John F. G. White, Salem Merchant, One Of Most Active In Seeking New Division
From the 1938 centennial edition of The Times-Register
Roanoke county has been said to have been in turn a part of Orange, Augusta and Botetourt counties, but during the years when this county was a part of Orange county, which was from 1734 to 1738, there were no permanent white settlers here. Orange county was formed from Spottsylvania county in 1734, and 1738 West Augusta county was formed from a portion of Orange county. As a part of Augusta county the history of this section begins, and during all the trying years when the Indians were raiding the frontier this county was a part of Augusta and a real frontier community.
Botetourt County Created
In 1769 an act was passed creating the new county of Botetourt and this county was organized in February of 1770. For sixty-nine years what is now Roanoke county was a part of Botetourt county and while the boundary lines of Botetourt were changed during that time this county was not affected by such changes.
As this section of the state began to become more thickly populated in the late twenties of the nineteenth century, a movement for the creation of a separate county in the region washed by the headwaters of the Roanoke river took place.
In the session of 1829-1830 a bill was introduced to form a distinct county here, and in 1831 such a bill passed in the lower house of the general assembly but it was killed in the upper house. The reason given for the failure of that body to pass the measure was that the representation in the assembly would be altered in such a way that the constitution of the state was violated.
Never Give-Up Spirit
However, residents of this section were persistent in their demands that they be permitted to form a new county. Leading the fight for the new county were citizens of the growing town of Salem since the formation of a new county would not only give this section a number of advantages it did not enjoy before that time, but it was foreseen that Salem would be the county seat. At that time a trip to Fincastle, the county seat, required a whole day and local citizens naturally wanted greater convenience in transacting legal business.
According to local historians John F. G. White, a prominent local merchant, was the most active in pushing the demand for the formation of a county. Montgomery county was active in
opposition to the move and the residents in the upper portions of Botetourt county naturally resented the idea.
When John McCauley, a former representative in the house of delegates from Montgomery county, moved to this county, he was enlisted in the fight and he spent some time lobbying for the measure. When the 1838 legislature assembled it was presented with a petition from residents of this locality giving twelve reasons why a new county should be formed. The petition was as follows:
Reasons Why County Needed
1st. Because that portion desires to be made into a new county, form a separate and distinct community, being bound together by geographical position, as also by interest and feeling.
2nd. Because the people are on the subject perfectly and wholly united in the bounds of the petitioning district.
3rd. Because nearly fifteen hundred freemen and seven hundred voters demand it; they being a clear majority of the county; and it is presumable that a large portion of the residents are neutral.
4th. Because in their present situation they are measurably debarred the privilege of freemen, disenfranchised and have recently had an odious land tax of fifty per cent laid upon them for the exclusive benefit of a remote and minor part of the county, including Fincastle, the county seat, without their consent and to their entire prejudice.
5th. Because of the unjust and improper influence of Fincastle on other portions of the county, making those parts “hewers of wood and drawers of water”.
6th. Because of the ability of this portion of Botetourt to form a county as it is shown by the commissioners books to have paid into the treasury nearly eighteen hundred dollars.
Size and Wealth
7th. Because of the size, population and wealth of the petitioners districts, as it is in point of territory from north to south upward of thirty miles and from east to west upwards of fifteen. In population nearly 6,000 and admitted to be immensely wealthy.
8th. Because in granting their requests you do them but sheer justice, invade no one’s rights and leave the present seat of justice in the center of a dense population, territory about twenty-four square miles.
9th. Because it is emphatically a Roanoke country, the whole of it being or nearly all of it being washed by the Roanoke or its tributaries.
10th. Because of the great distance of many of the petitioners from the present seat of justice.
11th. Because it will put an end to the legislation on this long mooted and vexing question and at once enable those two communities to agree as neighbors, which they cannot do whilst belonging to the same household.
12th. Because of the universally admitted propriety and expedience of the measure, by all who pass through the rich and beautiful section.
This petition was the culmination of a campaign which lasted almost ten years before the legislature saw fit to grant the demands of the people of Salem and vicinity.
It was on March 30, 1838, that the act was passed creating the county of Roanoke and this statute read as follows:
Act Passed March 30, 1838
“Be it enacted by the General Assembly, That all that part of the county of Botetourt lying next to and adjoining the counties of Montgomery, Franklin and Bedford in the southwestern part thereof, and contained within the following boundary lines to wit: Beginning at a point on the Blue Ridge, in a line which divides the counties of Bedford and Botetourt, thence northwest to the house now the residence of John Bonsack on Glade Creek, so as to include said Bonsack in the new county, thence and line to the house of Thomas Barnes, including said Barnes in the new county, and so as to leave John W. Thompson in the county of Botetourt, thence a straight line crossing the Catawba valley at a point one mile due north of Mrs. Garwoods’, thence crossing Craig’s creek (passing the house of John Spessard on Craig’s creek so as to leave the said Spessard in the old county) to the top of the mountain which divides the water’s of Craig’s creek and Sinking creek, thence westwardly along the top of the mountain to the point where the lines of Botetourt, Montgomery and Giles county meet, thence with the line which divides the county of Botetourt from the county of Montgomery, to the point at which said line joins the line of Franklyn county, thence with the Franklyn and Botetourt line to the point at which said line joins the Bedford line, thence with the Bedford line to the beginning, shal form one distinct and new county and shall be called and known by the name of Roanoke county”.
Commissions Named
A commission composed of Albert G. Pendleton of Giles county, Hamilton Wade of Montgomery county, Samuel McCamant of Grayson county, Daniel Mills of Kanawha county and William Campbell, state senator of Bedford county, were appointed as a commission to meet within sixty days after May 10, 1838, to select a site for the new county buildings. Their pay for such services was to be four dollars per day for such time as they served.
