Along with the new county a new Parish of Camden was created. The first meeting of the Camden Parish vestry was held on June 21, 1767, at the courthouse where the vestrymen were reported to be �comfortable to the doctrine and Discipline of the Church of England as by law Established.� Besides financial support from the colony, Camden Parish had several hundred acres of land given to it as a �glebe�-in ecclesiastical law land belonging and/or yielding revenue to the parish. With these economic advantages plus the law that all settlers in the colony had to belong to this established church and attend its services and the severe restrictions and banning of other religions gave the Church of England all of the advantages. The established church had a part in the county government, and had almost as much influence in the county government as in the House of Burgesses or the county courts. The vestry had the duty and responsibility of employing ministers, setting their salaries, and determining when and where to build churches. In western Virginia there was always a shortage of trained ministers, and the vestry appointed lay readers to hold services. But the vestry also dealt with matters not strictly religious as processioning the land, in caring for the poor, orphans and the aged for and in behalf of the county. Although the records do not indicate the vestry�s work in creating churches in the extreme western edge of its area, there was a church building not far from where Archelaus Hughes established residence in southern Virginia in the 1760s. A land grant to John Ray in 1750 mentioned �a church building on Peter�s Creek� that runs through present day southern Patrick County. A 1767 land patent got more specific and positioned the �old church on the south fork of Peter�s Creek.� We are at a loss to know Archelaus� attitude and involvement with the established Church of England during this period. Although required by law to be a member and attend services, such requirements were next to impossible to enforce, especially in the scattered frontier settlements.
Another early work in the new County of Pittsylvania concerned the establishment and formation of the county militia. The first steps were taken at the county court held on September 25, 1767, when Archibald Gordon was sworn in as �County Lieutenant� plus a man to serve as the major and another as lieutenant colonel of the county militia. Two months later the court swore in a man as colonel and a captain was also sworn in. The primary staff officers were now in place with the County Lieutenant in overall charge with the responsibility to oversee and train his unit, ensuring it was ready for any emergency, especially if it involved action outside the county. The men appointed as County Lieutenant were almost always officers with the rank of colonel. The captains were over companies, and they recruited the men to their units. The law required that every able-bodied freeman between the ages of sixteen and fifty be enrolled in the county militia. The periodic appointment of captains in the Pittsylvania County militia (one on Nov. 27, 1767; one on Jan. 22, 1768; three on Feb. 26, 1768; two on March 25, etc.) probably reflected the progression in the formation of companies in the militia. Archelaus Hughes must have been enrolled in the Cumberland Militia when he came of age, and then with the Halifax unit when he relocated in the early 1760s. Now beginning in 1767 his involvement was with the Pittsylvania County militia. On August 25, 1774, Archelaus Hughes was sworn in as a captain in the Pittsylvania County militia. Thirteen months later (September 27, 1775) as the crisis with the Mother County worsened, the �Committee of Pittsylvania County� revamped the county militia and made appointments of all the officers and �Archilaus Hughs� was nominated to continue as a captain in the militia.
Young Archelaus was perhaps twenty years of age when he moved to Halifax County, and he was only 24 when Pittsylvania County was formed. On February 26, 1768, a deed was recorded in the county land records with the first known land title for Archelaus Hughes. The deed had Nicholas Lankford of Pittyslvania County selling to Archelaus Hughes and John Wimbish 150 acres of land on both sides of Mill Creek of the Mayo River. The deed could only be registered after all requirements were fulfilled and returned to the courthouse. The actual possession of the land probably occurred in 1767. Nineteen months later on September 26, 1769, Archelaus and his partner John Wimbish purchased 160 acres from Samuel Harris. They paid �20 current money of Virginia for the property located on both sides of Spoon Creek. Harris had originally obtained this property by a land grant patent dated September 22, 1766, so the land would not be among the land claim entries filed by Archelaus in early 1767. Both of these land titles were in the first deed book for Pittsylvania County. The two properties totaled 310 acres, just the amount listed for Archelaus Hughes on the 1770 tithable listing.
Probably Archelaus lived on or near this land, but there are no accounts that cover this. Archelaus first resided in humble dwellings, and we have reference to one log house. An oral story in the family has a log house of Archelaus Hughes located on some land a short distance due east of the present Archelaus Hughes Cemetery and just north of the border with North Carolina (perhaps over half a mile south of the later Hughesville place). Because this log house was near the North Carolina border, it was not on the land on Mill Creek or Spoon Creek to the north (both of these creeks were north of the South Mayo River). Over the years Archelaus acquired considerable land, and it was after some of these acquisitions that we have the first story of one of his homes. It is almost assured that some of the Hughes children were born during the period in this log house, whether built by or for Archelaus or just on the property.
