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
Five years passed and in the interval population had increased to such
an extent in the western part of Virginia that four county governments
had to be set up to take care of legal needs. One of these, Wise, formed
from portions of Lee, Scott and Russell counties, remains in Virginia.
The name honored Henry A. Wise, Governor of Virginia 1856-1860.
The bounds of the county were as follows: "Beginning at the break of
Cumberland mountain on the Kentucky and Virginia line where the Pound
fork of Sandy breaks through the Cumberland mountain; thence up the
Pound fork to the mouth of Crane's nest, a water of said Pound fork;
thence with the dividing ridge between the waters of Crane's nest and
McLure's, to William Taylor's farm, including said Taylor's farm in the
new county; thence a straight line to the mouth of Lick creek; thence
down Clinch river to the mouth of Guest's river; thence up Guest's river
one mile; thence a straight line to the Camp rock south of the High
Knob; thence a straight line to the Pole fence on Little Powell's
mountain, on the line dividing Scott and Lee counties; thence with said
county line to the head of Stock creek including the farm of Zachariah
N. Wells in the said county; thence a straight line to the Cedar gap
near Powell's river; thence a straight line to the dividing ridge
between the waters of Crab orchard and Pigeon fork; thence with said
dividing ridge to the Kentucky line and thence with the Kentucky line to
the beginning."
In the Act creating the county it was ordered that the "said seat of
justice shall be known as Gladesville," but the present county seat is
called Wise.
As has been said, Wise was the only one of the four counties erected in
1856 that remains in Virginia. The next county formed was Calhoun taken
from the lower portion of Gilmer County beginning at the West Fork of
the Little Kanawha River. The name derives from the great South Carolina
statesman who succeeded Abel P. Upshur as Secretary of State and was
long outstanding in politics.
At the same time that Calhoun became an entity, parts of the counties of
Kanawha, Jackson, and Gilmer lying a little to the west of Calhoun
became Roane County. The description of its bounds is startling when it
mentions "the Ravenswood and California turnpike in Jackson county," but
later we learn that California is a town in Jackson County.
With regard to Roane County, "its name and that of its seat of justice,
Spencer, commemorate that of him [Spencer Roane] whose life and public
services added lustre to the annals of Virginia jurisprudence." Spencer
Roane was "judge of the Supreme Bench 1794 to 1822."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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