Stafford and Prince William Counties, Virginia

Here is an excellent breakdown of the formation of counties and parishes in the early- to mid-1700, Upper Tidewater region of Virginia.

From Va Parish Histories and Land Descriptions:

Overwharton Parish of Stafford Co was officially designated by at least 1702, was formed from Potomac, then Upper and Lower Parishes - skipping lengthy descriptions which are further covered below as other Parishes were created, in summary, Overwharton Parish was all of "upper" Stafford Co VA until the creation of Hamilton Parish (and Prince William Co) in 1730 (See Next). The remainder of Stafford County; i.e., "Lower" Stafford was part of St. Paul's Parish .


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Hamilton Parish of Prince William was created by an Act of the Assembly adopted May 1730, effective 01 Jan 1730/31, providing that effective that date that the parish of Overwharton "be divided into two distinct parishes, by Chopawansick Creek, and a southwest line to be made from the head of the North branch of the said Creek to the parish of Hanover, and that all that part of sd. parish which lies below the said bounds shall forever thereafter remain and be called and known by the name of Overwharton, and that all that other part of the said parish which lies above the said bounds, shall thereafter be called and known by the name of Hamilton. " (4 Hening 304). In other words, the county boundary lines of Prince William, created in 1730/1, and the Parish lines of Hamilton were practically the same. (See Also Truro Parish & Leeds Parish of Fauquier)


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Truro Parish of Prince William & Fairfax. By an act of the Assembly adopted in 1732, Hamilton Parish of Prince William was divided into two parishes, the second named Truro (later part of Fairfax County); i.e., "…Prince William be divided into two distinct parishes, by the river of Ockoquan and Bull Run (a branch thereof), and a course from there to the Indian Thoroughfare of the Blue Ridge of Mountains; and all that part of… Prince William which lies below the said bounds shall forever thereafter retain … the name of Hamilton. And all that other part… thereafter be called and known by the name of Truro. (4 Hening 367) Note: When Fairfax was formed in 1742, the Hamilton & Truro Parish boundaries were slightly changed by the Assembly; i.e., "… all that part lying on the south side of Occoquan and Bull Run, and from the head of the main branch of Bull Run, by a straight course to the Thoroughfare of the Blue Ridge of Mountains, known by the name of Ashby's Gap or Bent, shall be one distinct County and retain the name of Hamilton Parish… other part thereof, known as parish of Truro shall be one other distinct County and called and known by the name of Fairfax." (5 Hening 207)


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Dettingen Parish of Prince William. In 1745 the parish of Hamilton, by an act of the Assembly was divided as follows: "…a line to be run from the dividing line of Stafford and Prince William counties, a straight course to the head of Dorrell's run, thence down the said run to Cedar run, thence to the fork of Broad Run near the lower line of Colonel Charles CARTER'S tract, called Broad run tract, thence to the mouth of Bull Lick run, opposite to Jacob SMITH'S in Fairfax County… all that part… situate below said line to be erected into …. parish… of Dettingen, and all that other part thereof, scituate above the said line to be erected into one other distinct parish and retain the name of Hamilton. (5 Hening 259)

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Families in this region include: Allentrop, Ashby, Bannister, Godfrey, Hansbrough, Harding, and Jeffries, among many others.