The Fairfax County Courthouse

d officers of th

ion have been attributed to various prototypes in Tudor and earlier English history. By the time Fairfax County was es

es throughout the colony to save litigants the expense of traveling to Jamestown. Steadily the numbers of these courts increased and their jurisdiction expanded until, by the end of the seventeenth century, these local courts could

rsee the survey of roads and construction of bridges, approve inventories and appraisals of estates, record the conveyance of land, and the like. Therefore, the court's work reflected a mixture of judicial and administrative functions, and the office

their English counterparts of this period.[44] Popular usage in Virginia, however, fostered the custom of speaking of the members of the court as "Gentleman Justices". They were both the products and caretakers of a system that p

at court.[45] Through the colonial period and well after the War of Independence the justices of the county court were appointed by the governor, and, although episodes during this period indicated the recurrence of friction between the governor and General Assembly over the power to make these appointments, neither the local court nor the

end to other interests it frequently occurred that his place was taken by a younger relative. Historian Charles Sydnor has noted that during the twenty years

f the court was elected outright, but others-including the sheriff, coroner, inspectors and commissioners for special dutie

w, one may see that the clerk performed a wide range of functions growing out of the work of the court. These included issuing orders for all stages of court proceedings, taking depositions and inventories, recording documents, and administering or probating estates of all ki

ions. His tenure in office also strengthened his position of influence, for it was customary to retain clerks in office for long periods of time, during which they had daily contact with the workings of the law and events in the county. Unlike the justices, who came from all parts of the county and

ionally the same person might hold the positions of clerk and surveyor, notary, or special commissioner. Under certain circumsta

a salaried position, and the county court was given full authority to appoint the clerk-but in other respects th

d by the governor on recommendation of the county court. Almost from the beginning, too, it appears to have been customary to appoint deputies or "under-sheriffs". So it is not surprising to find that after 1661 it was customary for the office of the s

execution of the court's orders in criminal cases, to enforcement of the law and administration of the jail. In addition, the sheriff was due a fee from a master w

was a tendency to give first priority to activities which brought in their own fees. This led the General Assembly to require that sheriffs collect

ernment, and direct the sheriff to collect it. When the sheriff made his return to the court he was entitled to deduct a percentage as his commission.[56] However, revenue was often not collected, either because the job was farmed out to others who defaulted, or the county was too poor, or its residents

rally to have taken his responsibility for the county jail lightly, for there is evidence of widespread contracting for others to provide the guard for the jail and the food for the prisoners.

treated as an additional duty of the clerk or sheriff. However, by the end of the eighteenth century a significant change had occurred in the legislation which called for appointment by the governor after a candidate had

riff, except that it served the court of a single justice.[59] Constables were appointed

eaths. Originally, this function was performed by the justices, acting without fee. However, by the 1670's, coroners were being appointed by the governor, and authorized to collect fees for their ser

e increased military expenses of the 1760's and 1770's[61] to find new sources of revenue, Virginia created an official to take over the specialized function of assessment of property for tax

venue was established.[62] The new commissioner took responsibility for making assessments of taxable property under a s

rt

ns of the court furnished an opportunity for general gatherings of the county's residents and visitors to transact both public and personal business. A

eggs, and other articles which they exchanged for groceries and dry goods. The streets around the courthouse were thronged with all sorts of men; others, on horseback, riding up and down t

es beer. The cake sellers had [tables] in front of the courthouse, spread with white cloths, with cakes piled high upon them and with kegs of beer nearby. I have seen the jur

all were likely to be laymen, for in colonial Virginia there was little formal education in the professions and, at most, one might have attended lectures at the College of William & Mary or a school in England. If the gentlemen justices were widely read in history, philosophy, government and literature-as well they might be-these advantages of

ch the justices conducted their business could only be directed to the governor.[64] Should the court cease to function for long periods of time because of quarreling among the justices, or sh

