How Justice Grew Part 2

In 1720, the a.s.sembly pa.s.sed an act to be effective in 1721, creating Spotsylvania County as has been mentioned. At the same time, there was an act to form a county from the southern part of Prince George County and name it Brunswick for the Duchy of Brunswick which was then a possession of the Electorate of Hanover. The description is as follows: that Brunswick County should begin "on the south side of the River Roanoke at the place where the line lately run for ascertaining the uncontroverted bounds of this colony towards North Carolina intersects the said river Roanoke and to be bounded by the direction of the governor with consent of council so as to include the southern pa.s.s." No steps were taken for carrying out this act because of the small number of settlers in the area, until May 1732, when it was enacted that the earlier legislation become effective the first of January ensuing.

Setting up the county government had been made possible by adding parts of Surry and Isle of Wight, thus increasing the number of t.i.thables and lessening the amount of taxes each would pay. The preamble to the act expresses this thought in more precise phrase when it says "whereas by reason of the small number of t.i.thables in the county of Brunswick the poll taxes must necessarily be very grievous and burthensome to them, which by an addition of parts of the counties of Surry and Isle of Wight would be remedied, and divers of the inhabitants of the two last mentioned counties would thereby also be freed from hards.h.i.+ps and inconveniences which at present they labour under."

The reference to the line lately run "between Virginia and North Carolina" is the famous survey made by Col. William Byrd, Major William Mayo, John Irvine and others which forms the subject of _The History of the Dividing Line_ written by Colonel Byrd. The Mayo River in Patrick and Henry Counties perpetuates the name of Major Mayo, the skilled surveyor in the party. The entire boundary was not surveyed then, in fact it was a good many years later before it was necessary to have a clear limit between the two colonies for the entire area.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Virginia State Chamber of Commerce Lancaster County Clerk's Office, Lancaster, Virginia]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Virginia State Chamber of Commerce Ess.e.x County Clerk's Office, Tappahannock, Virginia]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Virginia State Chamber of Commerce Richmond County Clerk's Office, Warsaw, Virginia]

Brunswick County began to function in 1732 and grew rapidly. The "overwrought ground" mentioned long before had in the interval became a more and more disturbing factor in agriculture. Tobacco was king, it demanded new land, hence new land must be provided. In Brunswick there was not only new land but the sort of land to raise good tobacco profitably, a condition equally true today. Settlers from Ess.e.x, King and Queen, Gloucester, York, Elizabeth City and other older counties soon made their way into Brunswick. It may not be amiss to observe that with the better living made possible by better tobacco crops a gastronomic delicacy was developed there, a rich and succulent stew called "Brunswick Stew" in honor of the county. So far as the writer is aware no other county in the state has achieved similar fame.

ORANGE COUNTY REACHES TO THE MISSISSIPPI

In 1734, an expansion to the northwest took place in the creation of Orange County so named to honor William, Prince of Orange, later William III of England. The City of Williamsburg, King William and King and Queen counties had been prior evidences of his popularity. The new division was to embrace that part of Spotsylvania County lying in Saint Mark's Parish "Bounden southerly by the line of Hanover County, northerly by the grant of Lord Fairfax and westerly by the utmost limits of Virginia." This western boundary was the Mississippi River. The a.s.sembly further enacted "for the encouragement of the inhabitants already settled and which shall speedily settle on the westward of Sherrendo (Shenandoah) River" that "all who had established themselves by 1st January 1734/35 should be free of country, county and parish levies for the next three years."

Part of this expansion was due to the natural increase of population, the allure of new settlements where there was greater opportunity for advancement of fortunes, and part to the tide of immigration. Years of warfare in Germany had left ruined communities along the Rhenish Palatinate. For these people, Rotterdam was the most convenient port of embarkation and Philadelphia was often their port of debarkation.

Following in the steps of John Van Metre, Adam Miller, Jacob Stover and Jost Hite who had come to the Valley of Virginia between 1725 and 1731, many immigrants, finding land cheaper in Virginia, left Pennsylvania and took up residence in Virginia.

