EARLY AMERICA LIVED BY LAW. At Jamestown in 1607, Captain John Smith opened the Bible and dispensed justice.
On the frontier, from the foothills of the Blue Ridge, down into Tennessee, over into Kentucky, and up into the Ohio, Virginians lived by the Law. There were few courts and almost no jails. People studied the Law. The Law was judge. The obedient enforced the law. Justice reigned.
Where outlaws appeared the “+” superimposed on “P” carved into a tree or chalked on a wall, reminded the outlaw that the “Law” was not done away with and that violations would be punished. Every man was expected to be a Christian and every Christian man was expected to be a Phinehas
Priest[1]. Law violators paid the penalty laid down by the Bible in the “judgments”.
Criminals were rare. So rare that their existence was carefully noted.
The Revolution
When the Revolution broke out ministers of The Church of England as well as the royal judges scampered back to England.
Land disputes in Piedmont Virginia were settled by a judge who was selected by his neighbours – Charles Lynch.