Colonial Geography

A lot of folks on the Web are confused about where the Puckett family in Virginia lived.

In the 1600s, they lived in what is now southeast Chesterfield County, Virginia, but was then part of Henrico County.  The Puckett family was in Henrico as early as 1665, several decades before the founding of the town of Richmond.  Modern Chesterfield Co was formed from Henrico in 1749.

More exactly, their land was on a creek called Ashen Swamp, which is on modern maps as Ashton Creek.  See the 1888 map of Chesterfield (https://www.loc.gov/resource/g3883c.la001239/?r=0.628,0.387,0.247,0.102,0).  If you link in the easternmost district, colored pink, you will see 'Ashen Creek' flowing into the Appomattox River.  Some of the family names on the map such as Ashbrook and Walthall were neighbors of the Puckett and Womack family, but by 1888, all the Pucketts and Womacks were gone.

If you drive north on Interstate 95 from Petersburg to Richmond, you are driving through or very close to the original land of John Puckett (1665 Land Patent) and Richard Womack (1679 Patent).  Ashton Creek flows under I-95 just north of the Exit 58 interchange with Virginia State Route 620.

The Puckett family appears to have owned land on both sides of Ashen Swamp.  Henrico records reference "Pucketts Run", which appears to have been a small tributary of Ashen Swamp, flowing into it from the south.  Also, in several Puckett deeds, Rooty Run is mentioned; this small creek flowed into Ashen Swamp from the north.  I don't know exactly where either Pucketts Run or Rooty Run are located.

Third Branch of Swift Creek

Swift Creek run through the middle of Chesterfield County, and Third Branch flows into it.  See 1888 Map - https://www.loc.gov/resource/g3883c.la001239/?r=0.366,0.335,0.172,0.071,0. 

A John Puckett had a 1736 Land Patent on Third Branch (VPB 17:27).  Presumed brothers Thomas, William and Douglass Puckett had a 1746 Land Patent also on Third Branch (VPB 25:97).  The 1888 map shows families that were neighbors of the Puckett family - Ferguson, Perdue, Belcher, Patram, etc - but the Puckett family appears to have moved on by 1888.

Church Parishes

The Church of England was the official church of Virginia colony.  Besides counties, Virginia was divided into a number of church parishes, that often overlapped county boundaries.  See Bristol Parish for more info.  See also https://vagenweb.org/parishes.htm.