One More Round on Franklin Formation ! I had reason to look into this a couple of years ago. Over several years John Salmon has been commissioned by the LVA to write my books on early Virginia based on the Library's holdings. John S. and Emily J. Salmon wrote, "Franklin County Virginia 1786-1986 - A Bicentennial History", published in 1993 for the Franklin County Bicentennial Commission. Why is 1786 in the Title? On page 66 by Salmon he states, "During the October 1785 session the General Assembly passed an act to create a new county 'from and after the first day of January next....[to be] called and known by the name of Franklin,' " ; and "On 12 December 1785 Governor Patrick Henry issued a commission appointing the justices of the new county.".... and "the Court met as directed on 2 January 1786 at Callaway's home at the Washington Iron Works." So we learn the act creating Franklin was dated 1785, but the legislative text directs the formation to take effect Jan.1, 'next' meaning Jan. 1, 1876. This was apparently fairly common in county formations based on an explanation from the Library of Virginia. Bill H. ----- Original Message ----- From: <WarnerCaldwell@aol.com> To: <vabedfor@rootsweb.com> >> Date: Wed, 30 Jan 2008 20:56:51 -0500 >> From: Raymond Ryan <rwryan295@verizon.net> >> Subject: [VABEDFOR] Correction - Franklin Co., Va. >> To: VABEDFOR@rootsweb.com >> Based on what was recently posted, copied and pasted below, Franklin >> Co., Va. was not formed in 1785. Rather it was formed from both >> Bedford and Henry counties in 1786, based on an order of the >> 'gentlemen justices' dated Nov. 29, 1785. Later a part of Patrick >> Co., Va. was added which is reflected in the current configuration of >> Franklin County. >> >> ----- Original Message ----- >> From: "Edwin "Tex" Irvin" >> Sent: Friday, January 25, 2008 9:09 AM >> Subject: [VABEDFOR] old County lines >> I'm sure this is old news to most of you, but I will post it anyway. >> >> 4-5 Formation of Counties of VA from >> Charles City County, est. 1634 >> Franklin County, est. 1785 >> > To be completely correct from "Virginia Counties: Those resulting from > Virginia Legislation" by Morgan P. Robinson, Franklin was formed in 1786 > from > Bedford and Henry and part of Patrick. The county was named after > Benjamin Franklin > Doug Burnett >