* George Adams

  Noted events in his life were:

• Property, 4 Mar 1803. George and his wife sold to Thomas shelton a tract in Louis on Owen's Creekc containing 41 1/2 acres being part of tract said Adams now lives adjoining Adams, shelton, Jesse Shelton, thomas Shelton.

• will, 14 Feb 1814. Will, Date: Feb 14, 1814
Will George Adams of Louisa, to my wife Agness that part of my land my son Wilson now resides on the line dividing Louisa from Goochland adjoining Three Notched Road, Jesse Shelton, the county line, cattle, bed & furniture, plantation tools, etc, Negro named Moses, £40 of "the redemption money" during her natural life. to son James land whereon I reside, bed and furniture and residue of personal estate. Also land and other properties lent to wife at her death to be equally divided between my children viz. 1/9 to son Wilson, 1/9 to son John, 1/9 to son Jonas, 1/9 to dau. Susannah, 1/9 to dau. Elizabeth; 1/9 to dau Nancy; 1/9 to dau. Mary 1/9 to be equally divided between Robert A. Uclride? and Lewis Uclride the sons of my dau. Mildred; 1/9 equally divided between Nancy Thomas and Fanny Thomas the children of my dau. Sarah now dec'd. My residue [sic] for not making my son William a legatee in my will is I have already provided for him other ways., Appoint my son James and son John to execute my will. 10 Mar 1803. wit. Thomas Shelton, James D. Shelton, Alexander Kersy. Sig. George (x) Addams. Recorded 14 Feb 1814.

• Louisa, Virginia. The ordinary or tavern, located at the site of the courthouse, served as a place of refreshment and lodging for the Justices and visitors to the monthly courts and also to such travelers who might go through the county on the roads from Richmond to Charlottesville. This, however, was not the only function of the establishment. It served as a gathering place for persons on scores of duties or pleasure bent. Legal notices and newspapers were on file, mail was distributed and the tap room was a clearinghouse for news and gossip. The tavern carried a small stock of necessities which could be purchased by the surrounding populace. No record exists as to the growth of this plantation settlement, which, on Court days, became a scene of commercial activity, but it is to be hoped that Mr. Jouett and his successors served their customers with a more substantial and cleanly fare than that which prevailed in 1782, when the Marquis de Chastellux made his pilgrimage through Louisa Courthouse on his way to visit Mr. Jefferson at Monticello. In his account of his trip, he records that on 17 April, 1782, while traveling from Willis' Ordinary, which was located in the vicinity of where Bumpass or Buckner are today, he still had about twenty seven or eight miles to ride to the only tavern where it was possible to stay before reaching Mr. Jefferson's - this being Boswell's Tavern. He had been strongly advised by M. de Rochambeau, who had traveled the same road two months before, not to sleep at the tavern at Louisa Courthouse, it being the worst lodging he had found in America. However, in his curiosity to see the place and using the pretense of inquiring for the road, Chastellux went in and saw that there was no other lodging for travelers than the landlord's own room. The landlord, Major Thomas Johnson, was a man of enormous girth - to the extent that he was confined to an armchair in which he lived, slept, and ate, unable to arise. Rochambeau described the place as the dirtiest, most shocking, most stinking barracks he had ever seen and that the Major lived with a wretched woman who wasted his property and left him to die of uncleanness and misery. This was the same Major Johnson who opposed the removal of the courthouse to another site in 1787, no doubt due to the fact that he, as a Justice would be unable to attend court on account of his highly inflated condition.

