I went to college in Virginia and could never really make sense out of their whole "independent city" thing. Especially considering the counties usually have one of these cities as their seat. The seat of Augusta County is Staunton, which isn't technically in Augusta County - and the seat of Rockbridge County (where I was at) is Lexington, which likewise isn't "in" Rockbridge County. Always seemed a bit contradictory to me...Jeremy Kudlick wrote:Within the Commonwealth of Virginia, any city, e.g. Staunton or Virginia Beach, is completely fiscally and politically independent of any county, while towns and villages, e.g. Bowling Green or Herndon, rely in part on county services, such as law enforcement or public education, while maintaining their own fiscal and political independence in other matters.
That is because the county seat was already established before the city became independant. For example, the City of Fairfax was granted independent status in 1961, long after the courthouse and other county buildings had been established. The Fairfax County Courthouse continues to be located in the City proper, but the actual seat was eventually relocated to its current location in the surrounding unincorporated area also known as Fairfax. Likewise, the Prince William County Courthouse is located in the City of Manassas which was granted independant status in 1975, but the actual county seat was relocated to a larger building in an unincorporated area of the county at a later date.Steven Harris wrote:I went to college in Virginia and could never really make sense out of their whole "independent city" thing. Especially considering the counties usually have one of these cities as their seat. The seat of Augusta County is Staunton, which isn't technically in Augusta County - and the seat of Rockbridge County (where I was at) is Lexington, which likewise isn't "in" Rockbridge County. Always seemed a bit contradictory to me...
Yes - definitely!J Duncan of Sketraw wrote:I didn't realise Jeremy that their would be so much heraldry around the early colonies at that time. Thanks for sharing this.
I've since learned that the city was mistaken in attributing these arms to Rebecca Staunton (Lady Gooch, wife of Sir William Gooch, Bt, who was lieutenant governor of Virginia 1727-49). They actually belonged to a different Sta(u)nton family. Her arms were Vairy Argent and Ermines a canton Gules, as engraved on a paten and caudle cup she left in her will to the chapel at the College of William and Mary.Jeremy Kudlick wrote:Joe McMillan provided the following information to CRW Flags regarding the flag of Staunton: The arms on the center of the flag are those of Lady Rebecca Staunton, for whom the city was named: Argent two chevrons within a bordure engrailed Sable; for crest, a fox statant proper; the mottoes (above the shield) Moderata durant and (below the shield) En dieu ma foy. The arms were adopted by the city on 22 January 1926. (Source: Staunton City Code 1985, §1.05.160).
The arms are derived by reversal of tinctures from those of Lt. Col. Alexander Spotswood, Lieutenant Governor and Commander in Chief of the Colony and Dominion of Virginia, 1714-22, for whom the county is named (-sylvania = "wood, forest"). His arms were Argent on a chevron Gules between three oak trees eradicated Vert a boar’s head couped Or. They are engraved on a silver tea caddy that belonged to him and are included in both Fox-Davies's Armorial Families and the NEHGS Roll of Arms (entry #31). Too bad the county didn't change the boar's head to a color while they were reversing the colors of the field and chevron.Jeremy Kudlick wrote:The seal of Spotsylvania County:
I have no blazon, but does it really matter? Color on color, and not only metal on metal but argent on argent.
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