Samuel L. Cootes (1792–1882) was a merchant,

magistrate The term magistrate is used in a variety of systems of governments and laws to refer to a civilian officer who administers the law. In ancient Rome, a '' magistratus'' was one of the highest ranking government officers, and possessed both judi ...

, and lawyer in Rockingham County,

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

. The town of Cootes Store takes its name from his place of business. Cootes was a

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (Cyprus) (DCY) **Democratic Part ...

, and represented the area in the

Virginia House of Delegates The Virginia House of Delegates is one of the two houses of the Virginia General Assembly, the other being the Senate of Virginia. It has 100 members elected for terms of two years; unlike most states, these elections take place during odd-numbe ...

for a time.

References

Obituary
from the '' Rockingham Register'', published March 23, 1882 1792 births 1882 deaths People from Rockingham County, Virginia Democratic Party members of the Virginia House of Delegates Virginia lawyers Businesspeople from Virginia 19th-century American businesspeople 19th-century American lawyers 19th-century members of the Virginia General Assembly {{Virginia-delegate-stub