How Justice Grew Part 3

The name Botetourt was for Norborne Berkeley, Lord de Botetourt, Governor of Virginia 1768-1770. He died in Williamsburg in October 1770, lamented and beloved for his interest in the colony and the College of William and Mary. The House of Burgesses voted a sum of money to have a statue of him made in London to stand in the old Capitol building. The statue still exists, one of the most treasured possessions of the College of William and Mary, and adorns its campus.

FREDERICK SUBDIVIDED

Two years later, the county of Frederick had a division on both its eastern and northern ends. It was enacted by the a.s.sembly that the territory of Frederick be divided into three distinct counties: "on the north by a line beginning in the line that divides the counties of Frederick and Loudoun one mile and an half northward of the corner in Williams' gap that at present divides the parishes of Frederick and Norborne thence westward with a line exactly parallel to the line that now divides the said parishes of Frederick and Norborne till it intersects the line of Hampshire county; thence with the Hampshire line to the corner dividing the parishes of Frederick and Beckford; thence with the lines dividing the said parishes of Frederick and Beckford east southeast to the south eastwardly bank of Cedar creek, thence binding on the same to its confluence with the river Shenandoah; thence across the said river east to the easterly bank of the same; thence down the said river and binding on the same to the mouth of Pa.s.sage creek; and thence with a right line to the line of Culpeper, at the intersection of the road leading through Chester's gap; thence with the Culpeper, Fauquier, and Loudoun lines to the beginning." This area, so described, was to remain Frederick County. "All that part of the county which lies between the first mentioned line running from the said beginning in the line of Loudoun county and Potomac river shall be ... known by the name of Berkeley county." The remainder of what had been Frederick now became Dunmore County. There had been three parishes in Frederick; of these Frederick remained in the county, while Norborne appropriately became the parish for Berkeley and Beckford for Dunmore.

Berkeley County named for Norborne Berkeley, Lord de Botetourt, later became a part of West Virginia. It was further evidence of this governor's popularity, Botetourt County having previously been named for him.

DUNMORE RENAMED SHENANDOAH

Dunmore honored the new Governor, John Murray, Earl of Dunmore, who succeeded Lord Botetourt. His popularity was short lived, and his tyrannical acts, when he attempted to keep the colony loyal to the crown, so enraged the people that he was forced to take refuge with his family on a British warship. In 1777, still smarting over his behavior, the a.s.sembly changed the name of the county to Shenandoah for the beautiful river that flows through it; the change to take effect February 1, 1778.

FINCASTLE REACHES TO THE OHIO RIVER

In 1772, the county of Fincastle was formed from the western portion of Botetourt. It is an evidence of rapidly growing settlements when for the first time mention is made of "inhabitants and settlers on the waters of Holston and New rivers." The territory of Fincastle was "within a line to run up the east side of New river to the mouth of Culberson's creek, thence a direct line to the Catawba road where it crosses the dividing ridge between the north fork of Roanoke and the waters of New river, thence with the top of the ridge to the bent where it turns eastwardly, thence a south course crossing Little river to the top of the Blue Ridge of mountains." The reason for the name Fincastle seems uncertain; one version has it as being for George, Lord Fincastle, Lord Dunmore's son, and the other that it was for the town of Fincastle established in 1772 and so named for Lord Botetourt's home in England.

VIRGINIA COUNTIES EXTENDED TO THE OHIO RIVER AND INCLUDE KENTUCKY

Fincastle County was an expansion of Augusta to the west but an expansion to the northwest had been in progress since before 1754. In that year, Governor Dinwiddie ordered a fort built on the present site of Pittsburgh and issued a proclamation offering land in the area to those who would enlist as soldiers for the French and Indian War. The French captured the fort and named it Fort Duquesne. This outpost of great strategic importance fell to the English in 1758 and was renamed Fort Pitt. The area was under Virginia jurisdiction and called the district of West Augusta being considered a part of Augusta County.

"County courts were held at Pittsburgh under Virginia jurisdiction and the great section of country from the Alleghany mountains northwest to the Ohio came to be called West Augusta. It was represented under this name in the Conventions of 1775 and 1776. In October 1776, the district of West Augusta was divided into the counties of Ohio, Yohogania and Monongalia. A portion of this territory, including Pittsburgh, was claimed by Pennsylvania and there was much disorder and some bloodshed between the officers and adherents of the two Colonies. In 1779, commissioners from Virginia and Pennsylvania finally settled the line and Pittsburgh and the adjoining area were surrendered to Pennsylvania."

The above is the concise account, by the late W. G. Stanard, in an early volume of the _Virginia Magazine of History and Biography_, of an almost forgotten episode in western development. It explains why in the Augusta County records in Staunton, Virginia are found deeds for land now in Pennsylvania.

The bounds of these three new counties, Ohio, Yohogania and Monongalia are set forth in detail in the Act of a.s.sembly creating them, but are not quoted here since they neither adjoin nor are a part of the Commonwealth of Virginia now.

KENTUCKY A VIRGINIA COUNTY, 1776

The next division of a county occurred in this same year 1776, and was further expansion toward the beckoning west; this division was not to take effect until January first, 1777. Fincastle became extinct as a county, its territory becoming Kentucky, Washington and Montgomery Counties. The Act of a.s.sembly recites that the part of Fincastle lying "to the south and westward of a line beginning on the Ohio at the mouth of Great Sandy creek and running up the same and the main, or north-easterly, branch thereof to the Great Laurel Ridge or c.u.mberland Mountain, thence south westerly along the said mountain to the line of North Carolina shall be one distinct county and called and known by the name of Kentucky; and all that part of the said county of Fincastle included in the lines beginning at the c.u.mberland Mountain where the line of Kentucky county intersects the North Carolina line, thence east along the said Carolina line to the top of Iron mountain, thence along the same easterly to the source of the south fork of Holstein river, thence northwardly along the highest part of the high lands, ridges and mountains that divide the waters of the Tennessee from those of the Great Kanawha, to the most easterly source of Clinch river, thence westwardly along the top of the mountains that divide the waters of Clinch river from those of the Great Kanawha and Sandy Creek to the line of Kentucky county thence along the same to the beginning" shall be known "by the name of Washington; and all the residue of the said county of Fincastle shall be" known as Montgomery.

It is said that Washington County is the first place or area named for General Washington in the United States. It is also the first time the words Kentucky and Tennessee occur in a county division and show the scope of western settlements. Montgomery County was named for General Richard Montgomery, a Revolutionary officer, who fell 31 December 1775, while trying unsuccessfully to scale the city walls and capture Quebec from the English.

The next formation was a division of Pittsylvania County in 1777, ten years after its creation. The new county lay on the west side of "a line beginning at the mouth of Blackwater on Staunton river and running parallel with the line of Halifax county till it strikes the country line." The name Henry honored Patrick Henry, the famous orator of the Revolution and first Governor of the Commonwealth of Virginia. He purchased a large acreage in Henry County but resided in nearby Campbell County.

Also, in 1777, Albemarle was divided "by a line beginning at the most western point in the line of Louisa County and running thence directly to the lower edge of Stott's ferry on the Fluvanna river and that part which lies south eastward of the said line together with the islands in the Fluvanna river adjacent thereto shall be called by the name of Fluvanna county." The county was named for the river and the river was so called in honor of Queen Anne whose name is borne by four other Virginia rivers. Fluvanna, used for most of the eighteenth century, was the t.i.tle given the James River above its falls at Richmond. Tobacco and other merchandise was taken in bateaux down this river to Richmond.

Both Henry and Fluvanna Counties had been formed mostly because of natural increase in population rather than of any tide of immigration.

The creation of Powhatan County in 1777 was of the same type. This county embraced the portion of c.u.mberland lying on the south side of James River and in Southam Parish, which was the eastern end of c.u.mberland and adjoined Chesterfield County. The name Powhatan honored the celebrated Indian chieftain.

In 1778, the vast sprawling territory of Augusta underwent changes. One was an addition to Hampshire County of the territory on the north of "a line beginning at the north side of the North Mountain opposite to the upper end of Sweedland Hill and running a direct course so as to strike the mouth of Seneca creek on the north fork of the south branch of Potomac river and the same course to be continued to the Allegheny mountain, thence along the said mountain" to the county line. "The residue of the county and parish of Augusta" was divided by a line beginning "at the South Mountain and running thence by Benjamin Yardley's plantation so as to strike the north river below James Byrd's house thence up the said river to the mouth of Naked creek, thence leaving the river a direct course so as to cross the said river at the mouth of Cunningham's branch in the upper end of Silas Hart's land to the foot of North Mountain, thence fifty-five degrees west to the Allegheny mountain and with the same to the line of Hampshire"; all the portion north eastward of this line was to be called Rockingham. It is supposed the name of this county honors the Marquis of Rockingham, Prime Minister of England in 1765-66 when the unpopular Stamp Act was repealed.

In the same Act of a.s.sembly, 1778, by which Rockingham was created Greenbrier County, now in West Virginia, was formed from Montgomery and Botetourt Counties to the west of "a line beginning on the top of the ridge which divides the Eastern from the Western Waters, where the line between Augusta and Botetourt crosses the same, and running thence the same course continued north fifty-five degrees west to the Ohio, thence beginning at the said ridge at the said lines of Botetourt and Augusta, running along the top of the said ridge, pa.s.sing the Sweet Springs to the top of Peter's mountain, thence along the said mountain to the line of Montgomery county, thence along the same mountain to the Kanawha or New river, thence down the said river to the Ohio." Greenbrier County takes its name from its princ.i.p.al river. It is the anglicized version of the French word "ronce" for brier or bramble and "verte" for green. The town Ronceverte, situated on the river, keeps the French word.

At the same time Rockbridge County was formed from parts of Botetourt and Augusta. It was bounded "by a line beginning in the top of the Blue Ridge near Steele's mill and running thence north fifty-five degrees west pa.s.sing the said mill and crossing the North mountain to the top and the mountain dividing the waters of the Calf Pasture from the waters of the Cow Pasture and thence along the said mountain crossing Panther's gap to the line that divides the counties of Augusta and Botetourt." The remainder of Botetourt shall be divided "by a line to begin at Audley Paul's and running thence south fifty-five degrees east crossing James river, to the top of the Blue Ridge, thence along the same crossing James river, to the beginning of the aforesaid line dividing Augusta county; then beginning again at the said Audley Paul's, and running north fifty-five degrees west till the said course shall intersect a line to be run south forty-five degrees west from the place where the above line dividing Augusta terminated."

The enabling acts setting forth the bounds for the counties when created have been quoted fully, both for the information they contain and for the comprehensive geographical knowledge they reveal. They show painstaking surveys and study to achieve accuracy under the handicap of lack of roads and bridges. In addition to technical knowledge, the surveyor needed a st.u.r.dy physique to withstand the daily hardships that were part of his routine work.

Rockbridge, the name of the new county whose bounds have been described, commemorated the unique scenic wonder within its confines known as Natural Bridge. This is a span of stone 215 feet high over Cedar Creek.

Once a trail pa.s.sed over it and now a modern highway. It has been known and visited since 1770.

WEST OF THE OHIO AND TO THE MISSISSIPPI. ILLINOIS COUNTY FORMED

Illinois, the last county to be formed in the decade 1770 to 1780 was an area on the western side of the Ohio River which had been a part of Augusta County. In the preamble to the Act creating this county, the a.s.sembly noted with satisfaction that "by a successful expedition carried on by the Virginia militia on the western side of the Ohio river several of the British posts within the territory of this commonwealth in the country adjacent to the river Mississippi have been reduced."

This, of course, was a reference to George Rogers Clark whose exploits secured the Mississippi Valley area for Virginia and the United States.

Illinois County was a part of the large territory given by Virginia to the nation in 1783.

KENTUCKY COUNTY DIVIDED

The next event was the division of the unwieldy county of Kentucky into three parts; Jefferson, Fayette and Lincoln, with the towns of Louisville, Lexington and Harrodsburg for their respective county seats.

Jefferson County was so named to honor Thomas Jefferson, and was the first honor of this sort accorded him. Fayette was for the beloved ally, the Marquis de la Fayette and Lincoln for General Benjamin Lincoln of the Revolution. When compelled to surrender Charleston, South Carolina to the British, he had endured the humiliation of giving up his sword to Sir Henry Clinton. In return, when Yorktown was captured and Lord Cornwallis required to yield his sword, General Lincoln was awarded the distinction of receiving it. Cornwallis, however, did not appear in person, and it was his aide who handed the sword to General Lincoln.

From these three counties was formed the present Commonwealth of Kentucky.

A division of Brunswick in the south eastern part of the state took place now and Greensville County came into being. This lay to the east of a line beginning "two miles above Chapman's ford on Meherrin river and running a due south course to the boundary line between this state and North Carolina and from the station aforesaid by another line due north to Nottoway river." The name selected for this county commemorated General Nathanael Greene of the Revolution who marched into this area on his return from the Battle of Guilford Court House.

In 1782, occurred a division of Bedford County. The eastern end was cut from the whole and named for General William Campbell, the hero of King's Mountain, one of the decisive battles of the Revolution. Campbell lies to the east of a line beginning "at the mouth of Judy's creek on James river, thence to Thompson's mill on Buffalo creek, thence to the mouth of Back creek on Goose creek thence the same course continued to Staunton river." Staunton is the name given the Roanoke River as it pa.s.ses through Bedford, Campbell, Charlotte and Halifax Counties. In Mecklenburg, it resumes its original name of Roanoke and so continues into Albemarle Sound.

The next development was Harrison, taken from Monongalia County.

Neither is now a Virginia county, but it is mentioned since it honors Benjamin Harrison, one of the seven Virginia Signers of the Declaration of Independence who also completed in 1784, the year the county was formed, a three year term as Governor of the Commonwealth.

In the next year, a new county, Nelson, now in Kentucky, was created.

This, too, honored a former Governor and Signer of the Declaration of Independence, Thomas Nelson. It was his home in Yorktown that Lord Cornwallis used as his headquarters during the siege and battle.

In 1786, Franklin was formed out of "that part of the county of Bedford lying south of Staunton river together with so much of the county of Henry lying north of a line to be run from the head of Shooting creek to the west end of Turkeyc.o.c.k mountain, thence along the top of the mountain to intersect the dividing line between the counties of Henry and Pittsylvania, thence along that line to the mouth of Blackwater river." The reason for this name is obvious: all America honored the achievements of Benjamin Franklin.

DEED OF CESSION. VIRGINIA GIVES THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY

The tempo of western expansion had increased to such an extent that four counties were formed in 1786. One of these, Hardy, lies now in West Virginia as does its parent county of Hampshire. It might be well to explain now, even though out of chronological sequence, the genesis of West Virginia. In May 1861 when Governor Letcher called out the Virginia militia, many persons living beyond the Alleghanies throughout that section of Virginia bordering on Ohio and Pennsylvania were not in sympathy with his action. The residents of some forty counties held a convention and were almost unanimous in their desire to break away from Virginia and form a new state. A const.i.tution was framed which was ratified by the people in May 1862. The following year, 1863, West Virginia became a state of the Union and at one blow, Virginia lost a third of her territory. The loss of the rich coal fields and other natural resources of West Virginia impoverished the Old Dominion more severely and made "Reconstruction Days" longer and more difficult than they might otherwise have been.

Returning to Hardy County, we learn that it was named for Samuel Hardy formerly of Isle of Wight County "one of the number who signed the Deed of Cession which transferred the Northwest Territory to the General Government."

Virginia's claim to territory was of long standing, her charters of 1609 and 1612 giving her dominion to the Pacific Ocean, but no exploration beyond the Mississippi had been attempted. Her claim of dominion to the Mississippi, however, was of more substantial character. In 1778 with a picked force of 180 Virginia riflemen, George Rogers Clark captured the great Northwest Territory from the English "in one of the most amazing exploits in American history." This territory Virginia organized as "the county of Illinois." "But for Clark's conquest the treaty of 1783 might well have fixed the nation's western boundary at the Alleghanies instead of at the Mississippi." Almost all the Ohio Valley and parts of Wisconsin and Michigan were included in this voluntary gift that Virginia made in 1783 to the weak confederated colonies. In 1785 Congress pa.s.sed a Land Ordinance providing for the sale of this land.

"Thus this cession provided the infant republic with its only sure source of revenue" since at that time "Congress had neither the power to impose nor the machinery to collect any taxes."

The other three counties formed in 1786 lie now in Kentucky which, in 1792, was "organized as a state out of Virginia territory with her consent." These divisions are Mercer and Madison, created out of Lincoln, and Bourbon out of Fayette. Mercer honored General Hugh Mercer of the Revolution; Madison, James Madison, later known as the "Father of the Const.i.tution," and Bourbon, the French reigning family, particularly Louis XVI who had given aid in the Revolution.

The next county, Russell, was taken from Washington. Its bounds are: "all that part of the said county lying within a line to be run along the Clinch mountain to the Carolina line; thence with that line to the c.u.mberland mountain, and the extent of country between the c.u.mberland mountain, Clinch mountain and the line of Montgomery county shall be one distinct county and called and known by the name of Russell." The name was selected as a tribute to General William Russell "who distinguished himself at the Battle of King's mountain." Russell remains a Virginia county.

Five westward expansions now occur in quick succession. In 1787, from Harrison was formed Randolph County named for Edmund Randolph, first Attorney General of the Commonwealth and a member of the Continental Congress. Both Harrison and Randolph are in West Virginia. Pendleton, also now in West Virginia, was formed in 1788 from portions of Hardy, Augusta, and Rockingham counties. It is named for Edmund Pendleton, President of the Virginia Convention of 1775.

The next year two new Kentucky counties were formed; Mason from Bourbon and Woodford from Fayette. The former took its name from George Mason of "Gunston Hall," author of the Bill of Rights and the latter from General William Woodford, a native of Caroline County, Virginia who rendered distinguished service in the Revolution and later moved to Kentucky.

At the same time, a new county destined to be in West Virginia was formed from Greenbrier and part of Montgomery counties and given the name of Kanawha from the river.

The only one of the counties formed in 1789 that is now in Virginia is Nottoway. This was comprised of that part of Amelia County "lying south of a line to begin at a place called Wells bridge on Namozene creek which divides the said county from the county of Dinwiddie, thence running through the said county of Amelia so as to strike the line of Prince Edward county five miles west of a place called Ward's ford on Appomattox river." Nottoway is an Indian word meaning "a snake, that is, an enemy." Nottoway River derives its name from the Indian tribe and the county honors both.