In 1735, the act of the a.s.sembly pa.s.sed the year before for creating the new county of Amelia became effective. By this act, it was ordered that "the said county of Prince George and that part of the parish of Bristol which lies in the same be divided from the mouth of Namozain Creek up the same to the main, or John Hamlin's, fork of the said creek, thence up the south or lowest branch thereof to White Oak Hunting Path and thence by a south course to strike Nottoway River." The land below these courses retained the name of Prince George. The land lying above these courses bounded "southerly by the Great Nottoway River including part of the county of Brunswick and parish of Saint Andrew as far as to take the ridges between Roanoke and Appomattox Rivers and thence along those ridges to the great mountains westerly by the said mountains and northerly by the southern boundaries of Goochland and Henrico Counties"

became Amelia County and Raleigh Parish. The name was in honor of the youngest daughter of George II.

By 1738, people living across the Blue Ridge Mountains found them a barrier to frequent attendance at Orange County Court. For their convenience, a division was ordered. "All that territory and tract of land at present deemed to be a part of the county of Orange lying on the northwest side of the said mountains (Blue Ridge) extending from thence northerly, westerly and southerly beyond the said mountains to the utmost limits of Virginia" shall be "separated from the rest of the said county and erected into two distinct counties and parishes; to be divided by a line to be run from the head spring of Hedgman River to the head spring by the River Potomac." "That part of the said territory lying to the northeast of the said line beyond the top of the said Blue Ridge shall be one distinct county, to be called and known by the name of the county of Frederick and parish of Frederick. And that the rest of the said territory lying on the other side of the said line beyond the top of the said Blue Ridge shall be one other distinct county and parish to be called by the name of the county of Augusta and parish of Augusta." The counties thus created honored Frederick, Prince of Wales, eldest son of George II, and his wife, Augusta of Saxe-Gotha, Princess of Wales. Frederick predeceased his father and it was Frederick's son who became George III.

The a.s.sembly had repeated with reference to Augusta and Frederick Counties its action in the case of Brunswick; namely: created counties before they were financially able to function. Not until 1743 did Frederick have sufficient t.i.thables to begin to hold court, and it was two years later before Augusta set up her county organization.

In 1742, it was enacted that Prince William County be divided. The bounds of this county were set as follows: "all that part thereof lying on the south side of Occoquan and Bull Run and from the heads of the main branch of Bull Run by a straight course to the Thoroughfare of the Blue Ridge of Mountains known by the name of Ashby's Gap or Bent."

Hamilton was the parish for Prince William County. That portion of Prince William which had, in 1732, been placed in Truro Parish became the new county of Fairfax. The name was, of course, in honor of Lord Fairfax, the Proprietor of the Northern Neck Grant.

Pohick, one of the churches in Truro Parish, is still standing and in use. General George Was.h.i.+ngton, who lived at nearby "Mount Vernon,"

George Mason of "Gunston Hall" and Lord Fairfax of "Greenway Court" were vestrymen; and planned for the erection of this present building in 1769.

In the same year that Fairfax was formed in the northern part of the colony, Hanover County in the middle section was divided. The Act ordered "all that tract of land now deemed to be a part of the said county of Hanover lying above a straight course to be run from the mouth of Little Rockey Creek on the River Northanna south, twenty degrees west until it intersects the line of Goochland County" should become a distinct county and known by the name of Louisa County. The name honored a daughter of George II, as Amelia had done a few years earlier.

Two years later the first of the eight counties eventually cut from Goochland was created and given the name Albemarle. This was in honor of William Anne Keppel, second Earl of Albemarle, Governor-General of the Colony, 1737-1754. Like most of the Governors-General, he did not come to Virginia, but the Lieutenant Governor as his deputy, performed the duties of his office.

The bounds of Albemarle were to be divided from Goochland on the west "by a line run from the point of fork of James River north, thirty degrees east to the Louisa County line, and from the said point of fork a direct course to Brooks mill and from thence the same course continued to Appomattox River." "The point of fork" is the junction of the Rivanna with the James. It will be noted by the reference to the Appomattox River that Albemarle extended across James River just as Goochland did.

"Monticello" the beloved home of Thomas Jefferson, is in Albemarle County, and in architecture and planning is another example of the amazing versatility of his genius.

In 1746, the settlements in Brunswick County had grown to such an extent that a new division was required. The line was ordered "to be run from the county line where it crosses Roanoke River below the place called the Horse Ford to strike Nottoway River at the south." The territory above this line was to be called Lunenburg County. This t.i.tle, anglicized from the German form, Luneburg, was chosen since the Duchy of Luneburg, like that of Brunswick, belonged to the Electorate of Hanover.

