Staunton spectator and vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1896-1916, 1904-02-26
VALUABLE SKETCH
OF COUNTY COURT.
Paper Read by Hon. A. C Gordon al Final
Session Of that Judiciary Institution,
January 27.

I Paper Read by Hon. A.C Gordon al tln'
Session Of that Judiciary Institution
January 27.
With the abolition by the Constitl
tional Convention of 1901 1909 in Vii
ginia, of the County Court passes ava
this month juridical and social in
stitution that has been almost cOevs
with the administration of justice i
the New World. By the first charter
and by the Articles, Instructions an
Orders" of James l, granted and issue'
in 1906, the Governor or President an
the Council in Virginia were veste'
with the most extensive judicial pow
ers for the good ordering and disp0s
ing of all causes, - both civil and crlmi
nal. The Court so composed was th'
only Court in the Colony until the es
talishment of the MOnthlie County
lCourts. The fact that it was held only
Iat jamestown made it an inaccessible
tribunal to all except those in the
vicinity of the Capital; and it was not
until 1.-The 205h day of March. Ammo
DOmini 1923 9, and in the fourth years
of the regime of our soveraigne lord
Charles, by the grace of God of Eng
land, Scotland, France and Ireland,
King, Defender of the Faith, &C., and
in the two and twentieth year of this
plantation, that the peoples Courts,
the Monthly County Courts were es-
tablished by the proclamation of 1.-The
Governor and Captaine General of
Virginia." appointing commissioners
to hold such Courts. 1t seems a
strange commentary that this Cover.
nor, whose action In the premises was
so beneficent and so enduring in Colony
aud Commonwealth, should himself,
at d no very much later day have been
the object of criminal prosecution for
in July 1880, the ''Ancient Records
relating to Virginia." published in
Henings Statutes at large. show that
DIR. John Pott, late Governor" was
indicted arraigned, and found guilty
of stealing CATTLE" by the Governor
and Council of the Colony. Pott s
name and fame, his benefactiOn and
his crime, have long since passed into
the limbo of torgetfulness; but the
County Courts have bourgeoned and
hourished from his day until now.
From the time of their creation in
1929 up to 1851 s, these courts were
held monthly by the commissioners in
some of the more remote plantations
of the Colony and upper parts"
thereof; the places, where they were
required to be held by the Act of
June 1912, being in "Renrico on the
irst of everie month; Charles City the
Srd; ia: County the 9Th; Isle of Wight
the 9th; Upper Norff; the 18th, Lower
Norff: the 18th; Eliza: Countie the
18th; Warwick Countie the 21st; Y ork
Countie the oath; Northa'ton the 2Sth,
OF everie month"
The County Courts in their inception
were given power and authority to
heere and determine all such suits
and controversies between party and
party as exceeds not the value of one
hundred pounds of tobacco, and were
required to take into their care the
conservation of the peace, the quiet
government and safety of the people
there residing or being" and to see
THAT all orders and proclamations be
kept and observed, and according to
the same to inflicte punishment upon
all delinquents either by fine or other
wise. (such offences only excepted as
concerne the taking away of life or
member)." In 1642 8, the name of
these Courts was changed from |
''Monthlie Courts to that of County |
Courts,-a name which they have re-
tained, with likeness of character and |
jurisdiction, down to the present.
The right of trial by jury in them
was secured ito parties who desire IT,"
in an act of 1912 3; and in 1867 s, the
grand juries, which had been thereto
fore only required to assemble at the
March and Midsummer Courts, were
required to be empannelled at every
Court.
Thus was constituted and appointed,
with the earliest social esta blishment
in the Colony, a judicial forum for the
determination of Disputes between
man and man. for the preservation of
peace and for the punishment of
crime, which in it's essential principles
has been little changed or improved
upon in the lapse of two hundred and
seventy five years.
A distinguished historian, Mr.. John
Fiske, in his "Old Virginia and her
Neighbors," has described in detail
the Colonial Count Courts in Virginia,
is follows:
1.-The County Court in Virginia had
jurisdiction in criminal actions not in
volving peril of life or limb, and in
civil suits where the sum at stake ex
ceeded twenty-five shillings. Smaller
suits could be tried by single justice
The Court also had charge of the pro-
bate and administration of wills. The
Court appointed its own Clerk, who
kept the County records. 1t superin-
tended the construction and repair of
bridges and highways, and for this
purpose divided the County into pre-
eincts, and appointed annually for
each precinct a highway surveyor.
The Court also seems to have appoint
ed consta bles, one for each precinct
and each year the Court presented the
names of three of its members to the
Governor. who appointed one. gener-