by Ted Gose, December '99

In order to make sense of the birth, land acquisition, and death locations for our ancestors, it is necessary to understand how the various state counties were formed and when. For southwestern Virginia where most of our Gose ancestors settled beginning in the late 1700s, we at first find a few very large counties being further subdivided into smaller counties as the years pass and settlement populations increased.

For example, Russell County was formed from parts of Washington County, Botetourt, and Fincastle Counties in 1786. Russell County was initially a very large county extending north from Clinch Mountain to the Cumberland Gap on the present day Kentucky border and east to near the present day town of Bluefield, Virginia.

In 1793, Lee County was formed from a part of Russell County and in 1799, Tazewell County was formed from yet another part of Russell County. In 1815, Scott County was formed from a part of Russell County and Lee County. In 1855 Wise County was formed from part of Russell County and in 1858 Buchanan County was formed from still another part of Russell County. In 1860, Dickenson County was formed from part of Wise and Buchanan Counties.

In 1789, Wythe County was formed from the western half of Montgomery County and extended from the southern border of Virginia all the way to what was to become the Kentucky border. In 1792, Grayson County was formed from a southern section of Wythe County.

So from the above, you can see that a person could have been born in Russell or Wythe County and died in Tazewell or Grayson County without having ever moved. This, in fact, was the case with many of our Gose ancestors.