Northern Neck Timeline

Timeline for the Northern Neck

1600 – The Northern Neck, between the Rappahannock and Potomac Rivers, was entirely inhabited by Indians known as Chickacoan.
1607 – Captain John Smith explored the Potomac.
1619 – Virginia became a royal colony, when the first representative government in British America convened a general assembly at Jamestown.
1622 – Indians wiped out every English settlement except Jamestown in the Powhatan Uprising.
1624 – The Virginia Company was dissolved due to the rising mortality rate and the dim prospects for profit.
1632 – Virginia’s northern boundary is set at the Potomac by the Maryland Charter.
1638 – John Mottrom leaves Maryland and becomes the first European to settle the Northern Neck.
1648 – Northumberland County - “Mother County of the Northern Neck” - was organized from the Chickacoan Indian Reservation.
1651 – Lancaster County is created from Northumberland County.
1656 – Old Rappahannock County is organized from Lancaster County.
1663 – The administrator of Farnham Parish began keeping records.
1684 – Farnham Parish was divided into North Farnham and South Farnham.
1692 – Richmond and Essex Counties are formed.
1699 – The seat of British colonial government is moved from Jamestown to Williamsburg.

While other events occurred on the Northern Neck during this time, the listed events reflect the research pertaining to the Draper family.