Linn Banks (1784–1842), attorney and public official, was born in a part of Culpeper County that became Madison County in 1792. He studied at the College of William and Mary through 1806, then read law, and was admitted to the bar in Madison County two years later. Banks served as a captain in the Virginia militia during the War of 1812 and subsequently attained the rank of colonel. He was elected as a Republican to the House of Delegates in 1812 and represented Madison County in that body for the next twenty-six years, presiding as Speaker, 1817–38. In the latter year Banks won a seat in the United States House of Representatives by special election and served until his defeat in a reelection bid in 1841. Throughout his career he continued to practice law. In 1840 Banks owned forty-seven slaves. He died in Madison County (DVB; E. Griffith Dodson, Speakers and Clerks of the Virginia House of Delegates, 1776–1955 [1956], 7, 56–7, 141; William and Mary Provisional List description begins A Provisional List of Alumni, Grammar School Students, Members of the Faculty, and Members of the Board of Visitors of the College of William and Mary in Virginia. From 1693 to 1888, 1941 description ends , 6; Leonard, General Assembly description begins Cynthia Miller Leonard, comp., The General Assembly of Virginia, July 30, 1619–January 11, 1978: A Bicentennial Register of Members, 1978 description ends ; DNA: RG 29, CS, Madison Co., 1840; Richmond Whig and Public Advertiser, 18 Jan. 1842; Madison Co. Will Book, 7:162–3, 485).

Edward Watts (1779–1859), attorney and public official, was born in Prince Edward County, graduated from the College of New Jersey (later Princeton University) in 1801, and then read law in Campbell County with Christopher Clark. He took up the practice of law in Campbell County, which he represented in the Virginia House of Delegates, 1808–09. Watts sat in the Senate of Virginia, 1809–21, acting as Speaker from late in 1816 until he left that body. He moved to Botetourt County by 1820, and when the portion in which he resided split off to become Roanoke County in 1838, he served as the commonwealth’s attorney for the new county’s circuit court. From 1830 to 1835 Watts was a trustee of Washington College (later Washington and Lee University). In 1834 the House of Delegates elected him brigadier general of the 13th brigade of the Virginia militia in place of his recently deceased father-in-law, James Breckinridge. That same year Watts ran unsuccessfully for governor of Virginia. He retired from public life about 1840 and devoted himself to agriculture. Watts owned 74 slaves in 1820 and 134 two decades later. He died at his home in Roanoke County (S. Bassett French Biographical Sketches [Vi: Personal Papers Collection]; John Frederick Dorman, The Prestons of Smithfield and Greenfield in Virginia: Descendants of John and Elizabeth (Patton) Preston Through Five Generations [1982], 123–4; Princeton Catalogue description begins General Catalogue of Princeton University 1746–1906, 1908 description ends , 113; Leonard, General Assembly description begins Cynthia Miller Leonard, comp., The General Assembly of Virginia, July 30, 1619–January 11, 1978: A Bicentennial Register of Members, 1978 description ends ; JSV description begins Journal of the Senate of Virginia description ends [1816–17 sess.], 12–3 [5 Dec. 1816]; DNA: RG 29, CS, Botetourt Co., 1820, 1830, Roanoke Co., 1840, 1850; George S. Jack and Edward B. Jacobs, History of Roanoke County; History of Roanoke City … [1912], 8; Catalogue of the Officers and Alumni of Washington and Lee University, Lexington, Virginia, 1749–1888 [1888], 38; JHD description begins Journal of the House of Delegates of the Commonwealth of Virginia description ends [1833–34 sess.], 160 [8 Feb. 1834]; Richmond Whig and Public Advertiser, 12 Aug. 1859; gravestone inscription in Fair View Cemetery, Roanoke; Roanoke Co. Will Book, 1:135–9).

For the additional purchase of 48¾ acres of land for Central College, see Agreement by John M. Perry to Sell Lands to Central College, 7 Nov. 1818.