probably three-quarters of its early settlers were of German extraction), its subsequent growth, the citizens, towns and villages, churches, schools, landmarks, businesses and industries. Much genealogical information is included. -

• A History of the Valley of Virginia - (Book - Genealogical.com) : Samuel Kercheval's history of the Valley of Virginia, published originally in 1909, concentrates upon this region from 1732 through the Revolutionary War. -

• A Place Apart : A Brief History of the Early Williamson Road and North Roanoke Valley Residents and Places - (Book - Genealogical.com) : The Williamson Road area, which was annexed by the city of Roanoke in 1949, was originally a part of Botetourt County and thereafter of the northern part of Roanoke County. A Place Apart traces the history, places, and families of the Williamson Road. The book begins with various sketches of Roanoke Valley pioneers and early land owners. The second part of the volume continues with sketches of families that arrived during the late 18th or early 19th century. -

• Amherst County, Va. in the Revolution - (Book - Amazon.com) : Including Extracts from the ''Lost Order Book'' 1773-1782 -

• Annals of Southwest Virginia 1769-1800 - (Book - Amazon.com) : Referred to as "'probably the best book ever written about this area," the material covered in this volume includes early Southwest Virginia in general and (after its fortnati on) Washington County in particular. In its earliest period, Southwest Virginia embraced nineteen present-day counties of Virginia and seventeen of West Virgihia. It also includes sections of other counties within these states.
  May also be available from Amazon.co.uk (United Kingdom) and Amazon.ca (Canada) -

• Appomattox County History and Genealogy (Virginia) - (Book - Genealogical.com) : Featured in the historical narrative are sketches of Appomattox's ante bellum leadership, a first-hand account of the Confederate surrender from the diary of the author's grandmother, a map which reconstructs the buildings of the county seat in 1865, treatises on the county's businesses, educational system and churches, and brief biographies of the white and African-American civic leaders of the author's day. Of still greater interest, of course, are the numerous genealogies of varying length of Appomattox County families. -

• Domestic Life in Virginia in the Seventeenth Century - (Book - Amazon.com) : Profusely illustrated, the first half of Mrs. Jester's book lays the groundwork with accounts of the first dwellings at Jamestown, the arrival of women to the colony, living off the land, improvements in supply from England, construction of clapboard houses, typical cargo manifests, and, finally, the appearance of plantation houses. Part II takes an in-depth view of cavalier households, ranging from furniture, utensils, clothing, and jewelry; the status of women, including household servants; and pastimes or traditions such as horse racing, music, drinking habits, travel, and funerals/burials. This book may also be available from Amazon.co.uk and Amazon.ca. Click on links to check for availability. -

• First Seventeen Years : Virginia, 1607-1624 - (Book - Amazon.com) : Click on link to read customer reviews. -

• Forced Founders: Indians, Debtors, Slaves, and the Making of the American Revolution in Virginia - (Book - Amazon.com) : A reinterpretation of the American Revolution. Woody Holton shows that when Thomas Jefferson, George Washington and other elite Virginians joined their peers from other colonies in declaring independence from Britain, they acted partly in response to grassroots rebellion against their own rule.
  This book is also available from Amazon.co.uk (United Kingdom) and Amazon.ca (Canada). Click on links for details. -

• Gleanings of Virginia History : An Historical and Genealogical Collection - (Book - Genealogical.com) : This important work on early Virginia history and genealogy is composed chiefly of records pertaining to the French and Indian War and the Revolutionary War, though other records of value are included. Part I contains a 90-page list of officers, soldiers, and civilians entitled to compensation for services rendered during the French and Indian War, as well as poll lists for Prince William County (1741) and Fairfax County (1744). Part II contains records of the Revolutionary War, including muster and payrolls in the personal possession of the compiler. Part III is devoted principally to genealogies of the families of Anderson, Brown, Craig, Cravens, Custis, Davis, Harrison, Newman, Smith, Thomas, and Thompkins. Considerable space is also given to the marriage records of Orange and Albemarle counties. An extensive 45-page index of names neatly coordinates reading and research. -

• Here Lies Virginia : An Archaeologist's View of Colonial Life and History - (Book - Amazon.com) : Reprint of the Knopf edition of 1963, with a brief new preface and a long afterword dealing with changes over the last 30 years. -

