Charles Parish Chapter is named for Charles River Shire, one of eight  original shires of Virginia, formed in 1634.  The shire was located southeast of Jamestown settlement (1607) on the Virginia Peninsula, near the York and Poquoson rivers and their tributaries.  The parish became part of Yorke County by mandate of Charles I of England in March 1642/43.

 First named New Poquoson Parish (1642/43), the name was changed to Charles Parish before July 8, 1702.  So it remained until the close of Charles Parish registers in 1789.

The Register of Charles Parish, York County, Virginia, contains some of the oldest Colonial Virginia church records in existence today.  Some Charles Parish Chapter members can find baptism, marriage, and burial records of their ancestors in Charles Parish Register.

 The monument shown above marks the former location of Charles Parish Church, and remnants of the church’s foundation remain there to be seen.  Along Yorktown Road, in the Tabb area of York County, just east of the intersection of Pleasant Dale Lane, can also be found an old cemetery, shaded by old trees, containing tombstones of early settlers of the area.

This page was updated on February 9, 2009 Carol Shrader, Webmaster Web hyperlinks to non-DAR sites are not the responsibility of the NSDAR, the state organizations, or individual DAR chapters.