rcity and cost of law books.[66] Decisions which seemed wrong could, from earliest colonial times, be appealed to the governor and General Court. Later the establishment of District Courts, and their successors the Circuit Courts, provided

tion

s of members of the House of Burgesses. Elections were ordered by writs issued by the governor, and in each county they were c

er, in the courthouse yard, with the sheriff presiding at a long table. On either side of the sheriff

at the courthouse. Generally, however, a poll of the individual voters was taken. As the polling went on, each freeholder came before the sheriff when his name was called and was asked by the sheriff how he voted. As he answered, the tally

d on court days when many people came to the courthouse on other business, activity outside the courthouse

rily provided supper and a ball for their friends and other celebrants.[70] The law was explicit that no one should directly or indirectly give "money, meat, drink, present, gift, reward or entertainment ... in order to be elected, or for being elected to serve in the General Assembly",[71] but the practice of treating the voters on election day was deeply rooted in Virginia's political tradition. Thus the law was interpreted as only prohibiting one offering refreshment "in

From Colony t

itution and government of the Commonwealth of Virginia.[74] The General Assembly became the successor to most of the functions of the colonial House of Burgesses and Governor in Council, but significantly the principle of the separation of powers

sed to accept the new commissions, and pointed out to the governor in a long letter that this duplication of oaths would set a bad precedent and risk giving the executive undue powers over the court. Far from being an artificial objection, th

h called for supporting and defending the church was dropped, but, more important, abolition of the parish vestry made it necessary to lodge its non-religious functions elsewhere. I

ient enough to meet the demands placed on them by social and economic growth. Although the general jurisdiction of the county court was continued, in 1788 a new court, called the district court, was establ

rt introduced the beginnings of professionalism on the bench, and offered the prospect of full-time attention to the administration of ju

nsing of inns, ordinaries, mills, ferries, peddlers, and other similar activities, along with attention to the survey and maintenance of roads, bridges, and fords.[81] Regulatory powers over the p

milling and shipping of grain, economic activities seldom affected anyone beyond the county neighborhood.[82] Therefore, the county court was deemed to be the best body to understand

OR CHAP

Also, because time-honored tradition as well as law influenced the organization of Virginia counties, the description of English local government in J. B. Black, T

by "justices". P. A. Bruce, Institutional History of Virginia in the Seventeenth Century, (New York: Putnam, 1910), I, 488. However, Porte

County Govern

ents be recommended by the county court and approved by the Assembly. (I Hening, Statutes, 40

te Papers, I, 261, listing the numbers of justices in nearby cou

evolutionaries In The Making, (

g, Statute

g, Statute

, Statutes,

County Gove

id., pp

, Statutes,

See Hening, Statutes, I, 265, 297, 330, 333, 465, 523; II, 163, 291. Porter, County Government, 68, comments that "the office of sheriff, judging from the number of acts which

, Laws of Vir

of State Pap

g, Statute

g, Statute

Statutes, II,

g, Statute

g, Statute

ham County, Virginia, (Dayton, Virgin

ent, p. 109, citing Calenda

rican Revolution

tices, and on the death or resignation of a justice his law books were surrendered to th

e sheriff might chose an alternate site. H. R. McIlwaine (ed), Jou

f the House of Burgesses in December 1755. The contest between John West, George William Fairfax, and William Ellzey was very close, and Washington (supporting Fairfax) met William Payne (who opposed Fai

erican Revoluti

cholas Cresswell, 1774–1777, (Pt. Washingto

g, Statute

ntury slang term for rum. Sydnor,

Life and Times of James Madison, (Bo

County Govern

of State Pap

198; XI, 432; XII, 273, 57

X, 385 (orphans); XII

of ￡30 or 2,000 lbs of tobacco, all criminal cases, and appeals from

a, Code of 1

, Statutes,

g, Statute

and later the General Assembly, enacted comprehensive laws regulating the quality, grading and marking of these products. See, Lloyd Payne, The Miller in Eighteenth Century Virginia,

863. Photo by T. H. O'Sullivan. C