Archelaus married Mary Dalton in the latter part of 1769; there is some confusion over the date. She was the daughter of Samuel Dalton, a prominent and wealthy plantation owner and merchant from nearby Rockingham County, North Carolina. The Dalton home was on the Mayo River just above its junction with the Dan River (near present day Madison, N.C.), placing it approximately ten miles from where the Hughesville home would be established. The details of Archelaus and Mary meeting and their courtship are not known. We can surmise some length of time from a few fragments of the past. Into the hands of Lucy Henderson Horton, the great granddaughter of Archelaus Hughes, were passed some family papers through Archelaus�s son John Hughes (Lucy�s grandfather). Among these papers was one showing that Archelaus Hughes and John Wimbish ordered and paid for bill of goods bought in London, England through a John Lidderdale in 1769. In this list of goods purchased from abroad were, according to Mrs. Horton, �wedding toggery,� which the great granddaughter took for the wedding of Archelaus and Mary. If so, in the days of slow travel by horse and small sailing ships, the procurement of the wedding items would have required at best many months under the most favorable conditions and situations.
On August 25, 1769, per Virginia law and custom, a marriage bond was secured for �Archelaus Hughes and Mary Dalton, dau[ghter] of Samuel Dalton who consents� with Will Tunstall securing the bond. A book on Pittsylvania County marriages placed the wedding in August, but Lucy Henderson Horton has the marriage ceremony on September 25, 1769. The groom was 26 years old and the bride 21. For descendants there are no painted portraits or descriptions of either. With Mary Dalton Hughes we have few glimpses from comments of others, a letter she wrote to her son, and her circle of friends and people known. Due to her prominent family she met a wide spectrum of important and influential people from George Washington to congressmen. While on visits to her Uncle John Dalton at Alexandria, she visited Mt. Vernon with Washington�s family as well as other notables. Mary possessed a wealth of cheer and displayed a sense of humor. For example, when Congressman Wade Hampton ordered some noisy guinea fowl dispatched while in her home as the command of a congressman, she refused, citing her position as �Madame Hughes of Hughesville.� Her youngest son Madison Redd Hughes reflected that she was always addressed and spoken of as �Madame Hughes,� and that she sat �bolt upright� in her chair, never leaning back or forward to any degree. He also related that his mother always bathed her face before retiring at night and rubbed the wrinkles back and that even in her old age her facial skin was very smooth. Her printed obituary contains these words: � . . . she may truly be said to have possessed very many of the most remarkable and excellent traits of the human character. . . During the struggle [for independence] she imbibed the spirit of patriotism, which to the last day of her existence, like her other personalities, of the highest, was not in the slightest degree diminished . . . Kind to the human family with almost a universal benevolence, she dispensed alms in the true spirit of charity. From her lips no account of self-claimed merit was ever heard. . . . As a mother we may safely say no woman could excel her. As a mistress she was humane and kind, devoted to the comfort of her servants, giving every necessary attention. As a friend the high regard in which she was held by her neighbors sufficiently attests the hospitality of her soul. As a woman she united the greatest energy of character the most refined and cultured tenderness of disposition.� In 1829 Mary Hughes wrote a letter to her son John living in Tennessee which revealed some of her deepest feelings. She wrote: �I received a letter from you bringing the welcome intelligence of the health of your family, as well as that of my other children, and friends in your section of the county. The welfare and happiness of my children bring me the chief source of my pleasures. You must know that I could but be delighted at that part of your letter . . . You mention that you remember me in your prayers. This is to me, my dear son, a source of great pleasure to believe my distant and pious children should remember their unworthy Mother in their supplications to our great and good God . . . I will now close by tendering my love to you and all my dear grandchildren, individually, as well as all relations and inquiring friends in your part of the county. . . .�
Archelaus and Mary Hughes probably lived on their Mill Creek or Spoon Creek land north of the South Mayo River for a period of time. On June 18, 1771, George Walton of Prince Edward County sold 497 acres of land to Archelaus Hughes and John Wimbish for �42 and ten shillings. The land was on the South Mayo River and would form the core property to the plantation that arose at Hughesville. After the acquistion of this property Archelaus and Mary probably relocated down near the North Carolina line in the log cabin located east of the present day Archelaus Hughes Cemetery. After acquiring the 497 acres Archelaus began the construction of a home place that like his family grew slowly. Based solely on land purchases in the area south of the South Mayo River, the construction of the plantation house could not have started prior to the summer of 1771, and probably did not commence until at least the mid 1770s. North of the log house a half-mile or so, he set about constructing his new home. The initial building of what became known as Hugheville was a story and a half structure of frame construction, which could have been the first building in what twenty years later became Patrick County. Then over time he added a two-story section to the frame house, and later an addition was made at the back. In the end Hughesville was a large house of ten rooms. At the back and separate from the house was a kitchen area with a massive rock chimney. Also built were the needed accessories of the plantation such as slave quarters, a blacksmith shop, tavern, a store, barns and storage sheds. The Hughesville plantation was located on the Carolina Road, the main north-south transportation line, and later during the Patrick County time a road branched off the main road and went west towards the new courthouse. Thus the relatively isolated home place witnessed an unusual amount of traffic with friends, guests and visitors finding food and open hospitality at Hughesville. In time the family made bricks both for their own construction and for sale, and established �Hugh�s Tanyard,� processing skins into leather and leather products. The plantation was largely self-sustaining-raising food for their needs plus horses, cattle, pigs and chickens. The cash crop was tobacco that was used as a medium of exchange with parish and tax levies listed in pounds of tobacco as well as the pay of county officials.
Some have wondered if Archelaus� ventures into merchandising came due to and with assistance (financial, connections, etc.) from the Dalton family who had been in the business for many years. The answer to the posed query is not known, but within Archelaus himself and his known connections, notably with John Wimbish, may have been all that was needed. Whatever the source of inspiration, Archelaus now set himself with a busy schedule of developing his home place into a plantation, creating mercantile establishments while raising a large family and being active in the county government and the militia. According to Mrs. Horton�s account Archelaus came to operate seven stores in different locations. The only problem with this statement is the fact that only one license can be found for him in the Pittsylvania, Henry and Patrick counties. This came on July 14, 1788, when the Henry County Court granted him a license to keep a retail store for one year (see Henry Co. Order Book #4, p. 265). All such licenses throughout Virginia were good for only a single year and had to be renewed. Added to his situation was Archelaus� position and close association with the law. From 1777 and the beginning of Henry County he served as a gentleman justice of the county court and then served as sheriff for two years with additional justice assignments until the formation of Patrick County in 1791. In the new county he served actively on its county court from 1791 through mid 1796. Therefore he knew the law and regulations, so did he have seven stores or did he thwart the laws? The counties (and later cities) imposed and collected the business licenses fees under provisions allowed by Virginia laws. Taverns, ordinaries and places that sold liquors were strictly regulated throughout all the counties. Retail stores were less controlled but still many licenses were granted in Henry County, but none for retail stores have been found in the minutes of the Patrick County minutes and other known records to the time of Archelaus� death in 1796. It is possible that Patrick County took the regulation of retails stores much less importantly than Henry County, and either assigned it to a county agency whose records have not been located, or they did not regulate them at all in the early years. So the best judgment from what records have been found would be that if Archelaus had seven stores in operation at one time, they either came early while in Pittsylvania County or late in his life while residing in Patrick County. He may have been able to maintain a store strictly for his plantation without breaking the county licensing ordinances.
While still within the bounds of Pittsylvania County, Archelaus became a local justice of the peace for the western portion of the county. His appointment came in 1769 and he soon engaged in signing off on inventory of estates, bills of sales and witnessed land transactions. On October 8, 1772, in a land transaction of selling 150 acres of land on the south side of the South Fork of Mayo River between Phillip Smith and Henry France not only was Archelaus a witness but also his wife Mary Dalton Hughes and his brother John Hughes. More complex and time consuming was a case the county count assigned him in September of 1773. The county deed book states: � To Robert Chandler & Arch. Hughes or any two of his majesty�s Justices of County of Pittsylvania, Greeting whereas Burdit Eskridge by his Indenture of Feoffment conveying to Archibald Robertson of Count of Pittsylvania Tract of Land containing 345 acres and whereas Ann Eskridge, the wife of Burdit cannot conveniently travel to our Count Court . . . . Trusting to you faithful & provident circumspection in Examining Ann Eskridge apart from her Husband whether she does freely relinquish her right of Dower.� Chandler and Hughes followed the order and found that the wife did freely relinquish her right of dower, and the two justices signed off on the �Dedimus� on that line. The following year in April they had a similar case in which Peter Copland and Arch. Hughes were to check with the wife of Robert Chandler to see if she relinquished her right of dower. Again the two justices found she had done so.
In 1774 Captain J. F. D. Smythe, a British Army officer, traversed through Pittsylvania County in the area that is presently Henry and Patrick counties. He traveled from near Bassett up the Smith River and then to the top of Bull Mountain and then back across Smith River to the Blue Ridge Mountains where at one of the gaps he crossed Little River into present day Floyd County. He later wrote of his travels and experiences. He observed that the �roads and paths� were �as bad as can be conceived, and the houses and plantations come across �very indifferent.� He observed the existence of a �great abundance of game,� listing such as deer, bears, some panthers, wild cats, otters, raccoons, opossums, wild turkeys and numerous kinds of squirrels. Smthye noted the inhabitants of the area sold large numbers of deer skins and furs with venison exceedingly cheap. The growth of timber was extensive with the largest trees along the banks of the rivers. The peoples� principal animals were hogs raised in abundance and then driven in droves to the falls of James River or Roanoke for sale. The hogs were sold for around twelve shillings per hundred weight if bought locally, but twenty shillings if driven to a market. Black cattle sold for nearly the same price as the hogs. In the area he crossed he saw a quantity of cultivated tobacco, and he noted that almost all of it was carried to the James River where it was sold for 16 to 20 shillings per hundred weight. He noted that the inhabitants raised �very little wheat, and use still less,� which sold for about half a crown a bushel. What he saw grown the most was �Indian corn,� which was eaten by the land owners and their families, their Negroes, their horses and used to fatten their hogs. If what Captain Smythe saw further north was also true to the south twenty to thirty miles, then at the Hughesville plantation there was much corn planted with some tobacco with very little wheat.
