The Fairfax County Courthouse

raham Lincoln's view of reconstruction had been that the government which took Virginia out of the Union should be t

t Johnson found that the presence of Governor Pierpont in Richmond-purporting to govern under the constitution which his government had drafted and ratified in Alexandria in 1864-was a complicating fa

tory of nine former Confederate states was divided into five military districts, in which army commanders were authorized to oversee the civil administrations of the states. In Virginia's military district, the army commander, General John Schofield, interfered very little with the admin

eir delegations would be seated in Congress when they adopted constitutions which conformed to the Constitution of the United States with the new Fourteenth Amendment. A convention, domin

racy. Thus, the choice offered in the impending ratification referendum was difficult for most Virginians. So controversial was this matter that the army commander was moved to intervene and postpone the referendum indefinitely.[105] Stalemate followed durin

test oath" provision was defeated while the constitution was approved. In the General Assembly elected under this constitution, the Conservative Party enjoyed a working majority over the Republicans, who had been badly split by the referendum controversy. Henry Wells resigned, and was

s township. Other elective offices introduced at this time were county supervisors, a county clerk, collector, assessor, overseer of the poor, and overseer of roads. All these officials-some serving the township and others the county-wer

overnment geared to the 1770's, the impact of these problems plus Virginians' conservative political tradition led to dissatisfaction with the towns

ased, the independent powers of the townships were reduced, and the townships were converted into "magisterial districts."[108] Gradually the power to

G. M. Hopkins, Atlas of Fiftee

LARGE

reated township overseers of roads who, with the commissioner of roads, formed the county road board. When the townships were abolished, the duties of these boards were transferred to the commissioner of roads and road surveyor. By 1900 thi

res to suppress smallpox also were carried on by this officer. The constitution of 1869 created a superintendent of the poor for each county, elected by popular vote, and the overseers of

en the militia were reorganized to form divisions, brigades and regiments on a state-wide basis. Officers were appointed by the governor on recommendation of t

ased to have any control of elections or revenue matters, and his other powers and prerogatives connected with administrative functions of county g

s which had already occurred in practice. Thus, much debate was spent on how voting qualifications should be regulated, and whether the old county court should be abolished or not. Fairfax County's representatives in the convention voted for retaining the county court, arguing that the monthly sessions had significa

freeholders. But it did not immediately usher in as its successor an era of professionalism and responsiveness to the wishes of the public. Progress in these latter respects was postponed by slowness in widening the suffrage and the opportunity to h

the sources of capital were meager, no longer was the overriding consideration. A measure of normalcy had, by 1902, returned to life in Northern Virginia. And if the pace of this style of life was not as vigorous or spectacular as in some

FOR CH

al., Cavalier Com

mager, The Growth of the American Republ

County Gover

uel of Appomatox, (New Haven: Ya

to obtain office by disqualifying everybody in the State who is capable of discharging official duties, and all else to them was of comparatively slight importance. Even the question of

nty Government, pp. 2

hat a number of New Yorkers participated in the convention. Townships

a, Laws of 18

t, pp. 249, 271; Code of Virgi

unty Government,

Ibid.,

03, reports that R. Walton Moore was one of Fairfax County's delegation to the convention, and that he argued strongly for the

Marr Monument in 190