1st Virginia General Assembly

1st Virginia General Assembly
1st Virginia General Assembly
2nd	→
	1845 engraving based on drawings of the second capitol at Williamsburg
Overview
Legislative body	Virginia General Assembly
Meeting place	Virginia Capitol, Williamsburg, Virginia
Term	October 7, 1776 – December 21, 1776
Senate
Members	24
Speaker	Archibald Cary
House of Delegates
Members	128
Speaker	Edmund Pendleton
Sessions
1st
1st	October 7, 1776 – December 21, 1776

The First Virginia General Assembly convened from October 7, 1776, to December 21, 1776, in regular session.^[1] This session took place while the Second Continental Congress was still in session.

Major events

December 25, 1776: George Washington lead about 2,400 soldiers across the Delaware River to launch a surprise attack on the British Army at Trenton, New Jersey.
December 26, 1776: George Washington and his army surprised about 1,500 Hessian auxiliaries at the Battle of Trenton and took over 900 prisoners.

Sessions

1st Regular session: October 7, 1776 – December 21, 1776

Leaders

Senate leadership

Speaker of the Senate: Archibald Cary

Assembly leadership

Speaker of the Assembly: Edmund Pendleton

Members

Members of the Senate

Members of the Senate of Virginia for the First Virginia General Assembly:^[1]

Class	Counties	Senator	Notes
1	Amelia, Chesterfield, & Cumberland	Archibald Cary
	Brunswick, Lunenburg, & Mecklenburg	John Jones
	Charles City, James City, & New Kent	John Armistead
	Henrico, Goochland, & Louisa	Thomas Mann
	Augusta & Dunmore	Sampson Mathews
	Lancaster, Richmond, & Northumberland	Richard Mitchell	Election was ruled invalid October 25, 1776.
2	Isle of Wight, Surry, & Prince George	Theodorick Bland
	Charlotte, Halifax, & Prince Edward	Paul Carrington
	Gloucester & Middlesex	Warner Lewis
	Spotsylvania, Orange, & Culpeper	Edward Stevens
	Loudoun & Fauquier	William Ellzey
	Frederick, Berkeley, & Hampshire	Robert Rutherford
3	Dinwiddie, Southampton, & Sussex	David Mason
	Botetourt & Fincastle	William Christian
	Hanover & Caroline	Thomas Lomax
	Essex, King William, & King and Queen	George Brook
	Prince William & Fairfax	Henry Lee
	West Augusta	David Rogers
4	Accomac & Northampton	Isaac Smith
	Princess Anne, Norfolk, & Nansemond	James Holt
	Buckingham, Albemarle, & Amherst	William Cabell
	Bedford & Pittsylvania	Edmund Winston	Election was ruled invalid October 9, 1776.
	Elizabeth City, Warwick, & York	David Jameson	Resigned to join the Governor's privy council December 1776.
	Westmoreland, Stafford, & King George	Thomas Ludwell Lee

Members of the House of Delegates

Members of the Virginia House of Delegates for the First Virginia General Assembly:^[1]