To lay out the boundary line between Botetourt and Roanoke one man from each county was named together with a resident of Montgomery county. These men were William Anderson of Botetourt, John F. J. White of this county and Archibald Goody Kountz of Montgomery county. Later court records show that they were paid $45.31½ for this work.
In the act providing for the establishment of the county it was provided that Roanoke county be permitted to send one delegate to the lower house and in 1840 Henry Snider was elected as the first representative from this county. It was provided that Roanoke county remain in the same senatorial, congressional and electoral district as Botetourt so that a state senator was not elected from Roanoke county until 1842 when John McCauley was chosen to serve in the capacity.
$2.50 First Tax
It was further provided in the act that the court of Roanoke county was to provide for the payment of the property and the building of new county buildings. The following June the court fixed a tax of $2.50 upon each tithable for the expenses of operating the county and the expense of building a new courthouse and jail. On April 5, 1839, the legislature passed an act providing that the court of Roanoke county should not purchase more than two acres of land and that the tax for such land and buildings be not more than thirty cents on each tithable in the county to pay for the same.
The original act provided that the sheriff of Botetourt county collect all back taxes from the residents of the newly formed county. It also set the dates for the holding of court.
Eighteen justices of the peace were appointed by Governor Campbell as follows: E. McClanahan, N. Burwell, W.C. Boyer, Lewis Harvey, Wm. McDermed, James Kyle, John H. Griffin, Thomas Fowler, E. Thomas, A. Reynolds, A. Smith, John F.J. White, Joseph Wade, G. W. Shanks, Michael Miller, Thomas Tosh, John McCauley and John R. Richards. They were given the power to select a place for holding court and they met on May 21, 1838, at the tavern of Benjamin Faris. This tavern was located where the Presbyterian church now stands and the building was owned by Charles Dillard.
Cook First Clerk
After meeting on May 21 at the tavern the justices proceeded to organize the county by selecting officials. Five candidates, William M. Cook, Frederick Johnston, William C. Bowyers, Joseph Logan and James Taylor sought the position as clerk of court and four ballots were necessary before the selection of William M. Cook was made. On the fourth ballot he received ten votes to eight for Johnston after the other candidates were eliminated.
For the office of sheriff Elijah McClanahan, Nathaniel Burwell and Thomas Fowler were nominated according to law and the governor appointed McClanahan. For coroner Madison Pitzer and Henry Frantz were nominated but it is not on record that either of them ever qualified for this office.
Under the act authorizing formation of the county the eighteen justices of the peace were given the power to select a place for holding court until such time as a courthouse be erected and they selected the place of James Huff which was located on the lot between the present post office and Oakey building. Three rooms upstairs, one room downstairs and the cellar were rented to the county for the purpose of holding court for the payment of seventy-five dollars per
year. It was ordered that Huff erect a back stairs to this building for which the county would reimburse him.
First Court Held
In this place the first court of law was held in Roanoke county on May 24, 1838. Further organization work was done at this meeting. Armistead Neal was appointed as commissioner of revenue while Leroy Campbell and Aaron Barnes were appointed as constables. The first lawyers admitted to practice were Edward Johnston, John T. Anderson, Francis Henderson, Alexander Ethridge, James Watts and John B. Logan. James Watts was the first commonwealth attorney for the county court.
Original Session Records
Proceedings of that first session are still available at the office of the clerk of court and while the writing on the court book is faded it can still be read.
The first legal record to be placed on the books after the recording of the routine organization minutes was the following which was dated May 24, 1838:
“A deed of trust from Peter Carvin to Peter Smith and David Nininger, trustees for Jacob Smith, was proven in court by oaths of Aaron Barnes, Jacob Burke, and John H. Gish, the witnesses thereunto subscribed and ordered to be recorded.”
At a meeting of the court on June 21, 1838 the payment of $400 to John H. May for property on which to build a courthouse was recorded. The further sum of $2,000 was also appropriated at this session as the court had held that the county pay $2,000 each year to defray the expense of erecting a courthouse and jail.
Present Courthouse Site Bought
On the tax record the name of John H. Gay is found as being a resident of Missouri. The property which he sold the county is where the present courthouse is located.
It was at this meeting that the court ordered $2.50 on each tithable for county expenses and ordered May to be paid $400 for his lots. In view of that fact it seems a little strange that the legislature the next year should pass an act limiting the purchase of ground to two acres and place the tax limit at thirty cents per tithable.
At the May term of court a commission composed of William Peyton, Edwards Watts, William Langhorne, John F.J. White, William Williams, Henry Snider and Armistead Neal were appointed as commission authorized to investigate the matter of securing plans for building a courthouse and jail and report to the court. They made their report to the court on August 22 but what report they made is not recorded as the only notations on the record were that a report was made. However, a commission composed of William Peyton, Edward Watts, Henry Snider, John McClauley and Frederick Johnston was authorized to go ahead with the matter af letting a contract for the erection of the buildings and it was empowered to make minor changes in the original plans.
Move Into New Building Apr.19, 1841
While plans for erecting the new court building were being worked out court was held in the Huff building and on August 23 we find the first record of a grand jury session. John Etzler and David Nininger were indicted for selling spirits without a license and they were bound over to court. Henry Frantz was the foreman of the first grand jury and these two true bills were all that were brought at that session.
On September 20 is found the first record of an actual trial and this was a petty case involving breach of the peace. Reuben Rutherford was placed under $50 bond and William Stuart was placed under a like bond to keep the peace. The complainant against Stewart was Mary Rutherford. This is the first case in which there is any record of testimony being given.
It was almost three years after the county was formed that the new courthouse was ready for use. Court records show that the new building was used for holding court for the first time on April 19,1841.
-Prepared by Lisa King
