Order books contain records of all matters brought before the court when it was in session and may contain important information not found anywhere else. A wide variety of information is found in order books including appointments of county officials and militia officers, records of legal disputes heard before the county court, appointments of guardians, apprenticeships of children by the overseers of the poor, naturalizations, road orders, and registrations of free Negroes.

This volume contains entries from Essex County Order Book (Part I), 1716-1723, March 19, 1716, through September 16, 1718. Originally published in 1990, reprinted 2016.