Summary of Patrick County History
The territorial ancestry of
Patrick County may
be traced back to one of the original shires, or counties into which Virginia
was divided
in 1634, which was soon known as the Isle of Wight.
The Isle of Wight Shire at that time was a large territory
extending from the coast, along the south side of Virginia. In1652.
Surry County was
formed by a division of this territory, marking the beginning of a series of
divisions which resulted in the information of Lunenburg County from Brunswick
in 1746; Halifax from Lunenburg in 1752; Pittsylvania from Halifax in 1776,
Henry from Pittsylvania in 1776; and Patrick
from Henry in
1790.
Patrick County was formed from the western
half of Henry County by an act of Virginia Legislature, and officially became a
separate county in 1791.
The General Assembly's act reads in part, "That from and
after the first day of June next (1791) the said county of Henry shall be
divided into two distinct Counties, the new county line west of the line that
divides the counties of Franklin and Henry."
In November 1791 another parcel of Henry County was added to Patrick County and
by an act of March 13, 1848, a small portion of Patrick County was added to Franklin County.
Most of the earlier settlers were of Scotch-Irish
descent from Pennsylvania. They traveled
to
Patrick County through the Shenandoah Valley and passes in the
Blue Ridge Mountains.
Besides the pioneers from Pennsylvania, others came to the area. Most of the settlers were of English ancestry directly from Eastern Virginia, and others came from parts of North Carolina.
Some of the earliest tracts of land in the territory
were secured from grants from the King of England by pioneers who came west to
escape the spreading civilization along eastern region of the new country where
many plantations had taken great parcels of land. A few of the land
grants were obtained by non-residents for speculative
purposes.
The early settlers of what is now Patrick County were pioneers and the Blue
Ridge Mountains were part of their frontier. Life was harsh and travel was
difficult. The few scattered roads were rutted and often impassable in the
winter. Sometimes trees had to be felled to bypass existing roads and to make new ones.
Because transportation was limited the area had little access to trade goods,
settlers had to make
do with what they could grow or obtain from
the immediate area.
Medical care also was limited and the peoples life expectancy
was short on the frontier. Large families were an economic necessity to care for
the farm land, the women of a child
bearing
age married young and often died early.
The population of the area before the first U.S. census in
1800 is unknown. Land office records in Richmond shows there were 809 land
grants after the American Revolution from 1793-1867, and 162 prior to 1800.
The First U.S. census of Patrick
County in 1800 reported a population of 4,331 persons. At that time the area was
sparsely settled, having approximately 8 persons per square mile.
In 1860 a population decrease occurred in Patrick County due
to changes in boundary line between Patrick and Henry countries when
approximately 34 square miles were annexed to Henry County.
In 1910 the population was 17,195 persons.
During the Depression years when people moved in search of employment from
1920-1930 the county lost 1,063 persons from the census.
The area comprising Patrick County was part of Henry County at the
beginning of the Revolutionary War, so many men participated in the war
and later became distinguished citizens of Patrick County.
Col. Abraham Penn of the Continental Army
was commissioned to raise a company from the territory which now includes
Franklin, Henry and Patrick Counties. Included in this militia were platoons
from the Patrick territory led by Hamon Critz, George Hairston, and John Reutfro. This
company was the only organized militia to leave the territory.
The Revolutionary War was a temporary setback to the
settlement of the new territory, but the population increase after the war gave
rise to the creation of the new county in 1791.
A building was erected on the present site of
the courthouse in Stuart on land formerly owned by Same Staples and was used
until 1821, when the present building was constructed. The first justices of the
peace were Col. Abraham Penn, James Lyon, Jonathan Hanby, Daniel Caslin,
Samuel Dark, William Carter, Stephen Lyon, J.L Armstrong, Frances Turner,
William
Banks and Charles S. Foster.
Any three justices of the peace in joint session could
hold court. The first court elected Samuel Staples as clerk and John Cox as deputy clerk.
At the same session, William Mitchell brought forward a commission from the Governor appointing him Sheriff. Thomas Mitchell was appointed deputy.
In 1808, an act was passed dividing the state into 12 judicial districts. The district court established to serve Patrick County was in New Lon-don in Bedford County.
The first superior court for Patrick County was held on Oct. 6, 1809 with Judge Paul Carrington
presiding.
After the American Revolution, agriculture
made steady progress. The Patrick County farm land varied from steep slopes to
rich bottom land, and early planters used oxen and mules
as well as horses to plow it.
Tobacco became the most important agricultural product
and since Lynchburg and Danville were the nearest markets, citizens began to
process their own leaf. The largest portion of tobacco was grown or processed by
the Reynolds Plant and Penn Co. Hardin W. Reynolds and his sons operated the
Reynolds Plants located in Critz. The Reynolds Plant is now known as R.J
Reynolds Tobacco Co. located in Winston Salem NC, and Penn Co.
became
the American Tobacco Company.
In 1834 the town of Taylorsville contained the
County buildings, 40 houses, 2 mercantile stores, 3 taverns, a tannery, a
saddlery, a tailor, a flour mill and 2 tobacco factories. In 1834, John A.
Hairston began to erecting an iron ore furnace which was used to smelt ore from
the Fayerdale Mines during the Civil War, but it was later destroyed by Union Forces.
Next to tobacco, corn was the most important
cash crop in the 1800's including corn by the gallon rather than the peck. Beans
and fruit also were valuable commodities with apples foremost
among the fruit.
Patrick County was not a large slave area
because the smaller farms of the mountain communities did not lend
themselves to vast slave labor. According to the U.S. Census, there were only
slightly more than 2,000 slaves in Patrick Co.
in 1860.
When Virginia joined the Confederacy the
County sent over 600 men into the conflict in organized units. Seven companies
were organized from Patrick and sent into the war. And there
were individuals who joined the Confederacy that were not in organized units.
Those who remained at home during the Civil War suffered
hardships not related to the loss of the men of the family. The County's
economic conditions worsened due to the war and the ordinary necessities of life
were scarce. Salt
and sugar were practically nonexistent.
Conditions after the Civil War were not much
better, but improvements in transportation were noted. Wagon roads were
extended, and in 1884 the Danville and New River Railroad Co. constructed a line
into the County seat from Martinsville.
The Danville and New River Railroad Co.
was incorporated on March 29, 1873 to locate and construct a narrow gauge
railroad from Danville via Martinsville, Patrick Court House and
Hillsville in Carroll County to some point on the Atlantic, Mississippi and Ohio
Railroad east of
Christiansburg.
In 1883 the railroad negotiated with the county and
reached an agreement whereby the company would construct the line if the County
helped finance it's construction. The county issues bonds for $150,000 which
were turned over to the railroad to aid in the cost of constructing
the railroad to Stuart.
Actual construction of the railroad began
December 9, 1879 when the company began to lay tracks from Danville to
Martinsville. In the fall 1884 the railroad was completed to Patrick County
Courthouse.
The first hard surface road in Patrick County was laid
in 1925 from Stuart to Martinsville which helped shift the economic demographics
from agriculture to manufacturing basis. Several of the factories that were once
here are no longer in business including Pannill Knitting
Co. which began operations in Stuart in 1937 when it took over the Stuart
Knitting Co., Bassett Walker Knitting Co. which began operations in 1964 and
closed in 1998.