In 1776 Pittsylvania County was divided with the western portion becoming Henry County. Archelaus remained in the same area and only the county names changed. While there may well have been a physical relocation during the years in Halifax County, from at least the late 1760s he stayed in the same general area while the counties changed from Pittsylvania to Henry and later to Patrick. When Archelaus lived in Henry County his property tax was listed for 1782. It reflected not only the number of slaves, horses and cattle he possessed but compared him with other large holders as well.
Five years later the 1787 census for Henry County reflected his holdings along another line chosen by the census to be worth recording. The listing for Archelaus Hughes showed one under the category of number of white males above age 16 and under 21; 11 under black slaves above the age of 16; eight under black slaves under the age of 16; 11 under number of horses, mares, colts and mules; and 36 under cattle. His contemporary and neighbor to the north, Abraham Penn, had similar figures with a difference of only one in the third and four categories (blacks males under 16 and horses, etc.), but in cattle Penn�s eighty was over twice the number possessed by Archelaus. The number of people living at Hughesville included family, slaves and overseers, storekeepers, etc. could have easily numbered in excess of thirty.
Archelaus and Mary Hughes had a large family of eight boys and five girls. We only have reliable birth dates on some of the children and don�t know the order of their births or the time of death on several. The children of Archelaus and Mary Hughes were:
1). Leander Hughes - b. abt. 1770, died a bachelor at age of 97 about 1867 and buried in Virginia in the Archelaus Hughes Cemetery.
2). Archelaus Hughes, Jr. - b. abt. 1771, married Nancy Martin, and died abt. 1829 in Tenn. and was buried there.
3). Nancy Hughes - b. June 30, 1773, married Brett Stovall; d. June 2, 1845, buried in Virginia in the Archelaus Hughes Cemetery.
4). John Hughes - b. Aug. 3, 1776, married Sally Martin, d. Dec. 26, 1860 in Williamson, Tenn.
5). Jeancy Hughes - b. abt. 1780, married Col. John Fulkerson of Lee Co., Va. where they lived; d. 1870.
6). William Hughes - b. June 13, 1785, married a Miss Moore, then a second marriage to Alice Carr, and died in 1872 in Maury Co., Tenn.
7). Madison Redd Hughes - b. abt. 1786, 1st wife Miss Jordon; 2nd wife Martha Matthews; 3rd wife Sallie Dillard; he moved to Tenn. and lived to age 90, d. 1876.
8). Samuel Hughes - b. abt. 1787, died a bachelor at age 67 on March 4, 1850, and buried in Virginia in the Archelaus Hughes Cemetery.
9). Reuben Hughes - b.abt 1790 married Polly Martin, dau. of Joseph Martin, d. and burial ? [possibly 1859]
10). Sally Hughes - b. abt. 1791, married Col. Joseph Martin in 1810.
11). Matilda Hughes - b.__?_, married John Dillard, d __?_
12). Gabriel Hughes - a son who died young of an accident.
13). Mary Hughes - a daughter who died �when quite young.�
Most compilers of the Archelaus and Mary Hughes family list either nine, ten or eleven children with only one listing including the thirteen on the above list. These last two children were included because two close family connections mentioned them. Two different sources mentioned the young son and their statements on the family cannot be ignored. The first of these sources chronologically was Archelaus Madison Hughes the grandson of Archelaus Hughes (1743-1796). Because his father was also Archelaus Madison Hughes, this individual signed his name Archelaus Madison Hughes II. But unless the emphasis is placed on their middle names, this Archelaus could just as easily be called Archelaus M. Hughes III because his father Archelaus M. Hughes, Jr., was the son of Archelaus Hughes who died in Patrick County in 1796. In 1827 this Archelaus Madison Hughes from Weakly County in Tennessee in his own hand set about giving an account of his family in quite some detail. In his story he describes his father�s brothers and sisters, and in the latter established their order in the family. For example Jane (Jeancy) was the second sister of his father (Archelaus M. Hughes, Jr.), and Sally was his father�s third sister. Matilda was his father�s �younger sister,� but there was also �the other sister� Mary. Thus, except for the daughter Mary who died young, we know the order of the girls in the family from the oldest Nancy to Jeancy to Sally and then Matilda. Archelaus M. Hughes III only names two of his father�s brothers �Rubin� and Gabriel. In his words he wrote: �Gabriel Hughes, the other brother, and Mary Hughes, the other sister, died when quite young.� At the time he wrote this account his father was still living as was his grandmother Mary Dalton Hughes (mother of the listed children), and we have no closer or better source. The �other� son and daughter due to their early deaths were not covered with any other information. But another source provided confirmation and a bit more detail on the �other� son.