County	Delegate	Notes
Accomac	Southey Simpson
Accomac	James Henry
Albemarle	Charles Lewis
Albemarle	Thomas Jefferson
Amelia	John Tabb
Amelia	John Winn
Amherst	Joseph Cabell
Amherst	Gabriel Penn
Augusta	Thomas Lewis
Augusta	Samuel McDowell
Bedford	John Talbot
Bedford	Charles Lynch
Berkeley	Philip Pendleton
Berkeley	Thomas Hite
Botetourt	John Bowyer
Botetourt	Patrick Lockhart
Brunswick	Frederick Maclin
Brunswick	Henry Tazewell
Buckingham	Charles Patteson
Buckingham	John Cabell
Caroline	Edmund Pendleton
Caroline	James Taylor
Charles City	William Acrill
	Samuel Harwood
	Benjamin Harrison	Departed during October, elected delegate to Congress.
Charlotte	Thomas Read
Chesterfield	John Bolling
Chesterfield	Benjamin Watkins
Culpeper	Birkett Davenport
Culpeper	French Strother
Cumberland	John Mayo
Cumberland	William Fleming
Dinwiddie	John Banister
Dinwiddie	Bolling Starke
Dunmore	Abraham Bird
Dunmore	John Tipton
Elizabeth City	Wilson Miles Cary
Elizabeth City	Henry King
Essex	Meriwether Smith
Essex	James Edmondson
Fairfax	John West Jr.
Fairfax	George Mason
Fauquier	Martin Pickett
Fauquier	James Scott
Fincastle	Arthur Campbell
Fincastle	William Russell
Frederick	James Wood
Frederick	Isaac Zane
Gloucester	Lewis Burwell
Gloucester	Mann Page
Goochland	John Woodson
Goochland	Tarlton Fleming
Halifax	Nathaniel Terry
Halifax	Micajah Watkins
Hampshire	James Mercer
Hampshire	Abraham Hite
Hanover	Garland Anderson
Hanover	John Syme
Henrico	Nathaniel Wilkinson
Henrico	Richard Adams
Isle of Wight	John S. Wills
Isle of Wight	Charles Fulgham
James City	Robert C. Nicholas
James City	William Norvell
King and Queen	Thomas Coleman
King and Queen	William Lyne
King George	Joseph Jones
King George	William Fitzhugh
King William	Carter Braxton
King William	Richard Squire Taylor
Lancaster	Jesse Ball
Lancaster	James Gordon
Loudoun	Francis Peyton
Loudoun	Josiah Clapham
Louisa	George Meriwether
Louisa	Thomas Johnson
Lunenburg	David Garland
Lunenburg	Lodowick Farmer
Mecklenburg	Joseph Speed
Mecklenburg	Bennett Goode
Middlesex	Edmund Berkeley
Middlesex	James Montague
Nansemond	Willis Riddick
Nansemond	William Cowper
New Kent	William Clayton
New Kent	Armistead Russell
Norfolk	Matthew Godfrey
Norfolk	John Wilson
Northampton	Nathaniel L. Savage
Northampton	George Savage
Northumberland	Rodham Kenner
Northumberland	John Cralle
Orange	James Madison
Orange	William Moore
Pittsylvania	Benjamin Lankford
Pittsylvania	Robert Williams
Prince Edward	William Watts
Prince Edward	William Booker
Prince George	Richard Bland	Died October 26, 1776.
	Peter Poythress	Resigned due to illness October 17, 1776.
	Edmund Ruffin
Prince William	Cuthbert Bullitt
Prince William	Jesse Ewell
Princess Anne	William Robinson
Princess Anne	John Thoroughgood
Richmond	Hudson Muse
Richmond	Charles M. Carty
Southampton	Edwin Gray
Southampton	Henry Taylor
Spotsylvania	Mann Page
Spotsylvania	George Thornton
Stafford	Charles Carter
Stafford	William Brent
Surry	Allen Cocke
Surry	Nicholas Faulcon
Sussex	Henry Gee
Sussex	Gray Judkins
Warwick	William Harwood, Jr.
Warwick	Richard Cary
West Augusta	John Harvie
West Augusta	Charles Simms
Westmoreland	Richard Henry Lee
Westmoreland	John A. Washington
York	Corbin Griffin
York	William Digges
Williamsburg	Joseph Prentis
Norfolk Borough	William Roscow
Norfolk Borough	Wilson Curle

Employees

Senate Clerk: John Pendleton Jr.
House Clerk: John Tazewell

References

^ ^a ^b ^c Swem, Earl G.; Williams, John W., eds. (1918). A Register of the General Assembly of Virginia, 1776–1918, and of the Constitutional Conventions. Commonwealth of Virginia. pp. 1–3. Retrieved December 29, 2021.

External links

Virginia General Assembly website

[rep-1] Swem, Earl G.; Williams, John W., eds. (1918). A Register of the General Assembly of Virginia, 1776–1918, and of the Constitutional Conventions. Commonwealth of Virginia. pp. 1–3. Retrieved December 29, 2021.

[1]