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Early
History of Colonial Virginia:
Kentucky was never a
territory or a province. From its earliest history until it was admitted
as a state in the union, it was part of Virginia. As settlements spread
westward new counties were organized in the Old Dominion, the frontier
county extending its boundaries indefinitely into the wilderness.
Until 1624, the colony of
Virginia was a business managed by the equivalent of a plant manager
with a local oversight board. The company's "Board of
Directors" was the members of the London Company in England.
Management direction from
that distance was weak, and conflict among members of the council in
Jamestown was intense at times. In the early days of Jamestown, one
local member of the council was executed as a Spanish spy and John Smith
was threatened with execution by his Council rivals. Recently,
excavations at the original fort have revealed the first clear evidence
of an Englishman murdered by another in the colony.
To attract settlers after
the "starving time" in 1609-10 and the failure of the colony
to thrive, the London Company offered potential investors a great deal
of flexibility in creating new settlements. Shiploads of settlers were
sent to Virginia to create largely self-sufficient "hundreds."
The name reflected the anticipated number of new settlers required to
establish a permanent community. These new "hundreds" were
required to be at least several miles from any existing community, and
"Bermuda Hundred" became a famous place name on the James
River during the Civil War.
In 1619, representatives
from the separate communities assembled to form the first House of
Burgesses, another attempt by the London Company to make the colony
attractive to new investors and settlers. In 1624, King James I took
official control of the colony by revoking the company charter. Virginia
was ruled as a royal colony of the king (as opposed to a proprietary
colony, where authority was granted to an individual such as William
Penn or Lord Calvert) until the American Revolution.
The early colonists
continued to spread out their settlements, and their numbers grew. The
General Assembly soon found it necessary to create eight shires in which
to govern the colony and hold court.
In 1623/24, courts were
kept in Charles City, Elizabeth City, and James City. In February
1631/32, the General Assembly added five more shires. The eight original
shires were: {1} Charles City {2} Henrico {3} James City {4} Elizabeth
City {5} Warwick River {6} Warrosquyoake, later Isle of Wight {7}
Charles River, later York {8} Accawmacke (Accomack). The creation of the
shires, which later became known as counties, was to make the
administration of justice more easily accessible to the colonists. There
were six kinds of courts in Virginia: {1} Magistrate’s court {2}
Parish court {3} Monthly court {4} General court {5} General Assembly
{6} Court of Admiralty. As the settlements expanded, courts were needed
closer to the people, and new counties continued to be formed.
The House of Burgesses
first created official local governmental units in 1634. The decision
reflected the population growth of the colony, which created a need for
official decisions that were local and not of concern to the entire
House (or appropriate to delay until the next session of the House of
Burgesses). The local units of government were called "shires"
only in the original act. Ever since, they have been described as
"counties." The original eight shires included Charles City,
James City, Elizabeth City, Accomacke-became Northampton 1643, Henrico,
Warwick, Isle of Wight and York.
1642 York County,
Virginia formed from Charles River County (name change only).
1654 New Kent County,
Virginia was formed from York and James City Counties.
1656 [Old] Rappahannock
County was formed and became extinct in 1692 when it was divided into
Essex and Richmond Counties.
May 12, 1691
King and Queen County, Virginia formed from New Kent County.
April 26, 1692 Essex
County, VA formed from old Rappahannock County. Essex County was
probably named after Essex County, England.
September 12, 1701 King
William County, Virginia formed from King and Queen County.
December 17, 1720
Spotsylvania County, VA formed from Essex County, King William County,
and King and Queen County.
September 20, 1734 Orange
County, VA from Spotsylvania County.
December 15, 1738 the
Virginia House of Burgesses created Frederick and Augusta Counties from
Orange County, having their boundaries extending west and north-west to
the Mississippi River.
For the period 1750-1770,
twenty-six new counties were formed. The continuous westward trek of
settlers demanded the government provide courts in their areas.
1769 Botetourt County was
cut from Augusta and included territory and the wilderness west to the
Mississippi.
1770 Botetourt County, VA
from Augusta County.
1772, Fincastle County,
formed from Botetourt, covered the westward expanse south of the Ohio
River including portions of western Virginia and what is now West
Virginia and Kentucky.
Harrodsburg was first the
county seat of Fincastle County, Virginia.
Most of the land that is
now known as Kentucky was part of Virginia in the 1700s. In 1772
Fincastle County, Virginia was formed from Botetourt County. Fincastle
County encompassed land in present-day Virginia, as well as most of
Kentucky. Fincastle County no longer exists, the records are in
Montgomery.
Harrodsburg, the county
seat of Mercer County, was founded in 1774 by a stalwart band of
pioneers led by James Harrod, of Pennsylvania. It was the only
"colonial" city and the first permanent English settlement
west of the Allegheny mountains. Referred to as the "Birthplace of
the West,". From here the pioneers filtered through - conquering
the wilderness and going on to populate and settle the rest of the
Western frontier.
Return
to Cynthiana Online Facts and Findings.
Credits:
The Library of Virginia
Signs of History - Georgetown College
Kentucky Historical Society
Kentucky Atlas & Gazetteer
Mercer On Line
Franklin-Simpson County Chamber of Commerce
How It All Began For Trimble County by Dr. Richard A. Edwards
Lexington Herald-Leader 01/01/2000
The Rockbridge County, VAGenWeb Project
Whitley County Kentucky Genealogy
Ralph Eddie Coppage - Harrison County County Clerk
Cynthiana-Harrison County Museum
Thelma Taylor
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