Hallie McCabe Price (Mrs. Robert O. Price), the great granddaughter of Archelaus and Mary Hughes, gave a bit of family history. She was the daughter of Thomas McCabe and Mary Martin Staples McCabe, and she had a brother Thomas F. McCabe. Mary Martin McCabe was the daughter of Sallie Hughes and Col. Joseph Martin, and Sallie was the daughter of Archelaus and Mary Hughes. Mrs. Price�s mother inherited Hughesville from her bachelor Uncle Leander Hughes, and at the time she submitted this story, her brother Thomas F. McCabe owned Hughesville, and Hallie had been reared and married in this home. She and her daughter owned household items from Hughesville. Hallie�s account was in some material that she submitted to the Daughters of American Revolution. Another individual, apparently seeking admission to the DAR, copied some of Mrs. Price�s materials in her application, which went as follows:
Hallie McCabe Price �enclosed this legent [sic] with her papers about Col. Hughes.� �Col. Hughes had a son who was thrown from a horse and his neck was broken. The slaves claimed that in the late evening after sunset they would see a man sitting by the road side about where young Hughes met his death and he had no head, but would be crying.�
Several family histories, if not all, follow the line of Lucy Henderson Horton where she asserts: �All of the children of Col. Archelaus Hughes and his wife Mary Dalton, were born in �Hughesville.�� As proof of this she related from an old letter in her possession written by Leander Hughes to his younger brother John Hughes in 1859. Leander wrote his letter from the old home place of Hughesville to his brother who had resided in Tennessee for over thirty years. He reminisced in his letter about living in the �old home in which they were both born and grew to manhood.� Leander was about 89 years of age when he wrote the letter and his phrase �born and grew to manhood� may have just covered the time period he personally recalled. The problem lies in not being able to establish ownership of the land upon which Hughesville was built by mid 1770 to have all the children born in the place. Both Leander and Archelaus Jr. were born before the property was purchased where Hughesville came to be built. A likely scenario would be that some of the oldest children were born in the log house, but the family soon obtained the land and constructed the Hughesville home by the time they became old enough to retain a memory of the experience in the old log cabin. As Archelaus� family expanded, he had need for more room and furnishings whether at the log house or in a new place. On May 16, 1773, Archelaus Hughes purchased from Adam Loving of the same county a �chesnut sorrel� mare, a black horse with two cows and calves along with two feather beds and furniture for 18 pounds and 13 shillings. The impetus for the Hughesville home was two fold-the owner�s growing family and prosperity, which came while he was fully engaged in public service.
One of the last episodes in Pittyslvania County was the bond posted in February of 1776, and following previous custom, the court justices bound themselves to ensure the newly elected sheriff did his duty. The interesting bond went as follows: �We, John Wilson, Robert Williams, Abraham Penn, John Wimbish, & Archelaus Hughes of Pittsylvania County, bind ourselves to King George III in the sum of 1000 � this ________ [blank not filled in for month and day], 1776, to insure that John Wilson, appointed Sheriff by Pittsylvania Court for 1 year, truly collects and accounts for all officers fees and dues, and executed and return all process and precepts to him directed, and faithfully performs the office of sheriff.� This bond was dated February 23, 1776. This bond came ten months after the Battles of Lexington and Concord, and in Virginia, Royal Governor Dunmore had abandoned Williamsburg, fearing for his life. Still in accordance with established custom, Archelaus and his associates posted the bond and bound themselves to King George III, even though Virginia soldiers were being raised and sent to the Williamsburg area to contest the British role in the colony.
In 1773 Archelaus Hughes and his partner John Wimbish applied for three land patents from the Colonial Land Office in Williamsburg; all were registered with the date of June 15, 1773. A fourth came on July 5, 1774. All were for land in western Pittsylvania County (the portion which became Henry and then Patrick counties). The following is verbatim from Patent #41of June 15, 1773:
George the third & To all & Know ye that for diverse good causes and consideration but more especially for and in consideration of the sum of Thirty Shilling of good and lawful money for our use paid to our Receiver General of our Revenues in this our Colony and Dominion of
Virginia. We have given granted and confirmed and by these presents four [for] us our heirs and successors Do give grant and confirm unto Archelaus Hughes and John Wimbish one certain tract or parcel of land containing two hundred and eighty seven acres lying and being in the County of Pittsylvania on both side of both forks of Mill Creek of Mayo River and bounded as followeth, to wit: Beginning at Hughes�s corner red oak thence new line North eighty degrees West two hundred and twenty eight poles to a white oak South eighty five degrees West sixty four poles crossing the north fork and a branch to a hickory South fifty
degrees West one hundred and ninety eight poles crossing two Branches to a Chesnut tree South sixteen degrees West one hundred and twenty two poles crossing south fork to a Chesnut tree South eighty six degrees East one hundred and sixty poles to a white oak in Hughes�s Line aforesaid thence along his line North sixty eight poles to a hickory North eighty two degrees East sixty four poles crossing the South fork to pointers thence South fifty five degrees East sixty two poles crossing the North Fork of the aforesaid creek to the Beginning. With all & To have hold & to be held & Yielding and paying & Provided & In
witness & Witness our trusty and welbeloved John Earl of Dunmore our Lieutenant and Governor General of our said Colony and Dominion at Williamsburg under the seal of our said Colony the fifteenth day of June one thousand seven hundred and seventy three in the thirteenth year of our Reign.
