Jordan and Figgat (Rockbridge County, Va.)

Jordan and Figgat was a partnership formed in 1850 by Samuel F. Jordan and William L. Figgat. The partnership was contracted by Junction Valley Turnpike Company to build sections of the Junction Valley Road between Buchanan, Virginia, and Staunton, Virginia.

Samuel Francis Jordan was born on 9 January 1805. He was the son of Col. John Jordan and Lucy Winn of Rockbridge County, Virginia. He married 1) Hannah Weaver Davis and 2) Elizabeth Leibert Keen. Samuel F. Jordan was engaged in the production of iron, and owned furnaces in Allegany, Amherst, Bath, Botetourt, Louisa, and Rockbridge Counties. He died on 8 June 1872.

An act of the General Assembly passed March 17, 1849, incorporated the Junction Valley Turnpike Company, to make a macadamized road from the town of Buchanan in Botetourt County to Staunton in Augusta County, passing through Lexington in Rockbridge County. Capital stock was set at $60,000, with the Board of Public Works subscribing to $27,000. The Board of Public Works was to appoint an engineer to locate and superintend construction. The company was to be allowed to increase capital up to $40,000 additional. The charter was amended January 19, 1850, to limit the width of the road to 20 ft., and to allow the construction of a plank road rather than macadam. March 20, 1851, an increase was authorized by private subscription for a branch from Lexington to Alum Springs in Rockbridge County, and a branch to the Natural Bridge, and also to allow the town of Staunton to subscribe to stock up to $3,000. March 31, 1853, an increase of $25,000 was approved to complete work to the northern terminus at Staunton. February 25, 1856, an amendment provided that the company was not required to renew plank or macadam which had deteriorated, and that tolls could be collected. December 22, 1857, the Board of Public Works was authorized to buy the turnpike under a decree of the circuit court of Rockbridge County to settle a suit brought by William L. Figgat and others, vs. the Turnpike Company. On March 6, 1873, the Board of Public Works transferred its interest to the counties through which it passed.

The volumes were used as exhibits in a chancery suit, William L. Figgat versus Samuel F. Jordan, heard in the Circuit Court of Rockbridge County during the 1850's and 1860's.

Rockbridge County was named for Natural Bridge, an exceptional rock formation located in the county. The county was formed from Augusta and Botetourt counties in 1778, and another part of Botetourt was added later.

From the guide to the Jordan and Figgat Partnership Books, 1850-1852, (The Library of Virginia)