parishes; to be divided by a line to be run from the head spring of Hedgman River to the head spring by the River Potomac." "That part of the said territory lying to the northeast of the said line beyond the top of the said Blue Ridge shall be one distinct county, to be called and known by the name of the county of Frederick and parish of Frederick. And that the rest of the said territory lying on the other side of the said line beyond the top of the said Blue Ridge shall be one other distinct county and parish to be called by the name of the county of Augusta and parish of Augusta." The counties thus created honored Frederick, Prince of Wales, eldest son of George II, and his wife, Augusta of Saxe-Gotha, Princess of Wales. Frederick predeceased his father and it was Frederick's son who became George III.

The Assembly had repeated with reference to Augusta and Frederick Counties its action in the case of Brunswick; namely: created counties before they were financially able to function. Not until 1743 did Frederick have sufficient tithables to begin to hold court, and it was two years later before Augusta set up her county organization.

In 1742, it was enacted that Prince William County be divided. The bounds of this county were set as follows: "all that part thereof lying on the south side of Occoquan and Bull Run and from the heads of the main branch of Bull Run by a straight course to the Thoroughfare of the Blue Ridge of Mountains known by the name of Ashby's Gap or Bent." Hamilton was the parish for Prince William County. That portion of Prince William which had, in 1732, been placed in Truro Parish became the new county of Fairfax. The name was, of course, in honor of Lord Fairfax, the Proprietor of the Northern Neck Grant.

Pohick, one of the churches in Truro Parish, is still standing and in use. General George Washington, who lived at nearby "Mount Vernon," George Mason of "Gunston Hall" and Lord Fairfax of "Greenway Court" were vestrymen; and planned for the erection of this present building in 1769.

In the same year that Fairfax was formed in the northern part of the colony, Hanover County in the middle section was divided. The Act ordered "all that tract of land now deemed to be a part of the said county of Hanover lying above a straight course to be run from the mouth of Little Rockey Creek on the River Northanna south, twenty degrees west until it intersects the line of Goochland County" should become a distinct county and known by the name of Louisa County. The name honored a daughter of George II, as Amelia had done a few years earlier.

Two years later the first of the eight counties eventually cut from Goochland was created and given the name Albemarle. This was in honor of William Anne Keppel, second Earl of Albemarle, Governor-General of the Colony, 1737-1754. Like most of the Governors-General, he did not come to Virginia, but the Lieutenant Governor as his deputy, performed the duties of his office.

The bounds of Albemarle were to be divided from Goochland on the west "by a line run from the point of fork of James River north, thirty degrees east to the Louisa County line, and from the said point of fork a direct course to Brooks mill and from thence the same course continued to Appomattox River." "The point of fork" is the junction of the Rivanna with the James. It will be noted by the reference to the Appomattox River that Albemarle extended across James River just as Goochland did. "Monticello" the beloved home of Thomas Jefferson, is in Albemarle County, and in architecture and planning is another example of the amazing versatility of his genius.

In 1746, the settlements in Brunswick County had grown to such an extent that a new division was required. The line was ordered "to be run from the county line where it crosses Roanoke River below the place called the Horse Ford to strike Nottoway River at the south." The territory above this line was to be called Lunenburg County. This title, anglicized from the German form, Luneburg, was chosen since the Duchy of Luneburg, like that of Brunswick, belonged to the Electorate of Hanover. Lunenburg embraced a vast acreage stretching from the rolling country where bright tobacco came to perfection as far west as the mountains and on the south to the North Carolina boundary.

Cumberland, Culpeper, Southampton and Chesterfield Created, 1749

The western portion of Goochland lying on both sides of the James had, in 1744, been taken to form the new county of Albemarle; now, five years later, the southeast portion of Goochland was made into the new county of Cumberland. The name was further honor for the Duke of Cumberland, "The Butcher of Culloden." The growth in this locality had been hastened by the arrival of numerous Huguenot families seeking asylum from persecution in France. Manakintown was the name of their settlement. The name is perpetuated in a newly erected Episcopal church not far from the site of the settlement where the Agee, Fourqurean, Legrand, Michaux, Guerrant, Flournoy and other families worship now, as they have done for some 250 years.

In the same year that Cumberland was formed, a new county was taken from Orange and named Culpeper, presumably in honor of Lord Culpeper, Governor of Virginia 1680-1683, a compliment to Lord Fairfax "who had inherited from him the ownership of the Northern Neck." Culpeper lay on the south side of the Rappahannock and north of the Conway River commonly called the fork of the Rappahannock River. The fork of the Rappahannock was the area between the Rappahannock River and its tributary, the Conway, now called the Rapidan. "Horseshoe Farm" is in Culpeper County and takes its name from the bend or horseshoe made by the Rapidan within which it is situated. While the residence is modern, the farm is of colonial times and was once owned by Governor Spotswood. It was from this house that, in 1741, he went to Annapolis, Maryland expecting to sail with an expedition to join Admiral Vernon and attack Cartagena in the Spanish Main. He died unexpectedly in Annapolis but, strangely enough, considering his prominence, his burial place is unknown.

Besides Culpeper and Cumberland, a third county, Southampton, was formed in 1749. This was taken from that portion of Isle of Wight's territory that lay west of Blackwater River. The name is said to honor, tho belatedly, Henry Wriothesley, second Earl of Southampton, friend of Shakespeare and a leading member of the Virginia Company of London. The City of Hampton and Hampton River honor the same person. Southampton is one of the cotton-raising counties of Virginia, and in the fall the fields of cotton are a beautiful sight.

Still a fourth county was formed in 1749 and that was Chesterfield. This, as was the case with the other three, represented no great expansion, but was in line with the thesis long before laid down—"to make justice accessible to all." Chesterfield is that part of Henrico that lay on the south side of James River. Again we go to England for the reason for this name and learn that it honors Philip Dormer Stanhope, fourth Earl of Chesterfield, the celebrated Lord Chesterfield. Though we think of him primarily as the epitome of good manners, courtesy and tact, his political career was important too. His services in Parliament, his lord lieutenancy of Ireland, his achievements on different embassies, and as Secretary of State were of value to his country. In Chesterfield County are the sites of the earliest iron works in the colony and of the projected college just beginning to operate when the 1622 Massacre destroyed everything.

In 1752, two new divisions were made. One of these was Halifax, the first of the nine counties that were destined to be carved out of the vast expanse of Lunenburg County. The bounds of