time each was given an otlicial iiainc, tlu- liiilicito 

 anonymous town for StafToid Ijciiii; callrd Mail- 

 IxDrough in honor of tlic hero of thr rccrnt vitiui\ 

 at Blenheim.'" 



The elaljoiatc vision ol ilie Act's sponsors never 

 was realized in liie newly christened town, but there 

 was in due course a slight resumption of actisity in 

 it. George Mason and William Fitzhugh, Jr. (the 

 son of William Fitzhugh of .Stafford County) were 

 appointed feofTees in 1707, and a new survey was 

 made l)\ Thomas Gregg. The following year seven 

 more lots were granted, and for an interval of two 

 years Marlborough functioned technically as an 

 otlicial port.'" 



Inevitably, perhaps, histoiy repeated itself. In 1710 

 the Act for Ports, like its predecessors, was rescinded. 

 The reasons given in London were brief and straight- 

 forward; the Act, it was explained, was "designed to 

 Encourage by great Priviledges the settling in Town- 

 ships." These settlements would encourage manu- 

 factures, which, in turn, would promote "further 

 Improvement of the said manufactures. And take 

 them olT from the Planting of Tobacco, which would 

 be of \'ery 111 consequence," thus lessening the 

 colony's dependence on the Kingdom, affecting the 

 import of tobacco, and prejudicing shipping.'" 

 Clearly, the Crown did not want the towns to succeed, 

 nor would it tolerate anything which might stimulate 

 colonial self-dependence. The X'irginia colonists' 

 dream of corporate communities was not to be 

 realized. 



Most of the towns either died entirely or struggled 

 on as crossroads villages. A meager few have sur- 

 vived to the present, notably Norfolk, Hampton. 

 Yorktown, and Tappahannock. Marlborough lasted 

 as a town until about 1720, but in about 1718 the 

 courthouse and several dwellings were destroyed by 

 fire and "A new Coui t House being built at anothei 

 Place, all or most of the Houses that had been built 

 in the said Town, were either burnt or suffered to go 

 to ruin." " 



The towns were artificial entities, created by acts 



'• Ibid., pp. 40-t tl'i. 



""Petition of John Mercer" (I7'J8). (Ludwrll p.iprrs, \'ir- 

 Rini.i llistoric.il Society), I7/.W ( Kiclunond, I8'J8), x-ol. 5, 

 pp. l:»7-l:JH. 



" CaUndar of Vii/^mia Slalf Poprri ami i^lhrt Manuuripts, 165^- 

 1781. edit. \Villi.ini P. Palmer. .M.U. (Richmond, 1875), vol. I, 

 pp. l:J7-l;18. 



^*JHIi. nn 1747: 1748-1749 (Richmond, l-KHt). pp. 28^- 

 286. 



of assembly, not by economic or social necevsity. 

 In the few places where they filled a need, notably 

 in the populous areas of the lower James and York 

 Rivers, they flouiished without regard to ofiicial 

 status. In other places, by contrast, no law or edict 

 sufliced to make them live when conditions did not 

 warrant them. In sparsely s<-ttled .StafTi. illy 



there was little to nurture a town. It w.i ... .ind 



perhaps more exciting, to grow tobacco and gamble 

 on a successful crop, to go in debt when tliinys wrrr 

 bad oi' lend to the less fortunate when things were 

 better. In the latter case land became an acceptable 

 medium for the payment of debts. Land was wealth 

 and power, its enlargement the means of greater 

 pioduction of tobacco -tobacco again the great 

 gamble by which one would always hope to ri.se and 

 not to fall. When one could own an empire. \nIi\ 

 should one worry about a town? 



ESTABLISHING COURTHOUSES 



The administrati\e problems that contributed to 

 the establishment of the port towns also called for the 

 erection of courthouses. .Xs early as 11)24 lower courts 

 had been authorized for Charles C'ity and Elizal)eth 

 City in recognition of the colony's expansion, and ten 

 years later the colony had been divided into eight 

 coimties, with a monthly court established in each. 

 By the Restoration the county courts [losscssed broadly 

 expanded powers and were the administrative as well 

 as the judicial sources of local government. In prac- 

 tice they were largely self-appointive and were respon- 

 sible for filling most local oflices. Sim ■ 

 were the \ehicles of royal authority, it U 

 the physical symbols of this authority should be 

 emphasized by building proper housi r-m. 



.■\t Jamestown oixlei-s were gi\en in .il a 



statehouse in lieu of the alehouses and ordinaries 

 where laws had been made prrviouslv.^ 



In the s;nne year, four conrthou.ses annually were 

 ordered for the counties, the burgesses having been 

 empowered to "make and Sign' w" any 



that will undrrt.ike them to l>< to gi\e 



good C'-aution for the efTecting thereof with good 

 suflicient bricks. Lime, and Timber, .i: ' ' the 

 same l)c well wrought and after they ai. ; to 



bee approved by an able surveyor, before order be 

 given them for their pay." •' Such buildings were to 



- 1 li sisii. ii^> , i[ I footnote I 

 " J/m. Ifi.n til) IH'tl'. »p ir 