Lunenburg embraced a vast acreage stretching from the rolling country where bright tobacco came to perfection as far west as the mountains and on the south to the North Carolina boundary.

c.u.mBERLAND, CULPEPER, SOUTHAMPTON AND CHESTERFIELD CREATED, 1749

The western portion of Goochland lying on both sides of the James had, in 1744, been taken to form the new county of Albemarle; now, five years later, the southeast portion of Goochland was made into the new county of c.u.mberland. The name was further honor for the Duke of c.u.mberland, "The Butcher of Culloden." The growth in this locality had been hastened by the arrival of numerous Huguenot families seeking asylum from persecution in France. Manakintown was the name of their settlement. The name is perpetuated in a newly erected Episcopal church not far from the site of the settlement where the Agee, Fourqurean, Legrand, Michaux, Guerrant, Flournoy and other families wors.h.i.+p now, as they have done for some 250 years.

In the same year that c.u.mberland was formed, a new county was taken from Orange and named Culpeper, presumably in honor of Lord Culpeper, Governor of Virginia 1680-1683, a compliment to Lord Fairfax "who had inherited from him the owners.h.i.+p of the Northern Neck." Culpeper lay on the south side of the Rappahannock and north of the Conway River commonly called the fork of the Rappahannock River. The fork of the Rappahannock was the area between the Rappahannock River and its tributary, the Conway, now called the Rapidan. "Horseshoe Farm" is in Culpeper County and takes its name from the bend or horseshoe made by the Rapidan within which it is situated. While the residence is modern, the farm is of colonial times and was once owned by Governor Spotswood.

It was from this house that, in 1741, he went to Annapolis, Maryland expecting to sail with an expedition to join Admiral Vernon and attack Cartagena in the Spanish Main. He died unexpectedly in Annapolis but, strangely enough, considering his prominence, his burial place is unknown.

Besides Culpeper and c.u.mberland, a third county, Southampton, was formed in 1749. This was taken from that portion of Isle of Wight's territory that lay west of Blackwater River. The name is said to honor, tho belatedly, Henry Wriothesley, second Earl of Southampton, friend of Shakespeare and a leading member of the Virginia Company of London. The City of Hampton and Hampton River honor the same person. Southampton is one of the cotton-raising counties of Virginia, and in the fall the fields of cotton are a beautiful sight.

Still a fourth county was formed in 1749 and that was Chesterfield.

This, as was the case with the other three, represented no great expansion, but was in line with the thesis long before laid down--"to make justice accessible to all." Chesterfield is that part of Henrico that lay on the south side of James River. Again we go to England for the reason for this name and learn that it honors Philip Dormer Stanhope, fourth Earl of Chesterfield, the celebrated Lord Chesterfield.

Though we think of him primarily as the epitome of good manners, courtesy and tact, his political career was important too. His services in Parliament, his lord lieutenancy of Ireland, his achievements on different emba.s.sies, and as Secretary of State were of value to his country. In Chesterfield County are the sites of the earliest iron works in the colony and of the projected college just beginning to operate when the 1622 Ma.s.sacre destroyed everything.

In 1752, two new divisions were made. One of these was Halifax, the first of the nine counties that were destined to be carved out of the vast expanse of Lunenburg County. The bounds of Halifax were "all that part thereof lying on the south side of Black-Water Creek and Staunton river, from the said Black-Water creek to the confluence of the said river with the river Dan and from thence to Aaron's creek to the county line." The parish of Antrim coterminous with the county was established when the county was created. The name Halifax honors George Montagu Dunk, the second Earl of Halifax "who was First Lord of the Board of Trade about that time and as such greatly interested himself in the trade of the colonies." Halifax, Nova Scotia is a further memorial to Lord Halifax.

The other county created in 1752 was Dinwiddie, taken from the southern portion of Prince George. Its bounds began at the lower side "of the run which falls into Appomattox river between the town of Blanford and Bollings point warehouses to the outermost line of the glebe land and by a south course and by the said outermost line of the glebe land to Surry County." The name honored Robert Dinwiddie, Lieutenant Governor of Virginia 1751-58. He held office during the troubled period of the French and Indian Wars, in which George Was.h.i.+ngton, as a Colonel in the Virginia Militia, partic.i.p.ated.

