Sometimes, it can be difficult finding records for your genealogical place of interest. In the case of Virginia, many towns and counties have lost their early records.

I happened to be searching for information about York County, Virginia when I came across this gem on William and Mary W&M ScholarWorks.

In 1992, Julie (Caroline Julia) Richter submitted her PhD dissertation for review at the College of William and Mary – Arts & Sciences: A community and its neighborhoods: Charles Parish, York County, Virginia, 1630-1740, which can be downloaded and saved as a PDF.

If you have ancestors who settled early in York County, Virginia or specifically in Charles Parish, then you’ll want to read Ms. Richter’s dissertation.

There are eight chapters in her work plus a list of tables, figures and maps, an introduction, conclusion, 9 appendices and a bibliography, containing 580+ pages.

Ms. Richter’s dissertation provides a clear picture of what life was like – social, economic and political – for our ancestors who lived there from 1630 into the middle of the 18th century.

Although the dissertation is actually a lengthy book, because it can be saved as a PDF and read over a period of time, the information won’t be quite as overwhelming.

I wish others had done dissertations on all the places where my ancestors lived!