Colonial Sheriffs - CHSV

Chesterfield Historical Society of Virginia
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Colonial Sheriffs

Revolutionary War in Chesterfield County, Virginia
The Revolutionary War in Chesterfield County, VA - Revolutionary War Veterans and Sheriffs of Chesterfield County

Fourteen prominent Chesterfield County Revolutionary soldiers were appointed sheriffs.
  • Captain Robert Kennon; Sheriff from 1760 to 1761            
  • Ensign John Hylton; Sheriff from 1767 to 1768
  • Lieutenant John Archer, Jr; Sheriff from 1769 to 1771
  • Major Thomas Bolling; Sheriff 1775
  • Lieutenant John Botte; Sheriff from 1776 to 1777
  • Colonel Robert Goode; Sheriff from 1778 to 1779
  • Captain George Robertson; Sheriff from 1780 to 1782
  • Captain Benjamin Branch; Sheriff from 1784 to 1786 (pictured below  Top right)
  • Colonel Bernard Markham; Sheriff from 1787 to 1788
  • Captain Francis Goode; Sheriff 1789 and from 1790 to 1791
  • Sergeant George Woodson; Sheriff from 1793 to 1794
  • Captain George Markham; Sheriff from 1797 to 1799
  • Lieutenant Thomas Burfoot; Sheriff from 1790 & 1801 to 1803
  • Captain Archibald Walthall; Sheriff from 1807 to 1808

March of 1775 saw Patrick Henry recite his famous speech from St. John’s Church in Richmond, VA. "Give me liberty or give me death" were the words heard around the world. The Chesterfield Courthouse and the outlying areas were very strategic locations during the Revolutionary War. Revolutionary Colonial leaders visited the Courthouse area. The Revolutionary War witnessed many Chesterfield residents taking up arms for the cause. The courthouse area became a training camp for the war. In 1781, British General Phillips led a group of British soldiers into the camp and set numerous fires forcing the camp  to close. Later that year, Sheriff George Robertson was in office when the British surrendered at Yorktown.

See the Chesterfield County Sheriff's Exhibit at the new County Courthouse (Researched by Captain Russell Lescault, Chesterfield Police Captain (Retired))
Revolutionary War in Chesterfield County, Virginia
  The Revolutionary War in Chesterfield County, VA

Revolutionary War - Sudbury's Farm Skirmish

For Chesterfield County, the skirmish at Sudbury’s Farm is an intriguing story in itself. Skirmish details are difficult to locate and many Revolutionary War pensioners related very much the same story and some were not positive on the  prisoner and casualty numbers. However, the skirmish did occur.  This was Chesterfield County’s “Lexington”.  It was a little-known fight on May 23, 1781 with British Dragoons and the Chesterfield Militia at Sudbury’s Farm in Chesterfield County, VA.  The farm was located on a road now known as Hopkins Road which is now 3 mi NW of Chesterfield, VA. In speculation, captured  prisoners probably had given intelligence to the British General Lord Cornwallis that ultimately led him to Yorktown, VA.  Other factors were in play and Cornwallis knew that Lafayette and his army were in Richmond. He knew that his forces were too small to deal with him, thereby sparing another battle for Richmond and the eventual defeat of his army by General George Washington, many militiamen and assisted by the French army and navy.

After Sudbury's Skirmish, the traitor Benedict Arnold led  his British forces into Chesterfield County and Richmond burning stores and warehouses.  General  William Phillips burned the 1749 courthouse, the jail and the training center at Chesterfield. The Minutemen from Chesterfield lived to fight another day. Cornwallis' surrender ended the war in Virginia. Chesterfield  County, Virginia was a prominent place in the last years of the war.
Revolutionary War Continued
The militia regiments were organized by county officials and there were regular training sessions at the county courthouse. This system relied on a draft or lottery to man their companies. Fortunately, from the pensioners applications, the men of Chesterfield responded when their number came up. And they marched to various locations. In times of peace, these training events became largely social events.

The Year 1781 brought the British to Chesterfield County.  The fighting in the Revolutionary War soon centered in Virginia in 1781 starting with the Battle for Blandford Hill which led to the little-known battle or skirmish at "Sudbury’s Farm".The Revolutionary war was more intense in Chesterfield County and the reader would do well to explore the events in the resources of the Chesterfield Historical Society of Virginia's Research Library.Skirmish at Sudbury's Farm

For another view on these Revolutionary War prisoners and Chesterfield's Militiamen, refer to the resources at the Chesterfield Historical Society of Virginia Research Library. Many of the Chesterfield County Revolutionary War pensioners were researched and documented in our research library.
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