![]() ![]() Similar wording in the four acts explained that the older counties were so large as to “render it grievous and Burdensome” as well as “extremely Difficult and expensive” for many inhabitants living great distances from their county seats to “do Public duties,” that is to attend the “Courts, General Musters and other Public Meeting therein.” Joel Lane as Introducer of the Bill The act creating Wake County was to take effect on March 12, 1771, the earliest of the effective dates of the new counties. ![]() The General Assembly therefore created four new counties: Chatham, Guilford and Surry and Wake. A Birth Date Shared with Three Other Counties Many had to travel as often as four times a year the “vast Distance” from their homes to the Orange county seat of “Hillsborough: for these purposes.” Inadequate roads and the difficulty of crossing “many Large Water Courses” not only put them to “very Considerable hardships and Inconvenances (sic)” but also often made them “Subject to have fines and fortitudes” for not attending the required military, voting, and court duties. ![]() One of the Wake petitions argued that a new county seat would be more easily accessible from their scattered homes for attending “General Musters, Election of Burgesses and vestrymen (sic)” and at Court as witnesses and jurymen. Some residents of future Wake as well as citizens further west communicated these reasons to the General Assembly in the form of petitions. Issues like long travel distances and lodging also played a significant roll in the creation of new county seats. The new citizens there wanted greater representation in the General Assembly, and new political units would entitle them to additional members. The population in the Piedmont and west-of-central portions of the colony expanded steadily, particularly from the 1760s and onwards. However, new counties generally came about due simply to increased growth. There was the issue of the Regulators, who were staging uprisings in the back country lawmakers felt that more control could be exercised over these “insurgents” by dividing their large counties up into smaller ones. Formationīoth political and administrative reasons led to the creation of Wake County in the year 1771. This page is under construction - please pardon our mess. ![]()
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