An Act of Congress, approved 23 April 1800, established a "postroad from Fredericksburg, by Spotsylvania Courthouse and Louisa Courthouse to Columbia." This road was to connect the Rappahannock River and the James River and is roughly Route 208 of today, which reaches from Interstate 95 to Interstate 64 at Ferncliff. A postoffice was established at Louisa Courthouse on 19 September, 1800, and the first postmaster was Ludlow Branham. The mail, at this time was carried by postriders and stage coaches and apparently assumed some degree of regularity which had not before prevailed. No actual records of the village exists as to its content in the manner of occupants or business until the publication of a "Gazeteer of Virginia" by John Martin in 1835. In this work, Louisa Court House is described as a Post Village, located 110 miles southwest of Washington; 54 miles northeast of Richmond and 30 miles from Charlottesville. It contained, besides the Courthouse, jail, and a large house of worship, the following: Four stores (possible general merchandise stores); a silversmith; blacksmith; 2 carriage makers; a shoe maker; cabinet maker; saddler; 2 taverns; a milliner; 2 lawyer's offices and a physician's. A total of nineteen places of business but no mention of the population of the Village as there were, at that time, no boundary lines. THE POST ROAD

LOUISA RAILROADOn 1 December, 1838, the Louisa Railroad, which had been started in 1836, reached Louisa Courthouse and thus began a contact with the outside world for what had been a landlocked settlement, served only by post roads and wagon trails and which had grown to the status of a village, with streets, stores, and professional men. The coming of the railroad proved to be a boon to the village in later years and was a contributing factor to its growth.

Louisa played a part in the Civil War, not only furnishing a Company of men, the Louisa Blues, as a part of the 23rd Virginia Infantry of the Confederate forces, but also as a result of the Battle of Trevilians, which occurred on the 11th and 12th of June, 1864. This battle occurred when Sheridan attempted a raid on the Virginia Central Railroad in an attempt to break General Lee's vital supply line from the Valley. Some 13,000 cavalrymen were involved in the battle, of whom 1,619 from both sides were either killed or injured. Field hospitals were set up at the Trevilians Depot and at the Tavern, together with additional ones at Louisa in the Methodist Church, the Courthouse and many private homes. "Oakland Cemetery" on West Street in Louisa provided the last resting place for 94 marked but unknown victims, of this fierce battle.

by Porter Wright

The county was created when the population became large enough to support a courthouse. The county separated from Hanover County and was named after Princess Louisa, the youngest daughter of King George II of England, in 1742.



The local government slowly advanced as it was needed by the people. The Anglican Church, Virginia's established religion, created a new parish to accommodate Louisa. It was named Fredericksville Parish and had lines similar to the county. The new parish was taken from St. Martin's Parish of Hanover and Goochland. The people were governed by twelve vestrymen of the parish and 14 men selected as Justices of the Peace. These two groups ran the county at the behest of the King of England.


Because of its insularity Louisa was made up of small wooden homes due to the difficulty of getting materials to the interior. Mills and merchants took care of the peoples' needs so that they would not have to travel far for goods.


The Revolution was fully supported in Louisa by local heroes. Patrick Henry represented Louisa in the House from 1765 to 1768. Dabney Carr represented Louisa County in the House of Burgesses from 1772-73. Mr. Carr presented a resolution for the creation of a Committee of Correspondence which was a first step in

uniting the Colonies before the Revolution.

During the war, Jack Jouett, Jr. rode a distance of 38 miles from Louisa to Charlottesville to warn Thomas Jefferson and members of the Virginia General Assembly that the British were coming after Richmond had fallen.

After the Revolution Louisa settled down to the business of creating a new government free from British influence. By 1818 a new courthouse and jail had been built. Because of the condition of roads, travel was difficult. Citizens had difficulties getting to their own courthouse. The greatest change for the county was the coming of the railroad.

George married Unknown George Adams? about 1749. (Unknown George Adams? was born about 1735 in Ulster County, Co.Caven, Ireland.)

George next married Lydia Beck Ralls about 1764. (Lydia Beck Ralls was born about 1735 in Culpepper County, Virginia and died about 1791.)

George next married Agnes Harris on 17 Oct 1792 in Goochland County, Virginia. (Agnes Harris was born about 1729 in Virginia.)