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HOW JUSTICE GREW
Virginia Counties: An Abstract of Their Formation
by
MARTHA W. HIDEN
Member of Executive Board of
Virginia Historical Society
Virginia 350th Anniversary Celebration Corporation
Williamsburg, Virginia
1957
Copyright(C), 1957 by
Virginia 350th Anniversary Celebration
Corporation, Williamsburg, Virginia
Jamestown 350th Anniversary
Historical Booklet, Number 19
HOW JUSTICE GREW
Virginia Counties: An Abstract of Their Formation
In addition to their human cargo, the poultry and fruit acquired in the
West Indies, the clothing, household gear, and other possessions of the
passengers, the _Susan Constant_, _Godspeed_ and _Discovery_ had a large
though imponderable cargo of English laws, customs and religion. The
colonists had left England, neither driven out nor seeking escape, but
to found a new England in a new world.
Though the seat of government was at "King James His Towne," the natural
curiosity to explore and the economic necessity for means of livelihood
caused settlements to spring up farther and farther away. Despite the
fact that the colonists were in a region where rivers and numerous
streams afforded easy transportation interrupted only for short periods
by ice in winter, attendance at court in Jamestown was burdensome.
THE FOUR CORPORATIONS
By 17 June 1617, Governor Samuel Argall had established the four great
divisions of the colony, namely: "the incorporations and parishes of
James City, Charles City, Henrico and Kikotan" (later Elizabeth City).
The Eastern Shore settlements were not included in this division.
Each of the incorporations mentioned above and the Eastern Shore
contained one or more boroughs or settlements. Eleven of the settlements
in the four incorporations were represented by two Burgesses each, in
the first General Assembly. This, the first legislative assembly of
English speaking people in the Western hemisphere, convened on 30 July
1619 in the church at Jamestown. Itself based on the English Parliament
as a model, it became the model followed by all succeeding British
colonies including Australia. The colonial assembly next in age to
Virginia's is that of Bermuda established in 1620. In the _Journals of
the House of Burgesses_, the names of the Burgesses for the 1619
Assembly are arranged by the cities and plantations they represented. In
the Journal of the second Assembly that is extant, 1623/24, for the
first and only time, the plantations are grouped under the corporations
of which they were a part, except Eastern Shore, which, as has been
noted, was a separate entity.
In 1621, a charter from the Company confirmed former grants and provided
"that the Governor should call the General Assembly once a year, and
initiate the policy of the form of government, laws, customs, manner of
trial and other administration of justice used in England." Governor
Wyatt at the same time was ordered to make arrangements for "dividing
the colony into cities, boroughs, etc., ... and to appoint proper times
for administration ... and law suits." William Stith in his _History of
Virginia_ states: "Inferior courts were therefore in the beginning of
the year 1621 appointed in convenient places to relieve the Governor and
Council of the vast burthen of business and to render justice more cheap
and accessible. This was the original and foundation of our County
Courts, although the country was not yet laid off in counties."
The General Assembly of 1623/24 provided "that there shall be courts
kept once a month in the corporations of Charles City and Elizabeth City
for the deciding of suits and controversies not exceeding the value of
one hundred pounds of tobacco and for punishing of petty offenses." As a
consequence of this act, the question of the metes and bounds of these
corporations, Charles City, Henrico, Elizabeth City and James City,
became important, since suits must perforce be instituted in the court
having jurisdiction over that particular area. Mr. Nathaniel C. Hale,
in his interesting book on William Claiborne called _Virginia Venturer_,
shows that William Claiborne in 1621, was appointed a surveyor for the
colony and comments that heretofore boundaries of land had been located
with ungraduated mariners' compasses and described by careless
references to natural limits.
Apparently the Jamestown Court with those of Charles City and Elizabeth
City was adequate for several years, but in February 1631/32 the
Assembly passed an act adding five more as follows: "for the upper
parts"; "for Warwick River; for Warrosquyoake; for Elizabeth City; for
Accawmacke." Presumably, since the order had been that the new courts
were to be held "in remote parts of the colony," the phrase "upper
parts" would mean the most western part of Henrico Corporation, and the
Elizabeth City Court would be for the south side of Hampton Roads. This
seems logical since the north side had been settled first, was more
populous and was not remote from Jamestown.