In 1754 that part of Amelia County divided "by a line to run from Ward's ford on Appomattox River to the mouth of Sail's creek on Nottoway river and all that part of the said county which lies on the upper side of the said line shall be one distinct county and called and known by the name of Prince Edward." The name was in honor of a younger brother of King George III, Prince Edward, Duke of Gloucester. This Prince was one of the two brothers of George III, whose marriages to commoners led to the pa.s.sage of the famous Royal Marriage Act in 1772. Its well-known provisions are that no descendant of King George III may marry when under 25 years of age without consent of the reigning monarch or, if over that age, without a consenting Act of Parliament. Prince Edward Street in Fredericksburg is also named for this Prince as the city itself is for his father.

Also in 1754, a second county was created from Lunenburg and called Bedford. It comprised the area lying on the upper side of Falling-river from its mouth "up the said river to the fork, thence up that fork running by John Beard's to the head, thence by a line to be run from the head thereof north, twenty degrees east to the line dividing the said county from the county of Albemarle." It should be remembered that at this time both the present Buckingham and Appomattox were a part of Albemarle County. The new county honored "John Russell the fourth Duke of Bedford who was Secretary of State of Great Britain February 13th 1748 to June 26th 1757." The parish, coterminous with the county and created at the same time, also honored the Duke, being called Russell.

Another expansion at this time also on the south side of James River was the formation of Suss.e.x from Surry County. Suss.e.x lies to the south of Seac.o.c.k Swamp on the line dividing Surry "from the county of Southampton, thence a straight course to Blackwater at the mouth of Coppohawk and up Blackwater to the line dividing" Surry from the county of Prince George. Suss.e.x took its name from the English s.h.i.+re. Albemarle Parish formed in 1739 had included the area now made into Suss.e.x, and, in addition, a small portion of Surry. It was enacted that the portion in Surry be added to Southwark Parish, and Albemarle Parish be made coterminous with Suss.e.x.

The fourth county formed in 1754 was Hamps.h.i.+re named for the English s.h.i.+re. It is now in West Virginia. Since, however, its creation affected the bounds of two already established Virginia Counties, the Act of a.s.sembly for its bounds is cited: "Whereas part of the county and parish of Augusta lies within the bounds of the territory or tract of land called the Northern Neck belong to the right honorable Thomas, Lord Fairfax, Baron of Cameron and it will be more convenient if the dividing line between the said territory and the other part of this colony be established as the line of the said county and that part of the said county be added to the county and parish of Frederick," it was enacted therefore that the part of Augusta above mentioned be added to Frederick which should then be divided into two counties and "all that part thereof lying to the westward of the ridge of mountains commonly called and known by the name of the Great North or Cape Capon mountains and Warin spring mountain extending to Potomac river be one distinct county and called and known by the name of Hamps.h.i.+re." When Augusta and Frederick were authorized in 1738, the western bounds of the Northern Neck Grant had not been surveyed. This was done in 1747, and the above Act changed the previous limits of Augusta so that the entire county would not be a part of the proprietary.

The name of the next new county reflected current happenings. For about six years, 1754-1760, the colony was actively partic.i.p.ating in the struggle to crush French power in America. The Commander-in-Chief of the British Forces in America was, for a time, John Campbell, fourth Earl of Loudoun. His conduct of the war was severely criticized, and he was recalled in December 1757. He was, for almost two years, t.i.tular "Governor and Captain-General of Virginia," though his deputy Lieutenant-Governor Robert Dinwiddie performed all the duties of the office. Loudoun, the new county named for the Earl, was formed from Fairfax County in 1757. It included "all that part thereof lying above Difficult Run which falls into Potomac river and by a line to be run from the head of the said run or straight course to the mouth of Rocky run." The part "thereof below the said run and course" retained its status as a distinct county and the name of Fairfax.

