Covenant Woods' spacious Lodge, upon whose stage HCHS President Faye Wade and Treasurer Cindy Lowry address the attendees; The cake alone was worth the price of admission; Society Vice President Art Taylor thanks Ms. Cross with a gift of Nature's Bounty, Nation's Glory by Martha M. McCartney.
Tuesday, December 4, 2018 brought Society members together once again for our Annual Christmas Dinner Meeting at Covenant Woods in Mechanicsville.

The evening's presentation was made by past Society President Anne Geddy Cross, who spoke about Hanover County at the time of its founding in November of 1720, and what came before. Hanover County celebrates its 300th birthday in 2020, and this was the first presentation in HCHS' celebration of the anniversary of the county's formation.


As Ms. Cross described, Hanover County's roots began at Jamestown. This process began in 1619, visit the American Evolution 2019 website for more on Virginia's role in shaping American from those early days. The colonists at Jamestown were Anglicans, and not attempting to escape religious persecution as were the Pilgrims who landed at Plymouth Rock in Massachusetts thirteen years later.

York County, initially known as Charles River County, was established in 1634. This was a "frontier county," with no established western boundary. New Kent County was carved from York County in 1654, and from New Kent, Hanover County was finally established in 1720.

Dissenters of the Established Religion were plentiful in early Hanover County, thanks to the ministrations of Reverend Samuel Davies, who founded Polegreen Church. The Dissenters' meeting houses were licensed and thrived, and their influence led to the famous verdict in 1763's Parsons' Cause trial which launched Patrick Henry’s career as an orator and Revolutionary and, most importantly, was the first challenge to the authority of King George III.