New Kent County History

New Kent County, was named either for the English county of Kent or for Kent Island, 
in the upper waters of the Chesapeake Bay. William Claiborne, a native of Kent who had been 
driven from Kent Island by Lord Baltimore, was a prominent resident of the New Kent area when 
the county was formed. (Source: "The Hornbook of Virginia History") New Kent, became county 
seat in 1691. New Kent County, was formed in 1654 and reduced in size in 1691, with the 
formation of King and Queen County. (Source: "Virginia, A Guide to the Old Dominion") The 
history of New Kent County begins long before the county was settled in 1644 and incorporated 
a decade later. The region was a thriving confederacy of Indian tribes ruled over by Chief 
Powhatan and later by his brother, Opechannough.

The first encounter between European settlers and Native Americans occurred in 1607. Capt. 
John Smith discovered Moysenec, a settlement of the Chickahominy Tribe that is now listed in 
the National Register of Historic Places and is an important archeological site. A series of 
encounters followed, some peaceful and some violent. A peace treaty was signed in 1644, but 
not before countless battles occurred and two Indian massacres in 1622 and 1644 left hundreds 
of settlers dead.

New Kent County has a history of survival and determination, from the followers of Nathaniel 
Bacon who rebelled against the English in the town of Brickhouse, to the soldiers who marched 
to battle on New Kent's roads.

George and Martha Washington frequently attended service at St. Peter's Church, built in 1701 
as the home of one of the oldest congregations in Virginia. Rev. David Mossom, the pastor who 
baptized Martha and presided over both of her weddings, is buried in the northeast corner of 
the church's interior. (Source: Richmond Times-Dispatch newspaper article written on April 14, 
1998 by Charles Gerena.) 

Parishes:
Blisland 1654- (also James City Co.) 
Saint John's 1680-1691 (afterwards, King and Queen then King William) 
Saint Paul's 1704-1720 (afterward Hanover Co.), 
Saint Peter's 1679 - 
Saint Stephen's before 1674-1691(afterward King and Queen Co.) 
Stratton Major 1655-1691 (afterward King and Queen Co.)