THE EIGHT ORIGINAL SHIRES
But the colony was growing too fast for this arrangement to continue
adequate for long. With a population of about 5,000 persons, the time
for division into shires or counties was at hand. It may be noted that,
though these units were designated as shires in the Act of the General
Assembly creating them, they were, after that, always called counties.
Their functions were the same as those of their English prototypes, but
conditions here required two changes which will be mentioned later.
The names of the four corporations, Charles City, Henrico, James City
and Elizabeth City were kept for four of the newly created counties, but
their areas were lessened. The four new divisions were: Warwick River,
later called Warwick; Warrosquyoake, later Isle of Wight; Charles River,
later changed to York, and Accomack which embraced all the settlements
on the Eastern Shore of Virginia.
[Illustration: 1619
Rapid Growth of Settlement along the James River. Marked by Introduction
of Representative Government.]
The tender feeling for the homeland is evidenced by the fact that six
out of the "eight original shires," as they are generally called, bore
names reminiscent of England. Henrico perpetuated Henry, Prince of
Wales, son of James I whose early death made even more difficult the
first years of the Colony. Charles City honored his brother Charles,
later Charles I, who combined, to his undoing, the charm and obstinacy
of the Stuarts. Elizabeth City and the river of the same name derive
from Princess Elizabeth, the oldest sister of Henry and Charles. She
married Frederick, for a time King of Bohemia, but later overthrown and
exiled. Though her life was bitter and tragic, her descendants since
1714 have occupied the throne of Britain. James City was, of course, for
King James I, of whom it was said that his instructors had given him an
abundance of knowledge but had been unable to give him sense. Warwick's
name was for Robert Rich, Earl of Warwick, leader of one of the factions
of the Virginia Company, who had founded and cared for the colony. He
belonged to the "Court Party" which wished to continue martial law in
the colony and opposed the liberal views of Sir Edwin Sandys and the
Earl of Southampton. For awhile the Sandys faction was in control and
the "Great Charter of Laws, Orders and Privileges" brought over by Sir
George Yeardley was the expression of their views on colonial
government. But the "Court Party" prevailed in the end and the charter
of the Virginia Company was revoked in 1624. Charles River County
presumably took its name from Charles I, who was King when it was
formed. In 1642/43 when it became York, the change was made to honor
James, the second son of Charles I, who in that year was created Duke of
York. Warrosquyoake, an Indian word, was later Isle of Wight County
since some of its most prominent residents were from the small island of
that name lying off the English coast. The Parish lying in and
coterminous with Isle of Wight County was called Newport from the
largest city in the English island. Accomack honored the friendly tribe
of Indians of that name residing on the Eastern Shore.
The bounds of these eight counties as noted in Tyler's _The Cradle of
the Republic_ were as follows:
Elizabeth City County extending on both sides of Hampton Roads, on the
south side to Chuckatuck Creek and on the north side to Newport News and
including a small part thereof.
Warrosquyoake County, later Isle of Wight, extending on the south side
of James River from Chuckatuck Creek to Lawne's Creek.
Warwick River County extending on the north side of James River from
Elizabeth City County to Skiffe's (Keith's) Creek. This is the only
original shire from which no other county was formed. The name was
changed to Warwick County in 1643.
James City County extending on both sides of James River, on the south
side from Lawne's Creek to Upper Chippokes Creek and on the north side
from Skiffe's Creek to above Sandy Point.
Charles City County also extending on both sides of James River, on the
south side from Upper Chippokes Creek to Appomattox River and on the
north side from Sandy Point to Turkey Island Creek.
Henrico County extending from Charles City County on both sides of James
River indefinitely westward.
Charles River County, later York, lay to the north of Warwick County and
adjoined Elizabeth City County on the east. Its north and west
boundaries were indefinite. The colonists soon crossed the York River to
establish plantations along its northern bank and settled as far west as
the Pamunkey River.
Accomack, the eighth shire, like York County, showed the vitality of the
colonists in pushing settlements away from the vicinity of Jamestown
into uncharted wilds.