Dunmore
This 287 acres adjoined other Hughes land. The two other land patents for the same date and another in 1774 were as follows: 1). To Archelaus Hughes and John Wimbish 400 acres on Sandy Creek adjoining Billings land. 2). To Archelaus Hughes and John Wimbish 100 acres on Loctons Branch of the Mayo River, and adjoining Randolph�s land. 3). Then on July 5, 1774, Archelaus Hughes and John Wimbish received 265 acres on Green Creek. Shortly thereafter in 1774 the Colonial Land Office, which had handled the issuance of land grants and patents since 1634, shut down due to the situation between the Mother Country and her Colony. All four of the patents were granted in the name of King George III under the trusteeship of the Royal Governor John Earl of Dunmore. With the four patents the two partners secured 1,052 acres, some undoubtedly for development into the Hughes plantation and some that the partners held to resell at a profit. In the meantime, John Earl Lord of Dunmore fled from Virginia and the House of Burgesses dismissed for the last time. The royal government under the English governor stopped functioning. Various committees throughout Virginia called a convention to take over the dissolved Royal powers that met in Richmond in July of 1775. Peter Perkins and Benjamin Lankford represented Pittsylvania County. The convention took immediate action to place the former colony in a state of defense and preparedness. Two regiments were authorized to be raised for the Continental Army under General George Washington in the north from New York to New England, and a body of Minute Men for Virginia�s defense with the Virginia militia reorganized. The orders from the committee stressed that the militiamen be trained frequently, suggesting the companies should drill every two weeks with a general county muster in April and October. It had been a dozen years since the Indian threat kept the militia on its guard, and the new enemy seemed much more ominous and powerful threat than the earlier Indian troubles. The Committee of Safety for Pittsylvania County knew from the census of 1774 that the military strength of the county was 1438 men in the county militia. In a meeting of the committee on September 27, 1775, in the reorganization of the militia, the available men were divided into 27 companies. The County Lieutenant, Colonel, Lieutenant Colonel and Major were appointed along with 27 captains, which included Captain Archelaus Hughes, along with the same number of lieutenants and ensigns.
During the period when the Royal Governor and his colonial administration ceased to function and the new controlling powers of Virginia were forming and organizing, the local county governments just kept functioning much as they had in the past. In this transition period Archelaus Hughes and John Wimbish of Pittsylvania County purchased a tract of land containing 200 acres from James Roberts for 65 pounds. The deed was recorded on August 24, 1775. Roberts had bought the land earlier from George Walton. The land was on the �south fork of Mayo River� and was bounded by the river at the south bend above Henry Short�s place and then running due south to Fontaine�s line, and along his line as far west as Will Answer then the line went north to the river. The description of the boundary lines makes this land appear to be at or close to Hughesville.
In 1775 during the time when the troubles with the Mother Country reached a point where the Virginians were making preliminary preparations for a conflict, the settlers in western Pittsylvania County began to petition for a new county. Those seeking this decried the long distances that people had to travel from their residences to get to the courthouse at Callands. The new Virginia government was sympathetic to these calls and as soon as their position was secured, they acted in accordance with the petitions of the western area. The new Virginia General Assembly decreed �that the County of Pittsylvania be divided into two counties by a line beginning at the mouth of Blackwater River and running parallel with the Halifax County line to the North Carolina state line.� And the area west of this line to be a distinct county known by the name of Henry in honor of Patrick Henry who had recently been elected the first governor of the new state. The new Henry County included all of present day Henry County along with what would become Patrick County, Franklin County north to the Blackwater River and portion of Carroll County south of the mountain. The General Assembly�s actions took place in 1776 and on November 6, 1776, Governor Patrick Henry forwarded his commission to the new county appointing certain individuals to start the process of organizing the new county. The first Henry County Court convened on January 20, 1777, at John Rowland�s home on the Smith River near where Martinsville would later be established. The new state of Virginia did away with English titles, but otherwise retained the old ways of the county court being not only a judicial body but also the governing power in the county. Many names had previously been submitted to the Governor for certain posts and based on his appointments, the court officials were sworn into office. In a short time the Henry County Court informed the governor that four of the appointed men were not eligible to serve as justices of the Henry County court because they did not live in the county. This problem arose when the actual county line was surveyed, and the men in question were found to be still living in Pittyslvania County. Therefore, the county court recommended that Archelaus Hughes be added to the court as a justice, and he was so appointed and sworn in to the Henry County Court.
