How Justice Grew: Virginia Counties, An Abstract of Their FormationHiden, Martha W. (Martha Woodroof)
History
How Justice Grew: Virginia Counties, An Abstract of Their Formation
Hiden, Martha W. (Martha Woodroof)
Counties -- Virginia -- History; Virginia -- History; Virginia -- History, Local
After discussing six counties now in West Virginia, we come now to the
county of Appomattox formed in 1845 from portions of Buckingham, Prince
Edward, Charlotte and Campbell. The name derives from the river which
traverses the county.
Its bounds are thus defined: "Beginning at the mouth of David's creek on
James river; thence a straight line to the head of Holleway creek;
thence down the same as it meanders to Appomattox river; thence down
the same to the Cutbanks; thence a straight line to the mouth of Cabin
branch on Vaughan's creek; thence up the said creek to its head; thence
a straight line to Merryman's or Land's; thence along the public road
leading by M'Kinney's old store to the fork of the Lynchburg road about
a mile north of the Red house; thence a straight line to the old mill
formerly owned by William Harvey; thence along the Lynchburg road to the
mill formerly owned by Samuel Branch, esquire, on Falling river; thence
up the said river to the mouth of Reedy creek; thence a straight line to
Hunter's old tavern (now Glovers); thence a straight line to Sterling C.
Anderson's; thence a straight line to the mouth of Scott's branch about
a mile before the mouth of Joshua's creek on James river; and thence
down the said river to the beginning."
In 1846, in the northwestern portion of the present state of West
Virginia, the new county of Wetzel was set up from Tyler. The following
landowners are named as living within its bounds: "James Peden (or
Paden), Richard Anchrom and Rueben Martin, esquire." The county was so
called "in honor of Louis Wetzel, the distinguished frontiersman and
Indian scout, the Boone of Northwestern Virginia."
As if feeling this action a little unfair, the Assembly next year, when
a new county was to be created, named it Boone "in honor to and in
memory of Daniel Boone the well known pioneer of the western frontier
settlements." Boone was taken from parts of Kanawha, Cabell and Logan
counties and lies south of Charleston, the state capital.
In this same year, the county of Alexandria was added to Virginia's
jurisdiction. The Assembly enacted "That the territory comprising the
county of Alexandria in the District of Columbia heretofore ceded by
this commonwealth to the United States and by an act of congress
approved on the ninth day of July eighteen hundred and forty-six
retroceded to this commonwealth, and by it accepted, is hereby declared
to be an integral portion of this commonwealth and the citizens thereof
are hereby declared to be subject to all the provisions, and entitled to
all the benefits, rights and privileges of the bill of rights and
constitution of this commonwealth."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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