The Potomac River was the dividing line between Virginia and Maryland,
and on the Eastern Shore the division was approximately in line with the
mouth of this river. Settling on the Shore in 1616, the colonists moved
slowly northward. The Indians were friendly, transportation easy,
climate mild, and soil fertile. There was no impediment to growth.
The population of the colony is estimated to have been around 5,000
persons in 1634 as has been noted. Six years later it had increased
about 50%, being 7,466 persons. One factor in this growth was the unrest
in England at this time which culminated a few years later in bitter
civil war.
THE COLONIAL COURTS
We have mentioned that the creation of counties with their courts had in
view to render justice more accessible to all. There were by 1642, in
the colony six kinds of courts for the administration of justice.
The first of these was the magistrate's court. In 1642, an Act of the
Assembly empowered a magistrate or justice to try a case involving not
over twenty shillings in currency or 200 pounds of tobacco in value. In
1657/58, the amount could be as much as 1,000 pounds of tobacco if two
magistrates were present but only 350 pounds if but one magistrate tried
the case. The appeal from the magistrate's court was to the monthly
court.
The next court was the parish court. In the seventeenth century only one
of these courts existed in Virginia and that only for a short time. This
was the court of Bristol Parish which most likely sat in the old
Merchants Hope Church, still standing and still in use. The court was
discontinued before the end of the seventeenth century, and its papers
passed into the custody of the Henrico County Court. A parish court was
in a way a vestigial body, a relic of days when the authority of the
church was preeminent in both civil and ecclesiastical matters.
The third recourse for justice was to the monthly court, developed
according to Stith, from the inferior court established in 1621. The
Governor named the first justices of a new county, renamed justices in
the old counties and filled every vacancy as it occurred. By Act of
Assembly in 1628/29, the number of justices was to be eight, but later
it was increased to ten. Four constituted a quorum. Three other members
of the bench associated with one member of the quorum, who had a
different status from the other justices, formed a sufficient number to
make a valid court. The person whose name appeared at the head of the
list of those constituting the quorum probably served as presiding
justice; in his absence, the one named second and so on down the list.
No pay was provided for the justices.
In 1642, the Assembly ordered that at least six monthly courts be held
every year and the justices were empowered to determine when extra
sessions were necessary. At the same time, another Act of Assembly
provided that Henrico should hold court on the first day of every month;
Charles City on the third; James City on the sixth; Isle of Wight on the
ninth; Upper Norfolk (later Nansemond) on the twelfth; Elizabeth City on
the eighteenth; Warwick on the twenty-first; York on the twenty-fourth;
and Northampton, (formerly Accomack) on the twenty-eighth. The careful
spacing between these courts enabled attorneys to appear in cases in
different counties with no conflict of dates.
The range of cases that could come before a monthly court was naturally
wider than could come before a magistrate. As much as ten pounds
sterling could be involved in a suit and there was no appeal from the
decision; when larger amounts were involved, the defeated litigant could
appeal to the General Court. All questions where injury to life or limb
was at stake went before the General Court.
The monthly county courts had, in a general way, a jurisdiction
resembling the combined jurisdiction of the English Chancery Court,
King's Bench, Common Pleas, Court Exchequer, Admiralty and
Ecclesiastical. The justices of the monthly courts looked after the poor
and afflicted, held special orphan courts at least once a year, granted
probates of wills, passed on appraisements of estates as presented to
them for inspection, on inventories and estate accounts which also were
presented for their scrutiny, and recorded conveyances of land.
Recordation of land conveyances is one of the two differences between
the monthly court of a Virginia county and its British prototype. There
conveyances were private property and retained in private ownership.
Manor houses of old English estates often had a room called the
"Muniment room" where deeds, inventories, rent rolls and such family
papers, often including copies of wills, were kept. The name derived
from a Latin word meaning to fortify or strengthen, since the deeds
strengthened the validity of ownership claimed by the holder of the
land. The other function of the monthly court in Virginia different from
the English Shire Court was the power to probate wills. In England
probate of wills was in the prerogative courts of Canterbury and York.
Probably since there was no diocesan see in Virginia, Virginia being in
the diocese of London, the monthly court offered the most feasible place
of probate.
It has been noted that there was a limit to the powers of this court and
that cases which it could not hear went before the General Court. This
court was composed of the Governor and his Council of State. It met
semi-annually, 15 April and 15 October, each term lasting at least
eighteen days. The Governor presided at these sessions. The presence of
five members was necessary for the transaction of business. The _Minutes
of the Council and General Court_ are extant for the years 1622-1632 and
abstracts for the years 1670-1676. They were published in one volume by
the Virginia State Library in 1924 and are helpful in acquiring a
general picture of life in the colony in the seventeenth century.
The General Assembly was also a judicial body with power to render
decisions. At its afternoon session the 22nd day of September 1674, a
cause came before the Council and General Court which had originated in
Accomack County. The Court made no decision but ordered it "referred to
the Assembly by reason it very much concern the country." From that one
would infer that causes involving general principles were deemed proper
for discussion and decision by the Burgesses who represented the entire
colony, since all would be affected by the decision.
The Court of Admiralty, the last dispenser of justice in the colony,
seems to have been established about 1697 under the governorship of Sir
Edmund Andros. Previously such matters as would come within the province
of this court had been handled by other judicial procedures, as they
were later. The instances of piracy were not numerous enough to justify
the maintenance of a Court of Admiralty in Virginia. No records of this
court survive.
It may seem we have wandered far from the formation of counties, but
since the accessibility of justice for all was a prime consideration in
their creation, it would appear well to examine the means by which the
average citizen could have his grievances heard and decided. The
importance of the county monthly court in his life cannot be
overestimated. While on business at court, he had opportunity to see his
friends, play cards, gamble, race horses, fight, drink, "swap" horses
and other livestock, attend the muster of county militia to which he
belonged, and see the newest articles imported from England. The county
court and his parish church services were his chief contacts with the
world that lay beyond his plantation.
"JUSTICE ACCESSIBLE TO ALL." COUNTY DIVISIONS BEGIN
Scarcely had the eight original counties begun to function before the
expansion of population forced the erection of a new one. In 1636 that
part of Elizabeth City County lying on the south side of Hampton Roads
became a separate entity under the name of New Norfolk, a name probably
derived from the English shire. No court records of this year survive.
The next year 1637, New Norfolk itself was divided into Lower Norfolk
and Upper Norfolk counties.
Also in 1637, Warrosquyoake County lost its Indian name, becoming Isle
of Wight. By Act of Assembly passed in January 1639/40, the bounds
between these three counties were set as follows: Isle of Wight to begin
at Lawne's Creek, thence down the main river to Richard Hays's, formerly
John Seaward's, including the said plantation and families and from
thence from the main river into the woods southerly to the plantation of
William Nowell and Mr. Robert Pitt, with the said plantation and
families, and thence south as aforesaid. The Upper County of New Norfolk
to begin at the aforesaid plantation of Richard Hays, from thence
southerly into the woods as aforesaid, and by the main river, from
thence to extend down by the main river unto the creek near the
plantation of Francis Bullock being the first creek to the westward of
Crany Point including the plantation of the said Francis Bullock and no
ways intrenching upon the Western Branch of Elizabeth River nor the
creek thereof which do belong to the county of Lower Norfolk. The
parishes in these counties were ordered to be coterminous with the
bounds of the counties. Upper Norfolk County kept its name only a few
years; in March 1645/46, the Assembly directed it should "be from
henceforth nominated and called county of Nansemun."
INDIAN DISTRICT CHICKACOAN BECOMES NORTHUMBERLAND
Whether because of the Puritan element in Nansemond or because of
Quakers resident there, who on account of their aversion to war were of
no aid against the Indians, settlement for the first time turned away
from Tidewater to the area lying between the Rappahannock and the
Potomac Rivers. Because of its fertile soil, easy transportation and
healthful climate, the colonists patented land in this favored region in
increasing numbers. By 1645 the county of Northumberland had been formed
and organized. Although we have no Act of Assembly to establish the
date of its formation, an item from a volume of _Maryland Archives_
under date of 1645 referring to Lieutenant Colonel John Trussell of the
county of Northumberland shows the county was then functioning.
The area from which Northumberland was formed had borne the Indian name
of Chickacoan. It was a border settlement with no stable government and
in need of law and order. Northumberland extended from the Potomac to
and across the Rappahannock River and from the tip of "Northern Neck,"
as the territory lying between the two rivers was called, indefinitely
westward. The name derives from the English shire, Northumberland.
Population of the colony is estimated to have been about 15,000 in 1649,
500 of whom were negroes, and in 1654, 21,600 persons. This rapid growth
was due largely to the Civil War in England which made Virginia a haven
of refuge for many.
NORTHUMBERLAND DIVIDED
In 1651, that portion of Northumberland lying on both sides of the
Rappahannock River was divided and a new county, called Lancaster from
the English shire of that name, was formed.
Colonists were moving westward in Northumberland and the distance to its
courthouse made attendance at court difficult. In 1653, the new county
of Westmoreland was set up from the western end of Northumberland to
take care of these new residents. Its boundaries were "from Machoatoke
River where Mr. Cole lives and so upwards to the falls of the great
river of Potomac above the Necostins Town." It did not extend across the
Rappahannock River. The "Mr. Cole" referred to is probably the Richard
Cole, who in his will, directed that an elaborate tombstone be ordered
for him carrying the following inscription:
"Here lies Dick Cole a grievous sinner
Who died shortly before dinner
Yet hopes in Heaven to find a place
To satiate his soul with grace."
Westmoreland, destined to share with Charles City County the distinction
of being the birthplace of two Presidents of the United States, is a
beautifully situated area with famous estates on its fertile lands.
Among these should be mentioned "Stratford," the birthplace of two
Signers of the Declaration of Independence, Richard Lee and Francis
Lightfoot Lee, and of General Robert E. Lee.
NEW TIDEWATER COUNTIES
Leaving the rapidly growing Northern Neck of Virginia, we return to the
Tidewater area to see the developments there. Just as the 1622 Massacre
had retarded settlements on the south bank of the York River, so the
1644 Massacre had delayed expansion on the north side of the York.
Although in 1648 a petition was presented to the Assembly reciting "the
great and clamorous necessities of divers of the inhabitants occasioned
and brought upon them through the mean produce of their labours upon
barren and over-wrought grounds" and praying leave to settle on the
north side of Charles (York) and Rappahannock Rivers, the Assembly
postponed the date of such settlement until 1 September 1649. It seems
to have been about two years later, 1651, before Gloucester County was
established, and Burgesses from the new county are first listed in April
1652.
It may be mentioned that this is an early example of the cause
underlying a great deal of the migration in Virginia: "barren and
over-wrought grounds," the toll that tobacco yearly exacted from the
soil and the continuing need for new land to cultivate in order to
produce profitable crops of tobacco.
Only a little later than the northward expansion of York, evidenced by
the new county of Gloucester, came its growth to the west. In 1654,
Captain Robert Abrell appeared in the Assembly as Burgess from New Kent
County. Like Gloucester, it derived from an English shire of the same
name, and was bestowed in honor of Colonel William Claiborne of
Crayford, Kent, England, at this date a distinguished resident of the
new county. Its bounds were "from the west side of Skimeno Creek to the
heads of Pamunkey and Mattapony Rivers and down to the head of the west
side of Poropotank Creek."
Expansion also had taken place on the south side of James River directly
across from Jamestown. The easterly bound of James City across the river
was Lawne's Creek established in 1634 when the county of Warrosquyoake
(Isle of Wight) was formed. The west boundary on the south side of the
river was Upper Chippokes Creek. This, too, had been set up in 1634. Now
in 1652, this area lying between these two creeks became Surry. Though
named for the English shire, the spelling of the Virginia county has
always omitted the "e" the English Surrey uses. It is said the name was
selected because Surrey in England has the same geographical position to
London as the Virginia Surry has to Jamestown, then the seat of
government.
With the formation of Surry County the needs of the population were
satisfied for exactly 51 years. Not until 1703 was another south side
division needed.
THE NORTHERN NECK AND THE EASTERN SHORE DIVIDE
Not so along the Rappahannock, for by 1656 only three years after
Westmoreland was created, a petition was presented to the Assembly by
"the inhabitants of the lower part of Lancaster County showing their
vast distance from the county courts" and praying that a division be
made. The Assembly acceded to their wishes, ordering "the upper part of
Mr. Bennett's land known by the name of Naemhock on the south side of
the easternmost branch of Morattico Creek on the north side the river be
the lowermost bounds of the upper county; the lower county to retain the
name of Lancaster and the upper county to be named Rappahannock County."
This division followed the bounds of two parishes previously
established.
[Illustration: Virginia State Chamber of Commerce
King William County Courthouse, King William, Virginia]
[Illustration: Virginia State Chamber of Commerce
Hanover County Courthouse, Hanover, Virginia]
[Illustration: Virginia State Chamber of Commerce
Isle of Wight County Clerk's Office, Isle of Wight, Virginia]
The formation of Rappahannock County in 1656 ended the list of counties
formed in the decade 1650 to 1660.
The next development was on the Eastern Shore. It had become
sufficiently populous to support two county governments and in an Act of
the Assembly March 1661/62 reference is made to the two counties. The
southern part of the peninsula retained the name it had borne for twenty
years, Northampton, and the county to the north assumed the name once
borne by the entire peninsula, Accomack. The question of the boundary
line between the two divisions dragged on for twenty-five years, being
settled 22 March 1687/88. It has remained fixed. The boundary between
Virginia and Maryland also was long in dispute, but Watkins Point at the
mouth of Pocomoke River on its north side is the western end of the
line. The line across the peninsula was set at a little north of the
point.
With Eastern Shore divided into two counties, no further growth was
possible and the peninsula remains two counties.
The next county to be formed in the colony was Stafford, which lies on
the north side of the Rappahannock River to the west of Westmoreland.
The name is in honor of an English shire. When formed in 1664, it was a
border county with constant fear of Indian attacks since an established
Indian trail regularly used by their hunting parties lay within its
territory. Its north and west boundaries were not well defined, but
included the area later Fairfax, Prince William, Fauquier, Loudoun and
Alexandria (now Arlington) Counties.
Middlesex County, next to be noted, was functioning as a county in 1669
as Mr. F. W. Sydnor demonstrated in an article in _Virginia Magazine of
History and Biography_, Volume 42. It was taken from Lancaster County,
being the portion that lies on the south side of the Rappahannock River
and extends to Dragon Run, the northern boundary of Gloucester. It had
been the southern part of Christ Church Parish in Lancaster and retained
the same parish name. Christ Church was the only parish and coterminous
with Middlesex County. By good fortune, Christ Church in Lancaster and
Christ Church in Middlesex are still preserved and in use. Both the
Register and Vestry Book of the latter have survived the years, the
former begins in 1653 and the latter ten years later. No Register of
Christ Church Lancaster survives, and the extant Vestry Book covers only
the years 1739 to 1786. Middlesex, never large, was, in colonial days,
the home of numerous distinguished families, among them the Wormeleys,
whose house "Rosegill" has seen many important historical events. The
name Middlesex is for the English shire, doubtless the birthplace of
many early residents of the Virginia County.
THE COLONY PROSPERS UNDER A KING AND QUEEN AND TWO NEW COUNTIES HONOR
THE ROYAL FAMILY
After Middlesex in 1669, there was a hiatus of 22 years before a new
county was created. In that period, the colony's fortunes had been
checkered, and unrest and depression had been widespread. Troubles with
the Indians, Bacon's Rebellion and economic ills, which led to tobacco
cutting, all combined to make Virginia a gloomy place. The accession of
James II brought no improvement in England, and the time was ripe for
revolution. James II was forced to flee. He was succeeded by his
daughter Mary and her husband, who was his nephew, Prince William of
Orange. Under their rule, both England and Virginia became more
prosperous. The next new county, King and Queen, created 1691, was named
in their honor. This was formed from New Kent, "so that Pamunkey River
divide the same, and so down York River to the extent of the county, and
that the part which is now on the south side of York and Pamunkey River
be called New Kent, and the north side with Pamunkey Neck be called and
known by the name of King and Queen county." It was enacted further
"that the inhabitants of Pamunkey Neck, that now belong to St. Peter's
Parish be restored and added to St. John's Parish from which they
formerly were taken, and that the Pamunkey River be the bounds betwixt
the two parishes."
About the same time Lower Norfolk became populous enough to justify the
formation of a new county. This was to begin "at the new inlet of Little
Creek and so up the said creek to the dams between Jacob Johnson and
Richard Drout and so out of the said dams up a branch the head of which
branch lyeth between the dwelling house of William Moseley, Senr., and
the new dwelling house of Edmond Webb, and so to run from the head of
the said branch on a direct line to the dams at the head of the Eastern
branch of Elizabeth River, the which dams lie between James Kemp and
Thomas Ivy, and so down the said branch to the mouth of a small branch
or gutt that divides the land which Mr. John Porter now lives on from
the land he formerly lived on, and so up the said small branch according
to the bounds of the said plantation where the said Porter now liveth,
and from thence to the great swamp that lieth on the east side of John
Showlands and so along the said great swamp to the North River of
Currituck and down the said North River to the mouth of Simpson's Creek
and so up the said creek to the head thereof and from thence by a south
line to the bounds of Carolina." The name of this new division was
Princess Anne honoring the second daughter of James II by his first wife
Anne Hyde, and the sister of Queen Mary. Later Princess Anne became a
very popular Queen, Fluvanna County, the Rivanna River, the North Anna
and South Anna and the Rapidan River all being named for her. At the
same time that Princess Anne was formed, the name of Lower Norfolk was
changed to Norfolk County.
RICHMOND AND ESSEX FROM OLD RAPPAHANNOCK
Settlers had long found the Rappahannock River area attractive. The
county of this name, established in 1656, and lying on both sides of the
river, had grown steadily and its population was sufficient to support
two county governments. It was enacted that the river be the dividing
line, "that part which is now on the north side thereof be called and
known by the name Richmond County and that that which is now on the
south side thereof be called and known by the name of Essex County." It
was further ordered "that the records belonging to the county court of
Rappahannock before this division be kept in Essex County, that
belonging wholly to their majesties and the other to the proprietors of
the North Neck." This was a seemingly casual reference to the grant
Charles II had made to some of his supporters while he was in exile and
had confirmed on his coming to the throne; it comprised over five
million acres lying between the Potomac and Rappahannock Rivers from
their headsprings to the Chesapeake Bay. Not until the colony became
independent was the Proprietary abolished.
In 1702 another division was created. The land lying between the
Pamunkey and Mattaponi Rivers, known as Pamunkey Neck was taken from
King and Queen and became King William County. This honored the reigning
monarch, King William, now a widower since the death of Queen Mary in
1694.
King William died the same year his namesake county was formed and his
sister-in-law, Queen Anne came to the throne. The first county formed
thereafter honored her husband, the Prince Consort, George of Denmark.
The new county, Prince George, embraced that portion of Charles City
lying on the south side of James River. The estate, "Brandon," and the
third oldest church building in Virginia known as Merchants Hope, are
within its confines.
After a reign of twelve years Queen Anne died and the Elector of Hanover
ascended the throne as King George I of England. Several years before
this, the Tangier-born Alexander Spotswood was appointed Lieutenant
Governor of Virginia and took up his residence in Williamsburg.
Williamsburg had become the capital in 1699. It was on higher land than
malarial Jamestown and a more healthful place to live.
Governor Spotswood was active and eager to explore the resources of the
colony. One of his achievements was to lead a group of adventurous
persons to the summit of the Blue Ridge and blaze the way for westward
expansion. He also was interested in bringing over from the German
Palatinate colonists adept in iron mining, and establishing them on the
edges of older settlements. This brought about the creation of several
counties as we shall see later.
In 1721 the "Upper Inhabitants" of Richmond County because of their
great distance from the courthouse petitioned to become a separate
county. The eastern part lying below "Charles Beaver Dams and from the
head thereof by a north course to Westmoreland County" was to retain the
name Richmond and the part above the said dams and course was to be King
George County. The name, of course, honored George I.
When New Kent was formed in 1654 its western bounds were indefinite. By
1721, however, the "Upper Inhabitants" of this county were sufficiently
numerous to petition for division on account of their great distance
from court. It was ordered that "that part of the county lying below the
Parish of St. Paul" was to remain New Kent and the part lying in St.
Paul's Parish was to be known as Hanover County. The name again honors
the reigning monarch.
Also in 1721, a third new county was formed and called Spotsylvania for
the energetic and capable Governor. Spotsylvania was taken from Essex,
and parts of King and Queen and King William. The bounds of Spotsylvania
specifically laid out in the Act creating it were "upon Snow Creek up to
the mill, thence by a southwest line to the river, North Anna, thence up
the river as far as convenient and thence by a line to be run over the
high mountains to the river on the northwest side thereof, so as to
include the northern passage through the said mountains, thence down the
said river until it comes against the head of Rappahannock thence, by a
line to the head of Rappahannock River; and down that river to the mouth
of Snow Creek." Within the portion of Spotsylvania that was taken from
Essex, the Governor, some years before, had located a group of German
immigrants at a place called Germanna on the Rapidan River.
Besides the Germans, there was a group of Huguenots who had come over a
few years earlier and settled on the James River some 20 miles above the
Falls. There were also immigrants, both from England and Scotland, who
were loyal to the Stuart cause, and its leader, James, son of James II
by his second wife, Mary of Modena. The rising of the Scotch clans in
his favor in 1715 was crushed by the battle of Preston. Many of the
captured Highlanders were deported to America and others, fearing
capture, emigrated. These three new factors in the life of the colony
are worthy of notice.
In 1727/28, an Act was passed by the Assembly to take effect the next
year dividing the county of Henrico. The division was to be "by a line
on the north side James River beginning at the mouth of Tuckahoe Creek
thence up the said creek to Chumley's Branch thence along a line of
marked trees north twenty degrees east to Hanover County and on the
south side James River beginning at the Lower Manachin Creek from thence
along a line of marked trees in a direct course to the mouth of
Skinquarter Creek on Appomattox River." The land to the east of this
line was to remain Henrico and that to the west to comprise the new
county of Goochland. Sir William Gooch had become Lieutenant Governor of
Virginia in 1727 and served 22 years. He was probably the most popular
of the colonial governors, seemingly able to work harmoniously with the
Council which was necessary for success.
At the same time that Goochland was formed another new county came into
being. This was described in the bill brought before the House of
Burgesses as "An act for erecting a new county on the heads of Essex,
King and Queen and King William Counties and for calling the same
Caroline County." The name derives from Caroline of Anspach, Queen of
George II who had succeeded his father, George I as King the year
before. It will be recalled that Queen Caroline gave money to Thomas Lee
to aid him in building "Stratford" when his former house had been burned
by criminals whom he, as a magistrate, had sentenced for their misdeeds.
Caroline County was not an expansion of settlements as most of the other
counties had been for it was bounded completely by already established
governments. Its creation, however, was in line with the thesis already
laid down "to make justice accessible to all", and made court attendance
more convenient for dwellers in the northwest portions of Essex, King
and Queen and King William.
Three years later, in 1731, a new county was created from the northwest
portions of Stafford and King George "above Choppawomsick Creek on
Potomac River and Deep Creek on Rappahannock River and a southwest line
to be made from the head of the north branch of the said creek to the
head of the said Deep Run." This area was to be known as Prince William
County honoring by this title, William Augustus, Duke of Cumberland, the
King's brother. He was later known as "The Butcher of Culloden" because
of the ferocity of his treatment of the Scotch Highlanders after the
battle of Culloden in 1745. This battle, so sanguinary and devastating
in its effects, wiped out the Stuart sympathizers and there were no
further attempts to depose the Hanoverian dynasty from the British
throne. The county seat is Manassas, near which were fought two battles
of the Civil War.
BRUNSWICK AND MIGRATION SOUTHWARD
In 1720, the Assembly passed 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 pass." 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 tithables 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 tithables 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 hardships 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.
[Illustration: Virginia State Chamber of Commerce
Lancaster County Clerk's Office, Lancaster, Virginia]
[Illustration: Virginia State Chamber of Commerce
Essex County Clerk's Office, Tappahannock, Virginia]
[Illustration: 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 Essex, 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
Assembly 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 Assembly passed 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 Assembly 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 tithables 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 Washington, 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.