The local unit of the county militia also had to be reorganized and formed on a county basis. In so doing they found that some of the previous officers lived just outside of Henry County and had to be replaced. Peter Perkins had been appointed a justice in the court plus he had been assigned as a colonel in the militia, but after the official survey line was drawn, he did not live in Henry County. So on January 21, 1777, �Archelaus Hughes appointed Colonel in place of Peter Perkins,� and �Hamon Critz, Jr. appointed captain of the upper part of Capt. Hughes� Company; John France, Lieutenant; William Webb, Ensign and James Shelton, captain of the lower part.� Captain Archelaus Hughes was officially a captain until he received a commission on March 17, 1777, from the governor appointing him colonel of the militia. This was the highest rank in the county militia. Apparently the organization and training of the Henry County militia unit was a priority item, stressed with frequent calls for the men to assemble and practice their military maneuvers.
In 1779 shortly after Governor Patrick Henry had served his first gubernatorial term and had relocated to Leatherwood Creek in Henry County, the new county selected a Committee of Safety along the same lines as Pittsylvania County and other counties. Those selected to serve on this committee were Patrick Henry, John Dillard, William Letcher, Abraham Penn and Archelaus Hughes. Apparently the �State Committee of Safety� was involved in recommending the five men to serve in this capacity, and reflects Archelaus� reputation was noted beyond his immediate area. The county committee�s primary functions were to provide officers and men for the Continental Army and ensure that the local milita or �minute men� were organized and trained for any eventuality. A secondary duty was to see that any individual ordered (1777 to 1779) to leave Virginia either left or went before the county court. The Henry County militia had earlier been reorganized to the point that the Committee of Safety was not involved in this aspect. They were heavily immersed in ensuring that each militiaman furnished himself with adequate arms, equipment, powder and balls, and received drill on a regular basis on a company level with general countywide musters in April and October.
Archelaus, along with his other gentlemen justices of the county court, had a wide variety of duties and powers. They tried the criminal and civil cases and chose the grand and petit jury members. They appointed the clerk of court and ensured orders and judgments were recorded along with deeds and settlements of estates. The court levied the taxes and set the prices of drinks and meals in the inns. They registered �ear marks� for the owners of animals and granted permits for building gristmills, inns, taverns, etc., and even granted permission for lawyers to practice in the county and licensed ministers. They determined when and where the roads should go and were responsible for maintaining them, including appointing people to work on the roads with power to punish those who failed to show up. There were some new matters that came before the county courts. The General Assembly of Virginia enacted a law that required all natives of Great Britain living in the state to either take the oath of allegiance to the Commonwealth of Virginia or leave the state. On the second day of the Henry County Court, four men were ordered to appear in person before the court on January 29, 1777, to show cause why they had not complied with the law in this regard. Apparently the four men, while still remaining in Henry County, had failed to renounce their British citizenship and had not taken the oath of allegiance. One day later three of the men came before the court. The court was informed that the man missing did not come under the act of the General Assembly, and another man convinced the court that he was a loyal citizen of Virginia. The court determined that the remaining two men were in violation of the law and reported them to the governor. The county court in July of 1777 held a second examination of Walter Lamb, a native of Great Britain, suspected of being �an enemy of the Common Cause.� Lamb appeared before Archelaus Hughes and three other justices. Earlier the court had referred his name to the governor as one of two men in Henry County who had refused to take the oath of allegiance to the Virginia Commonwealth. Each of the justices who reviewed the case had taken this oath in accordance with a recent law passed by the Virginia General Assembly. Now Lamb had the occasion to explain his actions and another person testified that Lamb had always shown a friendly disposition to the �Common Cause.� It is unclear from the court records if Lamb agreed to take the oath of allegiance, but the court did drop the accusation against him. The handling of this delicate issue in Henry County was quite humane compared with some adjacent areas where harsh punishment was meted out, including lashings on bare backs in Pittsylvania County.
Easier tasks for the county court came when on February 17, 1777, the court met with Archelaus Hughes and seven other gentlemen justices. They established the salaries for the clerk of court and the sheriff at 1,248 pounds of tobacco each for one year. At the time nearly all payments from wages to taxes were in tobacco. The court allowed bounties paid for predators and for a portion of 1777 they made several payments for predators at the rate of one hundred pounds of tobacco for the head of an old wolf and half that for the head of young one. Jonathan Hanby was granted permission to build a water gristmill on Peter�s Creek. On February 17th John Salmon was appointed the first sheriff of Henry County, and he immediately complained that there was no place to hold prisoners. While plans for a jail and courthouse were on the agenda, they would not be available for some time so the sheriff was authorized to procure handcuffs. A short time later the sheriff was paid 240 pound of tobacco for the �iron and hand cuffs� he procured for the county. During the war with England there were serious questions concerning the availability of essential items such as salt. The court directed that Major Abraham Penn take charge of proportioning the county�s supply of salt, and ordered that he do so by having one quart of salt issued per head to those who had salted their pork and two quarts to those who have not salted their pork. To do this Major Penn ordered George Hairston to store all the salt that came by his wagon for the county at Thomas Jones� place. Then Archelaus Hughes and Peter Saunders were appointed to let out the salt agreeable to the former mandate.