• History of Southwest Virginia and Washington County - (Book - Genealogical.com) : This is the definitive history of Southwest Virginia, the area originally comprising Botetourt, Fincastle, and Washington counties and now embracing nineteen present-day counties of Virginia and seventeen of West Virginia, as well. parts of other counties in these states. It contains an impressive amount of historical and genealogical data, which traces the Southwest Virginia counties from their formation down to the end of the 19th century. -

• John Smith's Map of Virginia With a Brief Account of Its History - (Book - Genealogical.com) : In John Smith's Map of Virginia, Professor McCary describes the various expeditions made by the intrepid captain and then goes on to discuss the publishing history of the map itself through ten versions between 1612 and 1632. Among the notable features of the folding map, which is the focal point of this small book, are a drawing of the Indian chieftain Powhatan, Captain Smith's arms and motto, important features of the Virginia shore lines, rivers and creeks of Smith's day, hundreds of place names, and the location of 200 Indian villages in Virginia in the early seventeenth century. -

• Kegley's Virginia Frontier : The Beginning of the Southwest. The Roanoke of Colonial Days 1740-1783 - (Book - Genealogical.com) : By far the most authoritative and comprehensive account of the advance of the Virginia frontier in colonial times is Kegley's Virginia Frontier--a mammoth work detailing the social, religious, and family life in Southwest Virginia from 1730 to 1790. -

• The Big Sandy Valley : A Regional History Prior to the Year 1850 - (Book - Genealogical.com) : This excellent regional history is crammed with lists of early settlers, heads of families, and Revolutionary pensioners. It deals with the region (mostly in Eastern Kentucky) known as the Big Sandy Valley, which today encompasses all or part of sixteen counties in Kentucky, Virginia, and West Virginia. -

• The First Seventeen Years Virginia, 1607-1624 - (Book - Genealogical.com) : The First Seventeen Years is the story of the Virginia colony during the tenure of the Virginia Company of London. Richly illustrated and featuring a map of the region and a helpful bibliography, this is one booklet that genealogists and Virginiaphiles alike will cherish. -

• The Planters of Colonial Virginia - (Book - Genealogical.com) : Professor Wertenbaker here explains how the headright system, tobacco cultivation, and the importation of slave labor transformed the colony of Virginia from largely a society of yeoman farmers to a planter aristocracy. The closest thing to a census of Virginia for the period, the Rent Roll identifies upwards of 7,000 Virginia landholders is appended to Professor Wertenbaker's narrative. -

• Twelve Virginia Counties Where the Western Migration Began - (Book - Genealogical.com) : This is a scholarly and informative account of the origin and settlement of the counties of Albemarle, Augusta, Caroline, Essex, Gloucester, Goochland, Hanover, King William, King and Queen, Louisa, New Kent, and Orange, and of the people and events associated with their history. It was from these counties, constituting a narrow corridor extending from the basin of the York River, that the historic migrations into Kentucky and the Northwest Territory originated. -

• Virginia Baron: The Story of Thomas 6th Lord Fairfax - (Book - Genealogical.com) : Anyone interested in learning about the vexing issues their 18th-century Virginia ancestors had to contend with would do well to read this fascinating study of life and politics in the Shenandoah Valley during the 18th century. -

• Virginia Historical Index - Two-volume set - (Book - Genealogical.com) : This landmark work, first published by the Virginia Historical Society in two volumes in 1934 and 1936, is an index to all information relating to Virginia and Virginians in the seven most important serial publications devoted to Virginia genealogy and local history: The Virginia Magazine of History and Biography, William and Mary College Quarterly Historical Magazine, Tyler's Quarterly Historical and Genealogical Magazine, Virginia Historical Register and Literary Advertiser, Lower Norfolk County Virginia Antiquary, Hening's Statutes at Large, and Calendar of Virginia State Papers. Reflecting well over a hundred years' worth of the best Virginia scholarship, and citing tens of thousands of individuals in hundreds upon hundreds of family histories, "Swem's Index," or "Swem," as it is commonly called, is considered the most important publication in Virginia genealogy. -

• William Byrd's Histories of the Dividing Line Betwixt Virginia and North Carolina - (Book Online - World Vital Records) : Subscription required. -

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