In 1759, the inhabitants of Prince William County complained of many inconveniences "by reason of the great extent thereof and their remote situation from the courthouse." Mindful that justice be accessible to all, the a.s.sembly enacted that Prince William be divided and "all that part of the said county that lies above a line to be run from the head of Bull Run and along the top of Bull run mountains to Chapman's mill, in Broad run thoroughfare, from thence by a direct line till it intersects the nearest part of the line dividing Stafford and Prince William Counties" be known as Fauquier. This again honors an English official but in this case a very popular one, Francis Fauquier, who, in 1758, succeeded Robert Dinwiddie as Lieutenant Governor of Virginia. He served the colony for nearly ten years, dying in Williamsburg on 3 March 1768 "after a tedious illness which he bore with the greatest patience and fort.i.tude." Among the eulogies in prose to his memory, the following verse may be noted:

"If ever virtue lost a friend sincere If ever sorrow claimed Virginia's tear If ever death a n.o.ble conquest made 'Twas when Fauquier the debt of nature paid."

With tobacco as the medium of exchange and as the most valuable export, the economic base was too small for the large superstructure erected on it. The taxes, fees, and commissions on exported tobacco were numerous and onerous, the net return to the planter often did not cover the goods he had ordered and his debt to his London agent increased. It was British policy that her colonies should send her raw materials and buy from her manufactured articles, thus giving her merchants a double advantage and placing the colonists at double disadvantage. During the 1750's, the colony had been put to such great expense in prosecuting the French and Indian War that for the first time an issue of paper money was required. Economic conditions grew worse throughout the colony.

"WESTWARD-HO" TWENTY-SIX NEW COUNTIES, 1750-1770

The unceasing westward trek of settlers continued. In 1750-60, eight counties were formed, between 1760-1770, eighteen new divisions occurred, which evidences the great growth of population.

Albemarle was the next county to be divided. In 1761, it was enacted that the portion "of the said county which lies on the south side of the Fluvanna river" [old name for the James River above Richmond] "shall be one distinct county and called and known by the name of Buckingham." By the same legislation, "that other part of the said county which lies on the north side of the Fluvanna river shall be divided from the confluence of Rockfish river with the Fluvanna by Rockfish river to the mouth of Green creek and thence a straight line to the house of Thomas Bell to the Blue mountains, and all that part which lies above Rockfish river and the lines aforesaid" shall be called Amherst County. Amherst Parish at the same time was formed from Saint Anne's Parish and made coterminous with the county of Amherst. Several years earlier, Tillotson Parish had been formed from Saint Anne's to take care of the residents of Amherst who lived on the south side of James River. It was now made coterminous with the county of Buckingham.

The name Buckingham is probably for the Duke of Buckingham. Amherst derives its name from "the hero of Ticonderoga, Major-General Sir Jeffrey Amherst, the most successful as well as the most popular of all the English Colonial Governors-General." He was t.i.tular Governor-General of Virginia 1759-1768 while Francis Fauquier performed the duties of the office.

Four years pa.s.sed, and two more divisions were made in the western portion of Lunenburg. The part of Lunenburg comprised in the parish of Cornwall became Charlotte County and the portion in the parish of St.

James became Mecklenburg.

These counties were named, as is the city of Charlottesville, after Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, who became Queen of England on her marriage to King George III.

We next find in 1767 that Halifax has grown to the point of division and a new county, Pittsylvania, has been taken from its western portion.

Pittsylvania lay on the upper or western side "of a line to be run across the mouth of Strait Stone creek on Staunton river to the country line, near the mouth of the country line creek on Dan river." At the same time, Antrim, which was the parish for Halifax, was divided and the part lying in Pittsylvania became Camden. Pittsylvania honored "Sir William Pitt, Earl of Chatham, the celebrated English statesman" whose sympathy with them had endeared him to the colonists. A statue of him in Westmoreland county, Virginia and another in Charleston, South Carolina are further expressions of the affection felt for him.

BOTETOURT, 1770 HONORS A POPULAR COLONIAL GOVERNOR

The next county was, in the main, a rearrangement of already settled territory bearing always in mind that easy access to justice was the purpose of every division. The new county, Botetourt, was formed from Augusta in 1770 and lay on the south side of a dividing "line beginning at the Blue Ridge, running north fifty-five degrees west, to the confluence of Mary's creek, or the south river, with the north branch of James River, thence up the same to the mouth of Carr's creek, thence up the said creek to the mountain, thence north, fifty-five degrees west as far as the courts of the two counties shall extend it." The phrase to note in the above is: "as far as the courts of the two counties shall extend it," in other words, there was no limit to the western boundary.