The county court handled a wide variety of cases and some of those in which Archelaus was on the bench will be cited. In February of 1778 the court with Archelaus Hughes and ten other justices on the bench heard the case of a man accused of stealing hogs from several persons. After examining the witnesses, the court decided that the man was guilty and ordered him to pay a fine of ten pounds current money and make restitution to the parties involved. He was to pay one man 2,000 pounds of tobacco for five hogs and to a second man he was ordered to pay 4,400 pounds of tobacco for 11 hogs. The court further directed the sheriff that if the guilty man did not pay the cash fine, he was to receive 25 lashes on his bare back at the �Public Whipping Post.� In May of the same year the court with Archelaus Hughes had two men held in contempt of court because of their behavior in court. The matter was serious enough that tobacco payment was not considered and the fines had to be paid in current money. The first man was fined 70 shillings for his contempt of court, and the second man fined 5 pounds and 50 shillings. In the latter case there were four contempt charges. Besides the current money aspect, the court impressed the seriousness of the offense by ordering the sheriff to keep both men in custody until they paid their fines.
The need for a place to hold people before trial and after sentencing soon manifested itself to the county court that functioned as both a judicial branch and governing agency of the county. Two men (Benjamin Wrenn and George Mayby [Mabry]) were arrested and charged with stealing a horse and a mare from two citizens of the county. But the sheriff had no way of restraining them except his single pair of handcuffs, and so he had to hire guards. The two men were brought before the court with justices Archelaus Hughes and five of his companions. The two men pleaded not guilty but witnesses convinced the court that there was enough evidence to have the two accused men held for trial before the General Court, so the county court remanded the men to prison. With no holding facility in Henry County, the court found they had an expensive problem. A review of the 1777 Henry County expenditures related to the cases of the two men tried individually reveal that the expenses were all paid in pounds of tobacco. The Sheriff received at extra pay 600 lbs. for two examinations of Wrenn and one of Mabry, while the county clerk received an additional 400 lbs. Then came the cost of guarding the prisoners, which was at the rate of 32 lbs. per day. The first man listed received 864 lbs. for 27 days for guarding the prisoners; the next man listed 608 lbs. for 19 days; then 544 lbs. for 17 days; two men received 32 lbs. for one day each; a guard got 383 lbs. for 12 days. Another man was paid five pounds of tobacco per mile to convey the two prisoners to the �Public Jail� and he received 2,500 lbs. as his pay. Three more men were paid for guard duty, one for a single day at 32 lbs., another 64 lbs. for two days, and the last 128 lbs. for four days. In addition the county court had to pay a claim for 160 lbs. by a man for damage to his horse in conveying the two prisoners to jail. The expenses continued to roll in as 100 lbs. was paid to a man guarding the two men in the jail, and two other men 100 lbs. each for guarding the prisoners. There were still more expenses in store for the county as the second hearing before the Henry County Court took place in September. Before it was over, Henry County realized it could function without an actual courthouse, but it could not afford to be without a jailhouse.
On March 16, 1778, the court, including Archelaus Hughes, ordered the county surveyor to determine by survey the center of Henry County. A little over a month later on April 20th the court directed five of its members to view the center of the county or the most convenient place nearby for the new courthouse and then report back to the court. Archelaus Hughes along with Abraham Penn, William Tunstall, Frederick Reeves and William Cook went to the designated center of the county and found it to be a rough, unsettled area inaccessible to roads and therefore not a good location to establish the county seat. The center was about where the Philpott Dam was much later constructed. The appointed men decided the most convenient place was down the Smith River near Barksdale Ford and near where the Great Wagon Road crossed Hickey�s Road. The location they selected was just east of present day Stanleytown on modern Highway 57. On May 19, 1778, the gentlemen justices recommended that here on Henry Barksdale�s land should be the location of the courthouse, and the court agreed with their report. At the same time the court directed four men to oversee the construction at this chosen site a �Courthouse, Prison, Stocks and Pillary� to the lowest bidder. Included were specifications of the size and materials of construction for the courthouse and jail facilities, the later always called a �prison.� Also at the same time the court directed another group of four men to view (find or survey) a road from Henry Barksdale�s place to the �County line between Archelaus Hughes� and John Childress.� The mentioned �county line� was the southern border of Henry County along the North Carolina line (near where the present Henry and Patrick county line is today).
2004 Henry H. George
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