In colonial days and until the Statute of Religious Freedom and the "dis-establishment" of the Episcopal Church in Virginia, the Church was not only a religious institution, but it was also in a very real sense a public, official, governmental agency. The whole institution was supported from public revenue. Consequently, and in addition to what we now know as "public records," the only records of births, marriages and death officially kept were parish or church records. Lunenburg County, Virginia, was established on May 1, 1746, from Brunswick County, and shared the same boundaries with...