The Order of First Families of Virginia 1607-1624/5 promotes historical, biographical and genealogical research concerning Virginia history during the period when she was the only one of the thirteen original colonies. The Order publishes the definitive work on Virginia genealogy, Adventurers of Purse and Person, Virginia, 1607-1624/5, now in its Fourth Edition, which traces the first settlers’ descendants through six generations.
The members of the Order, which was founded on May 13, 1912, are descendants of the earliest settlers of Historic Jamestown, the original site of the first permanent English settlement in America, who arrived during the first 18 years of the colony’s existence (1607-1624/5).
The Order’s ritual, authored by Mrs. Philip Wallace Hiden, states:
“I shall ask you to visualize for a moment a scene in Virginia on a hot summer day, July the 30th, 1619. A crude wooden church surrounded by tall trees beside a wide slow-moving river over which heat waves shimmer; a group of serious sturdy men who realize the importance of this day as they enter the church. Representative constitutional government is about to be born for all American and for British colonies founded in lands then unknown. It is a moment fraught with importance.”
On that day in 1619, the General Assembly of the colony met in the ‘quire of the church’ of Jamestown as America’s first representative assembly. The seeds and ideas planted that day grew to become the United States of America.
Since the founding of the Order of First Families of Virginia over a century ago, the organization has fostered research and enlightenment in the field of historical knowledge about the early founders of the nation.
The Order has recorded more than 1,800 members since its inception. Membership is by invitation only.
Adventurers of Purse and Person
“Heaven and Earth have never agreed better to frame a place for man’s habitation …”
– Captain John Smith
Those who assisted in establishing the Colony of Virginia during the period 1607-1624/5 are known as Adventurers. They risked either their persons by coming to Virginia and settling, or their purses through the support of colonization by subscription to the Virginia Company of London. In some cases, they adventured both purse and person.
Committed to genealogical research concerning Virginia and the nation’s foundational history, and the publication of such research, the Order published in 2007 the Adventurers of Purse and Person, Virginia, 1607-1624/5, Fourth Edition. Published in three volumes (Volume I, Volume II and Volume III), the work is written by renowned genealogist John Frederick Dorman, the world’s foremost authority on Virginia genealogy, who served as the Order’s consulting genealogist for more than 40 years and was named an Honorary Member in 2015.
First published in 1956 by Mr. Dorman, in collaboration with the Order, the meticulously researched editions of Adventurers of Purse and Person record the first settlers’ descendants, now through six generations. The publication of the fourth edition in 2007 celebrated the 400th anniversary of the founding of Jamestown.
In Support of Research and Education
The Order of First Families of Virginia supports a number of institutions dedicated to the research of Colonial America, and the education of future generations about the place and the people who planted the seeds for the New World. The Order also supports archeological research at the site of the original Jamestown Settlement.
Each year, the Order awards a scholarship to a deserving graduate student conducting research in Colonial American History at The College of William & Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia.