How Justice Grew: Virginia Counties, An Abstract of Their Formation

by Martha W. Hiden

Besides Culpeper and Cumberland, 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 embassies, 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 Massacre 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 Washington, as a Colonel in the Virginia Militia, participated.

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 passage 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 Sussex from Surry County. Sussex lies to the south of Seacock 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. Sussex took its name from the English shire. Albemarle Parish formed in 1739 had included the area now made into Sussex, 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 Sussex.

The fourth county formed in 1754 was Hampshire named for the English shire. It is now in West Virginia. Since, however, its creation affected the bounds of two already established Virginia Counties, the Act of Assembly 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 Hampshire." 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 participating 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, titular "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 Assembly 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 fortitude." Among the eulogies in prose to his memory, the following verse may be noted: