The States of West Va, KY, Ohio, Ind, ill, Mich, 7 wisc. were for many
years while your ancestors were settleing Was in the jurrisdiction, but when
you traced your families back to to days state you find norecord, <REASON>
the records for when your ancestors landed in those states the area was in
the jurrisdiction of <VIRGINIA> YOU NEED to find out What Va county Held the
Jurrisdictional control when your ancestor Landed in the area that Became
the state that you traced the ancestor back to. Check this list CUZ A T
_atpowelljr(a)aol.com_ (mailto:atpowelljr@aol.com)
Virginia County Formations
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. 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. As the westward expansion continued,
Virginia created Kentucky county and Illinois county. Kentucky County was
eventually split into three counties, Jefferson, Fayette, and Lincoln.
Illinois county (the Northwest Territory) was ceded to the nation and became a
territory. This voluntary gift to the nation included all of the Ohio Valley
and parts of Wisconsin and Michigan. The counties of Mercer, Madison and
Bourbon were created in 1786, but became part of the State of Kentucky in
1792 when it was organized as a state. Madison, Woodford and Fayette were also
formed while Kentucky was still a part of Virginia. By the time Kentucky
received statehood, it was comprised of nine counties. The records of those
counties are housed in Kentucky. Records prior to their formation are
located in Virginia records of such counties as Augusta, Montgomery and
Botetourt. West Virginia was also a part of Virginia until it ceded to the Union in
1863 and became a state.
The Virginia Counties